SHOW BIZ By
Wayne Harada
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THE ENVELOPE, PLEASE: Keeping up a tradition, we hereby offer our Oscar picks in seven categories in Sunday's showdown. Industrywide guessperts also seem to favor these winners:
TALK ABOUT PEOPLE: Flash and Matty Boy have set a date for their annual White Party; it'll be held June 2 at the Sheraton Waikiki's Hanohano Room, marking Skyline's third anniversary. You must dress in all-white garb to participate. ...
When "Le Bizarre" unfolds in two performances Saturday night at the Hawaiian Hut, drag queen Brandy Lee and the plumed and bejeweled cast will appear in costumes designed by Bill Doherty valued at more than $50,000. That's a lot of feathers and rhinestones. And though it's billed as a female-impersonator revue, the show will feature some real women — to keep you guessing. ...
And how times have changed. "Le Bizarre" producer Jack Cione recalls that in 1965, when he was running Forbidden City, where boys were girls on stage, guys were required to wear "I am a boy" buttons while in costume. "All the drag queens had to have these signs on," said Cione. ...
TONIGHT'S SHOW TIP: "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" bows at Army Community Theatre's Richardson Theatre. In the title role is attorney Ethan Okura — who's also a former state fencing champion. Donning the narrator's robe is Shawna Masuda — you remember her as Kim in "Miss Saigon" and Belle in "Beauty and the Beast." She was last seen (and heard) as a featured songstress in Jim Brickman's Blaisdell Concert Hall show. And KITV 4's Keoki Kerr will be the Elvis-like Pharaoh. ...
IDOL CHATTER: There's a Hawai'i connection in the current season of "American Idol." It turns out that Sanjaya Malakar, 17, the first Indian-American to make it to the top 24, attended Lihu'e schools and participated in Hawai'i Children's Theatre productions in the 1990s. His sister, Shyamali Malakar, 19, survived earlier audition rounds but didn't make the final cut. The siblings are from Federal Way, Wash. ...
HERE 'N' THERE: Sorry to report the death of Peter Kaina Jr., father of Jonathan Kaina, a member of the Society of Seven Las Vegas. He died last week on Maui, where he was a driver and conductor for Polynesian Adventures. ...
A benefit for Tesia Worley, 2007 Miss Teen Hawai'i America, will be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. March 3 at Hawaiian Brian's, 1680 Kapi'olani Blvd., to help raise funds for her trip to the national finals in Nashville, Tenn., in June. Worley, a Wai'anae resident, is a 13-year-old Kamehameha Schools freshman with a 4.0 GPA. Admission is $20, including food and entertainment by Ten Feet and Cross Winds. Information: Violet at 946-1343 or www.hawaiianbrians.com. ...
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.