Weekend Offers Margaret Cho to US Poet Laureate

By Vanessa Wolf

Margaret Cho. Courtesy image

So we meet again.

We suppose you’re here because you’re wondering what’s going on this weekend.

Well, what’s NOT going on this weekend!?

Erm…that might be a bit of an exaggeration, but today through Sunday is unusually chock-a-block with cool opportunities.

Check out some of the best of the bunch below.

Best Reason to Listen to So Many Curse Words That They Eventually Fail to Register as Curse Words

Margaret Cho does what she does best – push the envelope and make grown men blush – tonight at the Castle Theater.

Controversial Grammy Award and Emmy Award-nominated Cho brings her new stand-up show, Mother, to the MACC.

As she explained to us in an interview earlier this month, Mother “is really about a lot of different things. The main focus is I’ve been talking about my mother for years and years and not only in my comedy. When I was a kid I would really get embarrassed about the way that she talked, and I guess to deal with that I started parodying it.

My entire life I have been doing impressions of my mom, and I wanted to put a lot of different stories together around her and motherhood in general.”

The show starts at 7:30 p.m., and tickets are $27, $37, or $47.

Best Reason to (Potentially) Be Topless in Public

Let’s face it, New Orleans is fun, but it’s really, really far away. Celebrate Mardi Gras at Charley’s in Paia instead.

Tonight they are hosting Mardi Gras 2013 with DJ Kamikaze & DJ Big Mike.  There will be prizes by Passion 4 Fashion Boutique.

The flyer asks “which sexy lady will win the most beads?” which – if you know anything about what goes down on Bourbon Street –  is where the whole “seemingly take your bra off” presumption comes from. Who knows?
If you want to find out, the event starts at 9:30 p.m. and tickets are $10 at the door.

Best Reason to Boogie for a Good Cause

Tonight, Fleetwood’s On Front Street presents ‘Red Glitz & Glamor,” a fundraiser for Lahaina local Jeff Wrothen.

The event is a “celebration of love and life” with the intention of raising funds to offset the costs related to his stage three liver cancer.

It’s intended as a dressy, early Valentine’s Day celebration with music from Lahaina’s “Sounds of Addiction,” plus Junior Siquera, Ryan Robinson, Noa and Dre.

Tickets are $10 pre-sale and $15 at the door, and the event begins at 10 p.m.

All proceeds  go to Jeff Wrothen.

Best Reason for an Upcountry Road Trip

Every weekend in February studios and galleries across Maui will be hosting the annual Maui Open Studios Event. 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. 9 and Sunday, Feb. 10 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. features north shore and upcountry artists from Paia to Kula.

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

Best Reason to Be Unable to Get the Song “The Impossible Dream” Out of Your Head

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

Maui Academy of Performing Arts presents 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 Sunday at 2 p.m.

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

Best Reason to Raise a Glass to One of the Best Happy Hour Providers on the Island

They grow up so fast…

Three’s Bar and Grill has just turned three.

Celebrate on Saturday night at the Kihei restaurant.

Chefs Jaron Blosser, Travis Morrin, and Cody Christopher got together and made their restaurateur dreams come true and on Saturday they will be (verbally) roasted for their efforts.

Events start at 9 p.m. in the Surf Lounge with the Happy Haoles kicking things off. They are followed by dance indie rockers Go Get ‘Em. Reggae rock band Arise shuts it down. Along the way, special guests Flashdrive and comedian Chino LaForge will also appear.

It’s described as “a classy but relaxed red, white and black theme party.” Attendees are encouraged to “deck themselves out and dazzle: grab a bow tie, ‘that’ black dress, and be creative.”

There will be $3 beer and shot specials and happy hour deals on food and drinks until 10 p.m.

Best of all? There’s no cover whatsoever.

Best Chance to See the US Poet Laureate Without Stalking Him at his Home in Haiku

Sunday, February 10 at 3 p.m. in the Castle Theater, take in “Inside the Forest” with W.S. Merwin, Ulalia Woodside, Joan Maloof, and Gene Argel.

“Only a forest can make a forest,” says US Poet Laureate and two-time Pulitzer prize winner W. S. Merwin. He will read his own work about the evolution of the forest and sustainable ideas.

“Through timeless chants, we access the wisdom of the kūpuna, and explore their relationship with the forest realm,” says Ulalia Woodside, kumu hula and land planner/manager. She will chant Kau Ka Hāli‘a: A Memory Appears.

Author and ecologist Joan Maloof will present tales of her journey to protect America’s forests, speaking about “A Path to Beauty: The Ecology of Ancient Forests.”

Maui pianist and composer Gene Argel’s first ensemble work with 12 musicians, Alights on a Cloud, will premiere as a composition created for the forest as inspiration and teacher, portraying the musical sound of the forest.

Tickets are $20.

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