By Craig T. Kojima, Star-Bulletin
Karen Keawehawaii, left, Jim Nabors and Emma
Veary perform together tomorrow through Sunday.
Nabors’ labor
of loveThe singing star hopes to
By Tim Ryan
bring his annual concert
to television
Star-BulletinLife is "good, very good," actor and singer Jim Nabors says from the den of his oceanfront home near Black Point.
"Every day is a bonus that I'm here. I mean, every single moment of every single day. And I feel it just as much during the year as I do during the holidays."
It's been nearly five years since Nabors underwent a liver transplant at the UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles. And though he's slowed down a bit, Nabors is still working "a-plenty" with several business ideas in the offing.
But what's on the mind of the former "Gomer Pyle" star is the second annual "A Merry Christmas with Friends and Nabors" concert with Emma Veary, Karen Keawehawaii and the Honolulu Symphony, conducted by Sam Wong.
Also appearing with be the Diamond Head Theatre Shooting Stars, Ka Waiola O Na Pukanileo, Kawaianuhealehua, La Pietra Show Choir, Na Keiki O Hula Hui O Kapunahale, Na Leo Kuhookahi Ensemble, Robyn Veary Kneubuhl, Tracie Farias.
Nabors, who receives no fee for his participation, is the show's host and co-producer, along with Hawaii Theatre and the Honolulu Symphony.
"It's a fun show, a labor of love for me," said Nabors, as friendly a celebrity you'll find on the planet. "And it's a way of me saying aloha to all the people in Hawaii who've been fans and supporters."
The '98 version of "Friends and Nabors" is a lot like last year's, with a program of traditional Christmas songs with a distinctive Hawaii flavor.
"Christmas is a time for caroling and things that are warm and near to you. I really don't want to hear new (music) during the holidays. Give me 'Silent Night' and 'Come All Ye Faithful.' "
Nabors believes the show is unique enough to warrant a television special. When he sings "Silent Night" in English, Emma Veary sings the song in Hawaiian while dancers perform a hula. Nabors deliberately has kept the show "local."
"I don't want to tie it in to my group of friends on the mainland. They would be great, but this show should be Hawaiian."
The producers earlier this year approached ABC about a TV special, but the network already had locked up its Christmas specials. A big step is to get sponsors, and Nabors hopes that perhaps the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau could get onboard, using the show as a marketing tool.
"It would be great for Hawaii to have its own Rockettes type of show, something that visitors could count on seeing here every year," he said.
Nabors recently finished a six-performance gig at Harrah's in Atlantic City and will perform New Years Eve at the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas.
Following his transplant, Nabors had to travel to Los Angeles monthly for a series of treatments that took eight to 12 hours. He considered selling his properties and leaving Hawaii, his home for 30 years, because he had to be away from Hawaii for so long. But major advances in hyper immuno gamma globulin -- an antibody that protects Nabors from hepatitis -- now allows it be given in two quick injections, enabling him to remain in Hawaii.
When he's not on the road.
Next year he has engagements lined up in Europe and Branson, Mo. Nabors also will record an album of gospel songs and market a candy bar incorporating nuts from his 500-acre macadamia farm in Hana, Maui. The candy bar will bear his name and caricature.
A Merry Christmas with
Friends and NaborsConcert times: 7:30 p.m. tomorrow and Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday
