Hawaii
Hollywood transplants Lee
and Carrere vacation hereTWO of Hawaii's better-known actors have been back on vacation independent of one another, despite the fact they'll be appearing -- or at least their voices will -- in Disney's new "Lilo & Stitch." It's an animated feature about a young Hawaiian girl and both Tia Carrere and Jason Scott Lee provide the voices for major characters. In the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, one scene went through a major change. In the original, an alien commandeers a commercial 747 and takes it for a joy ride between downtown Honolulu skyscrapers. Word is, it'll become a space ship dodging between planets or some such. Both Carrere and Lee still have some voice-overs to do, though separately ... Carrere celebrated her birthday while here, and her gorgeous younger sister, Audra Lee Janeiro flew in from her Australia home to help her celebrate ... Lee was here to recuperate from months of filming a movie thriller, "Resurrection" in Romania. He also did some sightseeing in China and Tibet ("rugged but exhilarating") before coming home ... Carrere is off to England, where her series "Relic Hunter" is now being filmed ...
MORE national Hawaii exposure: The Jan. 29 edition of National Enquirer (a reader points out, I hasten to add) contains a photo of a shirtless Ray Romano soaking up rays at the Four Seasons Hotel on the Big Island. How are they going to explain the super-tanned guy from Queen's on the show? ... The "E! Entertainment Network interviewed Loretta Swit when she was here for "The Vagina Monologues." They'll do a big feature on her 11-year-run on "M*A*S*H" ...
Have a Niagra, my dear?
Public Relations gal Mona Wood, who is single, went to see "Monologues" with three lady friends, out on a kind of "Sex and the City" evening. Her friends all agreed she should play Samantha, the Kim Cattrall role, in their own series. This from a woman who turned down an opportunity to publicize a product called Niagra, a kind of Viagra for women. "That's something I definitely don't need," said Wood ...SPEAKING of "Sex and the City," Bill Irish of W.J. Irish Fine Jewelry on Kapiolani, admits he'd never seen the show, but a somewhat hysterical husband came in looking for a duplicate of the diamond horseshoe necklace favored by "Sex's" Sarah Jessica Parker, reportedly at a cost of $2,400. There were none to be found in Honolulu, but Irish tracked one down over the phone. He found one on the mainland, which he sold to the much-relieved hubby at less than what Parker's costs. Another marriage saved ...
And fancy free
WHEN TV magazine show hostess Emme Tomimbang was in New York a couple of years ago, she interviewed Dean Pitchford, the St. Louis High grad who has in his collection an Oscar, Grammy and Tony, among other awards. She was there at the time when Pitchford was producing his own musical, "Footloose" on Broadway and attended the show as his guest. She raved at the time that it should come to Hawaii. Not all of Emme's dreams came true, but this one is going to. Pitchford will personally be bringing the musical to Hawaii, and it is slated to open March 14. At his alma mater, perhaps ...
Dave Donnelly has been writing on happenings
in Hawaii for the Star-Bulletin since 1968.
The Week That Was recalls items from Dave's 30 years of columns.Contact Dave by e-mail: ddonnelly@starbulletin.com