Hawaii Theatre
Hawaii
Pat Sajak Sets First Gig After ‘Wheel of Fortune’ Exit: A Community Theater ‘Columbo’ Play in Hawaii (EXCLUSIVE)
Pat Sajak — whose final episode after 41 seasons as host of “Wheel of Fortune” airs this Friday — has already lined up his first post-game show gig. Sajak is set to reunite with longtime buddy Joe Moore, the KHON-TV Hawai’i newscaster and actor, back on stage in a new take on the play “Prescription: Murder.”
Sajak and Moore will star opposite each other in the play at downtown Honolulu’s Hawaii Theatre next summer, from July 31 to Aug. 10, 2025. The Hawaii Theatre is set to reveal the news on Friday, via a commercial that will run on KHON-TV during Sajak’s final “Wheel” episode.
The 1962 mystery-thriller “Prescription: Murder” was written by William Link and Richard Levinson, who turned the play into the TV series “Columbo.” The plot to “Prescription: Murder” was adapted for the “Columbo” first episode.
In the Hawaii Theatre version, Sajak will play “brilliant psychiatrist Roy Flemming, who hatches a plot with a perfect alibi to murder his neurotic and possessive wife.” Moore will play Lt. Columbo, “the seemingly bumbling detective who engages the psychiatrist in a cat-and-mouse battle of wits right up to the play’s surprising climax.”
Rob Duval will direct the play, which will also feature cast members Bryce Moore (Moore’s son, who has also followed in his footsteps as a reporter at KHON), Therese Olival, Amy K. Sullivan and Aiko Chinen.
This reps the ninth play that Sajak has performed with Moore, beginning in 1993 with Moore’s original play “Prophecy and Honor.” Other plays they’ve performed together include “The Odd Couple” (2001), “The Honeymooners” (2004), “The Boys in Autumn” (2010), “Wrestling Ernest Hemingway” (2014), “Dial M for Murder” (2018) and “The Sunshine Boys” (2023). Most of these performances have been at the Hawaii Theatre; in 2012, they also traveled to the Connecticut Repertory Theatre in Storrs, Conn., to perform “The Odd Couple” there.
“Prescription: Murder,” like their past plays there, will serve as a fundraiser for the non-profit Hawaii Theatre. Sajak and Moore have known each other since 1968, when they met and served together at the American Forces Vietnam Network in Saigon.
Moore is a legend in Hawaii, having worked in local TV since 1969, first as a sportscaster at KGMB before taking over as lead news anchor at KHON in 1980 — where he began an unprecedented run leading the market’s No. 1 newscast. That actually makes his tenure there even longer than Sajak’s remarkable 41-year career on “Wheel.”
During his tenure hosting “Wheel of Fortune” alongside Vanna White (who will continue on the show), Sajak has won the Daytime Emmy for outstanding game show host three times, with 19 total nominations. Ryan Seacrest is set to take over as host of “Wheel of Fortune” this fall.
Sajak told KHON last year, when he was in Honolulu for “The Sunshine Boys,” that ending his run on “Wheel” was “celebratory mixed with melancholy. I’ve been thinking about this for a long time. I’ve known that this was coming, and I talked about it with good friends and Joe and my family. So I’ve had time to get used to the idea. It’s not like I woke up the other day and said, ‘You know, it’s over.’ So there’s that. But it’s mixed emotions sure.”
As for his plans for the future, as he said back then, “I’m realistic enough to know the people aren’t gonna be banging my door down. But I’ll take projects if they come. But I suspect most of my time will be whittling on the front porch, but I don’t know how to whittle and I don’t have a front porch so that’ll be a challenge.”
Tickets to the run of “Prescription: Murder” are available here; and you can watch a promo for the play here.
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – The Hawaii Foodbank will host a food drive on Monday for families affected by the federal government shutdown, but registration has already filled up.
The foodbank said the Government Shutdown Relief Food Distribution will take place on Monday from 9 to 11 a.m. at the Waipio Soccer Complex.
The foodbank said households must meet one of the following eligibility requirements:
- Currently receiving benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
- Experiencing loss of wages due to furlough (federal government employees only)
- Experiencing loss of employment (federal government employees only)
- Meeting income eligibility guidelines for assistance through the Emergency Food Assistance Program
The foodbank said that income eligibility requirements include:
| Household/Family Size | Annual Income equal to or less than: |
|---|---|
| 1 | $53,970 |
| 2 | $72,960 |
| 3 | 91,950 |
| 4 | 110,940 |
| 5 | 129,930 |
| 6 | 148,920 |
| 7 | 167,910 |
| 8 | 186,900 |
The foodbank said that households and families larger than eight should add $18,900 for each additional person.
Advanced registration for Monday’s food distribution was required.
As of 4:20 p.m., the Hawaii Foodbank said Monday’s event at the Waipio Soccer Complex is full.
Click here for more information on other food distribution events and additional resources.
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Copyright 2025 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.
LIHUE (HawaiiNewsNow) – Hula, memories and aloha filled the Kilohana Plantation grounds Saturday as hundreds turned out to honor the life of Jonelle Marie Leināʻala Pavao-Jardin.
She died on Oct. 4 at the age of 51 after a 15-month battle with pancreatic cancer.
“I knew my mom was such an amazing person, but she lived such a humble, humble life, so truly I didn’t know what to expect today, how many people would be here, but it’s felt so nice,” said her daughter, Jeslie Pavao.
As kumu hula for the award-winning Hālau Ka Lei Mokihana O Leināʻala, she touched countless lives over her nearly 30 years of teaching hula.
Generations of her dancers took the stage one last time for their kumu at her celebration of life.
“She was always kind. Even when we were dancing together with Kumu Ray, she was always funny, so much fun to be around. Just her spirit. She was always light. She was always so easy to get along with,” said Keano Kaupu, longtime friend and kumu hula of Hālau Hiʻiakaināmakalehua.
The celebration not only honored her life and rich legacy of hula, and highlighted her very strong sense of faith in that got her through so many of life’s challenges.
Daughter Jeslie said, “I went back to medical school two days after my mom passed. They asked me how I’ve done it and it’s really because of my faith in God and if I didn’t have my faith, I wouldn’t be OK and that truly comes from my mom and how she raised us to just trust Ke Akua, love him and follow his journey for us.”
Musician and longtime friend Ikaika Blackburn said, “She grew up surrounded by the warmth of her close-knit family where her parents instilled in her the values of love, kindness, generosity, and resilience that she carried with her and shared with each of us throughout her life.”
“That phrase, live like Leināʻala, so true. If you think of life like that, you going be happy,” said Kumu Keano.
As Kauai mourns the loss of her physical presence, they says her spirit will live on forever through the heart of the halau, now led by her daughter, Kumu Breeze Pavao.
Kumu Leināʻala leaves behind her husband, Sean, daughters Breeze and Jeslie, and son Napali.
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Copyright 2025 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Nurses and respiratory therapists with the Hawaii Nurses’ Association presented a petition to Hawaii Pacific Health and Kapiolani Medical Center leaders, Friday, urging them to reach a resolution with staff currently on strike.
The hospital’s technicians, housekeeping staff, dietary team members, and others had been on strike for two weeks when the nurses and respiratory therapists intervened on behalf of their co-workers.
Nurses at Kapiolani Medical Center were locked out of their jobs for 22 days after they went on strike in September.
Nurses are urging hospital leaders to “put mothers, children and babies ahead of their own financial self-interests, return to the bargaining table to negotiate in good faith, and provide fair compensation for the employees represented by the Hawaii Teamsters and Allied Employees, Local 996.”
Copyright 2025 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.
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