By Taylor Hall
Advertiser Staff Writer

Heartbeat Hawaii, a theatrical show, will be the first production inside the newly renamed Royal Hawaiian Theater after the closing of "Waikiki Nei" last fall.

The musical production, scheduled to open July 17, is looking for eight male and six female local dancers to join an estimated 60 performers, marital artists and aerialists from Beijing.

The theme for the show is "Hawai'i is the world" and will focus on Hawai'i as a "melting pot," said Roy Tokujo, managing partner for the Royal Hawaiian Theater and Level 4, a nightclub that shares space with the showroom in the Royal Hawaiian Center in Waikiki.

"The show fits the present market coming to Hawai'i," Tokujo said.

It will be the eighth production for Dr. Dennis Law, a retired surgeon who started his Denver-based production company, Sight, Sound & Action Ltd., in 2001. "Heartbeat Hawaii" will be a joint venture between the Royal Hawaiian Theater and Sight, Sound & Action Ltd.

Law's previous production, "Heartbeat," toured through Hawai'i several years ago, although Tokujo said there is no connection between the two shows.

"Waikiki Nei" closed in October for what Tokujo called "a variety of reasons," including low ticket sales.

Tokujo also said "Heartbeat Hawaii" is not going to conflict with Level 4's late-night schedule. The show will run Tuesdays through Sundays, starting at 7 p.m.

The Royal Hawaiian Theater and Level 4 nightclub space cost an estimated $20 million to build and morphs from a theater to a club for dual space requirements. The second round of auditions for the show will be at 10 a.m. Thursday at the Royal Hawaiian Theater on the fourth floor of the Royal Hawaiian Center. Registration is at 9 a.m.

http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20090616/BUSINESS02/906160314/New+show+hopes+to+pump+up+theater