TWO OF A KIND, WORKING ON A FULL HOUSE: "Las Vegas" was the theme as Matt Wright, seated, center, celebrated his 25th birthday as the guest of honor at a party organized by his girlfriend, Liana Green, seated to his left, at Haiku Plantation on Friday. Character actor Dion Donahue, left, Ariana Jennings and Ruth Terna joined in on the card-playing action while Travis Barksdale and Dianna Matsumoto kept an eye on the players. Donahue and Matsumoto came out winners later in the evening when they shared top honors in the "best costume" contest; Donahue was a gambling sheik, and Matsumoto used playing cards as decorative accents in a Hollywood hula girl outfit.

REMEMBERING DEC. 7, 1941: Honolulu Theatre for Youth actor BullDog, center, talked with Dick Rodby and his wife, Joan, during the post-show reception for HTY's world-premiere production of "Nothing Is the Same" at Richardson Theatre on Saturday. BullDog plays a Filipino-American boy who witnesses the Japanese attack from Wahiawa, just as Dick Rodby did as a 10-year-old in 1941. Rodby recalled seeing some of the Japanese pilots wave at the kids on the ground as they flew overhead. He met some of those pilots many years later while helping prepare a book about the Japanese attack. Joan watched the attack from her grandmother's home in Kapahulu.

CONGRATULATIONS, CLARENCE!: Clarence Lee, center, this year's recipient of the Alfred Preis Award from the Hawai'i Alliance for Arts Education, talked with Charles Degala and Annie Lee (no immediate relation) during a VIP reception and silent auction at the ARTS at Marks Garage. That gathering preceded the 2004 Alliance Awards show at Hawaii Theatre on Saturday.

THREE BEAMERS IN THE HOUSE: "Uncle Keola" Beamer, left, Mahi Beamer and Gaye Beamer were in the front row for the Hawai'i Alliance for Arts Education 2004 Alliance Awards. There turned out to be a good reason for them to be seated down front. Mahi and Gaye were called up to perform with Hawaii's Three Tenors in the hana hou.

BRAVO, TENORS, BRAVO!: Robert Cazimero, left, Aaron Sala and Les Ceballos relaxed backstage after a stellar performance as the headliners of the 2004 Alliance Awards. The three performed as "Hawaii's Three Tenors" and capped a great series of individual performances with a spirited three-way rendition of "O Sole Mio."