By Dave Donnelly
Tuesday, March 11, 1997
Harry Wu, Joe Moore
Harry Wu, Joe Moore
THE Public Television premiere of "Riverdance" on KHET-TV Sunday night was key to making it the second most successful pledge night in history, G.M. Don Robbs tells me. Only the $40,000 raised by the "Les Miz" 10th anniversary concert showing, which I helped emcee with Robbs, surpassed it and a feature on dogs, not all of them Irish Setters. Oddly, one segment from my original "Riverdance" recording was missing both on the telecast and on videos of the show now on sale in book and record stores. The segment -- featuring three different kinds of black tap-dance techniques called "Harlem to Hollywood" -- has been removed for reasons that remain a mystery to me. As for the success of both "Les Miz" and "Riverdance" in fund-raising efforts, Robbs asked that I keep my eyes open for future shows they can present. "We may put you on commission," he kidded ... Riverdance taps
pledge potentialAND don't forget, Michael Flatley, the original star and choreographer of "Riverdance," is returning to KHET on St. Patrick's Day itself with his new company, "Lord of the Dance," which I've not seen. It's one to have the VHS set to tape ... While we Irish think of March 17 and days leading up to it and away from it as reserved for things Irish, not everyone does. Hence, Players Sports Bar at Alakea and Beretania is having a laser karaoke release party for "America's Favorite Oldies" on March 16. And Compadres is having a "Chilean Fandango" dinner with wines of Caliterra on March 18. No Irish fiddlers need apply ...
HAVING the Star-Bulletin online on the Internet has proved very helpful to expatriates who keep in touch with the islands from wherever their travels take them. I got an e-mail this week from a reader I don't know; she expressed it nicely. Tracy Arvin wrote, "I used to read your column when I was in high school and college. When I left Hawaii to live with my husband in Kentucky, your column was one of those things that I missed besides Andy's plate lunches in Kailua. Thank goodness for this wonderful thing we call the Internet." ...
YOU'VE seen his photo on the cover of numerous news magazines and on newspapers all over the country, and now you can hear Harry Wu speak. The human rights activist, who spent 19 years in Chinese prisons, will give a public lecture March 20 at Mamiya Theatre on the St. Louis campus. Actually, Wu still could have been in prison. He was arrested again in 1995 when he returned to China to investigate human rights abuses, found guilty and sentenced to 15 years in prison. Then he was expelled from the country, and he's continuing to speak his mind. We in Hawaii are fortunate to have an opportunity to hear Wu's personal story in a multi-media presentation ... Wu is speaking
THAT "Caryl & Marilyn" TV talk show which Habilitat founder Vinny Marino taped last week finally aired yesterday on Channel 4 ... Frustrated orchestral conductor Joe Moore once again will wield a baton when the Honolulu Symphony presents its "Mozart and Haydn" concerts at the Hawaii Theatre on March 21 & 22. Besides his roles as news anchorman, actor, playwright and Mozart aficionado, Moore occasionally worms his way to the podium and gives every impression that there with Mozart is where he most enjoys being ...
WHEN La Pietra holds its Hoopla Silver Jubilee Saturday night at the Kahala Mandarin, there are going to be a host of tempting items on which to bid. But if you have the bucks, here's something you can talk about and enjoy the rest of your life: It's a 16-day cruise for two aboard the elegant Seabourn Line. The highest bidder will hit ports of call such as Nairobi and go on safari with the Mara Safari Club and the Mount Kenya Safari Club. Then it's off to Mombassa, Kenya, for a leisurely, luxury sail through the Indian Ocean, stopping off in the Seychelles, Sri Lanka and Thailand on the way to Singapore. Sound like a dream trip to you? Put me down for two ... Cruisin'
