The Stevie Wonder concert that was scheduled to be held next month at the Stan Sheriff Center has been canceled.
And the University of Hawaii Athletics Department is trying to get back the money it put up for the show.
UH Athletics Director Jim Donovan said this afternoon he couldn’t speculate whether the University was scammed in this.
But what he does know is that Stevie Wonder is not coming, and UH will be issuing refunds.
The deal to bring Stevie Wonder to Hawaii in August was apparently not signed, sealed, and delivered.
"The University of Hawaii has been informed by Stevie Wonder’s agent at Creative Artist Agency that the artist is not available for an August 18th, 2012 concert. The event was booked by an unauthorized 3rd party without the knowledge or consent of Mr. Wonder’s representatives," said Jim Donovan, UH Athletics Director.
The UH Athletics Department was working with longtime local entertainment promoter Bob Peyton of BPE Productions to bring Stevie Wonder to the Stan Sheriff Center for a concert to benefit UH Athletics.
"Obviously it’s well known that we’re having financial struggles, and we were using it to offset some of the issues we’re facing from the Department. So we estimated it could do anywhere from $100K-$250K, and so that was the pull to try and do something like this," said Donovan.
Bob Peyton told KHON2 News that he went through Stevie Wonder’s international booking agent in Spain, which handles his concerts in Europe.
He said Hawaii is often part of international tours, and is often considered an international venue.
Peyton said the $200K that UH Athletics fronted for the concert was sent to that booking agent in Spain.
When asked if he believes they’re going to get the money back, Donovan replied: "We’re certainly working on it."
So far, U-H Athletics has sold about six thousand Stevie Wonder tickets, ranging from 70 dollars to 250 dollars.
"Everybody will be refunded and we’ll move on," said Donovan.
The Stan Sheriff Center Box Office will hand out refunds starting tomorrow.
And if you paid by credit card online, by phone or through the pre-sale, you’ll automatically be credited but it may take about a week.
See the original article at: KHON2 Developing Stories
