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Hawaii Dave Donnelly |
‘Flower Drum’ remake
may hit Honolulu stageRAN into an old UH college chum, Jade Ing Sen, at the Kumu Kahua Theater Sunday after watching "King Kalakaua's Poker Game." With her was her brother, Alvin Ing, a former Hawaii resident who's gone on to big things in theater. He was in the Broadway production of "Flower Drum Song" that featured Lea Salonga, which closed recently. This is the new version of the musical using the re-written book by David Henry Hwang, a considerable improvement over the Oscar Hammerstein version. Ing, who appeared in several productions of musicals at Honolulu Community Theater (now Diamond Head Theatre), says a touring company of the new "Flower Drum Song" is in the works, and they're hoping to play Honolulu en route to the Far East. As for Jade, since we were at UH at the same time, I figure we must be about the same age. At the risk of belaboring the obvious, she looks a lot younger than me ...
Singers and swingers
THE gorgeous and talented singer Rocky Brown is heading this way from her N.Y. home in July for a respite. Now known as Raquel Higa, Rocky is married to talented trumpeter DeShannon Higa, who has to be one of the luckiest guys around to have swept Rocky off her feet ... Then there's Veronica Kelley-Albiez, former lead singer of Swingwood Revue. She left Hawaii in 1999 to follow her Army husband to Texas. "I still find myself longing for my home of 14 years and reading the Star-Bulletin online gives me my Hawaii fix." ...THE "Aiea Boy," Lee Laquihon, now in Bellevue, Neb., e-mails, "Evidently I'm not the only homesick local boy living on the mainland that reads your column." I mentioned him catching me in a typo and he got a bunch of e-mails from others asking if he saw it. Lee's found another way to keep in touch with Hawaii besides reading the Star-Bulletin online. He got tickets for the Don Ho show on June 13 in a casino across the river in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Ho should be forewarned there'll be some "Hana Hou" shouts from his audience that night ...
OTHER writers will be filling in for food columnist Jo McGarry, and Chris Hart will fill in for her on her KKEA show "Table Talk" for the next several weeks as she goes on maternity leave. Her on (and off) air partner is Bobby Curran. They're expecting a boy in the next two weeks ...
UH alum Lauren Moriarty now works for the U.S. State Department and attended the official dinner at the White House for Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Monday night, along with two well known local Filipinos, Brian Viloria and Angela Perez Baraquio. Lauren says the only thing missing was lomi salmon to go with the lumpia ...
Hokus of the street
NOT everyone can get into Hawaiian music's Hoku Awards, but everyone can gather at Merchant and Nuuanu Friday night and see a good many of them performing. It's Don Murphy and KINE Radio's free party from 5:30 to 10 p.m. with such musicians as Jake Shimabukuro, Kapena, Sean Na'auao, Kahiau and many more. Enjoy ...
Dave Donnelly has been writing on happenings in Hawaii for the Star-Bulletin since 1968. The Week That Was runs Sundays and recalls items from Dave's 30 years of columns. Contact Dave by e-mail: ddonnelly@starbulletin.com