Moore, Sajak return in 'Sunshine Boys'

Jun. 13—Longtime TV newscaster Joe Moore and his friend, game-show host Pat Sajak, revive their long-running acting partnership in Neil Simon's "The Sunshine Boys," opening Thursday at Hawaii Theatre.

Moore, news anchor at KHON2, and Sajak, who just announced on Twitter that he is planning to retire as host of "Wheel of Fortune" after its 41st season starting in September, have been friends since their days serving in the Army in Vietnam. Their first play together was "Prophecy and Honor" staged at the old Diamond Head Theatre in 1993.

This will be their first performance at Hawaii Theatre since 2018's production of "Dial M for Murder."

In "The Sunshine Boys," Moore and Sajak will play estranged former comedy partners Willie Clark and Al Lewis, who are asked to reunite for a television special. Moore's son, Bryce Moore, now a reporter at KHON2, will play Clark's nephew/agent, who has the task of managing past conflicts and current age-related ailments to get them on screen together.

The show had been planned for June 2020, but that run was canceled due to the pandemic.

"Pat and I talked about doing 'The Sunshine Boys' after we did 'The Odd Couple' together at the Hawaii Theatre in 2001, but we weren't old enough," Moore said at the time. "Now we've aged into the roles and are the 70-somethings called for in Simon's play."

The show will have an 11-performance run from Thursday to June 25.

Tickets range from $25 to $75 and are on sale at the theater box office, 808-528-0506, and at hawaiitheatre.com.