Posted on: Thursday, April 7, 2005

SHOW BIZ
Oscar winner dines at Sansei on Maui

By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Writer

WHEE, THE PEOPLE: Clint Eastwood, the Oscar-winning director ("Million Dollar Baby"), dined recently with his family at Sansei Seafood Restaurant & Sushi Bar in Kihei as they regularly do when visiting (he owns a Maui home). Eastwood has been here to scout locations for "Flags of Our Fathers," the Iwo Jima film he will direct and which Stephen Spielberg and DreamWorks Pictures will produce for 2006 release.

Actor Dan Roebuck, here for a three-episode run in ABC's "Lost," is not known for his singing. But he took the stage anyway with Don Ho the other night at the Waikiki Beachcomber Hotel and was warmly received in duet versions of "The Very Thought of You" and "You Are My Sunshine." ...

Joseph Morales, the Island actor who has been involved in the "Aladdin" musical at Disneyland/California Adventure, has taken a six-week leave to film the series "Asia Street Comedy" for the International Channel. He was offered a 12-episode contract. Paul Ogata and Edwin San Juan are other Hawai'i performers signed on. Morales also landed a print ad spot for T-Mobile and will be seen in national ads, billboards and posters for the company. ...

TRADE WINDS: Michael W. Perry and wife Vickie celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary last week in Las Vegas. No confirmation if they renewed their vows in a Vegas chapel with Elvis. Actually, Perry was in the gambling capital with KSSK radio partner Larry Price for the duo's breakfast show, which broadcast live from the California Hotel last Saturday. Sandy Hackett, son of Buddy Hackett, had the crowd in proverbial stitches; he's part of the Rat Pack Show, in which he portrays Joey Bishop, at the Greek Isles Hotel. ...

Tom and Sherri Sellers, formerly of Kailua and the local advertising biz here, have been retired on the Mainland, splitting time between their lakehouse in Sandpoint, Idaho (May through September), and their beach house in Mission Bay, San Diego (the rest of the year). They e-mailed a few days back, after shuffling through their Sellers Inc. memorabilia in his mom's attic, and discovered a trove of clippings and posters from their creative lives here. "What goes around comes around, and you may or may not know I am being considered for the upcoming graphics and poster for the 2006 Diamond Head Crater Festival," said Tom Sellers, who designed attractive keepsake posters for the 1972, '74 and '75 events (then called the Sunshine Festival). He's willing and able — just awaiting the green light. ...

ITEMIZATIONS: Singer-actress Shari Lynn brought down the house Saturday night at Manoa Valley Theatre's "Come to the Cabaret With Shari Lynn" at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. The Manoa Marquee honoree belted out two "Cabaret" hits, "Maybe This Time" and the title song, and her "Money" duet with Andrew Sakaguchi (he's playing the Emcee, in the still-extended show through April 24 at MVT) earned standing ovations. While silent auction receipts are not yet tallied, table sales raised $83,000, according to event chairs Guy Merola and Janis Akuna. ...

Compadres in Ward Centre opened early Monday — with reason. Judges, including Parents and Children Together board members Lowell Kalapa, Valerie Sylvester and Dave Shibata, were selecting winners in the 2005 Kids Day competition in which students — through poems, essays and art creations — explore the theme "Who Am I?" The winners' works will be published in a special edition of The Advertiser on May 4. Since Compadres general manager John Langan is a PACT board member and Kids Day judge, he opened up the restaurant early — and will do so again at an April 26 kick-off brunch for Kids Day volunteers. ...

AROUND TOWN: When "Cats" returns to the Blaisdell Concert Hall on April 12, it will be part of the 25th anniversary tour of the fantastic Andrew Lloyd Webber musical. So what kind of business has it had over a quarter of a century? Well, Entertainment Weekly reportedly recently that "ET" (the movie) amassed $793 million (excluding DVD sales) worldwide. "Cats," on the other hand, has been humming to the tune of $2.5 billion, and is still purring. ...

Promoter Tom Moffatt, who is presenting Norah Jones in a sold-out April 23 concert at Blaisdell Arena, recalls presenting his first Concert Hall gig in the late 1960s. It was Ravi Shankar, the famed sitarist, who is Jones' father. ...

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.