Loretta Ables Sayre, a noted island jazz stylist before she became a Tony-nominated Broadway star, finally will make her debut at Blue Note Hawaii this fall.
Ables Sayre, who created the Bloody Mary role in the 2008 revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “South Pacific,” will appear one night only, at 6:30 and 9 p.m. Nov. 14, at the venue at the Outrigger Waikiki Hotel. It’s a bit too early to make a reservation, so note the date on your calendar.
Ables Sayre was a fave on the local jazz circuit, at such venues as Lewers Lounge at the Halekulani Hotel and the Veranda of the Kahala Resort, before she became a Broadway sensation playing Bloody Mary at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre at Lincoln Center.
Certainly she’ll uncork a jazz index of tunes from her vast repertoire; surely her fans and the club, despite its jazz focus, will allow her to do one (or two) of her Broadway signatures, the romantically haunting “Bali Ha’i” and the joyously comedic “Happy Talk,” which will enable her to break into character to make it some enchanted evening. …
RECYCLED ART: When Hawaii Public Radio’s president, Michael Titterton, left his post recently after 16 years of devoted service and leadership, he didn’t get a customary parting gift of a gold watch or a plaque. Instead, a piece of the radio station literally left with him: an original commemorative collage by Big Island artist Ira Ono, who assembled radio and electronic parts from the station, with a map displaying HPR’s transmitter coverage of the state, to create the rarity.
Ellen Kazama, HPR director of development, had the notion of creating the piece, and Ono — widely known as the inventive whiz who utilizes recycled materials and objects in the annual “Trash Art” exhibitions he curates on the Big Island and Maui — obliged to take on the task free, saying, “As a longtime fan of Titterton and Hawaii Public Radio, I felt it would be an honor.” The collage resembles a blue circuit board overprinted with a map showing HPR’s “footprint” of eight transmitters, along with knobs and wires signifying Titterton’s accomplishment of enabling the station’s reach through much of the state except Niihau. Ono still is anchored at the Volcano Arts Village on the Big Island. …
HOT STUFF: Comedian Frank De Lima has joined the “Pokemon Go” craze with a parody about the location-based reality mobile game, which has a tsunami of followers/participants with iPhones and other mobile devices. To the tune of “Candy Man,” De Lima sings “trying to catch one monster outside of Thomas Square” could make you crazy.
Though the game is a spectrum of actual sites, De Lima’s tune mentions only one other destination, Waianae, but suggests prudence and caution in the pursuit of Pokemon.
One verse says: “Listen to policeman, he like for you stay safe, no play da game when driving, no play da game alone.”
To hear and download the song, make a donation to DeLima’s student enrichment fund, at frankdelima.com. No app required. …
When you’re hot, you’re hot, and Bruno Mars is hot, hot, hot. His “DooWops & Hooligans” and “Unorthodox Jukebox” CDs have elevated to double platinum in the United States. Translation: The first album has generated five-times platinum status, or sales of 5 million units; the second, 4 million. So it’s logical that his anticipated third thriller (due in October) will join the league. Fans are hungry and waiting. …
FAMILY TIES: Always great to see siblings and family members in a show together. Such is the case in Diamond Head Theatre’s “Mamma Mia!” with Sarah Halford as the bride Sophie, and her brother, Reyn Halford, as Pepper, one of the groom’s buddies. And over at Manoa Valley Theatre, Chance Bridgman, Chandler Bridgman and Chase Bridgman portray basketball bros in “Lysistrata Jones,” a musical adapted from Aristophanes’ “Lysistrata,” staged on a basketball court set. …
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 staradvertiser.com.
