2017-18 Maui theater | News, Sports, Jobs

Danielle Mealani Delaunay. Peter Swanzy photo" />

MAPA Live!’s “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” opens Friday at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center in Kahului featuring Will Kimball (clockwise standing), David Tuttle and Danielle Mealani Delaunay. Peter Swanzy photo

As summer comes to a close, a new season of theater has already begun on Broadway. The first production to make big news is Michael Moore’s current one-man show, “The Terms of My Surrender,” which takes sharp aim at the Trump administration.

A few new shows expected to enjoy Broadway success over the coming months are “Meteor Shower,” a romantic comedy-drama by Steve Martin starring Amy Schumer; “SpongeBob Squarepants The Musical” with music by Steven Tyler, Cyndi Lauper, They Might Be Giants, Sara Bareilles, Lady Antebellum, and the late David Bowie; Tina Fey’s “Mean Girls” a new musical, and “Disney FROZEN the Broadway Musical,” which began out-of-town previews last weekend in Denver and stars Patti Murin, who played Glinda in the Honolulu production of “Wicked” in 2012.

Many more shows are still to be announced, including the bulk of the theatrical events at the Maui Arts and Cultural Center in Kahului, high school theater productions and the Maui Fringe Theater Festival participants. However, Maui’s 2017-18 theater season officially begins tomorrow night as MAPA Live! opens “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, based on the Victor Hugo novel, directed by David C. Johnston, choreographed by Andre Morissette and under the musical direction of Gary W. Leavitt.

* Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays beginning Friday through Sept. 3 in Castle Theater at the MACC. Tickets range from $15 to $75 (plus applicable fees). For more information or to purchase tickets, call 242-7469 or visit the box office or www.mauiarts.org.

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Jack Grace photo" />

ProArts Playhouse in Kihei opens its season Sept. 22 with Francis Tau‘a (left) and Ricky Jones in “The Elephant Man.” Jack Grace photo

In September ProArts Playhouse in Kihei opens its season with “The Elephant Man” by Bernard Pomerance, directed by Sally Sefton-Johnston. Inspired by a true story, John Merrick is a man living with horrifying, rare skin and bone diseases. Merrick’s life forever changes when a young physician agrees to care for him.

* Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays (no performance Oct. 1) beginning Sept. 22 through Oct. 8 at the ProArts Playhouse in Kihei. For more information, call 463-6550 or visit www.proartsmaui.com.

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The following week Maui OnStage presents the Pulitzer Prize-winning “Harvey” by Mary Chase, directed by Dale Button. Elwood P. Dowd’s boon companion is Harvey, a six-foot tall rabbit that only he can see.

* Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays beginning Sept. 29 through Oct. 15 at the Historic Iao Theater in Wailuku. For more information or to purchase tickets, call 242-6969 or order online at www.mauionstage.com.

Japanese puppetry and a haunting score amazes in “Shank’s Mare” Sept. 29 at the MACC. Ayumi Sakamoto photo" />

Japanese puppetry and a haunting score amazes in “Shank’s Mare” Sept. 29 at the MACC. Ayumi Sakamoto photo

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The Yara Arts Group presents a collaborative puppet performance by American puppet artist Tom Lee and Japanese traditional puppeteer Koryu Nishikawa V. “Shank’s Mare” combines beautiful Japanese puppetry, video projections of miniature sets and a haunting score for hammered dulcimer, Japanese shamisen and flute.

* Performance is at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 29 in the Castle Theater at the MACC. For more information or to purchase tickets, call 242-7469 or visit the box office or www.mauiarts.org.

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In October, Maui OnStage Youth Theater will present “Seussical, Jr.”

Miranda Sings, the overconfident, vocally-challenged alter-ego of comedian Colleen Ballinger visits in December. Photo courtesy the MACC" />

Miranda Sings, the overconfident, vocally-challenged alter-ego of comedian Colleen Ballinger visits in December. Photo courtesy the MACC

* Performances are at 11 a.m. Saturdays and 1 p.m. Sundays, Oct. 21 through 29 at the Historic Iao Theater.

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For the holidays, Maui OnStage will present the Hawaii premiere of Ian Fleming’s “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang,” music and lyrics by Richard and Robert Sherman, book by Jeremy Sams, based on the 1968 film. Eccentric inventor, Caractacus Potts sets about restoring an old race car from the junkyard with the help of his children, Jeremy and Jemima. They soon discover the car has magical properties, including the ability to float and take flight. Trouble occurs when the evil Baron Bomburst desires the magic car for himself.

* Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays, Nov. 24 through Dec. 10 at the Historic Iao Theater.

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Colleen Ballinger is bringing her wacky Miranda Sings character to Maui in “Miranda Sings Live . . . You’re Welcome Tour.” Ballinger created Miranda to parody self-absorbed, singing YouTubers with far more confidence and vibrato than talent. Miranda is known for her overdrawn red lips, questionable advice, mispronunciations, poor spelling and over-the-top rants about her personal problems.

* Performance is at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 6 in the Castle Theater at the MACC.

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Also for the holidays, ProArts presents “My Three Angels” by Samuel and Bella Spewack, based on the French play “La Cuisine Des Anges” by Albert Husson. In French Guiana on Christmas Day, three convicts are employed as roofers at Ducotel’s General Store.

The roof winds up being the least of the Ducotel family’s trouble. Due to arrive from France is an evil-minded cousin and his cold-blooded nephew, who jilted the Ducotel’s daughter for an heiress. Possessing every criminal art and penal grace, the unlikely “Three Angels” set matters right in this comedic Christmas classic.

* Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays, Dec. 1 through 17 at the ProArts Playhouse.

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In a quick turnaround, ProArts opens “The Trip To Bountiful” in January. Horton Foote’s moving play tells the story of Carrie Watts, an elderly woman who longs to escape a cramped Houston apartment to her beloved hometown of Bountiful, Texas one final time before she dies.

* Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays, Jan. 26 through Feb. 11, 2018 at the ProArts Playhouse.

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Maui OnStage’s annual spring musical will be “Cabaret,” music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb, book by Joe Masteroff, based on the John Van Druten play “I Am a Camera” and the Christopher Isherwood novel “Goodbye to Berlin.”

In the shadow of the rise of the Nazi Party lies the Kit Kat Klub, a seedy, avant-garde Berlin cabaret overseen by the gender-bending Master of Ceremonies. This musical theater classic features Bob Fosse’s celebrated choreography and the familiar songs “Wilkommen,” “Money” and the title track.

* Performances are at 7:30 pm. Fridays and Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays, March 2 through 18 at the Historic Iao Theater.

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That same weekend ProArts presents “The 39 Steps” by Patrick Barlow, based on the Alfred Hitchcock film and the John Buchan novel. Mix Hitchcock with a juicy spy novel, add a dash of Monty Python and you have a fast-paced whodunit packed with nonstop laughs and over 150 characters played by a cast of four.

* Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays, March 2 through 25 at the ProArts Playhouse.

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ProArts quickly follows that up with the musical comedy “You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown” by Clark Gesner, based on the characters from Charles M. Schulz’s “Peanuts.”

* Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays, April 20 through May 13 at the ProArts Playhouse.

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The King Kekaulike Dramaaticans anticipate opening their new performing arts center in April with their production of “The Lady Pirates of Captain Bree,” book by Martin A. Follose, music and lyrics by Bill Francoeur, directed by Chris Kepler.

* Performances are scheduled for 7 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays, April 20 through 29, 2018.

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Also in April, Maui OnStage presents John Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men.” George and Lennie are two displaced migrant ranch workers in search of job opportunities during the Great Depression. In this parable about what it means to be human, this unlikely duo’s aspiration of ownin their own ranch and the obstacles that stand in the way reveal the nature of dreams, dignity, loneliness and sacrifice.

* Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays, April 27 through May 13 at the Historic Iao Theater.

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In June, ProArts opens its final show of the season, “Same Time Next Year” by Bernard Slade. In this two-person romantic comedy, an accountant and housewife meet at a seaside inn, have an affair and agree to meet once a year. Over the course of the next 24 years, they develop a deep emotional intimacy discussing births, deaths and marital problems while adapting to the social changes affecting their lives.

* Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays, June 22 through July 8 at the ProArts Playhouse.

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Next summer Maui OnStage brings “Singin’ in the Rain” to the stage. Adapted from the MGM movie musical and set in Hollywood at the advent of talking pictures, “Singin’ in the Rain” features the pop songs of Arthur Freed, “Fit As A Fiddle,” “All I Do Is Dream of You,” “You Are My Lucky Star,” “Good Morning” and the title track.

* Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays, July 13 through Aug. 5 at the Historic Iao Theater.