The underdog dance troupe that impressed fans and judges on MTV's “;America's Best Dance Crew”; this year is coming to Hawaii. Fanny Pak—featuring Castle High School graduate Cara Horibe—and So Real Cru will perform at 6 p.m. next Friday at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center, and at 7 p.m. Jan. 3 at Blaisdell Concert Hall. They'll also conduct a workshop at the University of Hawaii dance studio on Jan. 4. After that, they're off to Las Vegas for a five-day gig.

24-7 Danceforce and the Rainbow Warrior Dancers will open the show at Blaisdell. Devout fans know that Cara learned her moves with this Hawaii-based dance crew and also served as dance captain for the Rainbows.

Concert tickets are $30 to $60 and are on sale at www.ticketmaster.com ...

  I finally had the opportunity to watch some of the bonus features on the new Season 4 “;Lost”; DVD set, and the “;The Island Backlot: Lost in Hawaii”; feels like something right out of a public relations office (in a good way). Lots of credit goes to local crew members, and Hawaii gets a nice pat on the back as a tropical alternative to Hollywood. Matthew Fox gushes that “;this is probably the most ideal location for us to shoot the show.”; Josh Holloway declares, “;I'm never going to work anywhere else!”; Crew members emerge from the North Shore surf during their lunch break. Can you imagine what the folks shoveling their way out of their front doors are thinking?

This particular section—and it's only one of many—features sound bites from actors, directors and set designers, as well as Honolulu Film Commissioner Walea Constantinau and location manager Jim Triplett. It's particularly interesting when producer Jean Higgins explains how they “;turn Hawaii into every place in the world,”; because I've talked with mainland viewers who don't know that places like England, Australia, Germany, Africa and Iraq are all created right here. And that's no easy task. Sometimes it involves wrapping large swaths of “;bark”; around palm trees. Or scouring soldier blog sites to understand the details required to transform two city blocks into Iraq (with huge efforts to obscure anything green). Or piling ice on the street in downtown Honolulu to make it look like Berlin. Or using giant fans to blow sand in everyone's eyes (especially Michael Emerson's) in Maili quarry, which doubled for the Tunisian dessert.

“;To work on this set today feels palpably like being in a foreign place,”; Emerson said between scenes in the re-creation of Iraq. “;The costumes are astonishing. And it helps us so much when there is that feeling of otherness.”; So the viewers aren't the only ones who matter. Every bit of authenticity makes a difference in the actors' performances ...

  Scott Moore, who is from Kailua, seems to have found his niche in Hollywood. He wrote “;Four Christmases,”; which is going strong at the box office, and also worked on “;Wedding Crashers,”; “;27 Dresses”; and “;Chicken Little,”; according to the Internet Movie Database. In addition, he has two feature films coming in 2009, so we hope to catch up with him soon.

  Contact Katherine Nichols at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).