Yee returns to Hawaii with new level of flash, sass

Matt Yee was a Waikiki trouper for years, but never a household name. His “Matt Yee’s Outrageous Adult Sing Along Show,” booked for three Fridays beginning this week at RumFire at the Sheraton Waikiki, could ramp up his celebrity here.

“This is such an opportunity,” he said about his flamboyant and funky show, which he is bringing to Waikiki after years on the global circuit. He’s earned followers in New York, but his tours to Singapore, Dubai and ports in Asia and Europe, commonly aboard cruise ships, have made him an international attraction.

His Chinese parents wanted him to be lawyer, so he attended law school at the University of Pennsylvania. But his passion was singing and comedy. Thus, a diva was born.

“This show is so not what I was back then,” he said of the era when he backed up local entertainers like Al Harrington, Danny Couch and the Paradise Serenaders. “This show is super high-energy and it’s a little dirty or edgy.” (Meaning: Leave the kids at home with Tutu.)

“It’s a sing-along show,” he said. “We don’t care if you suck at singing. It’s audience participation on steroids. Bring your sense of humor ’cause we all need to laugh more these days.”

The Honolulu-born Yee, who began singing and playing piano at age 3, has been described as a cross between Elton John and Margaret Cho. During his shows, he dons feather boas and outrageous hats and occasional costumes as he dives into a party-hearty spirit.

“There’s nothing like performing and making a living and a life out of it,” he said of his regimen of hopping on flights to board a floating hotel of 8,000 patrons. Despite the rigors of traveling, Yee calls it “such a blessing” and is grateful for the connections he’s made along the way, including some of the great ladies of Broadway.

“I love being able to sing a duet off the cuff with Idina Menzel,” he said. “I love hanging with Chita Rivera and being recognized by Patti LuPone.”

Yee is a name-dropper, for sure, adding: “I sang with Robert Cazimero and it brought down the house.”

His shtick is naughty but hilarious, and many locals have caught his act abroad. “I did a national medical convention here because the organizers saw me perform in Dubai — and they’re local people. Go figure,” he said.

The RumFire is a trial balloon for future bookings.

Following the Sheraton shows, Yee returns to New York’s Metropolitan Room, a cozy jazz club on West 22nd Street, and the Laurie Beechman Theatre on 42nd Street, a cabaret club where Yee traditionally attracts rabid fans.

“But I’d love to put Hawaii into my circuit,” he said.