Our Picks for the Weekend
Star-Bulletin staff
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STAGE
Nation's best-known improv troupe performs
Improv shows are popping up all over the island. This week brings a troupe straight out of Chicago that very well may have put this brand of spontaneous comedy on the map.
Second City players have developed a reputation for irreverent humor, and plenty of past performers have used the troupe as a launching pad for their own careers. This year's batch of Second City-ers pulls into town shortly, putting their own spin on sketches made famous by some of their predecessors. (Think Dan Akroyd, Bill Murray and more.)
Laugh it up with this year's cast -- and remember their names -- Tim Baltz, Hans Holsen, Rebecca Hanson, Brandon Jennings, Dana Quercioli, Mary Sohn and Joe Grazulis ... the list goes on.
Tickets are $40 and $50 for the Blaisdell Center Concert Hall show, which gets under way at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. Call (877) 750-4400.
MUSIC
Symphony to feature piano gold medalist
The next Honolulu Symphony production is called "Exhilarating Glory" and features Christopher Seaman, conductor, and Jon Nakamatsu, a Van Cliburn International Piano Competition gold medalist. The program includes Britten's "Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra," in which every instrument is trotted out for a spotlight dance; Grieg's lushly romantic Piano Concerto, in which Nakamatsu gets a chance to plink each and every ivory on the keyboard; and Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 5, called "Reformation" in honor of the 300th anniversary of Martin Luther's Protestant breakaway. One passage quotes from "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God."
Performances are at 8 p.m. Friday and 4 p.m. Sunday. Tickets ($12 to $65) are available at the Honolulu Symphony box office, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays. Call 792-2000. Or buy online at www.honolulu symphony.com.
FAMILY
Kapolei farm makes event of pumpkin-picking
Halloween approaches; time to pick a pumpkin. Sure, you can get one at the grocery store, but why not show your kids where food really comes from -- not a gleaming aisle at Safeway, but a real farm.
Aloun Farms in Kapolei hosts its annual Pumpkin Patch Festival, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Sunday and Oct. 28 and 29. It's a chance to walk into the fields and see how pumpkins grow, plus pick the perfect one for your jack 'o lantern.
Besides that, there'll be hay rides, jumping booths and food for sale.
Admission is $3, plus the cost of your pumpkin. The farm is on Old Farrington Highway, west of Waipahu and just east of the Kapolei housing area. For directions visit www.alounfarms.com or call 677-9616.
FREEBIES
Halloween stories go from scary to scarier
If you're in the mood for a good scare, or perhaps a mild one, the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai'i would like to oblige.
Sunday's "Kaidan Kalabash" offers storytelling of the spooky kind ("kaidan" is Japanese for scary story -- duh). Pick your session:
"Ghosts, Giggles and Goodies," 1 to 5 p.m., is the milder session, for all ages. Bring pillows, lawn chairs or mats to settle in for Japanese folktales told by Kathy Collins, Alton Chung, Karen Yamamoto-Hackler and Nyla Ching-Fujii. Make-and- take crafts and treats are included.
"An Obake Odyssey," 7:30 to 9 p.m., for older kids and adults, features Japanese ghost stories by Lopaka Kapanui, Jeff Gere and Alton Chung.
Admission is free; donations accepted. Call 945-7633.
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN EATER
Wine, thou and plate lunch
HASR Wine Co. is teaming up with Nico's at Pier 38 to present an evening of wining and dining emphasizing French taste, Hawaiian style, at 5:30 p.m. Oct. 22. After all, why let two scoops of rice prevent you from enjoying a glass of wine?
Menu selections include Tahitian-style Nairagi carpaccio, seared Marlin Tartare with lemon caper sauce, grilled ahi with roasted Kahuku corn salsa, ahi tataki and red wine braised shortribs, to be paired with Chandon Brut Rose, Dom Terrebru-Bandol rose, Taz Pinot Gris, Casa Silva Sauvignon Blanc Reserva, Marc Bredif Vouvray, Ladoucette Pouilly Fume, Dom Gachot Nuit Villages, Heitz Cabernet Sauvignon, Kubota Senjyu and Oroya White Wine, to name a few.
The cost is $50 and seating is limited, so RSVP to 535-9463. Nico's is at 1133 N. Nimitz Highway. (Head toward the water.)
Jus' fo Hawaii
If you're tired of the same old beef balls and brisket in phó, you need only head to Green Papaya where local soup favorite, oxtails, are an option.
Just as with regular bowls of phó, the soup comes with noodles and a platter of bean sprouts, basil, lemon or lime slices and sliced jalapeños.
You'll pay a little more for the oxtail phó, at $9.95 vs. $6.95 for a regular bowl.
Green Papaya is at 629 Keeaumoku St. at Makaloa, across from Wal-Mart. It's open from 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Mondays to Saturdays, and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sundays. Call 953-2340.
Bring on the Belly Busters
Having grown up with the original Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour, I'm a little too old to dream of sloshing through the Pig's Trough ($12.49) or the Honolulu Zoo Sundae ($42.49), with its five flavors of ice cream, three fruit sherbets, five toppings, whipped cream, bananas, nuts and cherries, enough to feed six. But those Belly Busters, and more, are back now that Farrell's has reopened at Windward Mall, definitely geared toward the kindergarten set.
For those on the Leeward side, don't worry, your day will come, with a second Farrell's to debut next year. With all the nostalgia for the old Farrell's, there's even talk about bringing back some of that old 19th-century ambience.
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features@starbulletin.com.
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