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‘Master of a throwaway line’ … Wendy Liebman

"I've been doing stand-up for 30 years," shared Wendy Liebman by phone last week. Like frequent Maui visitor Brian Regan, she may not be a household name, but is certainly a familiar face from her numerous appearances alongside Johnny Carson, David Letterman, Jay Leno, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel and Craig Ferguson, in addition to Howard Stern choosing her as a semifinalist on "America's Got Talent."Recent events have made Liebman's name better known, as joke-stealing and alleged plagiary by Amy Schumer are making Hollywood headlines.The brouhaha began when Liebman heard that Schumer was ...

Talents on the rise

Youth theater flourishes on Maui as a result of the constant challenges instructors place upon young actors. Just as in youth athletics, there are rebuilding years, transition years and the years of excellence. Asking teenagers to master the 350-year-old words of Moliere, in verse no less, is the equivalent of asking a middle-ager to master a new computer program followed by a presentation from a convention stage. Giving said presentation without making a major mistake is a substantial achievement.A foolish man under the thumb of confident, educated women is a classic comedy vehicle, but ...

Maui OnStage’s ‘Guys and Dolls’ a winning revival

My love and familiarity with Broadway musicals began in childhood, mostly from listening to old scratchy LPs with a skip or two. Frequently I would lift the arm off the record player, fast-forwarding the old-fashioned way, past what were in my opinion, the boring songs. What I know now is that through quality characterization, an outstanding performer can resuscitate an old song, transforming the boring to captivating.In Maui OnStage's production of "Guys and Dolls," Leighanna Locke portrays Sarah Brown, head of the Save-A-Soul Mission band, and enchants audiences with what could've ...

‘Guys and Dolls’

Maui OnStage surveys audience members annually asking them to assist in choosing their upcoming season. Last spring, "Guys and Dolls" was the overwhelming vote-getter.Frank Loesser's 1950 Tony Award- and Pulitzer Prize-winning musical is certainly beloved, with its many well-known songs like "Bushel and a Peck," "Take Back Your Mink," "Luck Be a Lady" and "Sit Down, You're Rocking the Boat," but taking on familiar fare isn't as easy as you might think. For two reasons, Golden-age Broadway musicals can be mammoth undertakings, to say the least. Audiences of the 1950s and '60s were much ...

‘Dancing at Lughnasa’

Irish playwright Brian Friel is frequently compared to both Tennessee Williams and August Wilson. Like Wilson, whose 10-play "Pittsburgh Cycle" was set in Pittsburgh's Hill District, Friel's frequent setting is the fictional community of Ballybeg (Gaelic for little town) in County Donegal, Ireland. Friel, upon his passing last year, was hailed by drama critics as the "Irish Chekhov," and "the voice of Ireland." Though perhaps lesser-known than the plays of his American counterparts, Friel's Tony Award-winning "Dancing at Lughnasa" is considered to be his masterpiece.This memory play, ...

Modern ministry: Baldwin presents ‘Godspell’

The closing of ProArts Inc.'s production of "And Then There Were None" this weekend is by no means an omen of things slowing down on Maui. If anything, it's quite the opposite.As spring approaches, we are now entering the heart of the Maui performing arts season with three to four plays in production nearly every week through May. One of my all-time favorites, "Godspell," opens this weekend.Three years ago, Kamehameha Schools Maui Drama Club presented the musical. A Maui News reader contacted me about that Backstage feature on "Godspell." He pointed out that he attended college with ...