Critic's Choice: Theater
Mini-reviews of current stage productions by Advertiser theater critic Joseph Rozmiarek
"Wondrous Tales of Old Japan": David Furumoto's latest kabuki theater production is a big hit with Honolulu Theatre for Youth audiences. The kids quickly adapt to the staging conventions and enjoy the vivid characters in traditional Japanese tales. Costumes and special effects are colorful and never fail to charm the young audiences. See story above. "Wondrous Tales" will be staged at 4:30 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday and Feb. 23 and March 2 at Tenney Theatre, St. Andrews Cathedral (sign-interpreted at Saturday's 4:30 p.m. show). Tickets are $10 general, $7.50 students (with high school or college ID), $5 for kids 3-12 and people older than 60; children 2 and younger are free but require a ticket. 839-9885.
"Judge Bao and the Case of Qin Xianglian": The Peking opera classic is filled with unfamiliar (to Western ears) instrumental music and sung arias, but the lyrics are in English and the words are projected on screens. The story is crammed with passion, perseverance and justice, and it is dressed up in elaborate costumes, headdresses and wigs. It can work for a Western audience willing to get inside the stage conventions. Besides, it coincides with the lunar new year. Repeats at 8 p.m. today and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday at the University of Hawai'i's Kennedy Theatre. Tickets are $15 general, $12 seniors, military and UH faculty and staff, $9 non-UH students, $4 UH-Manoa students with ID; group rates (10 or more) available; at the box office or Ticket Plus outlets. 956-7655, 526-4400.
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Critic's Choice: Art
Mini-reviews of current exhibits by Advertiser art critic Virginia Wageman
Taisho Chic: Japanese Modernity, Nostalgia, and Deco (Honolulu Academy of Arts, through March 17; 532-8700). This spectacular exhibition brings to light works created in Japan in the first quarter of the 20th century, influenced by Art Nouveau and Art Deco. Included are paintings, prints, textiles and home furnishings, most drawn from the academy's outstanding collection. Curators are Julia White, the academy's curator of Asian art; and Kendall H. Brown of California State University-Long Beach.
Escape from the Vault: The Contemporary Museum's Collection Breaks Out (The Contemporary Museum, through March 24; 526-1322). With limited exhibition space, rarely does The Contemporary Museum have the opportunity to display its own superb collection. Periodically, works "escape from the vault" in shows such as this one, with selections from the permanent collection occupying the entire building. Works by 70 artists are on view, many of them seen for the first time in Honolulu.
Pen, Pencil, and Brush: American Drawings and Watercolors, 1850-1950 (Honolulu Academy of Arts, through March 17; 532-8700). Likewise, works on paper are rarely exhibited owing to their fragile nature. The academy is showing a choice selection of drawings and watercolors, with exquisite examples by Mary Cassatt, Winslow Homer and John Marin, among others.
