Puss in time to take first meow
EVERYBODY loves a good "Show Must Go On" item. Here's today's, straight from the files of "Mission: Impossible." Picture Kaimuki High School costumer Julie Begley, aided by two volunteers (played by Peter Graves and Greg Morris), going to the Costume Loft at Fort Shafter to pick up her "Puss in Boots" costumes stored there. Oh, oh -- trouble: The lock on the loft door is stuck. Cut to Kaimuki High where early birds arrive for the show's first preview performance. Back to Shafter where a locksmith is called, but still can't open the door. They remove the door from its hinges and still it won't open. Clearly, drastic measures need to be taken ...
A LADDER is located and Begley's fearless crew climbs to the roof of the third floor, across the roof, down through a skylight, dropping down to a ledge and then jumping 10 feet to the floor. By this time the Kaimuki Theater is filling up nicely. The crew locates the costumes and as a last resort before retracing those perilous steps, cat costumes in hand, tries to open the door from inside. Voila, it opens and pedal to the metal, off they speed to Kaimuki, where they show goes on in classic showbiz tradition. "Puss in Boots," incidentally, describes its feline heroine as the "Smartest Cat That Ever Lived." My vote goes to the techie who tried and succeeded in opening that Costume Loft door from the inside ...
Smoker joker
RETURNING from a "Smoker" at Bally's in Las Vegas, where he visited with fellow cigar aficionado George Hamilton, Havana Cubana president Bryan Uy recognized actor Bill Murray at Honolulu Airport. Knowing he's a cigar smoker, Uy invited him down to the Nuuanu Avenue establishment for a drink and a smoke. Murray is here to engage in golf, his other passion, and I'd guess he'll be teamed yet again with PGA pro Scott Simpson at the golf tourney at Kapalua this week. Many pros don't like being linked with Murray, as his antics on the course take away their focus, but it's never seemed to bother the laid-back Simpson, who enjoys a good laugh as well as a good round of golf ...MICHEL'S in the Colony Surf is a good spot to observe the stars, both the celestial variety and the Hollywood kind. The actress forever identified as the star of "I Dream of Jeannie," Barbara Eden, was a recent diner there ... And if you were rockin' along in the '60s, you'll recognized the name Eric Burdon. Though he's left the Animals in his wake and said, "No More War," Burdon performs still and he'll appear at Turtle Bay along with Willy Chambers, formerly with the Chambers Brothers. They'll be appearing in concert Saturday, Nov. 15, and as an added attraction, the Miss Hawaiian Tropic U.S. finals will take place at noon that day at the resort ...
The acting lesson
VETERAN actor Norman Wright, who died last week at the age of 79, was best known for several appearances on "Hawaii Five-O," but he was in many a stage production locally dating back to the 1940s. As a very young actor in the islands, I once played the Second Gravedigger in "Hamlet" to Wright's "First Gravedigger" at UH. His was an important role -- I was there mainly to listen to what he had to say. One atypical evening, Wright had been to a party and showed up a bit tipsy. Sure enough, he forgot a line. He turned to me and said imperiously, "Well, speak." Ever tried to ad-lib in iambic pentameter? For years after, he apologized for that evening. Good night, Sweet Prince ...
Contact Dave by e-mail: donnelly@kestrok.com.