By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Editor

WHEE, THE PEOPLE: If you watched the Macy's Thanksgiving parade last week and saw the performance from the Broadway musical "Bombay Dreams," you might have recognized some Islanders. Three Hawai'i performers were in the ensemble — part of the Bollywood spectacle still running at the Broadway Theatre — including Natasha Tabandera, Kirk Torigoe and Wendy Calio, who provide back-up to the current guest actress, "American Idol's" Tamyra Gray. "Bombay," by the way, is Tabandera's third Broadway musical; she's understudying the Priya role. She earlier appeared in "Mamma Mia" and "Miss Saigon." ...

Andrew Sakaguchi has been pre-cast as the Emcee in Manoa Valley Theatre's upcoming "Cabaret" revival, which John Rampage will direct, starting March 9. Pre-auditions for Fraulein Schneider and the Young German Tenor will be held Dec. 19, with the remaining roles to be cast in auditions Jan. 15 and 16 at MVT. For details, call 988-6131. ...

There was real-life drama at the Aloha Performing Arts Center's recent finale of Meredith Willson's "The Music Man." After the curtain call, leading man J.R. Storment (Prof. Harold Hill) asked for quiet and summoned choreographer Maryna Allan and director Jerry Tracy for kudos from the crowd. Storment got down on one knee, hauled out a sparkler, and proposed to Sarah Campbell (she was Marian, the librarian). Through shock and tears, Campbell said "yes." ...

CELEBRITREES: When The Queen's Medical Center Auxiliary's 50th and final Festival of Trees opens tomorrow night at Ward Warehouse (a preview Patron Night will be held this evening), look for about 50 "celebritrees," two-foot Christmas trees decorated by community notables and groups, that will be on the silent-auction docket. Three trees should be of particular interest: One boasts autographed photo ornaments from the entire cast of ABC-TV's hit show "Lost"; and two actresses — Evangeline Lilly (who plays Kate) and Maggie Grace (who plays Shannon) — decorated their own trees. Among other donor-designers: former first lady Vicky Cayetano, Henry Kapono and June Jones. The restaurant community also offers 20 trees, most with dining certificates. The event runs tomorrow through Sunday, with the auction winding up at 2 p.m. Sunday. ...

The aforementioned Lilly is profiled in this week's People magazine. ...

FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Crispy grasshoppers served in a soft flour tortilla ... plus the worm from the mezcal bottle. A menu from "Fear Factor"? Not quite. It's just some of the exotic eats "enjoyed" by Maui chef James McDonald during a recent trip to Mexico. The award-winning Lahaina chef of Pacific 'O and I'o restaurants participated in this year's Puerto Vallarta Gourmet Festival and partook of the aforementioned tidbits at a restaurant called Los Xitomates, serving Oaxacan cuisine. "The worm had a naturally smoky flavor, and the grasshoppers were cut up into small pieces and tasted like a mild natural salt." The tequila, no doubt, washed down the trepidation. ...

Restaurateur Ed Wary (Dixie Grill, Auntie Pasto's) is back from China, where he represented the National Restaurant Association at a convention. At a Hong Kong eatery, he was somewhat amused at how seriously a Chinese woman took her food. She wanted to "match" her teas with her entrÚes and puzzled over hair-replacement tea or weight-reduction tea. ...

Eathan O'Bryant, of the Harlem Globetrotters, was hooked on Compadres' food from an earlier Maui visit, when he and his wife dined at the Lahaina eatery. So he was stoked that the Honolulu appearance this week included lunch at Compadres at Ward Centre. ...

HITHER 'N' YON: Chuck Cotton, g.m. of Clear Channel Hawai'i, was part of a group that flew out to the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln, 150 miles offshore, recently. After a tailhook landing, an officer (also a deejay) struck up a conversation and interviewed Cotton. ...

Comedian Frank DeLima fared well during his recent California Hotel stand in Las Vegas, getting a boost from transplanted Islander and Vegas radio personality Paul Natto. DeLima, Andy Bumatai and Paul Ogata are in the final phase of their Friday and Saturday gigs at the Palace Showroom of the Ohana Reef Towers Hotel; after the New Year's Eve show, the club is closing down for good. ...

And that's Show Biz. ...

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