SATURDAY
‘Last Comic’ Shlesinger coming to The Republik
With female comedians like Amy Schumer, Margaret Cho and Chelsea Handler out there, women might not have too many secrets left.
Now comes Iliza Shlesinger, the snarky comedian who will tell you about a typical “girls’ night out” — they all hate each other during the day but “luvvv” each other at night — and reveal what the women’s restroom looks like late at night: “a scene out of ‘Apocalypse Now.’”
Guys also get skewered by the Dallas native. She might whip out a line or two that she used to dismiss prospective dates on the reality show “Excused,” which Shlesinger hosted for two years. “We know you spent all morning curling your chest hair — the one,” she told one guy. She’ll be hosting a new game show, “Separation Anxiety,” which premieres on TBS on March 8
Shlesinger had done stand-up for only three years before becoming the first woman and the youngest contestant to win “Last Comic Standing” in 2008. Her comedy special, “Freezing Hot,” shot at a Denver club, is now available on Netflix.
Where: The Republik, 1349 Kapiolani Blvd.
When: 8 p.m. Saturday
Cost: $29.50-$39.50
Info: flavorus.com or 855-235-2867
Afro-Brazilian music is certain to get the party going at Hawaiian Brian’s
You might have missed Fat Tuesday, but you can still celebrate the season Brazilian style at Brazilian Carnaval, a festive celebration Saturday at Hawaiian Brian’s.
“It’s a full-blown authentic Brazilian Carnaval dance party,” said Ariel Del Mundo, the Los Angeles-based producer of the event. “It’s going to be incredible.”
Headlining the show will be Unidos da Bahia, a performance group from Bahia, a coastal state in Brazil where Carnaval takes on a distinctly ethnic flavor. They will be joined by members of Olodum and Timabalada, well-known Brazilian percussion-and-dance groups. Olodum is known for recording “They Don’t Care About Us” with Michael Jackson and can be seen in the video of the tune.
“They’re a big name in Brazil,” Del Mundo said. “It’s Afro-Brazilian percussion music, with lyrics. It’s nonstop, electrifying kind of music — big drums, big carnival sounds.”
Traditional feathered dancers and capoeira experts are included in the lineup, as are samba dancers who dance “marchinha,” a comic style of dance that satirizes military marches. Local Brazilian band 2doBem joins in on the fun, and Brazilian food will be available. Partygoers are encouraged to come costumed, and Carnaval masks will be available for $10.
The event aims to pump up interest for the Olympics, coming up this summer in Rio de Janeiro.
Where: Hawaiian Brian’s, 1680 Kapiolani Blvd.
When: 8 p.m. Saturday
Cost: $20 ($50 VIP tables)
Info: hawaiianbrians.com/event/brazilian-carnival or 323-788-5699
College choirs unite for annual festival
Come hear the best of college vocal ensembles from around the island at E Himeni Kakou, an annual festival of collegiate choirs.
This year’s festival will feature about 180 voices from the Manoa and West Oahu campuses of UH, Kapiolani and Leeward community colleges, and Hawaii Pacific University. (Brigham Young University-Hawaii is having finals.)
The singers will train first with Tesfa Wondemagegnehu, a nationally recognized choral director from Minnesota, who will work with them on the modern choral repertoire chosen for the festival. Each choir will perform, then they’ll join together for a mass singalong.
“This is a chance for those smaller programs who don’t have the resources to be part of something large,” said Miguel Felipe, choral director at UH Manoa. “Students don’t get the chance to meet each other between the different universities and community colleges. This forces them to stop studying for a little bit, sing and get together.”
Another goal of the festival, now in its 41st year, is to revive choral music in Hawaii schools. In public high schools, choral music is in a “major decline,” Felipe said. “Schools like Roosevelt, where there used to be three or four choirs of 50 students each, they don’t have a single choir anymore,” he said.
Where: Central Union Church, 1660 S. Beretania. St.
When: 7 p.m. Saturday
Cost: Free
Info: manoa.hawaii.edu/music/events
SUNDAY
Ballet adds spice to chamber music
Onium Ballet Project brings the added dimension of dance to modern chamber music Sunday in a “tresemble” concert by Chamber Music Hawaii.
The performance features choreography by Minou Lallemand, Onium’s artistic director, set to the music of Arvo Part, Osvaldo Golijov and Grammy-winning composer Gabriela Lena Frank.
Lallemand said she was particularly attracted to Frank’s “Leyandas: An Andean Walkabout.”
“I’m from Colombia, so it kind of spoke to me,” she said. “I saw it as a day in the Andes. I imagined it starting at daybreak and then just going throughout the day.”
The work includes Andean panpipes — often heard in Waikiki and local festivals – as well as professional mourners who are hired to cry at funerals, an Andean tradition. “It was just so obvious, these are people crying, so of course I had to have people crying,” Lallemand said of her choreography.
Part’s “Fratres” is a minimalist piece typical of the Estonion composer, who once said it represents “the instant and the eternity struggling within us.”
Golijov, an Argentine composer, based his “Lullaby & Doina” on a Yiddish lullaby.
Works by Joseph Haydn and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Charles Wuorinen are also on the program.
Where: Paliku Theatre, Windward Community College
When: 4 p.m. Sunday
Cost: $35-$45
Info: chambermusichawaii.com or 489-5038
Canadian indie-rock band Stars eases into The Republik, 8 p.m. Sunday, $28. flavorus.com or 855-235-2867
