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Hawaii
TODAY the venerable Martin Denny turns 89. Quietly retired and forgotten, you say? Not even close. At the request of trumpeter John Norris, Denny yesterday turned up at No. 1 Kalakaua, the retirement residence where Norris lives, and entertained at the keyboard. His fingers can Denny’s not just
lounging aroundstill fly. And as for being forgotten, forget it! Denny just got a six-month accounting of substantial royalties from Capitol Records and they came in from sales all over the globe. Some of his tunes are featured on a new collection of music from the '50s and '60s called "Ultra Lounge," featuring lounge musicians of the period. Denny is in good health except for a bleeding ulcer for which he received two pints of blood last week, but he's OK now. And still playing piano ...
TO celebrate the millennium, the Hawaiian Civic Club of Honolulu is featuring "200 Years of Hawaii," at the Holoku Ball 2000 Saturday night. This is the 80th year of the ball, founded by Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalaniana'ole, and it'll showcase monarchy gowns and holoku, jewelry and accessories collected by the late Richard Goodwin, as assembled by curator Ray Sasaki. Proceeds from the Ball at the Hilton Hawaiian Village will go toward Hawaiian scholarships ... I ran into Sasaki at the Rodgers & Hammerstein evening of songs presented by the newly formed Company Singers at Manoa Valley Theatre. He reminded me we were both in the Honolulu Theatre for Youth's 1963 production of "Alice in Wonderland," and recalled to all that I played the Duchess. Yes, in a gown! And Sasaki? "I played the horse's rear end." The unanimous response: "Type casting!" ...
That's Amuro
THE hottest reserved concert seat in town wasn't Ricky Martin. Nor will it be Sting. No, that honor goes to Okinawan singer Namie Amuro. When reserved seats for her May 14 concert at the Waikiki Shell went on sale, they sold out in hours. (There are still lawn tickets available at $35, but they won't last long.) Amuro is a hot commodity, playing to sold out houses throughout Asia and it looks like Honolulu will follow suit as part of her 17-stop concert tour. The 22-year-old Amuro agreed to do her show as a benefit for the Hawaii United Okinawan Association and not only is she waiving her usual big bucks performance fee, she's donating $20,000 to the HUOA ...GENEROSITY is in the air: Sharon Weiner demonstrated to the audience at the TIM School dinner last week that she learned her lessons well while an MBA student at the UH College of Business Administration in the 1970s. As she was inducted into the Alumni Hall of Honor, she presented CBA Dean David McClain with a check for $7,450, which she calculated was the value of tuition waivers she received as a student, plus interest compounded for 25 years. The dean was taken by surprise, and the audience responded wildly. Weiner's dad flew in from Nevada to cheer her on ...
Vowel movement
YOU never know where you're going to see Hawaii or Hawaiians show up. In yesterday's New York Times magazine was a full-page color ad for SpringMaid which shows a distinguished looking Hawaiian gentleman, wrapped in a sheet and standing in the surf. It was surfer Rabbit Kekai. Alas, the sheet makers got their vowels mixed up and he was identified as "Rabbit Kakai." Relax, Rabbit, it could have been worse -- they could have inserted a "u" instead of an "a." ...
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