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On the Scene John Berger |
Even celebrities sometimes
don’t get the star treatmentA CLASS ACT: Celebrities of all types -- entertainers, politicians, athletes, radio and television personalities -- quickly come to expect preferential treatment even when they're not "on the job," and rarely take "no" for an answer when they want something. "Uncle Tom" Moffatt was among the folks in line backstage at the Blaisdell Concert Hall late Tuesday waiting to meet Jackie Chan at his "Around the World in 80 Days" VIP Pupu & Wine Party when one of Chan's staffers came out and announced that the line was being cut off and no more people would be allowed into the room where Chan was posing for photos. Moffatt, an A-list island celebrity for almost 50 years, turned around without a word and went back downstairs, in the words of one observer, "just like a normal person." Matt Matsunaga, Linda Coble and Nohelani Cypriano were among the lucky ones who got a photo with Chan ...
A GREAT PARTY: The food was excellent and so was the service as the chefs and waiters of Jackie's Kitchen provided the drinks and pupu for Chan's big VIP party behind the screen on the Blaisdell Concert Hall stage ... Dr. Lawrence K.W. Tseu, Bob Tom and Wendy Loh represented the Jackie Chan Charitable Foundation USA (The group recently raised $10,000 for charity purposes and presented it to Chan in Las Vegas.) ... Carole Kai looked fabulous in black ... Former first lady Jean Ariyoshi and son Ryozo shared a table with Robby Robinson and actor/stunt man/movie producer Robin Shou ... Rhodericka Miranda, waiting for a friend to arrive, confided that another friend had promised to get her a photo op with Chan sometime during his stay here ... MidWeek staffer Yu Shing Ting was one of many VIPs who took home glow-in-the-dark Skyy Vodka tumblers as souvenirs ... Other VIP invitees included Mamo Howell, Indru & Gulab Watumull, Ronald T.C. Young, and Hawaii Cinema Productions execs Vic Hejmadi and Jonathan "Jon" Won ... Man of the moment for many VIPs was Jackie's Kitchen waiter JP who kept the delicacies coming until the kitchen shut down. He's a real-life martial artist (tae kwan do) with a great ready-for-the-movies look. Would make a great martial arts movie hero -- or villain ...
HAPPY BIRTHDAY: To Hoku Ho, who is celebrating today ... also to Chucky Boy Chock (Friday), Kaitlyn Kiyan and Jim Nabors (Saturday), Alan Akana (Sunday), Beverly Noa (Monday), and pianist Jim Howard (Tuesday) ...
CONGRATULATIONS TO Peter Shaindlin, CEO of the Halekulani Corporation, and Halekulani Hotel general manager Fred Honda. The Halekulani was voted No. 1 for service in Hawaii and in the United States and Canada by the readers of Travel + Leisure magazine ...
See the Columnists section for some past articles.
John Berger has covered the local
entertainment scene since 1972. Contact
him at jberger@starbulletin.com.