SHOW BIZ
Maestro helps out at star-studded fund-raiser
By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Writer
TRAVEL LOG: Matt Catingub, pops maestro with the Honolulu Symphony, was in Los Angeles last weekend to act as music director for a fund-raiser for Nick Clooney, brother of late singer Rosemary Clooney, and father of actor George Clooney. Nick Clooney is running for Congress in northern Kentucky, and is a columnist for the Cincinnati Post and previous host of cable TV's "American Movie Classics." The fund-raiser was hosted by George at his house — with the heartthrob reportedly offering to personally wash cars in his garage for $500 per — with the money going to the campaign. Catingub's connection with all this is his longstanding friendship with Rosemary and the fact that he conducted the Honolulu Symphony that played for her Grammy-nominated disc. Some heavy-hitters in the Hollywood mainstream were to appear — folks you're likely to see on "Entertainment Tonight" or read about in People. ...
Chris Lee, co-director of the University of Hawai'i-Manoa's Academy for Creative Media, caught Bette Midler's "Kiss My Brass" production recently in Oakland and has been raving ever since. "Absolutely stunning, great, great show," he said. "She does her whole songbook. ... It was divine." He visited with her backstage and came out feeling that she wants to do a concert here, contrary to the prevailing notion that she abhors singing for her hometown crowd. "I think we need to start a petition drive to get her to come over and perform," said Lee. (So, who's starting this list?) One stumbling block: The Divine Miss M is working mid-sized halls — 20,000 seaters — and not humongous stadiums or teeny theaters, so it appears we don't have a suitable venue. By the way, fellow Radford grad James Taylor (called JT, for obvious reasons) is part of Midler's backstage crew, serving as her assistant tour director. ...
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THE LOCAL ANGLE: Dalton Tanonaka's oldies band, Flashback, will make an appearance 7:30-9:30 p.m. Friday at Eastside Grill on University Avenue. Band members include Lori Nasu, Juli Kam, Ronald Nakagawa, Dean Patterson, Dwayne Higa, Brian Umamoto and Rodney Kaneshiro. Proceeds for the evening will benefit such community groups as the Korean Care Home, Kuakini Adult Day Care program, Meals on Wheels and Alzheimer's Association. Flashback also will play at a Las Vegas function May 1 at the Tropicana Hotel. ...
Though she's part of TV Guide's picks for a wild-card slot on "American Idol" tonight, Islander Crystal Akana, a Kailua resident pictured in the TV mag, isn't competing. ...
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RANDOM NOTES: Pals of Eliot and Bonnie Tiegel — he's the entertainment journalist who has written extensively about the Hawai'i scene, she's the senior coordinating producer for "Entertainment Tonight" — will be saddened to learn about the double tragedy the Los Angeles-based couple has faced in recent times. Son Blake, 37, a poet and a sketch artist, was killed March 2 when a pickup truck hit him on an unlit street in Thousand Oaks, Calif.; Scott, 38, a guitarist, died Sept. 16 of heart failure, collapsing in the street in Santa Monica. "This is like being hit by lightning twice," said Eliot of the loss. He hoped a mention here would help inform his local friends. The Tiegels plan to be here in June. ...
We've mentioned local T-shirts spotted in Adam Sandler's "50 First Dates." Sea Life Park's, by the way, is for real — the colors and logo design are part of the official uniform for the Waimanalo facility's staffers. But folks have been wondering about other "is-it-local?" things. For instance, the penguin with the aloha shirt isn't one of ours; nor is the vomit-spewing walrus, which resides at Six Flags Marine World in California. And the golf scenes weren't done on our courses; the site is Ocean Trails Golf Club in Rancho Palos Verdes. Still, another local biz getting big-screen recognition is Aloha Petroleum, whose name is prominent on the coffee mug used by Drew Barrymore. ...
And that's Show Biz. ...
Reach Wayne Harada at wharada@honoluluadvertiser.com 525-8067 or fax 525-8055.
