Posted on: Thursday, September 9, 2004

SHOW BIZ
Cameron Diaz dons Island swimwear

By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Writer

BIRTHDAY BITS: Cameron Diaz, Hollywood's highest-paid actress, is such a fan of Pualani Hawai'i swimwear (as one of the hot bods in a recent People magazine, she shows how she looks in the "Safari Cat" bikini) that her friends have been picking up the local design for her recent birthday. Diaz and beau Justin Timberlake have been in Hawai'i (specifically, on Maui and O'ahu) — along with family members and friends — for a great escape. ...

Another birthday celebrant — Terry Bradshaw, four-time Super Bowl champ, NFL Hall of Fame inductee, and Fox TV sports analyst — was at the Battleship Missouri Memorial ceremony last Thursday. He's also been spotted while dining out. ...

And out Paliku Theatre way, at Windward Community College, director Ron Bright was surprised with cake and ice cream during rehearsal night for the Huck Finn musical, "Big River." Bright turned 71 on Sept. 2, and choral director John Bryan, who is portraying the runaway slave Jim, played piano and led the cast in an impromptu "Happy Birthday" sing-out to Mr. B. Just a few days earlier, Jakara Mato, an Iolani School student who is playing Mary Jane Wilkes, got the birthday treatment on stage. ...

HANA HOU: If Henry Akina, Hawai'i Opera Theatre honcho, is all smiles, it's because HOT's recent "The Mikado" was such a hot ticket, the opera organization already is committing to a second summer of light opera. Meaning, Gilbert & Sullivan returns to the limelight, with HOT dusting off "Pirates of Penzance" July 22-24 and 29-31 at Blaisdell Concert Hall. HOT might also get into the musical theater mode in 2006, with "The King & I," the Rodgers & Hammerstein evergreen, being considered. It's normally the turf of Diamond Head Theatre and Army Community Theatre. ...

Jim Hutchison, the director-choreographer prepping for Army Community Theatre's "The King & I" auditions next week, was reminiscing about the first "King & I" he directed here, at Honolulu Community Theatre. "Mahealani Richardson was the smallest princess. She was a 'killer'; the audiences loved her," he said of the cutie who now is a news anchor at KITV-4. Wonder if she'll show up for tryouts for one of the adult leads, since she's way outgrown the kiddie part. ...

BACKSTAGE BITS: For Jo Pruden, the days often aren't long enough. Busy with Army Community Theatre roles (she works as box-office manager, where "West Side Story" bows tonight and is in rehearsal for her own opening, in the ACT Readers Theatre production of "Lillian" starting Sunday at Richardson Theatre), Pruden nonetheless couldn't resist taking on parts in two episodes of NBC's "Hawaii" series. ...

Regarding "West Side": Katherine Mills, a Punahou senior, is portraying Maria to Jimi Wheeler's Tony, and she's a Natalie Wood (who starred in the film version) look-alike. ...

Jay Benson, a "Hawaii" producer, has become a Saturday night regular at the Kahala Mandarin Oriental's Veranda, where Loretta Ables-Sayre (who filmed an episode on the NBC series) performs. He shares work stories (now and previous) and is going overboard to make "Hawaii" find its niche in the annals of filmed-in-the-Islands triumphs. By the way, Ables-Sayre and husband David Sayre (the publicist) have been to Seattle for two family reunions — his family lives there, her family was congregating there. ...

WHEE, THE PEOPLE: "Andy Bumatai's Comedy Showcase," at 8:30 p.m. Sept. 25 at the Palace Showroom of the 'Ohana Reef Towers Hotel, will replace the normally-scheduled comedy triple bill that features Bumatai, Paul Ogata and Frank DeLima. (DeLima had asked for the night off, for another gig). Bumatai and Ogata will join a roster of budding stand-ups that will include Gerard Elmore, Milton Banana, Cathy Tanaka, Brian Lentz, Kaleo Pilanca and Rufus DeMarco, plus media types Mike Buck, Kirk Matthews and Charles Memminger. ...

Karen Asato, a message therapist, just returned from an intensive five-week training program in Australia and took in a performance at the Sydney Opera House of the Bangarra Dance Company — " a show I'd never find in Hawai'i," she said. Or she thought — until she saw a story and concert listing in The Advertiser's TGIF section of an October visit by the troupe at the Hawai'i Theatre. ...

And that's Show Biz. ...

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