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Bolstered by Broadway

Between a stellar performance by the cast of “Jersey Boys” at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center last Friday, “Wicked” star Megan Hilty in concert this weekend, sold-out houses for “Guys and Dolls,” and the upcoming gala benefits of the Maui Academy of Performing Arts and Maui OnStage, Broadway-quality entertainment is in bloom this spring on Maui.

Through clues such as thematic cocktails, decor and live performance, Maui OnStage will covertly reveal the productions of the 2016-17 season at Sneak Peek: Broadway on the Beach next month. Guests will be the first to learn of the upcoming season and will be treated to dramatic, comedic and musical excerpts from all five shows. The Maui OnStage board of directors has selected five Maui premieres for 2016-17 (three musicals, one comedy and one drama), and this year’s Sneak Peek show bill of stars includes Dale Button, Laura Lee Cole, Steven Dascoulias, Ricky Jones, Hoku Pavao Jones, Erin Kowalick, Leighanna Locke, Francis Tau’a, David Tuttle, Felicia Chernicki-Wulf, Jason Wulf, Brett Marynn Wulfson and many more.

Executive Director Alexis Dascoulias promises the 2016 Christmas show will be even more electrifying than “Elf: The Musical.”

“Sneak Peek has become Maui OnStage’s signature fundraising event,” says Dascoulias. “We hold only one event each year and this is it. We combine handcrafted cocktails, delicious pupus, delectable food, outstanding entertainment, a completely unique Maui setting with a glorious sunset and then top it off with guests being the very first to know next year’s season. It has evolved into an outstanding night of entertainment from cocktail music, followed by the peeks at next year’s season and rounding off the night with dance music.”

The event, held at the Kihei oceanfront estate Aloha Aku, will begin at 5 p.m. April 9 with passed cocktails such as the Peeping Tom (a mini-Tom Collins) and classical arrangements of Broadway standards performed by members of the Maui Chamber Orchestra. Diverse dinner buffets, served at three stations by Catering From Soup to Nuts, will feature beef Wellington and coq au vin as well as several vegetarian options. The hosted bar sponsored by Hali’imaile Distilling Co. will offer five novelty cocktails inspired by the five shows. The sneak peeks create a dinner theater experience, culminating with the season announcement by Dascoulias, to be followed by dessert and “Swingin’ Tiki Time’s” Eric Gilliom and Lia Krieg in concert performing jazz standards. New to the sixth annual event is a live auction with unique lots like a private dinner for 10 at the Historic Iao Theater in Wailuku.

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On April 1, Maui Academy of Performing Arts will host its sixth annual spring gala, DeLights of Broadway, an all-inclusive evening of Broadway-style entertainment, fine dining and libations. The event will be held at the King Kamehameha Golf Club in Waikapu, the facility often referred to as the Marilyn Monroe house and originally designed by Frank Lloyd Wright for Monroe and husband Arthur Miller.

The event will begin at 6 p.m. with a cocktail-hour set of Broadway standards sung by Lia Krieg. Attendees may obtain individual tickets but are encouraged to purchase tables that will each be uniquely designed to a musical of their choice. The colorful tables and the corresponding shows are available on a first-come, first-served basis, which may be chosen from a complete list at the MAPA website. Some of the suggested themes are “The Book of Mormon,” “Kinky Boots,” “Wicked,” “Hamilton” and “Hairspray.” Guests are also encouraged to dress in the style of the musical or for an evening on Broadway.

The entertainment portion will include selections from Great White Way hits such as “The Phantom of the Opera,” “Wicked,” “Evita,” “Hair,” “Les Miserables,” “Kinky Boots,” “Hamilton” and a few surprises. Presented as a series of theater auditions run by a casting director played by Ricky Jones, the auditioning singers will include Kepa Cabanilla-Aricayos, Dylan Bode, Eric Gilliom, Kathryn Holtkamp, Leighanna Locke, Joey Schumacher, Kristi Scott and many more.

A live auction will feature a New York trip, gift certificate to any Broadway show, airfare and hotel. All proceeds will benefit the MAPA youth programs.

New to this year’s gala is a series of party games like Tame the Diva, Prop Drop, Costume the Chorus and Kickin’ it with Kathleen, as resident choreographer Kathleen Schultz teaches guests a few Broadway dance moves.

* Catch MAPA’s DeLights of Broadway on April 1 at the King Kamehameha Golf Club. Tickets are $150 per person, or $1,500 to $5,000 for a table of 10, and are available by calling 244-8760 or visiting www.mauiacademy.org.

THIS WEEKEND

Broadway star Megan Hilty will perform at Imua Family Services’ 69th anniversary gala fundraiser, the Fantasia Ball, on Saturday. Just a week removed from her Broadway run as Brooke Ashton in “Noises Off,” Hilty brings her brassy Broadway vocals to the Fantasia Ball at the Hyatt Regency Maui Resort & Spa’s Monarchy Ballroom.

Hilty portrayed Glinda in “Wicked” from 2005 to 2006; Doralee Rhodes in Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5: The Musical” in 2009; and Ivy Lynn on the NBC musical-drama TV series “Smash” from 2012 to 2013. Proceeds will support Imua Family Services, which has been providing services to Maui’s keiki with special needs and developmental delays since 1947.

* The Fantasia Ball will begin at 5:30 p.m. Saturday at the Hyatt Regency Maui. Tickets are $195 and are available by calling 244-7467 or visiting www.imuafamilyservices.org/fantasiaball.

Catch the award-winning Free Range Comedy in Kihei this weekend. This local improv troupe features the farm-fresh Free Range players, Chris Rose, Kristi Scott, Matthew Brass, William Hubbard, Victoria McGee, Karen Stavash and John Williams.

* The performance will be at 8 p.m. Friday at the ProArts Playhouse. Tickets are $10 at the door or may be reserved in advance by calling 463-6550. Free Range Comedy may not be suitable for children.

UPCOMING

Frequently called the funniest show on Broadway, the national tour of “The Book of Mormon” makes its Hawaii debut on Oahu next month. The critically acclaimed satire by Trey Parker and Matt Stone (“South Park”) and Robert Lopez (“Frozen”) follows two Mormon missionaries as they attempt to share scripture with the inhabitants of a remote African village.

A devout, missionary-to-be, Elder Kevin Price, believes that if he prays enough, he will be sent to Orlando, Fla., for his two-year mission, but to his shock, he is assigned to northern Uganda, where he is immediately robbed at gunpoint by soldiers of a local warlord.

* Performances will be held eight times weekly from April 13 to May 1 at the Neal S. Blaisdell Center in Honolulu. Tickets range from $37 to $208 (plus applicable fees) and are available at www.bookofmormonhonolulu.com.

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The Maui Celebrity Series presents Cheech and Chong live in concert next month in Lahaina with Brian Evans and surprise celebrity guests.

The iconic duo defined an era with their irreverent, counter-culture comedy routines. After eight successful films such as the top-grossing 1978 hit, “Up In Smoke,” and their nine chart-topping comedy albums, garnering multiple Grammy nominations and winning for “Los Cochinos” in 1973, Cheech and Chong are reunited and returning to their live-stage roots, presenting a “best of” set of classic sketches and songs.

* Preshow entertainment will begin at 6 p.m., with Cheech and Chong taking the stage at 8 p.m. April 30 at the Lahaina Civic Center Amphitheater. Tickets range from $25 to $65 (plus applicable fees) and are available at www.honoluluboxoffice.com.

OPPORTUNITIES

Students entering grades 3 through 12 can spend their summer singing, dancing and acting in theater youth camp, culminating with performances of the musical “Disney’s The Little Mermaid Jr.” presented by the Maui Academy of Performing Arts.

The camp runs from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekdays from June 6 to July 14, with performances July 15 through July 24. Auditions will be held from 1 to 3 p.m. April 12. Tuition is $875 per child with payment plans, partial needs-based scholarships and work-study programs for teenagers available. All students should register in advance for the audition at www.mauiacademy.org/summer-musical-theatre-camps.

* For more information, call the MAPA offices at 244-8760.

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