FRIDAY

>> Cell phone interrution is all part of this brief opera

Disaster struck during the most recent Hawaii Opera Theatre production: Someone’s cell phone went off.

So it’s only appropriate that HOT is now presenting “Service Provider,” a 20-minute opera about cellphones and the trouble they can cause.

The opera portrays a couple celebrating an anniversary dinner while they are constantly interrupted by their cell phones – both keep getting bothersome text messages. Their haughty waiter and a provocative fellow diner don’t help matters.

After its 2015 debut in Washington D.C., a review on arts website DC Metro Theater Arts called it “hilarious beginning to end” and praised composer’s Christopher Weiss’ music and “surprisingly classic score.”

“Service Provider” features singers from HOT’s Orvis Opera Studio: Naomi Castro, Rivers Hawkins as the husband, Kari Magaruh as the diner, and Logan Webber as the waiter. Also appearing this evening will be Leslie Goldman, Blythe Kelsey, Jeremy Wong, Charlie Mukaida and Malina Maneevone, performing songs inspired by technology.

FRIDAY-SATURDAY

>> Master artists’ works go on sale

Art lovers and collectors, it’s time to perk up your passions this weekend for a rare opportunity to own works by some of Hawaii’s favorite artists.

Hundreds of work will go sale at the Hawaii Master Artists Show, a fundraiser for the Friends of the Hawaii State Art Museum. Wayne Morioka, an appraiser who helped set prices, said art collector Joyce Okano has been looking “for months and months,if not at least a year” collecting items.

More than 50 artists are represented, include Isami Doi, Jean Charlot, Satoru Abe, Harry Tsuchidana, Louis Pohl and John Young. Paintings, sculpture, lithographs, photography andmixed-media works will be offered.

“There’s going to be a variety of different kinds of arts for sale, some by the well-known masters who have already passed, and some who are getting ready to pass on, and then a lot of up-and-coming artists,” Morioka said. “Our instructions were toprice the items at something affordable, not too outrageous, for both beginning collectors and mature, established collectors.”

Prices will range from below $200 to several thousand dollars, but Morioka said the prices were set with younger, less experienced collectors in mind. “We’re trying to make that connection between the original works of art and the viewer.”

His advice for beginning collectors: “Always ask questions, especially if you have the artist there or experts or collectors. But the most important thing is to buy what you like. Your tastes might develop and change, but at least the starting point is thatyou like the work of art. No one can ever take that away from you.”

SATURDAY

>> Local musicians perform to benefit flood recovery victims

Four innovative Hawaii recording artists invite you to come kanikapila (make music) with them, playing ukulele Saturday at HASR Bistro, to help out with recovery after the flooding on Kauai.

Famed Hawaiian falsetto vocalist Pomaika‘i Keawe Lyman will share the stage with Hoku Award-winners Del Beazley, L. Halehaku Seabury and Bryan Tolentino. Surprise guests are scheduled to stop by, with Oahu’s ukulele players and singers invited to sit in.

Lyman is the granddaughter of falsetto icon Genoa Keawe and the foremost conservator of the Keawe family’s falsetto traditions. Beazley has received Hoku Awards for his work as a member of the duo Apo & Beazley, and as a solo artist. Multi-instrumentalist Seabury won four Hokus in 2013 as a member of Na Hoa. Tolentino won a Hoku in 2016 with fellow ukulele master Herb Ohta Jr.

People who just want to enjoy the music are welcome. Drawings for CDs and other prizes will be held during the afternoon.

– John Berger, Star-Advertiser

SATURDAY

>> Singer/musician Olivia Thai rocks Hawaiian Brian’s

Singer/songwriter/musician Olivia Thai bills her shows as a “one-woman symphony,” putting her talents at violin, guitar, piano, beatboxing and singing on display.

A classically trained musician from Los Angeles, she has refined the art of “looping” – recording herself on several instruments and overlaying them to create a textured sound.

“Now I’m a looper who plays everything,” she said.

She’s drawn a large following, with 95,000 subscribers on her YouTube channel, international tours, and a regular slot at Hawaiian Brian’s. She also has a band now, which will join her Saturday when she debuts a new single, the first of many headed fora full-length album.

“We have a lot of people working on it who worked on Kanye West’s album (“808s & Heartbreak”) when he was out here, so it’s a cool project,” said Thai, 29, a former contestant on “Rising Star” and “American Idol” and winner of the Taiwanese versionof “Idol” in 2009.

Beyond the ingenuity of looping, Thai’s soulful voice and heartfelt lyrics resonate with her fans. At her Hawaiian Brian’s shows, many fans wind up in tears as she sings about overcoming adversity. Her songs “came from a very true place, a very darkplace,” she said. “But sometimes they come from a very light place. I try to be as comical as we can because of how dark the songs are.”

Thai moved to Hawaii last year after meeting her boyfriend here.

“I recently found out I’m part Polynesian, so I am home,” she said.

>> Related Video: “Tennessee Whiskey by Oliva Thai (Live)” (Mobile app users, click here)