I’ve talked recently with a few islanders who remember that in the 1940s and 1950s, a popular concert venue in Honolulu was the McKinley High School auditorium.
Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Liberace, Xavier Cugat and many others performed there. Students were welcome, but the concerts were largely for the general public.
Most hotels didn’t have big showrooms back then. Concert promoters had a choice of Honolulu Stadium — outdoors and possibly in the rain — or the Civic Auditorium at 1314 S. King St., which may have been booked or was too expensive.
A 1930 Honolulu Star- Bulletin article complained of terrible mosquitoes at the McKinley auditorium. Did they not have screens on the windows?
Theater historian Lowell Angell said, “When McKinley High School Auditorium was built in 1927, the windows were not screened. Being next door to the Ward estate, with its natural artesian spring and large lagoon, mosquitoes were inevitable.
“It was used frequently for concerts and community events because it was the largest-capacity venue (1,114 seats) next to the Hawaii Theatre (1,760 seats) and Princess Theatre (1,650 seats), both of which were basically unavailable for rental by outside groups.
“McKinley continued to be used for concerts until the Blaisdell Center Concert Hall (then Honolulu International Center Concert Hall) was built in 1964, with 2,158 seats,” Angell says.
Inspired by Bing Crosby
Frank Sinatra attended a Bing Crosby concert in a Jersey City, N.J., vaudeville house in 1933 and decided to become a singer. He was 18 years old.
He sang with various groups and released an album in 1946. It was well received, and his income shot up to over $400,000 annually ($4 million today).
But by 1952 his bobby-socks-clad, swooning female fans grew up and turned their attention elsewhere. His record sales and television and movie appearances dropped to almost nothing.
Sinatra’s first Hawaii concerts
Fred Matsuo — Shiro’s brother — was a local concert promoter. He brought the bow-tied baritone to McKinley for four nights — April 24-27. Tickets were $1.80 to $3.60 (about $15 to $30 in today’s dollars).
After his concerts at McKinley, Sinatra sang at the Kauai County Fair. “He performed before a crowd of a few hundred fans under a dilapidated tent that was leaking due to the rain,” said my researcher, Steve Miura. “Even his fancy tuxedo got wet during his performance.”
“In spite of the dreary conditions, Sinatra put on a terrific performance. He said that he was motivated by the warmth and friendliness of the fans in attendance. He said that the people deserved a great performance and with tears in his eyes said, ‘It is a night that I will never forget.’”
Sinatra told Executive Editor Buck Buchwach of The Honolulu Advertiser that he predicted things would get better for him soon. “Tonight marks the first night on the way back. I can feel it in every bone in my body.”
‘From Here to Eternity’
Sinatra visited Hawaii often to work or relax. When his career was ebbing, his 1953 role of Private Angelo Maggio in “From Here to Eternity,” set in Honolulu, earned him an Oscar for best supporting actor and got his career back on track.
Sinatra had read the book and felt the role of Maggio would be perfect for him, Miura continued. He fought to get the part and worked for only $8,000. The other actors earned in the six figures.
Sinatra later told Buchwach that when he walked up on stage to get his Academy Award, he remembered getting two lei from little Hawaiian girls at the fair. “It was at that moment at the Kauai County Fair that everything seemed to go right for me.”
Near drowning
Ten years later, in May 1964, Sinatra was on Kauai filming the movie “None but the Brave.”
The Honolulu Advertiser reported that Ruth Koch, wife of producer Howard Koch, went for a swim in Wailua Bay, not far from the Coco Palms Resort, where Elvis Presley filmed “Blue Hawaii.”
While enjoying her swim, she found herself pulled out to sea by an undertow. Sinatra, who was on the shore, saw what had happened and swam out to help her.
However, he also was trapped by the undertow and pulled 200 yards out to sea. He tried unsuccessfully for about 15 minutes to get back to shore.
Someone on shore called the Kauai Fire Department, while fellow actor Brad Dexter and two surfers tried to help out.
Fortunately, Sinatra and Ruth Koch were finally rescued and brought back to shore. Lt. George Keawe of the Kauai Fire Department said about Sinatra, “In another five minutes he would have been gone. His face was turning blue.”
Sinatra later said, “I am about the luckiest man in the world. Another couple of minutes out there and I would have had it.”
Aiding an ailing pal
In 1977 Buchwach was recovering from open-heart surgery in Houston. Sinatra sent his personal jet to whisk Buchwach to Buchwach’s brother’s home in Oregon, where he convalesced.
“He wanted to spare me the hassle of a commercial flight,” Buchwach said. For 30 days, every afternoon at about 2, a cheerful Sinatra called his friend. “I know those calls helped speed my recovery,” the appreciative newsman said.
‘Magnum, P.I.’
Toward the end of his career, the 71-year old Sinatra guest-starred on “Magnum, P.I.” in 1987. In his last major television or movie role, Sinatra played a New York City cop pursuing his granddaughter’s killer all the way to Hawaii.
Tom Selleck and co-star Larry Manetti had attended a concert Sinatra gave in Hawaii and dined with him after. Sinatra “talked about our show — about particular episodes,” Selleck recalls, “so I knew he wasn’t just being polite when he said he was a big fan. Then off the cuff, he just asked, ‘What would you guys think about me doing one?’” Selleck and the producers jumped at the offer.
Sinatra came to town for the filming, and his entourage took over an entire floor in the Colony Surf hotel at Diamond Head.
“I haven’t had so much fun since ‘Eternity,’” Sinatra said. It was a great partnership. The episode, titled “Laura,” was the highest-rated “Magnum” show ever.
Sinatra suggested Selleck could be his new sidekick. “We could do a wonderful romantic comedy. We could be here or in New York or Monte Carlo, and the two of us could go out looking for girls together!”
Selleck was delighted to work with Sinatra. “The biggest thrill of all is that he accepted me as a peer,” Selleck said.
Maui
Tom Anusewicz told me he met Sinatra when he ran the private aviation terminal on Maui.
Barbara Sinatra and her friends arrived a few days earlier than Frank and stayed in Willie Nelson’s Sprecklesville, Maui, home.
“Barbara called me and asked if we could do something special for Frank when he arrived,” Anusewicz recalled. “She was thinking she and three girlfriends could all do the hula. I said we could do that. I arranged for a group with ukuleles and got them all fixed up in grass skirts.
“We had a hibiscus bush outside our office, so they all had one behind an ear.
“Frank was going to come in early, around 7:30 a.m., and the girls felt they needed to get there early at 5 a.m. to practice. They asked for screwdrivers upon arrival that morning to ‘loosen up for their performance.’ They were doing more drinking than practicing, but it seemed to work out fine when he landed.”
The plane’s door opened and Frank came down the stairs. The musicians started playing. He saw all the girls dancing the hula, giggling. These are the worst hula dancers I’ve ever seen, he must have thought. Then he recognized his wife and her friends, Anusewicz said. It was a hoot!
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Have a question or suggestion? Contact Bob Sigall, author of the five “The Companies We Keep” books, at Sigall@Yahoo.com.
