SHOW BIZ
Cannon realizes Matthau's 'Sunshine' prophecy

By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Writer

George O'Hanlon, who plays a traffic manager in the upcoming "The Honeymooners," due June 17-20 at the Hawai'i Theatre as a Manoa Valley Theatre benefit, has been entertaining fellow cast members with childhood memories from when his dad was a writer for the Jackie Gleason TV show. O'Hanlon clearly remembers sessions where stars Gleason and Art Carney would sit around with the writers discussing ideas for their characters Ralph Kramden and Ed Norton. In the play, Joe Moore portrays Kramden and Pat Sajak will be Norton. "Our production is the first time CBS has granted rights for a full- scale 'Honeymooners' play, adapted from the original TV sketches," said Moore. ...

NAMES 'N' PLACES: Cary Hiroyuki-Tagawa, of "Rising Sun," "Pearl Harbor" and "Mortal Kombat" fame, lunched at Wai'oli Tea Room a few days back, shedding light for inquisitive Tea Room staff on his latest endeavor, NBC's "Hawai'i" series. ...

Maui-based Kenneth K. Martinez Burgmaier will produce and direct a music documentary on Kris Kristofferson at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center, through Burgmaier's Jazz Alley TV/Maui Reflections team. A PBS special and a DVD fund-raiser for 'Ohana Makamae are planned. ...

Hapa, which recently performed with Kenny Loggins at the Waikiki Shell and MACC gig, also joined Konishiki in a huge Japan Amway convention at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. Barry Flanagan and Nathan Aweau have expanded into a quintet, with singer Eric Paul Gilliom, chanter Charles Kaupu and hula dancer Jackie Booth performing in a "Wailea Nights" engagement (see www.hapa.com). Next up: "Hapa: Maui," a CD due in November, pegged to a Hawaiian-Riverdance-like production destined for a two-month run next April at the Irvine Barclay Theatre at Irvine, Calif. ...

A memorial service for Zulu, themed "A Day at the Beach," will be held from 10 a.m. to sunset Saturday at Duke's in Waikiki. ...

Though he's not yet signed Jasmine Trias, the No. 3 "American Idol" placer (who graduates tomorrow night in Maryknoll's commencement at Blaisdell Concert Hall), Quiet Storm Records' John Iervolino says he's been getting a flood of Trias-targeted songs from composers nationwide. His $100,000 signing offer to Trias hit the wire and news services last week, triggering all kinds of reaction, as everyone wants in on the "Idol" phenom. ...

RANDOM NOTES: Choreographer Deanna Luster had a special guest — Alaine Haubert — at last Friday's performance of "Camelot" at Army Community Theatre's Richardson Theatre. Haubert, former ballet mistress of the American Ballet Theatre, still holds auditions for ABT; "Camelot" remains dear to her heart because it was the musical that earned her an Actors Equity card. The Army treatment was a real crowd-pleaser, with perfectly crafted performances from leads Bryan Bender (Arthur), Tina Shelton (Guenevere) and Matthew Pennaz (Lancelot). ...

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.