Page 16 - MidWeek - May 26, 2021

16 MIDWEEK MAY 26, 2021
STORY BY DON ROBBINS
PHOTOS BY ANTHONY CONSILLIO
Fun guy Richard Luster earns a spot on the NBC TV show America’s Got Talent with his wonderful big voice and his Wlarger-than-life costumed character, Chet.
e could all use an engineer at Hawaiʻi Depart- fingers — is an unmistakable encouraging pal ment of Transportation, the sight to behold.
to gently lift our 63-year-old Luster dons the But just as important as
have to submit an audition tape to land a spot on the show. Last December, he received a call from an AGT producer, who had visited Luster’s social media page and was impressed with his performance of Josh Groban’s version of Broken Vow. After determining the call was not a prank, Luster agreed to work with the show’s production staff to help bring Chet to the big stage.
grueling 12- to 14-hour days of taping that had to be com- pleted over 72 hours. For an- other, Chet’s costume weighs a hefty 50 pounds. That re- quired Luster to lug around the extra pounds from tape site to tape site, and forced him to drink more water than a camel on set, he jokes.
busy sweating profusely in costume, his wife, Ricki, was handing out aloha-themed items to AGT cast and crew- members, sharing as much island spirit as she could. In addition, Luster says he con- stantly had an executive pro- ducer by his side overseeing what was needed to ensure that Chet’s performance was magical.
spirits, especially in today’s homemade costume to bring Chet’s larger-than-life look
rather uncomfortable times. Thankfully, Richard “Rich” Luster offers just that type of soothing com- fort with Chet, his costumed character and emotional sup-
laughter and smiles to friends and strangers.
is Luster’s powerful singing voice, which is what really caught the attention of pro- ducers of NBC’s America’s Got Talent (AGT). Now, he and Chet are a part of season 16 of the show, which pre- mieres June 1.
“It was like wearing a sau- na suit while still wearing a mask,” Luster recalls. “Each night, while exhausted, my wife and I stood with a blow dryer, drying out every inch of Chet.”
port friend.
When he’s not working his
And Chet — who comes complete with bulging eyes, a huge pear-shaped nose, shaggy fur, pineapple-print pants and hat, and massive
Luster admits that the process of taping his AGT segment was challenging. For one thing, there were
day job as a bridge structural
Surprisingly, Luster didn’t
And while Luster was
SEE PAGE 21
“I have fun with life,” says the Kunia resident.
“She was fantastic,” notes Luster, adding that the pro- ducer told him, “I love (your) message and am glad that the people in your area do
MIDWEEK COVER STORY