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Kumu hula could have
career as a crooner
of soul sounds

WHO KNEW No. 1: That kumu hula Sonny Ching had such natural talent as a soul singer? Ching proved it with "Kealoha My Friend" and "This Little Light of Mine," two memorable numbers in his Christmas concert, "Immersed in the Bowl of Light," at the Hawaii Theatre on Saturday. There's no question that he could record a creditable album of soulful non-hula music. Freeing up the time it would take is the challenge. Maybe sometime after "Merrie Monarch" next spring ...

WHO KNEW No. 2: That Roman Zhurbin, whose performance in "Arabian" made him one of the most popular performers in Ballet Hawaii's marvelous production of "Nutcracker" last weekend, was a last-minute replacement? Zhurbin arrived in Honolulu last Tuesday with barely three days to prepare for the opening night performance on Friday ...

TAKE IT TO THE TOP AND ... "Stomp," which opened a 12-day run at the Hawaii Theatre with two standing ovations Tuesday, is as always great fun for youthful minds of all ages. The members of an anonymous eight-person ensemble -- imagine ragged but energetic proles in a post-Apocalyptic junk yard -- stretch the imagination as they demonstrate the seemingly endless ways in which percussive music can be created from any available object -- push brooms, rubber hoses, cigarette lighters, water jugs, paper sacks and sheets of newspaper, to name five -- in a crisp 90-minute blend of visual comedy, characterization and audience participation. Expatriate local boy Andres Fernandez starred as "Sarge," the Alpha Male in the ensemble, on opening night ...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: To Pi'i Miguel, who is celebrating today ... also to Andy Bumatai (Friday), Kamuela Kahoano (Monday), Fred "Professor Fun" Ball (Tuesday), and Yvonne Elliman and Ignace "Iggy" Jang (Wednesday) ...

"GREASE," BY ANY OTHER NAME: "Grease," which opens in the Blaisdell Concert Hall on Monday, has played in Canada as "Brillantine," in Italy as "Brilliantino," in Brazil as "Grease -- Nos Tempos da Brilhantina," and in Mexico as "Vaselina" ...