Ho’okena to hit the road for concert tour in Japan

The streamlined Ho‘okena, down to three members with the parting of Manu Boyd (who is pursuing a solo career), is bracing for a busy 2013. Horace Dudoit, Glen Smith and Chris Kamaka — enjoying the release of the group’s "Huliau" CD, the first as a trio — will be doing a four-city tour of Japan in March, a Hawaii Theatre concert in May, and a concert at Carnegie Hall in New York at the end of May. A Japanese promoter is involved in the Big Apple visit, with Ho‘okena appearing with Danny Kaleikini, Nina Keali‘iwahama, Maila Gibson and a halau from Japan and Virginia, with dancer Nani Dudoit and Gibson also featured with the trio. …

BACKSTAGE: Kyle Kakuno will direct the Hawaii premiere of "In the Heights" next March at Mamiya Theatre, where he will continue to run the theater but step down as drama instructor. As the drama honcho at Sacred Hearts Academy nearby on Waialae Avenue, he’ll helm SHA shows at Mamiya.

By the way, "In the Heights," a Tony Award-winning Broadway musical, is Kakuno’s fourth Hawaii premiere of a major work at Saint Louis, following "Footloose" (2002), "Aida" (2005) and "Rent" (2008). …

The first reading of "Next to Normal," a Tony-winning drama with music opening March 7 at Manoa Valley Theatre, was a rouser. The cast was already singing the tunes (to the original cast music), and Alison Aldcroft as Diana, the mother with bipolar disorder, vividly inhabited the role — well before formal rehearsals start Jan. 2. Reason: She’s seen the Broadway original, loves it, and her daughter played the daughter Natalie role in a Colorado production, which she’s seen repeatedly.

Others in "Norma": Miles Wesley (Dan), Jonah Hookano (Gabe), Kalani Hicks (Dr. Madden), Kanani Rogers (Natalie), James Mares (Henry), and David Bachler (Dr. Fine). For the Fine role, normally played by the actor also playing Hicks, director Brett Harwood thought a second actor was needed to minimize confusion. …

WEDDING BELLE: Yasmin Dar, the former morning traffic anchor at KITV4 News, married Sal Fasi Saturday at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel. Dar, now a news anchor at KVAL 13 in Eugene, Ore., was engaged to Sal (son of the late Mayor Frank Fasi and wife Joyce) for a year. When shereturns to Eugene,Sal will be commuting between Honolulu and Oregon while maintaining his real estate business. …

JOYEUX NOEL: It’ll be Christmas in Paris for Mountain Apple Co. President Leah Bernstein and lawyer husband Mark Bernstein. On the heels of client the Brothers Cazimero’s "A Cazimero Christmas" at the Hawaii Theatre last weekend, the couple jetted for a five-week holiday, beginning with London and hitting the usual historical and romantic European ports. …