Cha Thompson and Ben Aipa, two Farrington High School grads, will be honored at Malama Palama, a Palama Settlement fundraiser Oct. 25 at the Royal Hawaiian’s Monarch Room. A 5:30 p.m. reception and a silent auction precede a 6:30 p.m. dinner.
The pair credits the social-service agency for turning their lives around by providing programs during their small-kid times and have championed the life-changing activities at Palama Settlement.
Thompson, who lived in public housing, was a street-smart survivor who found her footing at Farrington, where she was an ROTC sponsor and song-leader — positions of honor that reinforced positivity and service. As an entertainer, she and her husband, Jack Thompson, co-founded Tihati Productions, the prolific producers of Polynesian and Hawaiian revues statewide. She danced in Tihati shows in her earlier years and still maintains her self-imposed "Queen of Kalihi" title. Today daughter Misty Tufono and son Afatia Thompson operate the family business.
Aipa was a hefty football player and accomplished competitive swimmer who, in his boyhood, was busted for swimming in the Palama pool because he dodged the customary fee. His love of the ocean and surfing triggered a career in surfboard shaping, with his kids now involved.
Segments from Tihati’s Royal Hawaiian all-Hawaiian spectacle, exploring the history of Waikiki (staged Mondays on the hotel’s beachfront lawn), will highlight entertainment, but expect surprise guest entertainers. Al Waterson emcees. Tickets: $250 individual, with premium tables $2,500 to $15,000. Call 848-2502 or go to www.palamasettlement.org. …
AROUND TOWN: Wondering why Carole Kai has been hobbling around on crutches? Blame a bike ride mishap in Germany. …
Emme Tomimbang is back from the Philippines, gathering footage for a possible "Haiyan: After the Storm" special. "So many sad stories, but resilient ones, too," she said. She’s also combating a storm-related virus and a cough with antibiotics. …
Tomimbang and hubby James Burns‘ dog, Rufus, is terminally ill and receiving chemo treatment, so she’s caregiving through the pet’s difficult times. "It’s breaking my heart," said Tomimbang. "Every day I cry." …
SHOW BITS: A family medical emergency prompted "Hairspray" actors Tracy and Danielle Yamamoto, the daughter-and-mother team cast as Penny Pingleton and Prudy Pingleton, to bow out of the hit Paliku Theatre production.
Katrina Johnson now plays Penny and Holly Holowach is Prudy. Johnson’s Lou Ann role now is taken by Kayla Uchida, and the gym teacher also played by Tracy Yamamoto is temporarily being played by Lisa Barnes until valiant Holowach, wife of show producer Tom Holowach, learns two other Tracy-played roles: the gym teacher and the prison matron. It’s the stage domino effect — something theater folk happily glide into when there are no understudies. …
Vanita Rae Smith‘s Windward Readers Theatre presents "Rose" at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Pohai Nani Senior Residence in Kaneohe. It repeats at 7 p.m. Thursday and 2 p.m. Oct. 12. …
MENTIONABLES: Willie K did a sellout concert at the Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma, Wash. Expats Takeo Kobayashi and Eric Chandler, now residents of the Pacific Northwest, took it in. "He played four hours," said Kobayashi. "Even danced hula." …
John Kramer, veteran bass fiddler with exotic-music makers Arthur Lyman and Martin Denny, died Sept. 14. "My family was so blessed with his love for life and music and what life had to offer," said daughter Marie Kramer. "He strived to do his very best to fulfill and share (his love) with us and others." With Kramer’s passing, percussionist Harold Chang is the lone surviving musician of this chapter of island music. …
And that’s "Show Biz." …
Wayne Harada is a veteran entertainment columnist; reach him at 266-0926 or wayneharada@gmail.com; read his Show and Tell Hawaii blog at www.staradvertiser.com.
