At the time Tau met Madame Claude Riviere, she was a professor of the French language at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, who had traveled throughout the Asia-Pacific area. Riviere's home adjacent to McKinley High School was partially converted in 1927 into a theatre catering to the tourist trade. Local musicians, including Tau's uncles Tauvivi, Fuifui, and Pulu, were part of her show. In his 1990 biographical story for "The Hawaiian Steel Guitar Association Newsletter", Tau related how his uncle Pulu got him a $2-a-day job with Riviere to play on weekends. During the weekdays he still attended school in Laie; 1927 would have been his senior year of high school. The crowds soon grew to 200 attendees, and Riviere booked the show at the newly opened Royal Hawaiian Hotel.