SHOW BIZ
Christopher Walken dines out with friends

By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Editor

SIGHT 'EMS: Actor Christopher Walken, here for "Helldorado" filming with The Rock, enjoyed a quiet dinner with friends at Keo Sananikone's Mekong II restaurant. Walken is known for a string of previous roles, including "Deer Hunter," "Prophecy" and "Dead Zone" ...

And The Rock surely gets around. Dined, with his mother in tow, at Auntie Pasto's Kapahulu Sunday night. Manager Christian Bowman asked for Dwayne Johnson's autograph for the eatery's wall of fame ...

Trey Parker and Matt Stone, co-creators of "South Park," also had a quiet meal — at George Mavrothalassitis' Chef Mavro restaurant ...

The Rock's double, Norm Compton, dined at Nick's Fishmarket with his wife Debbie. Compton worked at Nick's in the '80s, and Debbie worked at Rex's at the time. Restaurant manager Ben Dowling said, "It was great to see Norm and Debbie ... a flashback" ...

Down Under show presenters Stewart and Trisha Macpherson paused for dinner at Ruth's Chris Steak House in Restaurant Row. The restaurant is debuting the Orchid Room this evening, with owner Randy Schoch in from Scottsdale, Ariz., for the launch ...

It was a jazzy night at Lahaina's Pacific 'O when Russian piano prodigy Eldar Djangirov joined regular jazzmeisters Emil Richards and Brian Cuomo. "The kid had the crowd rocking," said restaurant manager Greg Butterfield. "The bar was about three people thick" ...

Michael Feinstein checked out the Don Ho Show last week. Same night, Vicki O'Gara (one of Ho's singers from his Hilton Las Vegas days) also was in the audience ...

RANDOM NOTES: "War Stories with Oliver North," a Fox News Channel show, is in Honolulu for a new episode on "Japanese Midget Submarines." Filming started yesterday and winds up tomorrow ...

Melveen Leed is off to Tahiti, with The Makaha Sons and Makana in tow. Da Tita has become quite the entrepreneur, shepherding numerous shows ...

Director Ron Bright's first big show on the Windward, "Fiddler on the Roof," is in rehearsals at Windward Community College's Paliku Theatre. Excitement's mounting, because Steve Wagenseller plays Tevye the dairyman, and Tracy Yamamoto is Golde his wife. There are several Bright-related reunions, like choreographer R'yan Sabado and actress Jana Anguay ...

Composer Jon Magnussen, a Juilliard grad who grew up on Kaua'i and O'ahu, will make his Carnegie Hall debut Nov. 3 when his ballet score, "Psalm," will be excerpted and performed by the American Composers Orchestra, the New York Virtuoso Singers and baritone John Hancock. Magnussen was introduced to slack-key at age 11 and was exploring composition by the time he was at Hawaiian Mission Academy and Punahou School ...

No Angels, a music ensemble of five women (selected from 5,000), were the subjects of "RTL Exclusiv-Das Starmagazin," a German TV show akin to "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous," while at the Hilton Waikoloa Village. The group's first single sold 500,000 copies within the first four days ...

Risa Apeles has been putting in long nights at Sergio's ... because her assistant manager, Frank Straka, is off to the World Series ...

HERE 'N' THERE: In and out of town: Matt Yee. He's been entertaining aboard the Royal Caribbean Splendor of the Seas around Europe. Had time to check out Rome, Florence, Naples, Capri, Ibiza — this is work? — and has scooted off to Sydney aboard the Caribbean's largest ship, The Navigator ...

Byron Yasui, the University of Hawai'i professor who's a 'ukulele soloist, will be giving workshops at the 'Ukulele Expo 2002 this weekend in New Jersey ...

And that's Show Biz ...

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