Edward Kamanaloha Kenney, Jr. (August 8, 1933 – October 5, 2018) was an American singer and actor from Hawaii best known for the role of "Wang Ta" in the original

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

production of ''

Flower Drum Song ''Flower Drum Song'' was the eighth musical theatre, musical by the team of Rodgers and Hammerstein. It is based on the 1957 novel, ''The Flower Drum Song'', by Chinese-American author C. Y. Lee (author), C. Y. Lee. It premiered on Broadway the ...

.'' In retirement, he lived on the island of Kaua‘i and occasionally made public appearances.

Family

Born in

Honolulu Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

on Oahu to a Hawaiian-Chinese mother and a Swedish-Irish father. He married Judy Bailey and lived on Kauai. Kenney was married to hula dancer Beverly Noa and was the father of

restaurateur, Edward Kenney, III. Kenney and Noa headlined shows at the

Royal Hawaiian Hotel The Royal Hawaiian Hotel is a beachfront luxury hotel located in Waikiki in Honolulu, Hawaii, on the island of Oahu. It is part of The Luxury Collection brand of Marriott International. One of the first hotels established in Waikiki, the Royal ...

and the

Halekulani Hotel Halekulani (var. Halekūlani) is an oceanfront luxury hotel located on Waikiki Beach in Honolulu, Hawaii. Built in 1984, it contains 453 rooms in five buildings on of property. The name Halekūlani is a combination of Hawaiian language, Hawai ...

for years. They reunited for a Honolulu television show on

KGMB KGMB (channel 5) is a television station in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States, serving the Hawaiian Islands as an affiliate of CBS. It is owned by Gray Media alongside dual NBC/Telemundo affiliate KHNL (channel 13) and Kailua-Kona–licensed KFVE ...

-TV in the 1980s.

Stage credits

Broadway

* '' 13 Daughters'' as Mana, Prince of Hawai‘i (1961) * ''

'' as Wang Ta (1958–1960) * ''

Shangri-La Shangri-La is a fictional place in Tibet's Kunlun Mountains, Uses the spelling 'Kuen-Lun'. described in the 1933 novel '' Lost Horizon'' by the British author James Hilton. Hilton portrays Shangri-La as a mystical, harmonious valley, gently ...

'' as Rimshi (1956)

Honolulu Community Theater

* Principal "Ali Baba" role during late 1960s in large hit production of ''Kismet'' musical. *Various other productions (1950s and after)

University of Oregon

* ''

Brigadoon ''Brigadoon'' is a musical with book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and score by Frederick Loewe. The plot features two American tourists who stumble upon Brigadoon, a mysterious Scottish village that appears for only one day every 100 years; on ...

President William McKinley High School Theater

* ''13 Daughters'' as ''Chun'' (late 1980s)

Hawaii Theatre

* ''13 Daughters'' as ''Kahuna'' (early 1990s)

Discography

Albums

Solo

* ''Exotic Sounds of the Spice Island'' ( Columbia, 1960) * ''My Hawai‘i'' (Columbia, 1962) (later reissued with a different cover on a Columbia budget label, Harmony) * ''Ed Kenney's Hawaii'' ( ABC/Paramount, 1962) (later reissued with a different cover by

Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, record label * Decca Gold, classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, musical theater record label * Decca Studios, recording facility in West ...

, 196?) * ''Somewhere in Hawai‘i'' (Waikiki, 1964) * ''Waikiki'' (Decca, 1966) * ''Royal Hawaiian Luau'' (Decca, 1967) * ''An Island'' (Lehua, 1977)

Included

* ''Hawaii's Favorite Christmas Songs – Vol 2'' (1999) * ''Hawaii's Sunset Melodies'' (1996) * ''Hawaii's Golden Treasures'' (1996) * ''Hawaii's Favorite Christmas Songs'' (1993) * ''Flower Drum Song: 1958 Original Broadway Cast'' (1958)

Singles

* "Numbah One Day of Christmas" the

Hawaiian Pidgin Hawaiian Pidgin (known formally in linguistics as Hawaiʻi Creole English or HCE and known locally as Pidgin) is an English-based creole language spoken in Hawaiʻi. An estimated 600,000 residents of Hawaii speak Hawaiian Pidgin natively and ...

version of '' The Twelve Days of Christmas'' Co-wrote this with Eaton "Bob" Magoon, Jr.'Eaton Magoon, Jr.'
''

Playbill ''Playbill'' is an American monthly magazine for Audience, theatergoers. Although there is a subscription issue available for home delivery, most copies of ''Playbill'' are printed for particular productions and distributed at the door as the ...

''. (New York City). (''13 Daughters'' composer) and Gordon Phelps.

References

External links

*
Liner notes from ''My Hawaii'' album
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kenney, Ed 1933 births 2018 deaths Musicians from Honolulu American male musical theatre actors Nightclub performers American people of Chinese descent American people of Swedish descent American people of Irish descent