‘Melrose Place’ star
to play host
Jack Wagner will emcee
By Tim Ryan
the Miss Universe Pageant
Star-Bulletin"Melrose Place" star Jack Wagner will host the 1998 Miss Universe Pageant May 12 at the University of Hawaii's Stan Sheriff Center.
On the Fox television series Wagner plays Dr. Peter Burns, a rogue in doctor's clothing. He also starred for five years in the ABC daytime serial "General Hospital," playing Frisco Jones. He eventually married his "General Hospital" leading lady, Kristina Malandro, and they have two children.
In the mid-1980s, Wagner scored big with the single "All I Need," which still remains a staple of many soft-rock radio stations.
Born in Washington, Mo., Wagner drove to Los Angeles the day after graduating from high school in 1982, and found work as a tour guide at Universal Studios while auditioning for parts.
Liquor commission OKs
Star-Bulletin
pageant’s rooftop party at
convention centerThe first rooftop party at the new Hawaii Convention Center got unanimous approval from the Honolulu Liquor Commission, which heard nary a word of objection from critics who consider the open roof a potential noise nuisance for surrounding residents. Commissioners yesterday didn't ask what music or other potential noise sources are planned for the May 12 cocktail reception which will follow the Miss Universe pageant at the University of Hawaii's Stan Sheriff Center.
Convention Center General Manager Dick Walsh told reporters he doesn't know what entertainment is planned for the party to be thrown by the pageant sponsors. Spectacor Management Group, which operates the center, applied for a special one-time liquor license for 6 to 10 p.m. to cover the open rooftop.
The enclosed areas of the Convention Center, including the top-floor ballroom, are covered by a liquor license granted last year. At that time Convention Center attorney Kenneth G.K. Hoo removed the 2.5-acre open-air rooftop from the license application in the face of opposition from area residents.
Walsh said the reception will take place inside the ballroom and enclosed foyer, but that some of the party-goers may stroll out onto the landscaped rooftop. "The stages are in the ballroom; I believe most people will gravitate that
Most of the action will be inside.
"It's a heavy-pupu reception. I expect it's going to be rather low-key," said Walsh. "It's not going to be the Stones at something like this. I have no idea who they will bring in."
The application provides for eight portable bars, some of which would be on the open deck. But, said Walsh, that's "the worst-case scenario" based on attendance by 1,500 people.
He indicated that the ticket sales -- at $200 per person -- are far less than that.
Walsh said the Miss Universe reception is the first of six events that will test the noise project theories. The next will be an August event during the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees convention.
He said a $50,000 Grozier noise monitoring system has just arrived and will be in place before the event.
Liquor Commission members John Spierling and Chu Lan Kwock praised the center facilities after taking a tour.
"Management has taken great pains to install monitoring equipment," said Kwock.
Concern about the potential for noise problems were raised in 1994 when the environmental impact statement was being prepared by the developer.
Senate Ways and Means Committee Co-Chairwomen Carol Fukunaga and Rosalyn Baker inserted a provision in the proposed $5 million Convention Center budget demanding that neighborhood complaints about noise and traffic congestion at the center be resolved by May 5.
City Councilman Andy Mirikitani said "the state has represented that noise impacts would be fully addressed." He said the Convention Center operators told community meetings that not just noise monitoring but mitigating measures to alleviate the noise would be taken.
Bobbie Jennings of the Ala Moana/Kakaako Neighborhood Board said, "They are doing something that the community is not in favor of."
She said the board had proposed that the Convention Center operators hold a true sound test using live music and amplification such as the luau and light-jazz entertainment advertised in its brochures to prospective clients.
"They did not respond except to say they would test at six events . . . but that's going to take more than a year," Jennings said. "If they took six events with very little entertainment . . . I don't believe it to be a correct test."
TONIGHT
"Made in Hawaii," benefit fashion show and dinner, Hilton Hawaiian Village, Coral Ballroom, 6 p.m. Contestants will model fashions and dine with donors. Tickets $100 each or $1,000 for a table of 10. Call 524-2211. See story in Features.
TOMORROW
SUNDAY
More Miss Universe in the
Features section
