Best of First Quarter’s Arts & Entertainment Offerings

By Vanessa Wolf

The first few months of 2014 will bring everything from iconic surfer rock to a master of satiric writing to Maui.

We’ve scoured the lot of it to bring you the best.

January 10

The Beach Boys

The Beach Boys have been making music for more than half a century.

During that time, they’ve become American icons synonymous with the California and surfer lifestyles.

Mike Love penned the lyrics to The Beach Boys’ first hit, “Surfin’” in 1961.

Since then, the band has had a string of chart-topping songs and albums like “Surfin’ USA,” “Surfer Girl,” “Fun, Fun, Fun,” “I Get Around,” “California Girls,” “Help Me Rhonda,” “Barbara Ann,” “Good Vibrations,” “Wouldn’t It Be Nice,” “Rock and Roll Music” and “Kokomo.”

Founding member Mike Love will be joined by 40+ year Beach Boys veteran Bruce Johnston, along with Christian Love, Randell Kirsch, Tim Bonhomme, John Cowsill and Scott Totten.

The show is held in the MACC’s Pavilion and doors open at 6 p.m. The show itself starts at 7 p.m.

Tickets are $45, $55, $65 and $85, with a limited number of $125 reserved/table seating.

—

January 24

Los Lonely Boys

Los Lonely Boys. Courtesy photo.

Those of you with freakish steel trap memories like ours might recall that last spring’s Los Lonely Boys concert was canceled because one of them – the lead singer? – was in a car accident.

Good news is that he seems to have recovered just fine, as the Texas rock trio is making a second run at it later this month.

As kids, brothers Henry, Jojo and Ringo Garza backed their father’s band in cantinas and honky-tonks, then later dived into the club scene as a live band on their own.

Their self-titled debut record of 2003 went double platinum, and the mega-hit single, “Heaven,” earned them a Grammy Award. Now, several albums later, Los Lonely Boys are the pride of Texas with their infectious blend of pop-rock, Texas blues, “brown-eyed soul,” country and Tejano.

Their latest album, Rockpango, is described as “a yield of fandango (a beat of love) and huapango (a Latin rhythm that gets the fiesta going).”

The show is at 7:30 p.m. in the MACC’s Castle Theater.

Tickets are $35 to $65.

—

January 31

Maui Fringe Festival

From Jan. 31 to Feb. 2 enjoy a three day theater marathon of 60-minute (or less) one-act plays and other performances pieces at the Historic Iao Theater in Wailuku.

Last year’s offering brought in playwright/actors from all over the country and the performances ranged from high drama to wacky comedy to burlesque.

Ticket prices and specific shows/times are not yet available.

—

February 21

Fiddler on the Roof

Beginning in late Februrary, MAPA will be presenting Fiddler on the Roof.

Set in Tsarist Russia in 1905, the story centers on Tevye, the father of five daughters, and his attempts to maintain his family and Jewish religious traditions while outside influences encroach upon their lives.

Tevye must cope both with the strong-willed actions of his three older daughters — each one’s choice of husband moves further away from the customs of his faith — and with the edict of the Tsar that evicts the Jews from their village.

The MAPA version is directed by David C. Johnston and will run Feb. 21 through March 16 at the Steppingstone Playhouse in the Queen Kaahumanu Center.

Show times are 7:30 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. on Sundays and tickets are $24 for adults, $22 for seniors, and $18 for students 18 and under.

—

February 28

La Cage Aux Folles

La Cage Aux Folles opens on Feb. 28 at the Historic Iao Theater in Wailuku.

The story focuses on a gay couple: Georges, the manager of a Saint-Tropez nightclub featuring drag entertainment, and Albin, his romantic partner and the star attraction of the show.

When Georges’s son, Jean-Michel, brings home his fiancée’s ultra-conservative parents to meet them, farce ensues.

Information on ticket prices and show times is not yet available.

—

March 7

David Sedaris

Called “one of America’s most prickly and most delicious, young comic talents” by The Washington Post even though he’s almost 60 years old, the celebrated NPR humorist David Sedaris returns to Maui in March.

Enjoy an evening of cutting wit, social satire, and riveting conversation in celebration of last year’s Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls.

Sedaris is known for such bestsellers as Naked, Me Talk Pretty One Day, Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, When You Are Engulfed in Flames and Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk.

Attendees can expect readings and recollections, featuring all-new, unpublished material with a Q&A session afterward, followed by booksigning in the lobby.

The event takes place in the MACC’s Castle Theater and begins at 8 p.m.

Tickets are $32, $39.50, $47 and $62.

—

March 29

Colin Hay

Finally, on March 29, the MACC’s McCoy Studio Theater welcomes Colin Hay.

Although best known as the lead singer for Men At Work – the platinum selling Australian band that topped worldwide charts in the 80s with tunes like “Down Under” and “Who Can It Be Now?” – Hay now performs solo and rocks a far more mellow sound.

Since moving to Los Angeles in 1989, he’s made 11 solo albums, and is equally at home in the studio or on stage, playing with either his band or solo acoustic. He says: “I started off playing acoustic; it’s my natural game. It’s the point I started from and may well be the point I end with. It’s always what I return to.”

Tickets for the 7:30 p.m. show are $45 and $65 for premium, and please note that the MACC felt the need to mention that the show “may have some adult language.”

Oh Colin, you bad boy.