UH Hilo’s Performing Arts Center’s spring 2023 events: Dance, music, puppetry, all live performances!
The spring portion of the 2022-2023 season at the University of Hawaii at Hilo’s Performing Arts Center is LIVE and IN-PERSON! Dance, musical, puppetry—come and enjoy these live events!
GIORDANO DANCE CHICAGO
60th Anniversary
Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023 at 7:30 p.m.
$35 General
$30 Discount
$15 UHH/HCC Student with VALID ID / Child 17 and under
*All tickets are $5 more night of the performance
Celebrate 60 years in the life of the premier jazz dance company, Giordano Dance Chicago! Since choreographer and founder Gus Giordano first formed the company in 1963, it has delighted audiences around the world with its incredible roster of dancers and breathtaking and exuberant choreography. Today the company not only remains true to its mission of preserving and promoting the Giordano Technique, but it also to innovating, redefining and expanding the definition of jazz dance and bringing it to audiences everywhere.
Giordano Dance Chicago is co-produced by Hawai‘i Concert Society and UH Hilo Performing Arts Center.
TOMTE
Thursday, March 23, 2023 at 7:30 p.m.
$20 General
$15 Discount
$10 UHH/HCC Student with VALID ID / Child 17 and under
*All tickets are $5 more night of the performance
Tom Lee, creator and accomplished puppeteer of previous season favorites “Shank’s Mare” and “Ko‘olau,” returns with another intimate shadow puppet performance. A Tomte is a Swedish gnome, a quiet and unseen caretaker who watches over the lives of humans and animals. On a cold winter night on a snow covered farm, Tomte teaches us about the importance of kindness and looking after living things.
Adapted from “The Tomten” by Astrid Lindgren and the poem by Victor Rydberg, this performance is suitable for all ages and was created using live feed video of shadow puppets filmed through an overhead video camera and projected onto a small shadow screen. Puppetry, animal sounds and scenic transitions are all performed by Tom Lee from behind the screen, with narration by storyteller Lisa Gonzales. Following the shadow portion of the piece, Tomte emerges from the screen to interact with the audience. During this portion, Tomte is presented as a kuruma ningyō (cart puppet) style figure inspired by Japanese traditions.
BE MORE CHILL
Music and Lyrics by Joe Iconis
Book by Joe Tracz
Based on the Novel by Ned Vizzini
Friday and Saturday, April 21 and 22, 2023 at 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, April 23, 2023 at 2:00 p.m.
Thursday, Friday & Saturday, April 27, 28 and 29, 2023 at 7:30 p.m.
$20 General
$15 Discount
$10 UHH/HCC Student with VALID ID / Child 17 and under
*All tickets are $5 more night of the performance
Get ready for the “high-energy, imaginative, well-crafted…” (The Star-Ledger) musical experience that is Be More Chill!
Be More Chill has “easily relatable characters, clever twists and ebullient songs…from beginning to end” (NJ Arts) that captures and “perfectly balances the tragedy and hilarity of high school” (Tri City News).
Jeremy Heere is just an average teenager. That is, until he finds out about “The Squip,” a tiny supercomputer that promises to bring him everything he desires most: a date with Christine, an invite to the raddest party of the year and a chance to survive life in his suburban New Jersey high school. But is being the most popular guy in school worth the risk?
Don’t miss the Hawai‘i premiere of this Tony Award nominated musical, directed by Rachel Klein.
Based on the novel by Ned Vizzini, Be More Chill, opened on Broadway in 2019.
Be More Chill is co-produced by Hilo Community Players and the UH Hilo Performing Arts Center. Presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals.
