Loretta Ables Sayre, touring Europe as Bloody Mary in "South Pacific," had a backstage ordeal in Wimbledon, England.
Someone entered her dressing room and stole her wallet, checkbook, iPad and BlackBerry while she was doing warm-up exercises onstage. Closed-circuit security tapes could not pinpoint a culprit, and the dressing room area did not have cameras because actors do quick costume changes between scenes.
"It was a matter of 20 minutes," Ables Sayre said. "So the long and short of it is that it had to have been someone who worked in or for the theater."
Doors are routinely left unlocked because crews drop off mics and change batteries while dressers leave wardrobe items and props before curtain.
She lost beloved photos on her iPad and phone, along with valuable phone numbers, addresses and emails.
Ables Sayre had to cancel and replace credit cards, put a remote lock on her iPad, deactivate the sim card in her phone and reconstruct her life following her evening performance.
To add to the duress, she got word of the passing back home of her beloved dog, Makamaka. "The heartache of losing Maka and then having this happen has certainly put a damper on being here," she said. So she’s thrilled to move on to Edinburgh, "a breathtakingly beautiful city. I couldn’t get out of Wimbledon fast enough." …
WIZARD OF ODDS: "Wheel of Fortune" host Pat Sajak and KHON anchor Joe Moore will spend summer vacation performing in Neil Simon‘s "The Odd Couple" June 21 through July 8 at the Connecticut Repertory Theatre in Storrs. David Stern, a CRT board member, saw the ex-Army buddies and theater devotees play Felix Unger (Sajak) and Oscar Madison (Moore) at the Hawaii Theatre and made them an offer to reprise their roles.
"Pat and I had talked about revisiting ‘Odd Couple’ for several years, and KHON was nice enough to allow me to take an unprecedented month’s vacation at one time to do it," said Moore.
"The timing was perfect," said Sajak, "and the six performances we did in Hawaii were not enough to get this classic play out of our system." Rehearsals begin June 10 in person; for their Hawaii shows, the duo rehearsed via phone because of logistics. …
NO PAIN, NO GAIN: Joy Abbott, who splits time between Honolulu and Florida, has recovered from surgery. She managed to see Cathy Foy as Bloody Mary ("terrific") in a touring "South Pacific" at the Broward Performing Arts Center before undergoing shoulder replacement surgery at Broward Medical Center in Ft. Lauderdale, and plans a June return to her Honolulu apartment for more recouping and rest. "Then I will be pain-free for the summer," said Abbott. …
PERSONALITIES: John Rampage, director of Diamond Head Theatre’s "Titanic the Musical," stepped in to play John Jacob Astor, subbing for Federico Biven, who had a family emergency. Rampage had to jump into a sinking ship, complete with sliding bodies and tilted decks created by tech director Willie Sabel. "Titanic" has been extended till April 22. …
Lauren German, not an endearing Lori Weston (a homeland security officer and would-be love interest for Alex O’Loughlin‘s Steve McGarrett) in her 15 appearances on CBS’ "Hawaii Five-0," has joined an NBC pilot on firefighters called "Chicago Fire," created by Dick Wolf of the "Law & Order" franchise. Could she thus be the "Five-0" team member killed off in the finale on May 14? …
MOVEMENTS:Ballet Hawaii’s Summer Intensive program will stage Washington Ballet’s "Alice in Wonderland" Aug. 11 and 12 at Blaisdell Concert Hall, so company members Pamela Taylor-Tongg, Lesley Young and Carl Nash trekked to D.C. for a look-see. …
Maggie Herron and Rocky Holmes now appear at the Halekulani’s Lewers Lounge. …
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.
