Stage lights are burning brightly in Waikiki these days with the opening of John Hirokawa's "Magic of Polynesia" at the Waikiki Beachcomber Hotel. Robert Iwamoto Jr. invested somewhere around $9 million (give or take a few $100,000) building the big new showroom and expanding Hirokawa's big new show.
Iwamoto -- and Hawaii -- got plenty of magical "bang" for all those bucks. Hirokawa delivers a first-class show.
Handsome, trim and buff enough to go shirtless at one point in the show, Hirokawa is an appealing and engaging star who proves himself an entertainer as well as a master illusionist.
The show contains several more illusions than the hard-working David Copperfield presented in his critically acclaimed engagement in May. In terms of performance values, Hirokawa is much quicker, lighter and more entertaining than Franz Harary turned out to be last August. No doubt about it, Hirokawa is a world-class talent.
John Hirokawa
Hirokawa's new "Magic of Polynesia" showroom feels as expansive as his old venue at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Dome (that is actually an illusion; seating capacity is somewhat smaller, but the ceiling is higher). The view of the stage is better. The illusions are bigger. The set spills out beyond the stage to include two volcanoes and several satellite performance areas. The waterfalls flow, the doves fly and the volcanos "erupt."Many of the illusions have a Polynesian theme and several are performed to hapa-haole melodies. Hirokawa levitates a woman on a fountain of water, brings a Hawaiian helmet to life and then causes the human animating the helmet to disappear.
Hirokawa disappears and reappears several times himself. He also changes places with cast members under seemingly impossible circumstances and appears to shrink himself at one point.
The dramatic climax of the show -- as of last week, anyway -- is Hirokawa's escape from a bed of spikes. He has less than a minute to free himself and escape impalement. We know he's going to do it, but that doesn't reduce the drama as a torch burns through the rope securing the slab of spikes as he struggles.
This escape act is faster, more realistic and much less labored than Harary's lengthy but bloodless "death" by chainsaw at the Blaisdell last year.
It isn't all non-stop snap, crackle and pop. Hirokawa slows the pace a couple of times to interact with the audience (sit front and center if you want a shot at being part of the show). The audience-participation bits will be familiar to long-time fans; but they got laughs and applause in all the right places on opening night.
A talented troupe of dancers adds Polynesian ambience without becoming filler. The emphasis is more Hollywood and Vegas than Niihau or the Merrie Monarch festival, but a kahiko segment adds a traditional touch. The dancers are an attractive addition; their colorful costumes conservative enough for Waikiki. Hirokawa's German-Samoan fire-knife dancer, Silulu, is an authentic show-stopping talent.
The concert-quality sound system fills the room. The lighting and special effects are also state-of-the-art. There are no duds or weak links in this production.
John Hirokawa's
Magic of PolynesiaOn stage: 6:30 and 8:45 nightly
