The Left Lane
Meet a movie star

Now, you can see him as a regular guy — Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, in person.

Tagawa, a resident of Kilauea, Kaua'i, will give autographs, pose for pictures and be Junior Achievement luncheon guest speaker on Sept. 19 at the Outback Steakhouse in Hawai'i Kai. He was born in Tokyo and grew up in an American military family. His father served in the Army at Pearl Harbor. His mother was in Japan during Gen. Jimmy Doolittle's raid.

Tagawa, 50, didn't get into movies until he was 36. He will speak about acting, the movie industry and the film potential for Hawai'i, where he lives part time. Tickets are $25. Two seatings: 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 1 to 2:30 p.m. Call 545-1777, ext. 14, for (required) advance reservations.

On the design track

If you've got design on the mind, Nimitz Highway is the place to be on Saturday. That's when the Gentry Pacific Design Center is holding an open house that includes tours of designer showrooms, live music, tabletop displays and the chance to ask a professional designer questions about your upcoming projects.

Hawai'i interior designers also will be presenting a series of seminars on feng shui (11 a.m.), creating a nurturing environment (1 p.m.) and the effects of color in a home (2 p.m.). A wine and cheese sampling is set for noon at the Matters of Taste restaurant in the center. Entry is free, but a $5 fee will be charged to attend the seminars. The center is at 560 N. Nimitz Highway. The open house runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Keola Beamer, award-winning singer-composer and slack-key guitar pioneer, has been signed to do the music for Lee Cataluna's original musical, "You Somebody," next summer at Diamond Head Theatre.

Beamer is regarded as one of the most prolific Hawai'i singers-composers. His "Honolulu City Lights" arguably is the biggest-selling tune in Hawai'i, an early hit back when he performed with his brother as Keola and Kapono Beamer.

He has since become a cornerstone in the Dancing Cat Records family of island artists; his "Wooden Boat" CD on the national label was the first Hawaiian album to reach the Top 15 rankings in Billboard's World Music chart.

Cataluna, a columnist for The Advertiser, also is a prolific playwright with several successes at Kumu Kahua.

"You Somebody," about an island family in search of fame, will be staged July 19 to Aug. 4. Reservations: 733-0274.

Box-office sales slow

Pretty much everyone in Hollywood foresaw that a summer of blockbusters such as "Shrek" would shatter the summer 1999 record of just under $3 billion in revenues. But the industry wound up limping toward it, slowed by a weaker batch of late-summer films and huge drops in grosses after big opening weekends.

Box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations estimates domestic grosses will come in at $3.06 billion from Memorial Day weekend through Monday, the period when studios rake in about 40 percent of their revenue.