By Dave Donnelly
Friday, February 7, 1997
Brook Lee, Sen. Dan Akaka
Brook Lee, Sen. Dan Akaka
MAYBE it's just the way my mind works, but while watching Hawaii's Brook Lee move along in the Miss USA Contest from one of 51 contestants, to one of three finalists, I had this horrible thought. Miss Tennessee, asked the final question about what she'd do if she gained weight during her reign (as Miss Universe had), caved and said she'd diet and try to lose the weight. Brook was the second to answer and she nailed it, saying she was selected for her inner beauty and that was something she'd not lose. The audience cheered loudly, and I thought, "Stop right there." But she kept talking until the cheers had died down and she hadn't finished yet. "A babbling Brook," was all that went through my mind. But she'd already swayed the judges and the title was hers ... Hawaii’s Brook
kept running onALSO pulling for Brook to win the crown were Keith & Carmen Haugen. She often dances in their show at the Royal Hawaiian, and all the Haugens could think of was that when another of their dancers, Kanoe Aberegg, won the Miss Hawaii title, she gave up dancing to attend to her new duties ... Incidentally, if Brook Lee looks familiar, you may have seen her as the primary dancer in the Maui segment of the 60-second TV spot which Ogilvy & Mather produced for the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau. Looks like 1997 will be her year! ...
VIEWERS of C-SPAN got a chance to see Hawaii's Sen. Dan Akaka lead a pretty impressive choir in singing "Amazing Grace" at the National Prayer Breakfast this week. Joining in were President Clinton and first lady Hillary, Al and Tipper Gore, Newt Gingrich and Dick Gephardt and others ... Talk about jumping on the back end of a rapidly vanishing bandwagon - another Keeaumoku Street hostess bar has changed its name and is Club Macarena. Perhaps a day late and a dollar short? Only Charo is still beating that dead horse ...
GRAPE nuts the isle over are scouring warehouses and wine cellars in search of some rare vintages, limited bottlings, estate-bottled or otherwise special wines. The wines are being sought for the 11th annual KHPR wine auction and tasting to be held March 16 at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. KHPR G.M. Anna Kosof says over 400 special bottles of vino have already been harvested, but anyone willing to make tax-deductible wine contributions can do so by calling the station ... Waiting for Merlot
ON the horn from San Francisco was Sheridan Morley, an old friend since we
were both involved with UH theater back in 1963 and ended up appearing in "The Man Who Came to Dinner" together. (I continued playing "The Man," just over a year ago, coming to dinner at the Morley home in London and staying 12 days.) Sherry, an indefatigable writer, covers London's theater for the International Herald Tribune and the Spectator magazine, and now is on a short list to become the regular critic for the London Daily Mail. And since Harrod's owner Mohamed Al Fayed relaunched Punch Magazine, where Morley was once arts editor, he's hired Sherry to do a weekly column. Morley was in S.F. this week with a cabaret version of his "Noel and Gertie" show (about Noel Coward and Gertrude Lawrence), attending the "cattle call" of cabaret, where various shows are previewed and signed by producers from all over the world for future production. He tells me that Twiggy will be returning to the stage after a long absence to appear in a "Noel and Gertie" revival ...
WITH the battle over legalization of marijuana in the papers (and Newsweek), Late Night Theatre at UH-Manoa is on the cutting edge, so to speak, with its current production, "The Misadventures of Paka and Lolo." The dope scene is seen in a humorous vein and more local light. The comedy will be performed tonight, tomorrow and Feb. 14 & 15 at 10:45 p.m. in the Earle Ernst Lab Theatre in the Kennedy Theatre building ... Straight dope
