Crowds turn out for fill-in 'Lord'
WHEN I first heard that "Lord of the Dance" would be presented here without creator Michael Flatley, all I could think of was, "Welcome to the last supper - table for 11?" Turns out not to have been that way at all. A former member of Flatley's original troupe, John Carey, filled in as surrogate "Lord" and though he's only 19, it may have been more appropriate to have him in charge than the older Flatley, considering the company seemed to be of near high-school age. Still, it had all the flash and glitz of Flatley's first troupe, filled with the Vegas and Hollywood indulgence (explosions, smoke, fire) that was absent from "Riverdance," the charming, bucolic tale of the Irish which was Flatley's introduction to stardom. The opening night crowd of 5,000 roared their approval, showing that flash with dash is what the people seem to want, and the dancing was certainly spectacular in its creativity, speed and ear-piercing loudness. Now if promoter Tom Moffatt could just bring in the quieter, subtler "Riverdance," it would be an ever happier salute to Celtic dancing ...
SPEAKING of Moffatt, he's soon to have some competition on the morning airwaves. The ex-Poi Boy, who spins oldies on 107.9FM, will son be up against not just one, but two other former K-POI compatriots. Ron Jacobs, who refers to Moffatt as his "best friend," will soon be competing for listeners with his pal when he goes on the air next month on KCCN-AM. Joining him as sidekick/newsman will be Donn Tyler, who also worked with Jacobs in California and Hong Kong. And what will Jacobs format be? He describes it simply as "Any kine, any time." ...
That's Kool!
IT'S not enough that Pepsi Cola is bringing in the Rolling Stones, "Lord of the Dance" and Ray Charles to its Waikoloa 100th anniversary celebration this week, they've now added Kool and the Gang to the performance list, as well as the Honolulu Boy Choir. The latter group, which performed last year for the Pepsi Restaurants' convention at the Hilton Waikoloa, was such a hit that they've been invited back for an encore. In addition to singing at the opening ceremony, they'll sing back-up for Kool and the Gang ...JUST when you thought you'd seen every stupid thing in the book in Hawaii, comes along a UH softball stadium with 90 percent of its seats featuring an obstructed view of the field. It sits so high it looks as if it were built to withstand floods. Did the architect ever see a softball game before? Where were the people who hired him to build the thing? Did they ever take a look at it during the construction period? Pardon, but if this were 18th century France, they'd be sharpening up the guillotine about now ...
KISMET in Paradise: Just as photog Ric Noyle was setting up the koa ukulele-shaped bar at Cheeseburger in Paradise for a shoot, who should walk in up Sam and Gerry Kamaka, makers of fine Hawaiian koa ukuleles and guitars since 1916. They were celebrating their 42nd anniversary and quickly found themselves as models in the bar scene ...
Still soaring
IF Hawaii TV viewers can stay tuned to the entire "Party of Five" episode Wednesday, they'll see a special treat. Iz lives! The final scene on the show, seen locally on KHON-TV at 8 p.m., shows one of the charters hang-gliding to the unmistakable strains of the late Israel Kamakawiwo'ole singing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World." Nice to see that Iz is still soaring, as posthumously he makes his mark on national television ...
Contact Dave by e-mail: donnelly@kestrok.com.