'Beautiful' at Pearl

JOHN BERGER / JBERGER@STARBULLETIN.COM
Brandy Leaver, left, welcomed island stuntman Darin Fujimori and China West to "Beautiful," Russell Tanoue's first party at Pearl in Ala Moana Center, Nov. 22. It was like old times as Tanoue and his "girl Friday," Juliet Lighter, presided over a classy wall-to-wall event in the refined, upscale nightclub. Smart partyers arrived fashionably on time for the sold-out event. Those who made the mistake of coming fashionably late had a long wait in the line outside. CLICK FOR LARGE

JOHN BERGER / JBERGER@STARBULLETIN.COM
Cydney Chu, left, was introduced to the "Beautiful" scene by Briana Spagnuola. CLICK FOR LARGE

JOHN BERGER / JBERGER@STARBULLETIN.COM
Dr. Tina Chu, left, shared a reserved table in the mauka section of the club with Antonia Rodriguez and Brenda and Kelvin Asashina. The four had a good view of the action when the club's front bar became a catwalk on which Tanoue's models strutted their stuff in a late-evening fashion show. CLICK FOR LARGE

JOHN BERGER / JBERGER@STARBULLETIN.COM
Luana Alapa, left, enjoyed the party with Helen Berger and her husband, James (no relation to this columnist). James and his company, Saab Hawaii, are season sponsors of Army Community Theatre and its current production, "Annie," which closes with shows tomorrow and Saturday. CLICK FOR LARGE

JOHN BERGER / JBERGER@STARBULLETIN.COM
Marines Jeremy Staat, left, and Jared Hood talked with models Rain Rusden and Kamakoa Page after the fashion show. Staat gave up his career in the NFL to enlist in the Marines after Pat Tillman, his college roommate when they were playing for Arizona State, was killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan in 2004. Staat and Hood go on deployment early next year. CLICK FOR LARGE