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Local favorite Narcissus and the new year Celebrating the lunar new year would not be complete without the annual narcissus plant display by the Au In Kwai Social Club (formerly known as the Au In Kwai Families Association), which this year takes place 8:30 a.m.-11 p.m. Jan. 17 and 18 at the Chinatown Cultural Plaza. It's part of the festival that welcomes the year of the sheep, with food booths and entertainment. Admission is free.

The acclaimed Takécs Quartet will perform works of Mozart, Ravel and Schubert in a concert at Orvis Auditorium at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa. The award-winning string quartet, formed in 1975 in Budapest and now based in Boulder, Colo., has performed in virtually every music capital and prestigious festival in the world. Tickets: $24 general, $15 students, at the UH Campus Center ticket office.

• 7:30 p.m. Jan. 10 / Orvis Auditorium / 956-6878

PUPPETS: Jan. 11

Puppet master Jim Gamble, right, offers a tribute show titled "Celebrate America!" at Kennedy Theatre, University of Hawai'i-Manoa. Gamble and his marionettes have been entertaining families at Kennedy for more than two decades. This half-hour show will include narration by Sam the American eagle, Ben Franklin and his kite, Johnny Appleseed juggling, Yankee Doodle and Smokey the Bear. Tickets go on sale Jan. 6: $10 general, $9 seniors, military, UH faculty and staff, $7 non-UHM students and children, $3 UHM students.

• 7 p.m. Jan. 11 / Kennedy Theatre / 956-7655, 526-4400

CONCERT: Jan. 11

You know that unmistakable voice from hits such as the Oscar-winning "Say You (Say Me)," "Three Times a Lady," "Easy," "All Night Long" and so many others. He's Lionel Richie, one-time lead singer of The Commodores and wildly popular solo artist who has sold more than 100 million albums worldwide. He'll bring his smooth soul sounds Jan. 11 at the Blaisdell Arena. Richie's latest album, "Encore," was released in Europe and Japan and is scheduled to hit U.S. stores early next year. Tickets: $49.50, $59.50, at the box office and Ticket Plus outlets.

• 7:30 p.m. Jan. 11 / Blaisdell Arena / 526-4400

CONCERTS: Jan. 16-18

There are blues legends and there are blues legends. This blues legend is the Godfather of British Blues, John Mayall, who has released more than 40 albums as leader of The Bluesbreakers and who has nurtured the talents of all-stars such as Eric Clapton, Peter Green, Mick Fleetwood, John McVie and Walter Trout. Mayall and The Bluesbreakers, whose last Honolulu gig was in January 2001, return for a three-island tour, accompanied by The Colin John Band (that's Colin John at right):

• Jan. 16, 7:30 p.m. at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center's Castle Theater. Tickets: $22, $25, $30; a portion to benefit arts education in the schools. A pau hana jam at 5:30 p.m. in the Founders Court is free. (808) 242-7469.
• Jan. 17, 8:30 p.m. at the Hawaiian Hut in Honolulu. Tickets: $35 general, $30 advance. Cocktails and pupu service available. 941-5205.
• Jan. 18, 5 p.m. at the Ohana Keauhou Beach Resort lu'au grounds; gate opens at 4 p.m. Tickets: $25 general, $22 advance. Food and drinks available. (808) 322-3441.

CONCERTS: Jan. 18-20

Jack Russell, frontman of the defunct band Great White, brings his own band, co-founding GW member Mark Kendall and the GW material for concerts at Gussie L'Amour's. Great White, which hit it big in the late 1980s, is known for "Once Bitten, Twice Shy," "The Angel Song" and "Rock Me." The bill at Gussie's is titled "Jack Russell's Great White" and will include songs from Russell's solo album, "For You." Tickets: $18 general for the Jan. 18 show; $15 general for Jan. 19-20 shows; $15 advance pass good for all three shows, $12 advance pass good for Jan. 19-20 shows; available at Gussie's and Gold Zone in Wahiawa.

• 8:30 p.m. Jan. 18-20 / Gussie L'Amour's, 3251 N. Nimitz Hwy. / 836-7883, 622-6928

CONCERT: Jan. 24

Far out! That describes the booking, as well as the distance many will travel, for a sampling of The Makaha Sons' Hawaiiana, Jan. 24 at the Ali'i Lu'au Restaurant at the Polynesian Cultural Center. Louis "Moon" Kauakahi, Jerome Koko and John Koko will headline "E Luana Kakou," along with kumu hula Keith Kalanikau Awai and his Halau Kaaipuhilani and kumu Sunday Mariteragi's halau Napuananionapalionako'olu. Both kumu hula studied under the late Aunty Sally Wood Nalua'i, who was the PCC's first hula instructor when it was open from 1963 through 1980. Tickets: $10 ($8 in advance).

• 8 to 10 p.m. Jan. 24 / Ali'i Lu'au Restaurant, Polynesian Cultural Center / 293-3333

STAGE: Jan. 29-Feb. 2

"Darkweed" is a horror comic-book character and the title of an original play by Deborah Poage, a master's candidate in fine arts at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa. The drama, on stage beginning Jan. 29 at the Earle Ernst Lab Theatre, stars Chris Doi as Fred, creator of Darkweed, whose reality and fantasy worlds blur into tragedy. There's a post-show rap session after the Jan. 31 performance. Tickets go on sale Jan. 27: $9 general, $7 seniors, military, UH faculty and staff, non-UHM students and youths, $3 UHM students.

• 8 p.m. Jan. 29-Feb. 1, 2 p.m. Feb. 2 / Earle Ernst Lab Theatre / 956-7655

CIRCUS: Jan. 30-Feb. 2

Gravity-defying acrobats, trapeze artists, contortionists and clowns are all part of Cirque Éloize, the Montreal-based circus troupe, which returns with a new production, titled "Nomade," at the Hawai'i Theatre beginning Jan. 30. It's billed as an adventure about two clans of circus performers that wander through a nighttime carnival of memories and dreams. Cirque ƒloize was last in Honolulu in November 2000 with its "Excentricus" production. Tickets: $17-$35, at the box office.

• 7:30 p.m. Jan. 30-Feb. 1, 2 p.m. Feb. 2 / Hawai'i Theatre / 528-0506

COMEDY: Jan. 30-Feb. 2

Get ready to laugh out loud and maybe catch a rising comedy star when The Second City Touring Comedy Troupe makes a stop in Honolulu for four shows Jan. 30-Feb. 2. The revered Second City was founded in 1959 in Chicago and has spawned such talents as Alan Arkin, Peter Boyle, Harold Ramis, John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, Gilda Radner, Martin Short and so many others. The shows will include improv and some of the best sketches in Second City history. Tickets: $25 general, $20 advance, available at Gussie's and Hawaii's Natural High, 339 Saratoga Road.

And there's a show on Maui: 7:30 p.m. Feb. 3 at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center's Castle Theater; $10, $20, $25; (808) 242-7469.

• 8:15 p.m. Jan. 30-Feb. 2 (doors open 7 p.m.) / Gussie L'Amour's / 836-7883, 926-3000

OPERA: Jan. 31, Feb. 2, 4

Pomp and pageantry return to the Blaisdell Concert Hall as the Hawaii Opera Theatre's 42nd season begins with a production of "Eugene Onegin." It's the tale, based on Alexander Pushkin's classic poem, of a dashing but jaded aristocrat and his romances, which have tragic consequences. At right is an artist's rendering of a set from "Onegin." The other opera productions this year are "The Magic Flute," Feb. 14, 16 and 18; and "La Bohéme," Feb. 28 and March 2, 4, 6. Tickets: $27-$95, at the HOT box office (985 Waimanu St., 10 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays) and the Blaisdell box office; www.hawaiiopera.org.

• 8 p.m. Jan. 31, 4 p.m. Feb. 2, 7:30 p.m. Feb. 4 / Blaisdell Concert Hall / 596-7858; 800-836-7372 from the Neighbor Islands

COMING UP:

• Irish pianist John O'Conor, Jan. 12, Doris Duke at the Academy
• "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," Jan. 31-Feb. 16, Diamond Head Theatre
• "War," a Honolulu Theatre for Youth production, Feb. 1, 8, 15, Tenney Theatre
• "Art," Feb. 5-March 2, Yellow Brick Studio
• Jimmy Eat World, Feb. 7, Pipeline Cafe
• "The Magic Flute" opera, Feb. 14, 16, 18, Blaisdell Concert Hall
• "Dance Korea!" Feb. 14-16, 21-23, Kennedy Theatre, University of Hawai'i-Manoa
• "Godspell," Feb. 27-March 15, Richardson Theatre
• "Once on This Island," Feb. 28, March 1, 7-9, Kaimuki High School auditorium
• "La Bohéme" opera, Feb. 28, March 2, 4, 6, Blaisdell Concert Hall
• "Spirit of the Dance," March 11-16, Hawai'i Theatre

BUZZING ABOUT:

With honors: Eric Byler, 1990 Moanalua High grad whose "Charlotte Sometimes" has been shown locally, both in the Hawai'i International Film Festival and in a commercial run at The Art House at Restaurant Row, is a nominee for the 2003 Independent Spirit Awards. He wrote and directed the film, which is vying for the John Cassavetes Award (best feature for under $500,000), after earning a thumb's up from critic Roger Ebert. Byler now is in talks to direct "American Knees," which is aiming for a spring start-up, with Lisa Onodera ("Picture Bride," "The Debut") as one of the executive producers.

We love their way: Reggae favorite Big Mountain is ready to tour the islands with stops in Hilo Jan. 16, Maui Jan. 17, Honolulu Jan. 18 and Kaua'i Jan. 19. Details are on the way. The band, whose big splash was the 1994 Peter Frampton cover "Baby I Love Your Way," was arriving in Honolulu last night. Big Mountain, whose current release is titled "Cool Breeze," was last here in April 2000.

Love, with halau: "Love Halau," at 4 p.m. Feb. 9 at the Hawai'i Theatre, will be the Fifth Annual Valentine's Concert for Halau I Ka Wekiu, the group led by kumu Michael Casupang and Carl Veto Baker. Tickets go on sale Jan. 14 at the theater box office — and expect enchanting songs, chants and hula.

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The Great Index to Fun (TGIF) four-week guide at least 10 working days before the event. This planner appears weekly, featuring major events only; others are listed in the weekend and daily calendars.

Write: TGIF, The Honolulu Advertiser, P.O. Box 3110, Honolulu, HI 96802, or fax 525-8055.

Schedule is subject to change.