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Hawaii
HOKU means "star" in Hawaiian, so it's appropriate that the fastest rising star in the Hawaii universe these days is Hoku Ho. She's showing up all over the place, appearing in the cover story of USA Today/Weekend (in which she used the word "like" more than any Valley Girl, be it San Fernando, Manoa, Silicon or otherwise) and in successive issues of People magazine on March 20 and 27. Now she's in Entertainment Weekly, Rising star
shines brightwhose editors must be smoking some funny hemp-like product if they really believe she's most likely to "be cast as the replacement for Jack Lord in the all female revival of 'Hawaii Five-O'." In addition to the print attention, the daughter of Don Ho has seen her first single, "Another Dumb Blonde," the music video for the movie "Snow Day," soar to the Top 10 most requested songs on MTV the day after it debuted. Hoku is a 1999 grad of La Pietra. You can see her video on two web sites: hokuonline.com or snowdaymovie.nick.com/hoku ...
THERE are some additional numbers in "Forever Tango" as presented in Honolulu than appeared in the San Francisco "2000" version I saw in December, and they're as stunning and spectacular as the rest of Luis Bravo's remarkable work. The show plays through Sunday at the Hawaii Theatre with an orchestra of 11 and 16 of the most electrifying dancers you're likely to see ...
Changes and nonchanges
IF memory serves, and it sometimes does, there was a time when the lone traffic light on Kauai was at the juncture of a cane-hauling road and the highway. Then came traffic signals in Lihue, Kapaa etc. Now entertainer Keith Haugen, on Kauai to conduct a workshop for the Kauai Arts Council, was startled to discover contra flow lanes to handle rush hour traffic between Kapaa and Lihue. What's next? A Zipper lane? ... But there's still some question on the Garden Isle about a bugaboo that's haunted me for over 40 years now. On a GTE Hawaiian Tel rack selling phone cards, the ABC store at Nawiliwili has tacked on a sign advising that "calls to the United States are 25 cents per minute." ...ON Maui to broadcast "live" on his WAVE drivetime show in Southern California is Don Burns, who was with KHON-TV in the late '60s. The Valley Isle got great publicity as an estimated one million listeners heard new Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua chef Stephen Marshall talk about Maui's gourmet goodies, golf, whale watching etc. Marshall was on his toes since he knew hotel G.M. John Toner was listening while in L.A. on business. Also tuned in was his grandmother, who lives in L.A. She'd been tipped off by the chef's wife, Cathy, manager of the Zoolu Bar & Grille in Lahaina ...
British beauty
NOW that he's won an Oscar for directing "American Beauty," Sam Mendes is demonstrating the difference between the British, who adore the stage, and the Yanks, who often use legit theater as a means to leapfrog into the movies and the Big Bucks. In his Oscar acceptance speech, Mendes thanked the staff and cast of the current production at his 250-seat Donmar Warehouse in London, where he'll direct a play in September. One person rooting for Mendes was Lolly Susi, who directed "Blood Brothers" at Manoa Valley Theatre, and who just concluded an acting stint at the Donmar in a play starring Helen Mirren and directed by Nickolas Hytner, two more Brits whose success is films hasn't dulled their love of the legit stage, either ...
Dave Donnelly has been writing on happenings
in Hawaii for the Star-Bulletin since 1968.
His columns run Monday through Friday.Contact Dave by e-mail: ddonnelly@starbulletin.com