This Weekend: La Mancha to LobsterFest

Thanks to a seemingly endless parade of out of town guests, Vanessa Wolf has been to both Haleakala and Hana twice in the same week. She is feeling rummy.

By Vanessa Wolf

The Man of La Mancha cast. Photo courtesy Jack Grace Photography.

Last Chance to Be Unable to Get the Song “The Impossible Dream” Out of Your Head

Maui Academy of Performing Arts is in its final week of presenting one of Broadway’s most enduring musicals,  ‘Man of La Mancha’ at the Steppingstone Playhouse at Queen Ka’ahumanu Center.

The musical is set in the late 16th century, wherein the Spanish Inquisition has thrown failed author-soldier-actor and tax collector Miguel de Cervantes into a dungeon.

In order to gain favor and save his possessions from his fellow prisoners, Cervantes asks to act out a play in his defense.

With a makeup kit, he transforms himself into Alonso Quijana, an old man who has lost his mind, renames himself Don Quixote de La Mancha, and sets out to find adventure and become a knight.

You can catch the play tonight and Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. or during the last hurrah on Sunday at 2 p.m.

Tickets are $25 for adults, $22 for seniors, and $18 for students.

Best Reason to Feel Bummed Out About Humanity

Queen Ka’ahumanu Center will be offering a one-time-only screening of “The Untold Story: Internment of Japanese Americans in Hawaii” on Saturday, Feb. 23 at 9 a.m. at Ka’ahumanu 6 Theaters.

This is the only scheduled Maui run and is presented by the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii.

The movie focuses on the fact that within 48 hours of Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaiian authorities arrested several hundred local people of Japanese descent on Oahu, Maui, Hawaii and Kauai. All told, over 2000 men and women of Japanese ancestry were arrested, detained and interned in Hawaii.

“The Untold Story,” produced by the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii, is the first full–length documentary to chronicle this little known – bummer – story in Hawaii’s history.

Tickets are for sale in the box office, and God only knows what they cost as all efforts to figure that out failed.

Best Reason to Pile Into the Car and Burn Through Some Petrol

It’s the weekend of last chances.

Catch the final leg of the annual Maui Open Studios Event when it comes to south and west-side studios and galleries.

The first island-wide event of its kind in the state is modeled after successful, vibrant events held on the mainland. The self-guided tours feature over 100 artists in 80 venues. Enjoy refreshments, live demonstrations, and an opportunity to interact with the artists themselves.

Saturday, Feb. 23 and Sunday, Feb. 24 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. features south and west-side studios and galleries from Wailea to Kahana.

You can view the full list of artists on the Maui Open Studios site.

Bitch, Please. As If You Need an Excuse to Eat Lobster.

On Sunday, Feb. 24 at 1 p.m., the Rotary Club of Wailuku presents its annual fundraising event: LOBSTERFEST 2013.

Don’t be alarmed.

Although the all-caps presentation might have you thinking this is some sort of Book of Revelations-type plague, allow the word “fest” to soothe you back to a state of calm.

LOBSTERFEST 2013 is actually a day of New Orleans-ish food and fun.

A Dixieland band – Phillip Smith and the Gentlemen of Jazz – will play as you feast on spiced, steamed lobsters; dirty rice with “N’Orleans Etouffee”; Louisiana potato salad and more.

Beverages – including the “hangover in the making” French Quarter hurricane – will be available for purchase, and a surprise auction item is up for grabs.

Tickets are $100 per person, and proceeds support the local and global charitable projects of the Rotary Club of Wailuku.

Aware of something cool or amazing or incredible that’s happening or going to be happening on Maui? FOR THE LOVE OF GOD LET US KNOW ABOUT IT. – [email protected]