Float in Macy's parade will carry an Island son
By Wayne Harada
Lee Au Jr., 11-year-old son of Kim and Lee Au, will be aboard the Sesame Street float in Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade in New York. "He is sooo excited to be rockin' in the parade," said his mom via e-mail.
Lee has show biz siblings. Brother Isaac Calpito is performing in "West Side Story" on Broadway and sisters Tatiana and Nataysha Echevarria have had Broadway ties. Signed to Wilhelmina Models, Lee has modeling and acting credits in New York (where he and mom now live, with doctor dad Lee holding down the fort here) for Macy's, Verizon, Kellogg's, General Electric and "Sesame Street." Lee has appeared in an H1N1 PSA, too, with Target, Benetton, Macy's and Aeropostale print ads under his belt. ...
THE LOCAL ANGLE: A trio of Islanders will be in "Stomp!" Dec. 22 through Jan. 3 at the Hawai'i Theatre — Ivan Delaforce, Guillaume Carreira and Andres "Pooh" Fernandez, all with Salt Lake-Moanalua roots. They were part of the Las Vegas production, "Stomp Out Loud," a spinoff of the original. ...
Carreira is a childhood buddy of Aubrey Lee Glover, one of the "Winter Wonderettes" at Manoa Valley Theatre, and Delaforce is the son of actress Charlotte Diaz, so expect 'ohana support. ...
Christmas came early for MVT's managing director, Dwight Martin, who's thrilled with the new lights and sound system for the "Winter Wonderettes," after far too many seasons of splicing and patching and duct-taping. ...
TRAVEL LOG: Jack and Maydelle Cione, unofficial first couple of the Arcadia, are home from a whirlwind cruise aboard the Princess Star, sailing to Sämoa and Australia. Cione reunited with Bobby Brooks in an elevator encounter; Brooks, known locally as the Stevie Wonder impressionist in "Legends" at the Royal Hawaiian Center, turned out to be a shipboard entertainer. "We went to his show and he introduced me as his mentor who discovered him at Pearl Harbor," said Cione. "He's great now, but he could not sing in those early days of 'Mardi Gras.' " ...
Musician Stephen Jones, who accompanied entertainers Raiatea Helm, Jeff Peterson, Keola and Moana Beamer, Chino Montero and Capella Williams to China on a Shangri-La Hotels-sponsored tour to promote China-to-Hawai'i tourism, says everyone was treated like rock stars. Sell-out shows, media interviews, screaming teens, 30-foot-tall posters of everyone. Do we smell a hana hou here? ...
Hapa is back from a nine-city Japan tour, prepping for its Dec. 23 show at The Veranda at the Kahala Resort. Among the stops: the prestigious 2,300-seat Performing Art Centre's Bunkamura Orchard Hall. Barry Flanagan's "Because," the Dave Clark Five classic due on the duo's next CD, made the Nippon sing-along fans go bonkers, and Nathan Aweau's funky instrumental "Nana Gen Bassu (Seven String Bass)" also was hot. Japan's hälau Ka Liko Pua O Kalanaiakea, led by Suwako Yamasaki (wife of KINE deejay Billy V) also performed. Read more about Hapa's and the aforementioned Jones' China escapades in my blog, at http://showandtellhawaii.honadvblogs.com ...
TALK ABOUT PEOPLE: Flyin' Hawaiian Shane Victorino, the Phillies' centerfielder, had dinner with his bride Melissa Smith and a group of friends at Sansei Seafood Restaurant & Sushi Bar in Kíhei the night after their Maui wedding. ...
Comedian Andy Bumatai, absent too long, is in the midst of a two-week Wednesday-through-Saturday run with the Society of Seven LV, through Nov. 28, at the Outrigger Waikiki showroom. Call 923-7469. ...
And that's Show Biz. ...