GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Magician John Hirokawa, pictured during one of his "Magic of Polynesia" performances, has received one of the prestigious Merlin awards bestowed by his fellow magicians.
Award luncheon celebrates
Hirokawa’s magical career
John Hirokawa has been a Waikiki headliner for 14 years, and starred in his own custom-designed "Magic of Polynesia" showroom for five. But despite critical and popular success, Hawaii's foremost illusionist is still an unpretentious Wahiawa boy at heart.
'Magic of Polynesia'
Starring John Hirokawa:Where: Magic of Polynesia Showroom, Waikiki Beachcomber Hotel
When: 8:20 p.m. nightly; dinner seating at 7 p.m. Hirokawa performs Tuesdays to Saturdays.
Admission: Several packages are available.
Call: 971-4321
In fact, when showroom manager Chuck Lee informed him that he would be receiving the prestigious 2004 International Magicians Society Merlin Award for the "Most Original" magic show, Hirokawa's first thought was, "Maybe the company was going to take me and my wife to lunch."
Well, they are, but on a scale to match Hirokawa's show. Some 400 people have been invited to a lunch taking place at the Magic of Polynesia Showroom at noon today to watch Hirokawa receive his Merlin from Tony Hassini, chairman/CEO of the 37,000-member Magicians Society. The IMS presents Merlin Awards every three years in five categories. In addition to Hirokawa's prize, the others are for "Best Illusionist," "Best Female Magician," "Best Closeup" and "Best in Comedy."
"The president and CEO called me up about three months ago and told me that I won the award, and I was like, wow! I was very honored," Hirokawa said after he finished playing to a near-capacity crowd Sunday (usually his day off).
"One of the highlights for me is being put in that category. I'm a local boy who always looked up to (David) Copperfield and Siegfried & Roy -- I basically idolized them -- and to put me in that category ... I feel like they're making a mistake.
"It's really the cast that makes the show ... I have the easiest part in the whole show. I just point my fingers. Everybody else does the hard work so (I see) the award as not for me, but for the whole cast."
MODESTY ASIDE, it's another well-deserved accolade for Hirokawa, 39, who became fascinated by the art of illusion at the age of 6, and began his formal training at age 8. He played his first "big time gig" a year later -- an insurance company convention at the Sheraton Hotel -- for which he was paid $50. Prior to that, he was getting paid $10 for neighborhood birthday parties.
In 1976 he won a contest that earned him the opportunity to open for David Copperfield at the C'est Si Bon, and contacts he made there led to national and international exposure. Along the way, while still a student at Leilehua High School, Hirokawa studied dance -- jazz, ballet, tap -- and singing, to develop his stage movements and learn how to integrate sound and music in his shows.
Hirokawa also enrolled at Leeward Community College to study economics, management and business organization. Hirokawa anticipated the changes in visitor demographics that would bring more eastbound visitors to Hawaii and managed to convince honchos at Roberts Hawaii Tours and Cove Enterprises to team up with him to open the original version of "Magic of Polynesia" in the Hilton Hawaiian Dome in 1989.
The magician then worked two shows a night seven days a week for more than three years to prove that there is a sustainable market for a show combining world-class illusions with the colorful components of a traditional Polynesian revue.
"It was a very hard sell at first. It was almost like we had to show (the tour companies) and then they'd think about selling the show ... so Roberts Hawaii had a lot of foresight to try it, and that's why we're here 14 years later," Hirokawa said.
"Magic of Polynesia" moved to the Waikiki Beachcomber in 1998 after Roberts Hawaii invested $7 million to build Hirokawa's new showroom and more than $2 million to update the show. Hirokawa has been revising and refining the show ever since. Older illusions have been replaced, and more changes are planned.
"We're going to make a real helicopter appear on stage (and) since it's not your traditional Polynesian type of illusion we're kind of going out of the box right now," he said, adding that he doesn't get a lot of local business but always enjoys seeing the reactions of kamaaina. "Some of them don't know it's a big production, and I love to see their astonishment,"
Although he's far too modest to say anything that might be misinterpreted as boasting, Hirokawa admits to being happy about being able to perform magic full-time.
"I wanted to stay in Hawaii. I had looked at being (an) Asian-American (magician) before as a setback, but I saw that I could relate to the Japanese that come here and go after the mainlanders. Magic is universal -- you don't need to understand a language to understand it."
From doing birthday parties and producing bunny rabbits out of hats, staging a showroom performance in Waikiki "is exactly where I want to be," Hirokawa said. About the only thing left is to take his show on the road, and Hirokawa envisions spending three months a year in Japan and China, taking some of Hawaii's magic to people who haven't been here.
And the biggest change he's experienced since "Magic of Polynesia" opened?
"My priorities changed tremendously after I had my children. Before, it was a career, now it's fun. Before, I felt like I always had to prove myself -- especially because I am local and this is a fairly huge production. Now I'm a lot more relaxed and I can enjoy myself."
Click for online
calendars and events.
