WINDWARD NEWS: Tom Holowach, actor and manager of the Paliku Theatre, has bought a bunch of flashlights — charged and ready for action — for his Windward theater facility. With three blackouts over the past month — "Oklahoma!" had to be shut down twice, once because of the Oct. 15 earthquakes, once because of an isolated Windward outage; and a Chamber Music Hawaii program was curtailed because of a power failure — he's now a seasoned veteran of unexpected lights-out. The flashlights came in handy when audience members held 'em for Chamber Music Hawaii, as they played in the dark. ...

Holowach and his wife, Holly, play King Henry II and Queen Eleanor in Hawai'i Pacific University's "The Lion in Winter" at the Paul and Vi Loo Theatre at HPU. Their rehearsal ritual began with "How are you?" ...

Holowach had rights to Disney's mega-hit, "High School Musical," for production next spring but likely won't take a stab at it. He had hoped Ron Bright could direct, but it doesn't seem likely that will happen.

Kamehameha's thespians have apparently acquired the rights, too, so a high school may be the one to adapt the show here. ...

HOT STUFF: DVDs Dec. 5: "Honolulu: 100 Years in the Making," the Phil Arnone documentary tracking the city's glorious past that aired earlier this year on KGMB 9; and "Made of Music: The Story of John Cruz," which bowed at this year's Hawaii International Film Festival. ...

Just out: "KCCN FM-100 Birthday Bash Sweet 16," with 80 minutes of jive and vibes from Katchafire, Fiji, Natural Vibrations, Kapena, Ho'onu'a, B.E.T., Brother Noland, Koa'uka, One Groove and Malina. ...

HITHER 'N' YON: Teen actor Sean Jones, son of musician Stephen Jones, gets better and better as he takes on more stage roles. His progress is a credit to his talent and his Mid-Pacific Institute training. (He's part of MPI's performing arts program.) Sean plays the prince in Diamond Head Theatre's "Cinderella," premiering Friday.

After extended performances through Dec. 23, Sean will leave town on Christmas Eve to join the family in New York City.

The Gotham plan includes soaking up Broadway shows, checking out potential colleges for Sean and catching up with locals working and living in The Big Apple. ...

For a wickedly funny take on the dark and dreary side of Santa and Christmas, check out David Sedaris' "SantaLand Diaries," another one-man show, at Manoa Valley Theatre. Andrew Meader returns as Crumpet, a holiday elf caught in the craze of the holiday crush. It plays at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 6-7, 8 p.m. Dec. 8-9 and 4 p.m. Dec. 10. ...

Familiar faces were in the audience at the opening of "Annie," at Richardson Theatre. Former Honolulan Andee Gibbs has been houseguesting with Shari Lynn, who plays Miss Hannigan. That's a role Gibbs did twice (in 1990 and '96) before she headed for Las Vegas, where she now plays the Italian mother in "Tony and Tina's Wedding."

Alan Gelfius, another ex-Islander now residing in D.C., who shared the stage with Gibbs in "Sweeney Todd" here, was also on hand. The keyboardist and singer is heading off to Italy with Lynn, on tour with Lynn's La Pietra Choir. Gelfius signed on after Lynn told him she was having difficulty finding an accompanist. ...

ITEMIZATIONS: Janel Parrish has shot an episode of "The O.C."; look got her on the Fox show. Parrish says she's also completed a music demo disc of two of her original tunes. Yep, she'll shop it around in hopes of getting "noticed" as a singer. Her episode on "Zoey 101" aired Sunday on Nickelodeon. ...

Sales are brisk for Jim Brickman's Jan. 6 concert at the Blaisdell Concert Hall. Of course, you can get a weekly dose of the composer-pianist-singer on his syndicated radio show, aired here from 8 to 11 a.m. Sundays on KSSK. ...

And that's Show Biz. ...

Show Biz is published Tuesdays and Thursdays. Reach Wayne Harada at 525-8067, wharada@honoluluadvertiser.com or fax 525-8055.