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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Friday, December 15, 2006

Last Christmas for 'Friends & Nabors'

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By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Writer

Jim Nabors, star of "A Merry Christmas With Friends & Nabors" at the Hawai'i Theatre, is ending the traditional holiday series after 10 years following this weekend's concerts.

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'A MERRY CHRISTMAS WITH FRIENDS & NABORS'

7:30 p.m. today and Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday

Hawai'i Theatre

$25-$75; discounts for students, seniors, military

528-0506, www.hawaiitheatre.com

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It's the final bow for "A Merry Christmas With Friends & Nabors," a holiday tradition at the Hawai'i Theatre for 10 seasons.

"I'm going to miss it," Jim Nabors said about the rehearsals, the excitement, the joy of putting together a lavish production. "You always say 'never say never,' but this is it. Truly. It's no bull."

The veteran of the classic TV sitcom "Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C," which canonized Pvt. Gomer Pyle in a spinoff from "The Andy Griffith Show," said his decision to end the concert series was largely based on the death earlier this year of his longtime friend and show director, Tom Hansen.

"Tom's passing certainly was a factor," he said. "I miss him. We were together for 30 years, after meeting when he was shooting his TV show next to mine. When I started going to Nevada and doing shows in Las Vegas, I got him to stage my shows." (Hansen was choreographer of "The Red Skelton Show.")

Nabors said Hansen's work style — choreographing amateur and professional performers at the downtown theater with trooplike movement on stage, off stage, in the aisles and in the balcony — was masterful.

"When I first asked Tom to come on over, I told him, 'Don't expect to make any money; it's a freebie.' And he came."

The production has been Nabors' gift to the residents of Hawai'i that ultimately "became one big lovefest," said Nabors, who received no pay as the centerpiece of the show.

"It's been a wonderful gift for me, too," he said. "I've enjoyed every single year of doing it. There was genuine love from everybody in the cast."

He has no doubt that John Rampage, artistic director of the Diamond Head Theatre, will successfully fill Hansen's shoes for this weekend's finale. "I know John will do a fantastic job," Nabors said. Whether the concept of the variety show continues after his departure is uncertain.

Nabors' cast from the get-go included singers Karen Keawehawai'i and Emma Veary, who convened each year in a reunion not unlike a family homecoming. In recent years, Jimmy Borges joined the roster of singers.

The Hawai'i Theatre Orchestra was organized a couple of years ago to provide music, tapping the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra musicians and conductor Matt Catingub.

The show also has traditionally boasted the puppetry of Phil Huber & the Huber Marionettes, the Diamond Head Theatre Shooting Stars, several chorales and hula halau dancers, plus the keiki of Hula Hui O Kapunahala O Nu'uanu, which often provided impromptu but lasting moments when Nabors would talk story with the wee ones.

"Over the years, I've run into so many youths who did our show earlier," Nabors said. "They're all grown up and are good-looking, handsome kids. The little ones will say, 'I was only so-and-so (age)' and it's been a real pleasure for me. But I will be 77 next year; it's been a hell of a run. It's time."

So what does he plan to do for that inevitable exit?

"I'm not very good at this," he said of goodbyes. "So I'm not planning anything. To be honest with you, sometimes I fear I'd get too emotional. It's hard not to be sad. I want to go out happy."

He sighed.

"I've been totally blessed with a great career and great friends. After a while, you stockpile your memories."

Reach Wayne Harada at wharada@honoluluadvertiser.com.