SHOW BIZ
Darrell Labrado hoping for big record deal

By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Editor

PLATTER CHATTER: Moloka'i singing sensation Darrell Labrado is sitting on pins and needles while his Monkeypod Records producer Bobby Pileggi huddles with industry biggie Clive Davis in New York about prospects for picking up Labrado's recordings. If it's a go, Labrado would join the Davis stable of stars, including such biggies as Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin, Enrique Iglesias, Alicia Keys, Air Supply, O-Town, Luther Vandross, Barry Manilow, Taylor Dayne, Dionne Warwick and Ace of Base, among others. Pileggi has had earlier ties with Davis and hopes the record mogul would give Labrado's "Someday" hit a nudge. In Hawai'i, "Someday" has been something of a sizzler, hitting No. 1 on Island Rhythm 98.5, repeating the success of his earlier "Master Blaster." ...

TRADE WINDS: Cast members of Diamond Head Theatre's "You Somebody" received "Ray Would Stay" bumper stickers from play author Lee Cataluna to commemorate Ray Bumatai's return to the ranks for the final three (and emotional) performances last weekend (he underwent brain tumor surgery, remember?). Another keepsake, assembled by sisters in the cast, Elise and Ellen Minkin, was a photo montage of everyone in the show — including Yours Truly (OK, I wasn't really in the show, unless you count that finale photo). The gang was able to order T-shirts, too, depicting caricatures of Loretta Ables Sayre (Pua Lusa in the play) and moi. And don't discount a hana hou down the line — "Somebody" was something of a box office sensation. ...

And how's this for support and camaraderie? Lisa Matsumoto, this town's other pidgin musical maven, showed up for Sunday's closing with a group of 30 boosters, proving she's a "somebody" with class, showing moral support and indicating there's no rivalry between the two pidgin authors. ...

"Elvira's Haunted Hills," the movie starring Cassandra Peterson which had a benefit screening last week at the Hawai'i Theatre, is returning for two midnight showings Sept. 6 and 7 at the Signature Dole Cannery 18. If it goes well, there will be an extension. ...

SIGHT 'EMS: Entrepreneur Shep Gordon dined at Don Ho's Island Grill a few nights back with singer Yvonne Elliman and actor Don Johnson. The buzz on Maui is that Johnson has acquired a luxury lot at Launiupoko — more reason he'd like to do a project here. ...

Watching a locally-filmed feature provides a game of viewer recognition. In "Blue Crush," for instance, Fiji (George Veikoso) plays himself, but there are a handful of other recognizable locals, including the late James Grant Benton (as Mr. Pukui) and Kimo Kahoano (as a lu'au host). ...

Paul Udell usually is sedate and proper, as morning co-host with Jill Kuramoto on KITV-4's "Good Morning Hawai'i." Put him in a Carmen Miranda pose, though, and he's got attitude. Udell was the station's entry in the annual Gala Headdress Ball recently at the Hilton Waikoloa Village (a benefit for the Big Island Food Bank), and while he didn't win, he showed off, in the words of Kamuela resident and business woman Patti Cook (of Cook's Discoveries), "really great legs." ...

Visiting: Syndicated cartoonist Ranan Lurie, who used to be resident cartoonist at The Advertiser under the George Chaplin editorship years ago. He recalled his son Rod Lurie's early commissioned work for this paper (the younger Lurie did celebrity caricatures), but Rod has left cartooning for directing ("The Contender" is his best) and is negotiating with TV networks for new programming. ...

And that's Show Biz ...

Wayne Harada's Show Biz is published Tuesdays and Thursdays. Reach him by e-mail at wharada@honoluluadvertiser.com, phone 525-8067 or fax 525-8055.