Singer Jason Mraz had a private party in the Lava Tube at Tiki's Grill & Bar after his recent sell-out concert at Waikiki Shell. The buzz was that Mraz heard about the fun Jack Johnson and Dave Matthews had at Tiki's after the Kokua Festival. ...

Kim Gennaula and Guy Hagi, KGMB 9's news anchorwoman and weather honcho, were on the other side of the camera when daughter Alia and son Luke modeled at the Honolulu Theatre for Youth's "Fashion Fiesta" fundraiser on Sunday at the Kahala Resort. The couple were working digital still and video cameras — like scores of others, including HTY publicist Aubrey Hawk, documenting daughter Maddie — as the youths scooted down the runway. The Latino theme, linked to the "Ferdinand the Bull" production (concluding this Saturday at Tenney Theatre), made Rolando Sanchez a natural as emcee, and he brought along flamenco dancer Vanessa Chong, with Ian O'Sullivan providing Spanish guitar music, too. Actor-singer Kala'i Stern, the bull in "Ferdinand," had tough duty — to perform a tune while handing out red paper roses at every table — in costume as the bull, no less. ...

There was a hat contest (largest, fanciest, funniest) and HTY artistic director Eric Johnson's didn't win — but he made good use of a metal colander, affixed with bull horns from the HTY costume department, looking like an opera singer. ...

STAGE EFFECTS: In preparation for the Agatha Christie murder mystery "And Then There Were None," opening Wednesday at Manoa Valley Theatre (under the direction of Betty Burdick), MVT tech director Shell Dalzell is channeling Burt Lancaster. Well, not physically — rather, he's "The Rainmaker" who will use his considerable technical talent to make it pour on stage every night as just one of the myriad special effects that will surely yield thrills and chills for patrons. MVT prez Jeff Portnoy quipped, "That's nothing; in the old days it used to rain in the house at MVT all the time." Remember those days when there were leaks galore?

Joey Caldarone, who plays Conrad Birdie, the Elvis Presley-inspired character who gets drafted in "Bye Bye Birdie" (opening tonight at Army Community Theatre), got some pointers on Army life from two Wolfhounds stationed at Schofield Barracks, 1st Lt. Gregory Luttman and Capt. Alex Ichinose. The former has served in Iraq and the latter in Afghanistan. In real life, Presley served in Germany. ...

BOOK 'EM: Poet Frances H. Kakugawa, a Big Islander now residing in Sacramento, won two awards from the Northern California Publishers & Authors for her "Wordsworth Dances the Waltz." It won a bronze award (Best Book Overall) and was judged a Best Illustrated Children's Book. The volume is dedicated to Kakugawa's late mother, Matsue, who had Alzheimer's disease; poet Kakugawa said her mom "inspired me through my writings to explore all the fears we have of caregiving and the unknown." "Waltz" explores this at the children's level "to embrace with compassion and openness the strangeness of aging and change," she said. It comes down to erasing the fears we have of aging, of dementia, she said. "And children, with their open minds, are a good place to begin to change things." ...

GO GOVS: Jack and Cha Thompson, owners of Tihati Productions, are the lone entertainers (he's class of 1963, she's '64) who will be the 2008 inductees into the Governors Hall of Fame at Farrington High School. Emme Tomimbang, also a Farrington grad ('69), now is doing video profiles of the honorees, who will be inducted in a July 22 dinner at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Coral Ballroom. Others to be honored this year: City Council member Romy Cachola, footballer Jesse Sapolu, Medal of Honor recipient Robert Kuroda and educator Kellet Min. ...

SHOW BREEZES: Marco Balestracci, the Jungle Boy in the Broadway-bound "Cirque Dreams Jungle Fantasy" (playing through Sunday at Blaisdell Concert Hall), marked his 24th birthday at Romano's Macaroni Grill, where cousins Shawna and Cat Masuda serenaded. No wonder Balestracci is in show biz; his dad was at the Metropolitan Opera and his mom on Broadway before the family moved to Virginia to open a performing-arts school. His 18-year-old sister is here to see "Cirque" but heads to New York for auditions. ...

And do go see "Cirque Dreams;" it's loaded with acrobatics, gymnastics, dance, drama and comedy — a refreshing family-friendly spectacle of feats you'd see in a circus or an athletic competition (with some rituals Ed Sullivan presented years ago on TV but costumed here in awesome gear).There's wondrous music, some sung and frequently with a live fiddler, and it's all staged with theatrical pizzazz, with delights, surprises and chuckles galore. ...

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.