Show Biz: Karen Keawehawai‘i returns to stage at Manoa Valley Theatre

Karen Keawehawai‘i performs at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Manoa Valley Theatre as part of a yearlong Studio Series on the theater’s dark nights. She’s fully prepared to sing her beloved Hawaiian music, add a comedic spin, and simply have a good time.

Cha Thompson, who booked her longtime Farrington High School chum at the theater, cautioned her: “Karen-girl, don’t feel bad if they don’t know you,” she said of Manoa’s theatrical regulars, since Keawehawai‘i is the lone Hawaiiana artist on the MVT schedule. “She calls me Karen-girl, which makes me feel young, but in a theater, I’m an actress. I wanna be real,” she said. “I want to have fun, because once it stops being fun, I should quit the business.”

Waikiki audiences have followed and applauded her since the 1970s, and she has had her share of showroom glory, plus a string of Na Hoku Hanohano Award trophies in the 1980s.

She is a grandmother, a mother, a wife with contagious sense of humor, with the smarts of a stand-up. Her diverse credits include acting on CBS’ “Jake and the Fatman” as William Conrad’s secretary; co-hosting KGMB’s “Jackpot Bingo” game show; and co-hosting the Miss Hawaii pageant and the Children’s Miracle Network telethon. During the Christmas season, she performed with Jim Nabors in his Hawaii Theatre Christmas spectacle; a TV commercial for Wendy’s, where she uttered “Eh, you somebody,” remains a classic.

“It’s been such a long time since I’ve been able to share my (musical) wares on a stage, that I’m so looking forward to this — even breaking out in a rash in anticipation,” she giggled.

For many years, she shied away from clubs and showrooms, as Waikiki hotels and restaurants began shutting down performance space where local singers and musicians commonly shared Hawaiian songs and dances. She has reinvented herself as a radio personality, joining Michael W. Perry’s “Perry’s Posse” with Sweetie Pacarro, in radio casts on KSSK originating most Saturdays from Jade Dynasty at Ala Moana Center, and also on shipboard broadcasts with Non-Stop Travel, from Alaska to the East Coast.

“I sometimes sing on the radio, and some (non-local) people are surprised that I sing; they think of me as a comedian,” she said. One of her shticks is guessing the ZIP code of an audience member, often from folks living in mainland cities. “I do my homework,” she confided, with five-digit ZIPs lodged in her mind.

With her Hawaiian music, she is a stickler for accuracy. Enunciation of Hawaiian lyrics matter; proper delivery counts. “When I did my ’81 Hapa Haole Tunes album, one song I recorded was ‘Aloha Oe,’ ” she recounted. “We recorded everything, and after it was pau, I was reviewing Queen Lili‘uokalani’s music in the archives, and discovered we did the bridge (she started singing ‘aloha ‘oe, aloha ‘oe, eke onaona i ka liko’) and realized (our) version was incorrect in part of the phrasing.” She instructed her producer husband, Jackie Farias, to return to the studio, at great expense, to right the wrong.

“When I sang the queen’s song, with the Navy Band at Punchbowl, the conductor stopped me after the performance and whispered in my ear, ‘Somebody knows how it’s written.’ ” Thus, when she sings the farewell anthem with the Royal Hawaiian Band, one of her current ongoing gigs, folks hear the version intended and supported by the queen. “I still keep my place with the Royal Hawaiian Band, because I have leverage; I can do my Hawaiian music.”

At MVT, her backup musicians will be Keawe Lopes, Chad Takatsugi and Iwalani Apo. Keawehawai‘i’s dancer-daughter Tracie is married to Lopes and share kumu duties of Ka La ‘Onohi Mai o Ha‘eha‘e halau, which will provide hula.

Keawehawai‘i plans to render a Japanese classic by the renowned Misora Hibari, which has been a potent, emotional surprise in her repertoire, embracing both Japanese and Hawaiian lyrics.

“This show could be my rehearsal for Blue Note ­Hawaii,” she joked, anticipating a date that has not yet been confirmed. …

WILLIE’S ON TRACK

Despite recently collapsing at a Maui Arts & Cultural Center gig, Willie K is on schedule to do a pair of upcoming Honolulu gigs, at 6:30 and 9 p.m. Tuesday at Blue Note Hawaii and at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 12 at Manoa Valley Theatre. He spent a night at Maui Memorial Hospital, diagnosed with dehydration, and assures fans and employers he’s chugging on. …

And that’s “Show Biz.”

Wayne Harada is a veteran entertainment columnist. Reach him at 266-0926 or wayneharada@gmail.com.