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The Butler did it --
a chance encounter
in an elevator

THANK THE TERMITES: Dr. Jamil Sulieman and his wife, Kathleen Sulieman, enjoyed Jerry Butler's music for years but never expected to meet him. They checked into a Waikiki hotel while their house was being fumigated, and after the hotel upgraded them to a secured-floor suite, they met Butler in the elevator. Jay says the ride lasted long enough for them to thank the musician for the great memories and welcome him to Hawaii ...

SEE 'EM NOW, HAWAII: Diamond Head Theatre's hit production of Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" is the last show here for Po'okela Award winner Katie Leiva (Mrs. Potts). She's moving to Washington, D.C., with fiancé Bryan Bender in September ... The show is also a sayonara for Katherine E. Mills, excellent as Maria in "West Side Story" at Army Community Theatre last fall, who leaves for the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University in September. Mills is playing tertiary characters in "B&B" but because she's also understudying the role of Belle there's a chance theater-goers will see her in the title role at least once before the show closes Aug. 14 ...

BRANDY'S BACK: Brandy Bacal is back in Hawaii after years in L.A. Some old-time nightlifers remember her as a bikini model; others remember her as a TV and stage actress. Bacal played Bianca in Kumu Kahua's ambitious but problematic 1996 production of "Othello." She aims to get back into film and stage work here soon ...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: To Gene De Francis, who is celebrating tomorrow ... also to Jack Law and Sherry Chock (Saturday), Philana Bouvier (Sunday), and Charlie Garrett (Wednesday) ...

LOOK IT UP: Responding to the recent brouhaha about whether liquor commission inspectors should be allowed to carry firearms, Jacques Abellira says they already have police powers. He invites those who disagree to read Hawaii Revised Statutes 281-17 and 281-86. I'll take his word for it ...

OLD FRIENDS: Andy Eby, known as "Fishleg" when he was working with the Nomads (later known as Aura) at The Point After, e-mails from El Paso that he'll be retiring from the Army in December. Eby says he was dubbed "Fishleg" by a band member because of the way he danced to a song by that name that had a very fast tempo. "I had fast-moving feet almost like 'Lord of the Dance,' which didn't exist then," he says ...