I always get excited when I feel the seasons beginning to change on our fair island. As Makahiki approaches, the trades pick up, the air gets cooler and drier, the light sharpens and deepens, and our performing arts community unveils what we'll be watching and waiting for during the upcoming months. So bundle up (a little) and get ready for Maui's impressive fall/winter bounty!
Maui OnStage scares up a little treat for everyone in the Historic Iao Theater next month. The thrills and chills begin Friday, Oct.1, with a screening of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show." Dig up your fishnets, garter belts and boas, and get ready to do the Time Warp again (9 to 11 p.m.). Nothing says Halloween like a couple of homicidal aunties and an uncle with a Teddy Roosevelt complex. "Arsenic and Old Lace," Joseph Kesserling's macabre comedy about a newlywed drama critic who introduces his unsuspecting bride to the skeletons in his family's closet, runs from Oct. 8 to 24. For more information, call 242- 6969 or log onto www. mauion stage.com.
The Maui Arts & Cultural Center's seasonal lineup is a brilliant cultural cornucopia of dance, music and comedy. Join na kumu hula Napua Makua and Kahulu Maluo with Halau Na Lei Kaumaka O Uka in the Castle Theater for Mohala Mai 2010, an evening of traditional and contemporary hula, oli and mele at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 25 ($35). On Friday, Oct. 15, let Complexions Contemporary Ballet's athletic, eclectic, unrestrained style challenge all your frilly, tulle-infused preconceived notions of the traditional form (7:30 p.m., $12, $28, $35). The zany, improvisational, audience-participatory Comedy Hui continues its family-friendly monthly performances in the McCoy Studio Theater on Friday, Oct. 15 and Nov.19 (7 p.m., $22, $11 children 12 and younger), and Gabriel Iglesias, the "fluffy" comic in the aloha shirt, shares his side-splitting personal issues and affinity for dessert with the Castle Theater audience on Saturday, Nov. 27 (7 p.m., $40). Na Mele O Maui ushers in the holiday season on Friday, Dec. 3. Join Maui's most talented students for the illustrious annual Hawaiian song competition. Students from kindergarten through grade 12 complete for prizes. This year, the show's accompanying juried art exhibit features student work inspired by the vocal legacy of Maui's beloved Emma Veary (the gallery is open 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., admission is free). It wouldn't be the Christmas on Maui without the Maui Pops Orchestra's annual Holiday Pops concert. Ring in the festivities with all your favorite holiday and Broadway classics. A special guest chorus will treat the audience to selections from "The Messiah."
Article Photos
JENNIFER ROSE photo
Nick Batres (from left), Sharleen Lagattuta and Mark Collmer navigate the dangers of Harold Pinter’s “The Homecoming” this weekend at the Historic Iao Theater.
Applicable fees are added to ticket prices. For reservations and more information, call 242-7469 or go online at www.mauiarts.org.
ProArts of the Pacific has become synonymous with fractured, funny, family favorites, and the upcoming season is no exception. Its musical version of "The Emperor's New Clothes" opens Friday, Oct. 15, and runs through Halloween. It's followed by "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" (Nov. 5 to 21) and long-running Broadway classic "The Fantasticks" (Dec. 10 to 19 and Jan. 7 to 16). Call 463-6520 for tickets and information.
Guarantee you get chicken skin when Maui Academy of Performing Arts welcomes Kathy Collins and her alter-ego, "Tita," to the Steppingstone Playhouse on Saturday, Oct. 23 (7:30 p.m.), and Sunday, Oct. 24 (2 p.m.), for some old-fashioned, local-kine hair-raisers. Also at the Steppingstone, kids learn "The Magic of Friendship" courtesy of Derek Nakagawa's original play, which just happens to involve a very, very large bunny named Spike and a kind-hearted wannabe wizard (Oct. 30 at 10:30 a.m. and Oct. 31 at 2 p.m., $4). Before you know it, you-know-who will be coming to town and MAPA's dancers will provide the requisite welcoming fanfare at Queen Ka'ahumanu Center on Saturday, Nov. 20. On Sunday, Dec. 5, the west side gets doused with magic and visions of sugarplums when "Nutcracker Sweets" (selections from the Tchaikovsky yuletide classic) alights on the Maui Theatre stage in Lahaina. For tickets and more information, call 244-8760 or log onto www.mauiacademy.org.
This weekend:
Maui OnStage presents "The Homecoming," Harold Pinter's controversial and critically acclaimed examination of language, power and filial sexual politics, at the Historic Iao Theater. Jennifer Rose produces and directs a cast featuring Mark Collmer, John Peterson, Joe Spangler, Nick Batres, Robert Henningsen and Sharleen Lagattuta. Following a free BET (Bare Essential Theater) reading of Pinter's mesmerizing script last Monday, complete staged productions are set for 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 3 p.m. Sunday. Tickets, available at the Iao Theater box, are $10. For more information, call 242-6969 or visit www.mauionstage.com. Not suitable for children due to violence, language and sexual themes.
The Comedy Hui welcomes special guest Kathy Collins to its wacky monthly improv romp in the Maui Arts & Cultural Center's McCoy Studio Theater at 7 p.m. Friday (doors open at 6:30 p.m.). This month it's a "Girly Show" (with six gals and one brave hombre). Don't miss this very special installment of the Hui's fast-paced, audience-inspired, barrier-breaking series. Tickets are $22, $11 for children 12 and younger (plus applicable fees), available at the MACC box office, by phone at 242-7469 or online at www.mauiarts.org.
Opportunities:
Maui OnStage will be holding auditions for Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" on Wednesday at the Historic Iao Theater in Wailuku. This production will feature many traditional carols sung by a madrigal chorus. Those new to Maui OnStage will need to set up an audition time between 6 and 7 p.m. and prepare a brief monologue. Those who have previously performed with Maui OnStage will be scheduled to participate in readings from the script from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. Anyone who would like to be considered for the madrigal chorus should be familiar with their voice part to "Silent Night." Rehearsals begin Saturday, Oct. 2, and performances run from Nov. 26 to Dec.12. To schedule an audition, call 244-8680. To find out more, visit www.mauionstage.com.
Alexander Academy of Performing Arts will hold auditions for its winter ballet production of "Mary Poppins" at its facility in Kula on Sunday, Sept. 26. Registration for all dancers - from beginners ages 6 and older, to advanced dancers of all ages - begins at 11:30 am. Performances will be held at the Maui Theatre in Lahaina in mid-February. For information, call 878-8970.
Hollywood childrens' acting coach Chambers Stevens will be teaching two workshops on "How to Audition for Television" at Kihei Charter School, Ohukai campus on Oct. 2. Stevens is considered one of the top childrens' acting coaches in the United States. The first workshop, for children ages 7 to 12, will run from 9 a.m. to noon. The second, for ages 13 to 18, will run from 2 to 5 p.m.. The cost for each workshop is $75 per student. To reserve a spot, e-mail Theresa Marks at tmarks14@aol.com. Spaces are limited.
