MACC marks 25 years of entertainment

Free community celebration set to be held Nov. 24

The Maui Arts & Cultural Center is hosting a free celebration for the community Nov. 24 to mark 25 years of presenting performing arts on Maui.

The event will start at 4 p.m. with a marching band at the entrance gates. Inside, the A&B Amphtitheater will offer activities and entertainment that will include performances by Australia's Strange Fruit and local groups like Hapa, Henry Kapono, Willie K, Zenshin Daiko and the King Kekaulike Na Ali'i Big Band. There will also be an art activity, face-painting and balloons, as well as free birthday cake and fireworks finale.

Strange Fruit, a performing arts company based in Melbourne, Australia, fuses theater, dance and circus and delivers a hypnotizing dance from atop 5-meter-high flexible poles. They will put on a performance entitled "The Spheres," which the MACC is bringing to Maui as an exclusive. The piece takes a whimsical look at physics, the miracle of birth and humanity's existential relationship to the planet. "Celestial beings" will emerge from illuminated globes to recount a tale of transformation and wonder, covering creation, exultation, liberation, life and the universe.

The celebration will also feature food vendors like Three's Bar and Grill, Sea Salt Maui, Outrigger Pizza, Maui Teriyaki, Ululani's Shave Ice, 808 Delights and Grandpa Joe's Candy Co.

For 25 years, the MACC has been presenting performing and visual arts, entertainment, education and Hawaiian cultural events on Maui. The nonprofit first opened in May 1994 as the culmination of a decadeslong dream by leading members of the Maui community. A lineup of high-profile artists have since performed at the MACC, including Elton John, Aerosmith, Paul Simon, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Mark Morris, Yo-Yo Ma, Kris Kristofferson, The Who, The Eagles, Journey, Diplo, Diana Krall and many others.

The MACC serves more than 240,000 people annually in its theaters, gallery, classrooms and meeting rooms. It also hosts about 1,700 events every year, from hula to classical music to taiko and slack key guitar.

The MACC is also a center for arts-integrated education, serving 6,000 Maui schoolchildren per year in grades K-12, including students in Hana, Lanai and Molokai through CanDo! Arts immersion days. The MACC also offers school shows, teachers' professional development and arts partnering, as well as artist residency programs. Many MACC performers also do residency or outreach programs in Maui schools, social service agencies and senior centers.

For more information about the MACC or the Nov. 24 celebration, call 242-SHOW (7469) or visit mauiarts.org.