SHOW BIZ
Esquire comes to O'ahu seeking legends, Jaws

By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Writer

MEDIA WATCH: Stefano Tonchi, editor of Esquire magazine, is in town to interview Hawai'i folks for a multipage "Legends of O'ahu" feature. FX, a local media relations company, is assisting. So far, personalities such as Hawai'i-based actors Jason Scott Lee and Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa will be included, along with surfers Buffalo, Ross and Brian Keaulana on their home surf turf Makaha Beach, singer Henry Kapono, singer-guitarist Makana, model Malia Jones and Sen. Fred Hemmings, R-25th (Kailua-Waimanalo). The magazine will give Hawai'i a pop in its November issue with a cover story on Pierce Brosnan and his James Bond caper, "Die Another Day." The movie's opening sequence — always a signature thriller — was shot at Jaws, off Maui. ...

WHEE, THE PEOPLE: Cast members from Army Community Theatre's "Smokey Joe's Cafe" musical (opening Nov. 14 at Richardson Theatre, Fort Shafter) guested on Saturday's Perry & Price Show at the Sheraton Waikiki's Hanohano Room, along with a contingent from the Hawai'i International Film Festival. The ACT gang included Traci Toguchi, a former Miss Hawai'i and frequent actress in films such as "The Karate Kid Part II."

The HIFF bunch included Pat Morita, who appears in one of the movies at HIFF, and who, of course, was Miyagi-san in the "Karate Kid" trilogy. "Since I haven't seen him for over 10 years, I introduced myself as ... the Girl Bell Ringer in 'Karate Kid,' " Toguchi said. "Wow, you've grown," the actor told her ... and offered accolades after she sang. Filmmaker Grace Lee, here for screenings of her "Barrier Device" short (which won a 2002 Student Academy Award in June from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as well as a Directors Guild of America Student Award), also will be shooting the Hawai'i segment of her new documentary, "The Grace Lee Project." The new film, financed by the Public Broadcasting System, is about women named Grace Lee, which the filmmaker considers "the quintessential Asian American name." She's located a number of Grace Lees, including a KGMB-TV reporter, and if you have that name, check her Web site, www.gracelee.net, for specifics. ...

Actor Jason Momoa, the "Baywatch Hawaiian Wedding" star from Hawai'i, was a cover boy on a recent Star Magazine — same time his handlers, Eric Chandler and Takeo, landed a hot Mainland fashion show. ...

ITEMIZATIONS: Ashley Lelie, the wide receiver with the Denver Broncos, dined at Ryan's Grill the other night with Pat Bowlen and his family. ...

J.P. Smoketrain & Friends have been tapped to be B.B. King's opening act when the blues legend performs at 8 p.m. tomorrow at Blaisdell Arena. ...

When T.J. Tario, the 8-year-old pianist, performed a concert in that all-kids Honolulu Symphony concert recently, he was joined by his 6-year-old brother, TX, who was the youngest of all the participants. After the concert, T.J., who was one of the young performers in Lee Cataluna's "You Somebody" musical, was up to his ears in lei, getting congrats from family and friends at the post-show backstage hoopla. He hugged Cataluna and, she said, blurted out, "Was Wayne Harada in the audience?" Sorry we weren't; by all accounts, this kiddo is going to really be a somebody someday ...

And that's Show Biz ...

Reach Wayne Harada at wharada@honoluluadvertiser.com, 525-8067 or by faxing 525-8055.