The Year in Entertainment: Local stages blazed with plays and concerts

Raiatea Helm, left, and Keola Beamer's duet album is one of the best Hawaiian albums of 2010. —Dennis Oda / doda@staradvertiser.com

2010 was a year of slow economic recovery for Hawaii and hard times for many Hawaii residents, but there was plenty happening in local entertainment.

The year’s biggest story was Bruno Mars’ meteoric rise from recording studio wiz to concert headliner. The guy we remember from 20 years ago as “the world’s youngest Elvis” received seven Grammy nominations. Six were for his work as a composer, producer or guest on other artists’ projects; his debut album, “Doo Wops & Hooligans,” was released four days too late to be eligible for the 2011 Grammys, but his first single, “Just the Way You Are,” made the deadline. When Mars played Level 4 in April, he was still largely under the radar — then his concert Dec. 19 at Blaisdell Arena was sold out.

The local record industry continued its transition from “physical albums” to downloads. Barely 100 CD titles in all genres were released by Hawaii artists in 2010, and many were distributed by the individual artist rather than by traditional distribution companies.

“Island Mele” covers all genres of locally recorded music but focuses at year’s end on the best Hawaiian albums of 2010 (in alphabetical order by title):

“Amy Hanaiali’i and Slack Key Masters of Hawai’i”: Amy Hanaiali’i and Slack Key Masters of Hawai’i (Mountain Apple Co.)
Six island entertainers pooled their talents to create a local “supergroup.”

“Ancient Hula Hawaiian Style Volume I: Hula Kuahu”: Various artists (HanaOla)
This thoroughly annotated introduction to some of the greatest chanters of the 20th century is one of 2010′s top two Hawaiian anthologies.

“Huana ke Aloha”: Tia Carrere (Daniel Ho Creations)
Carrere’s fourth project with Daniel Ho approaches Hawaiian language from a different direction, as they set Hawaiian lyrics to Western classical melodies.

“Keola Beamer & Raiatea”: Keola Beamer and Raiatea Helm (Starscape/Raiatea Helm)
Beamer and Helm mesh beautifully in a collection of recordings that shows their strength as a duo and as soloists.

“The Legendary Atta Isaacs”: Atta Isaacs (HanaOla)
The musical legacy of one of the greatest slack-key guitarists of the 20th century is documented with one of the year’s best Hawaiian music anthologies.

“Malama”: Kawaikapuokalani Hewett (Daniel Ho Creations)
Hewett addresses the themes of preserving, protecting and maintaining Hawaiian culture with chant and traditional Hawaiian percussion. There are complaints each year that the winner of the Grammy Award for Best Hawaiian Music album isn’t “Hawaiian enough” or doesn’t represent the traditional music of Hawaii. It doesn’t get more Hawaiian or more traditional than this.

“Willie Wonderland”: Willie K (Island Soul Entertainment)
Willie’s first Christmas album won a Hoku Award in 2000. His second is the front-runner for 2011.

The TGIF cover of the Honolulu Star-Advertiser for Friday, December 31.

ON STAGE, 2010 was a big year for community theater. More than 50 productions were presented on Oahu by a “community” of more than 15 groups. The schedule covered the full spectrum of modern theater from Shakespeare and Broadway classics to edgy 21st-century dramas and new works by island playwrights.

"Alice in Chinatown" was performed in the cabaret style. —Courtesy Photo

Here’s a look back (in alphabetical order) at the best local productions of 2010:

“Alice in Chinatown” (Cherry Blossom Cabaret)
Cabaret artists Mabsy (White Rabbit), La Femme Rikita (Alice) and Miss Fortune (Mad Hatter) had key roles in an imaginative PG-13 spin on the Lewis Carroll classic.

“Art” (All the World’s a Stage)
Paul Mitri, Ryan Westward and Tony Young were superb as friends torn apart by their differing opinions of an avant-garde painting.

“Closer” (All the World’s a Stage)
Jim Aina, Hannah Schauer Galli, Michelle Hurtubise and the actor currently known as Q were brilliant in AWS’ thought-provoking look at sex and love in contemporary relationships — staged and directed with great imagination in a Kaimuki warehouse.

“Crazy for You” (Diamond Head Theatre)
No local theater group does traditional big-scale Broadway musicals better than DHT. With David Spangenthal (Bobby) and Kathryn Mariko Lee (Polly) leading a stellar cast, this was outstanding on all counts.

“The Great Kauai Train Robbery” (Kumu Kahua)
Honolulu Star-Advertiser columnist Lee Cataluna’s first drama was her best work since “Da Mayah” in 1998. It was also one of Kumu Kahua’s best recent productions.

“Hamlet” (UH-Manoa)
Ryan Wuestewald (Hamlet) starred opposite Troy Apostol (Claudius) in a beautiful take on one of Shakespeare’s best-known works.

“Is He Dead?” (Hawaii Pacific University)
Rob Duval was hilarious as the cross-dressing star of this satirical comedy about art and culture.

“Joy Luck Club” (Diamond Head Theatre)
Kumu Kahua presented this modern classic twice in the ’90s. DHT cast some of the Kumu Kahua veterans in different roles and added imaginative staging, with equally impressive results.

“Julius Caesar” (Hawaii Shakespeare Festival)
Moses Goods (Brutus), Marcus Lee (Cassius) and Q (Antony) were the brightest stars in Hawaii Shakespeare Festival’s ambitious albeit uneven take on this classic tragedy.

“Just So Stories” (Honolulu Theatre for Youth)
Moses Goods, Maile Holck, Junior Tesoro, percussionist Babasango and Q starred in a production that was contemporary yet true to the original material.

“Little Women: The Musical” (Diamond Head Theatre)
Punahou senior Brittany Browning (Jo) led a superb cast in DHT’s beautifully staged production of this improbable but entertaining musical.

“Mauritius” (Hawaii Repertory Theatre)
Stamp collecting never seemed a “death sport” until this deceptively low-key thriller about the quest for a rare stamp and a stamp dealer’s revenge.

“Measure for Measure” (Hawaii Shakespeare Festival)
Stephen Mead (Angelo) and Danielle Vivarttas-Ahrnsbrak (Isabella) were the key players in director Linda Johnson’s neatly constructed take on this classic comedy.

“Nine” (Army Community Theatre)
Larry Paxton starred in Brett Harwood’s imaginative star-studded summer fundraiser production.

“Once on This Island” (Paliku Theatre)
The production values were outstanding in director Ron Bright’s staging of this Caribbean-theme musical fantasy about race, class, mortals and voodoo gods.

“The Shape of Things” (All the World’s a Stage)
Ryan Wuestewald and Michelle Hurtubise starred in a stunning tale of a geek’s makeover by a woman with a hidden agenda.

“Threepenny Opera” (Army Community Theatre)
Director Brett Harwood opened a bold new era at ACT with his impressive postmodern take on a Broadway classic.

“13″ (Castle Performing Arts Center)
Joshua Patberg stole the show as the “crippled kid” in this delightfully politically incorrect musical comedy.

“Topdog/Underdog” (The Actors Group)
Moses Goods and the actor currently known as Q were perfectly matched as relentlessly competitive brothers in this riveting contemporary drama.

Honolulu also enjoyed NETWork Productions’ big-budget, high-ticket national touring company productions of “Disney’s ‘Beauty and the Beast’” and “Cats.”

Bill Cosby with a Kamaka ukulele presented to him by musician Kalei Gamiao during his live show. —Bruce Asato / basato@staradvertiser.com

2010 was a surprisingly good year for concerts. Elton John opened the year with a superb three-hour concert in January, followed by Bon Jovi in February and Sammy Hagar at Pipeline Cafe in April. The Wonder Girls made good on their promise to play a rescheduled concert at Pipeline in July. Controversial Adam Lambert thrilled “Glam Nation” fans with a 70-minute show in the Blaisdell Concert Hall on Oct. 25. Peter Frampton served up more than 2 1/2 hours of excellent classic rock in the Concert Hall Nov. 15.

Comedy was well represented by Bill Cosby in the Blaisdell Concert Hall in January, Will Durst at Pipeline in January and Jo Koy doing three shows in two days at the Pipe in October.

And, to give the (young) devil his due, Justin Bieber fans got the thrill of their young lives when he played the Blaisdell Arena in October.

Elsewhere in local entertainment, Flash & Matty’s Apartment 3 emerged as a consistent best bet on the club scene, and Oceans 808 celebrated its second anniversary, but the Waikiki Showroom/Level 4 closed for good in September. The showroom was successful as a concert venue, but the overall operation never recovered from the problems that shut down its “Waikiki Nei” show and the “Heartbeat Waikiki” show that replaced it.

Crazybox opened in the Waikiki Edition in October. New clubs always enjoy about six months of easy success while everyone checks it out. We’ll check back on Crazybox in April.

Nancy Kwan, Vivian Hsu, director Zhang Yimou and the husband-and-wife team of directors Xiao Guiyun and Li Qian Kuan brought celebrity star power to the Hawaii International Film Festival in October.

Hawaii Opera Theatre opened 2010 with superb productions of “Marriage of Figaro,” “Die Walkurie” and “La Boheme” — and presented the year’s best “black tie” arts group fundraiser with “Opera Ball 2010″ in November. The Honolulu Symphony filed for bankruptcy and shut down for good in December. Ballet Hawaii hired some of the group’s musicians for its stellar production of “Nutcracker” later that month.

This retrospective would not be complete without mentioning the loss of Donald P. McDiarmid Jr., president emeritus of Hula Records, who resurrected his father’s record company in the late ’50s and produced some of the most important recordings in 20th-century Hawaiian music … Krash Kealoha, longtime Hawaiian radio personality and founder of the Na Hoku Hanohano Awards … and Al Masini, television production guru, who came to here to retire and then used his knowledge, experience and contacts to bring national television projects to Hawaii.