Returning to the Maui Arts & Cultural Center’s Castle Theater after a long absence, the Maui Pops Orchestra opens its 2021-22 season with a special “Holiday Pops” concert featuring Broadway star Dee Roscioli on Sunday.

With Jim Durham conducting the Maui Pops Orchestra, Roscioli will celebrate the holiday season performing such favorites as “Winter Wonderland” and “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.”

“We are really thrilled that we can actually do this in front of a live audience again,” said Pops’ Executive Director Cheryl Lindley. “Our last live concert was on March 8, 2020. We got in just before everything shut down. We are really excited to be bringing Dee Roscioli to do some familiar Christmas tunes, and we will do some stuff with just the orchestras including the ‘Festive Sounds of Hanukkah’ medley.”

Roscioli is best known for her lead role of Elphaba in the smash hit musical “Wicked.” She holds America’s all-time record for the most professional performances of the role. Her other roles have included Grizabella in a national tour of the musical “Cats,” and Fruma-Sarah in the 2015 Broadway revival of “Fiddler on the Roof.” A Leigh Valley Press review of her performance of “Evita” praised: “Roscioli is remarkable.” She “has the uncanny ability on stage to truly become any character she plays.”

The season continues on Jan. 23 with “Broadway Pops,” starring Morgan James and Ben Davis. They will perform with the Maui Pops Orchestra in a celebration of music from Broadway and movies including “Don’t Cry For Me Argentina,” “I Could Have Danced All Night,” “Skyfall” and “Some Enchanted Evening.”

“We don’t have the specific repertoire yet,” said Lindley, who is the principal cellist with the Pops. “We did have a season loosely planned and we were waiting to see if things would open up. We had our guest artists on hold, but we didn’t find out until about a month ago that we were going to be able to do a season.”

Both James and Davis will make their Maui debut.

“Both of them have done television and film work as well as Broadway,” Lindley explained. “Morgan James is very popular. She does stuff with Postmodern Jukebox. Ben Davis was just in ‘Annie Live’ on TV.”

Maui-born celebrated Hawaiian slack key guitarist Jeff Peterson will team with the orchestra on Feb. 20 for a “Winter Pops” concert, with a program that will include the Maui premiere of his work, “Concerto for Slack Key Guitar and Orchestra, Malama Aina.”

“We’re so excited to have Jeff play,” she said. “His concerto was debuted on the Mainland and it has been performed by the Hawaii Symphony, but this is the first time it will be performed on Maui. It’s an absolutely beautiful piece. We’re thrilled to be doing that with him, and we’ll play a few other things with him.”

The season closes on March 13 with a “Spring Pops” concert, featuring Sarah Uriarte Berry and a “Tribute to Judy Garland and Friends.” Besides Garland’s familiar songs, Berry will feature associated compositions by artists like Barbara Streisand who were inspired by Garland.

An accomplished Broadway, television and film actress, Berry made her Broadway debut as Eponine in “Les Misérables,” then went on to star twice as Belle in “Beauty and the Beast.” She starred in the title role in “Cinderella” with the New York City Opera, and was a soloist in Bernstein’s “Mass” at Carnegie Hall with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.

Berry debuted her one-woman show, “For The Love Of Judy,” in 2015. She told PBS: “I have always been amazed by, and tried to emulate, Judy’s ability to communicate the lyric in a song, and her total connection to her audience.”

“She’s amazing, an incredible talent,” said Lindley. “We’re really excited to bring her back. Sarah stepped in as a substitute for our January 2020 concert, and she was amazing. She blew everybody away.”

All Maui Pops concerts begin at 3 p.m. and will be intermission-free with digital programs. Tickets are $22, $35, $50 and $60 (plus applicable fees). Tickets for students 18 and under are half price, except for $22 tickets. Patrons who purchase tickets for all four of the Maui Pops 2021-22 series receive a 10 percent discount. Tickets for all four concerts need to be purchased together to qualify for discount, which does not apply to $22 tickets. Tickets are available at MauiArts.org.

All patrons are required to show proof of vaccination and masks are required.