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Top 10 2014

It's touching that show business traditionally shuts down for Christmas. In a sense, this is the slowest week of the year with the exception of crowded movie theaters. Whenever possible, it's important to slow down and appreciate our blessings as we close out one year and enter into another. As I have said in the past, choosing the top 10 show-stopping stage moments of the year is my favorite column to write. As Maui grows artistically, it is becoming increasingly difficult to narrow it to just 10, but these are a few of my favorite things from 2014.10(Tie) Both "Circus," the finale from ...

Burn’n for Darren Lee

This week, Maui's Elvis celebrates a birthday. "Burn'n Love" turns 1 today, and it will soon hit the 200-performance mark.When all my media friends and I received our invitations to see Elvis on Maui, we were excited to attend the soft opening of "Burn'n Love" last December. It was a fantastic show, but at the time, I felt that "Burn'n Love" would run its course and perhaps burn out come late spring when tourism begins to fade. I was wrong, and the reason why is because Darren Lee and "Burn'n Love" have done everything right.Since its opening, the production has connected to the ...

ProArts cast rises to challenge of unorthodox ‘Wonderful Life’ version

ProArts is the biggest risk-taker of all the Maui theatrical companies, and for that alone, it deserves high praise. There is a mountain of things that can go wrong when taking on a treasured classic, and a few things did, but if you love "It's A Wonderful Life," you'll thoroughly enjoy this unorthodox version of the familiar favorite.What works incredibly well in the ProArts production is its cast, particularly Jett Robidoux's sight line-stealing sound foley. On several occasions, I chose to close my eyes to better appreciate the "live radio broadcast." If you choose to do the same, in ...

Hit the airwaves with ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’

On Christmas Eve, a desperate man, convinced his life is worth nothing, stands at the brink of suicide. "It's A Wonderful Life" began as a short story that its author, Philip Van Doren Stern, couldn't sell.Discouraged, Stern decided to print up a few hundred copies of the story and mail them out as Christmas presents. The private printing circulated through many Hollywood offices, and RKO Pictures bought the film rights but never made the movie. A few years later, Frank Capra bought the story and financed the film with his own money. Ironically, due to flopping at the box office and a ...

The season for dance

School's popular program packed with song, dance and theater this weekendFrom dancing on the ceilings and walls of the Maui Arts & Cultural Center, to tap dancing elves, to 10 dance companies in performance over the next four months, dance is flourishing on Maui. Continuing an Upcountry tradition, Seabury Hall will present its annual Christmas Party Performing Arts Concert this weekend, featuring every level of Seabury's dance programs.This always-entertaining holiday performance not only features dance but guest performances by the music and drama departments. Demand for seats runs ...

‘Elf: The Musical’ a holiday hit

Short of a sold-out Castle Theater show, "Elf: The Musical" was the most crowded opening night I have witnessed since "Cats" in 2010. The Historic Iao Theater, decked out in holiday cheer, was abuzz in anticipation of a joyous production, and the audience did not leave disappointed."Elf" is a smiler from start to finish, and if it doesn't nudge you into the Christmas spirit, nothing will. Once or twice a decade, a Maui actor is perfectly cast in a role. So much so that the production can never be mounted again without the past performance being referenced. Ricky Jones as Buddy the Elf ...