SHOW BIZ
Museum to honor 'Scorpion King' co-star
By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Editor
HONORABLE MENTIONS: Branscombe Richmond, the former Hawai'i resident who co-stars in The Rock's "The Scorpion King," will be inducted into the Sturgis (S.D.) Motorcycle Museum's Hall of Fame 2002 on Aug. 7. A motorcycle enthusiast when he's not acting, Richmond joins the likes of Jay Leno and Malcolm Forbes (posthumous induction) on this year's honor roll. ...
Melody Farias, a freshman at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Wash., made the President's List last spring. You need a 3.7 or better grade-point average to qualify. Her proud parents are Karen Keawehawai'i and Jackie Farias. Melody's sister, Winona Farias, just earned a degree in English from Notre Dame, so there's lots to celebrate in the Farias household. ...
Paul Pfeiffer, who has island ties, is a rising star in the New York art scene, and will give a lecture with an enticing title, "Sex Machine," at 7 p.m. Aug. 6 at Yukiyoshi Room 12, Krauss Hall, at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa. He's been working in video, sculpture and photography, and his work has been exhibited in a number of galleries on both coasts. ...
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RANDOM NOTES: Randy Smith was so ill last week, he had to cancel his Frank Sinatra tribute shows at the Esprit at the Sheraton Waikiki, but should be back at the mike this weekend. ...
Jack Cione, writer-director of Smith's Sinatra show, will be off to Las Vegas next week with wife Maydell. They'll do the usual show scene and rendezvous with Rip Taylor. ...
When Pat Morita, the actor-comedian, turned 70 in Las Vegas recently, a group of friends gathered to toast him at the Osaka Restaurants. Among the surprise guests: Danny Kaleikini, who has taken on a role as an ambassador of aloha for the Golden Nugget hotel and casino in the gambling capital. ...
Melveen Leed has become a frequent visitor (and guest singer) with Augie Rey at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel's Surf Room. She walked in on the show while he was doing "Unforgettable," and the inevitable happened: Whe made it a duet. Albert Maligmat and Sonya Mendez also are regulars in the crowd. Leed, by the way, is partially responsible for Rey's daughter, Tahiti, following his vocal footsteps: she was Tahiti's voice teacher. ...
Marie Lord has donated $200,000 in memory of husband Jack "Hawaii Five-O" Lord to the drive for the Hawai'i Theatre Center marquee. ...
Keyboarder Ernie Shea was sharing music with the folks at St. Francis Hospice recently, when Bob Nelson, the pianist-composer and his cousin, happened by, too. So the pair jammed for the patients — a very special moment. ...
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HERE 'N' THERE: Executive chef James McDonald has July fireworks of his own. His I'o restaurant is mentioned as the Maui place to dine in this month's Travel & Leisure feature on 20 Great Weekend Getaways. And in the current Bon Appetit, an Idaho reader requesting Pacific 'O's signature shrimp won ton recipe calls the evening spent at that Lahaina eatery the highlight of her trip to Maui. ...
Sorry: Lesa Maiava, line captain of the Polynesian dancers in the "Magic of Polynesia" show at the Waikiki Beachcomber Hotel, is a he ... and yes, he's related to The Rock. ...
Harry B. Soria Jr. takes a stroll down memory lane with a salute to the late Jesse Kalima and the Kalima Brothers, often dubbed "1,000 Pounds of Melodies," on "Territorial Airwaves," from 5 to 6 p.m. Sunday on KINE-FM (105.1). ...
And that's Show Biz ...
Wayne Harada's Show Biz is published Tuesdays and Thursdays. Reach him at wharada@honoluluadvertiser.com, phone 525-8067 or fax 525-8055.
