The Hawaii Performing Arts Festival (HPAF) announced that it is offering free tickets for Hilo performances to people displaced by recent volcanic activity. The nonprofit music festival is presenting two operas, “Little Women” by Mark Adamo and Stephen Sondheim’s “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street,” at the Palace Theater in July. A total of 25 tickets will be given away for each performance.
• “Little Women” by Mark Adamo, 7 p.m. Friday, July 13. Based on the novel by Louisa May Alcott, the opera examines the trials and tribulations of three sisters in New England during the Civil War.
• “Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street,” 7 p.m. Saturday, July 21. Stephen Sondheim’s Tony-award winning melodrama set in Victorian London.
Both performances are presented with full orchestra.
“We wanted to do something to help at least some of the people who are living through this awful situation. After some discussion, we thought maybe an evening out could take their mind off their troubles, at least for a few hours. We are asking regular ticket buyers to bring a nonperishable food item to be donated to local food banks helping with the relief efforts. This is our small way to say thanks to a community that has been so good to us for so many years,” Genette Freeman, HPAF director of development, said in a press release.
“The Palace Theater has partnered with HPAF for nearly a decade to bring live musical theater and opera to the Big Island each summer. We are very grateful for the exceptional talent and the performance quality they have shared with us. Now, during this crisis, their offer to help brings a bit of joy to the lives of those who have been displaced from their homes or have lost their livelihoods in lower Puna. Three of us here at the Palace Theater are among those ranks, including myself. The synergy of community is strong here on the Big Island and we’re grateful to have HPAF’s support,” Robin Worley, Palace Theater’s executive director, said.
If you’ve been displaced due to volcanic activity, please email info@hawaiipaf.org or call 333-7378 to request tickets.