Keala Settle, the breakout star from “The Greatest Showman,” will be part of Fox’s live telecast of “Rent,” airing Jan. 27.
Settle’s indelible and powerful delivery of “This Is Me” has emerged as a significant signature for the P.T. Barnum biopic starring Hugh Jackman originally conceived as a Broadway musical, and it still may make it to the Great White Way.
But back to “Rent:” The Jonathan Larson rock opera, based on “La Boheme” with updated bohemian virtues, has assembled a roster of mostly budding stars but a few (like Vanessa Hudgens) already on the show-biz map. Settle, who has Hawaii origins, will join the ensemble to deliver perhaps the show’s signature song, “Seasons of Love.”
And the countdown — think 525,600 minutes (borrowing the timetable from “Seasons of Love”) — will coincide with the show’s 20th anniversary in 2019. (Local footnote No. 1: “Rent” will be on stage at Blaisdell Concert Hall later this year, along with “The Phantom of the Opera” and “The Illusionists.” Local footnote No. 2: the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning show was originally produced by Kevin McCollum, a successful Broadway figure with Honolulu roots). …
HEALTHY NEW YEAR
We’ve been calling Joy Abbott a bionic woman, since she’s had a rash of surgical procedures last year. Abbott, a sometimes singer and part-time Honolulu resident, is the widow of legendary Broadway producer-director George Abbott. She had a pre-Christmas surgery — for an abdominal hernia — in Miami, where she is recuperating, eager to play golf again and prepping for a Jan. 19-20 concert with the Miami Symphony. Hopefully, 2019 will be a surgery-free year. …
Singer Melveen Leed also had a season of ups and downs, healthwise. She battled a case of shingles, though she’s in remission with her leukemia issues. In a holiday text, she vowed, “I will sing again for you when I can, although I will be slowing down a bit more.” And auwe, she caught a cold, too, over the holidays. …
HITHER AND YON
Comedian Frank De Lima has been shivering, but enjoying his European trek to Portugal; Barcelona; Marseille, France; and Pisa, Florence and Rome in Italy. Even posted an online rap about the food he’s been discovering. …
Loretta Ables Sayre, the island singer-actor and Tony nominee, had her clan gather at her Mililani Mauka home recently. In front of a super-tall Christmas tree a-lit and decorated next to the home’s staircase, the ohana gathered for an iPhone moment. …
And at their Portlock home, Jack and Cha Thompson of Tihati Productions also used their stairway for a rare pic of all their grandkids gathered at a Christmas dinner. …
CALENDAR CUES
Director Vanita Rae Smith has scheduled a double bill of one-woman Readers Theatre fare at Pohai Nani, 45-090 Namoku St., in Kaneohe. “The Belle of Amherst” features Jan McGrath as Emily Dickinson at 7 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday. Jo Pruden stars as Lillian Hellman in “Lillian” at 2 p.m. Jan. 13. Both are William Luce plays, filled with warm reflections (some happy, some sad) from iconic literary figures. Admission is free, but call 265-1975 or 225-6927 to ensure seating. …
Kuana Torres Kahele makes a special appearance at the Hawaii Restaurant Association’s “Winter in Hawaii” event, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday at Tiki’s in Waikiki. Admission is $55 for HRA members, $75 for others, with Tiki’s and Duke’s Waikiki providing the food. Information: 421-8792 or hawaiirestaurant.org. …
And that’s “Show Biz.”
Wayne Harada is a veteran entertainment columnist. Reach him at 266-0926 or wayneharada@gmail.com.
