FRIDAY

>> “Glee’s” Matthew Morrison croons and swoons

It only seems appropriate that Matthew Morrison, star of the television musical/comedy “Glee,” comes to the islands to share his talent.

The singer/dancer/actor once sang backup for Don Ho. He was married on Maui, but in his most famous role, as glee club leader and teacher Will Schuester, he taught at a fictional high school named McKinley High School in Ohio. On Friday Morrison will perform at Hawaii Theatre, just a few blocks away from the real McKinley High in downtown Honolulu.

Coincidences and connections aside, Morrison brings a broad brush of Broadway talent to the stage. Though he got his start as a dancer, break-dancing while in high school in Southern California, he studied musical theater, vocal performance and dance at New York University. He dropped out when he began getting Broadway roles, eventually winning a Tony nomination for best featured actor in a musical for his work in “The Light in the Piazza” in 2005 and a Drama Desk nomination for outstanding actor in the off-Broadway musical “10 Million Miles” in 2007. His most recent Broadway appearance was in 2015’s “Finding Neverland,” as playwright J.M. Barrie, creator of “Peter Pan, The Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up.”

Morrison will be joined by Hawaii’s own Broadway star, Loretta Ables Sayre, in a reunion of sorts: She and Morrison appeared in the Lincoln Center’s production of “South Pacific,” for which Ables Sayre received a Tony nomination.

MATTHEW MORRISON

>> Where: Hawaii Theatre

>> When: 8 p.m. Friday

>> Cost: $69.50-$89.50

>> Info: 528-0506, hawaiitheatre.com

FRIDAY-SATURDAY

>> Small athletes make big boom in ring

Wrestling seems to be making a comeback in the entertainment world, so why not midget wrestling?

The Micromania Midget Wrestling tour revives a tradition that dates back more than 50 yeara. It comes to The Republik for two evenings, bringing the action up close and personal. You’ll feel the crashing swan dives from the ropes to the floor, the thump of bodies against the pylons, the roar of the victor and the crowd.

Micromania, a California-based company, enjoys getting maximum fun out of their minimally sized athletes, giving them names like “Mini Mayweather,” “Mini Pacquiao,” and “Mini McGregor.” There will also be womens bouts — they’re billed as the Battling Bombshells.

MICROMANIA MIDGET WRESTLING

>> Where: The Republik

>> When: 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday

>> Cost: $20-$85

>> Info: 941-7469, jointherepublik.com

SATURDAY-MONDAY

>> Music of Mozart makes merry

Mozart lovers can get their fill of the genius’ work this weekend in both chamber and symphonic form, as both the Hawai‘i Symphony Orchestra and Chamber Music Hawaii present his lovely music.

This weekend’s symphony concerts brings back two favorite performers, conductor Carl St. Clair, at right, of the Pacific Symphony and pianist Norm Krieger, bottom right. In previous appearances in Honolulu, St. Clair has prefaced performances with brief, enlightening comments about the music, which have enhanced the concert experience greatly.

Krieger has been appearing on the islands as a soloist, guest artist and teacher for years. He will perform the “Piano Concerto No. 24,” one of only two concertos written in a minor key. With a virtuosic keyboard part that features dark to delicate textures to brilliant and virtuosic flourishes and colorful instrumental solos, the concerto is considered by many to be his best. The symphony program also features the overture to the Mozart opera “The Abduction from the Seraglio” and Shostokovich’s “Symphony No. 10.”

On Monday and again on Jan. 20, Mozart’s music comes back in a (somewhat) more intimate form, courtesy of Chamber Music Hawaii and KHON-TV anchor and Mozart aficionado Joe Moore.

Moore selected some of his favorite chamber pieces to be arranged for wind ensemble by Chamber Music Hawaii’s Marsha Schweitzer. “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik” (“A Little Night Music”) might sound bright as daytime on flute, oboe and horn, but it should be fun.

“MOSTLY MOZART”

Featuring the Hawai‘i Symphony Orchestra

>> Where: Blaisdell Concert Hall Arena

>> When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, 4 p.m. Sunday

>> Cost: $36-$95

>> Info: 800-745-3000, ticketmaster.com

“MOST MEMORABLE MELODIES” WITH JOE MORE

Presented by Chamber Music Hawaii

>> Where: Paliku Theatre and the Honolulu Museum of Art

>> When: 7:30 Monday (Paliku Theatre) and 8 p.m. Jan. 20 (Honolulu Museum of Art)

>> Cost: $35

>> Info: 489-5038, chambermusichawaii.org

JAN. 16

>> Cook’s story plays like “Greek tragedy”

Everybody in Hawaii knows the story of Captain Cook. Cook arrived off the Big Island in 1779 during the season associated with Lono. The Hawaiians assumed that Cook was Lono in human form, and treated him as a god. Cook was a pragmatist – if being Lono would expedite acquisition of the supplies he needed to continue his voyage of exploration, he would be Lono. So far, so good.

Unfortunately for Cook, the foremast of one of his ships broke several days after the expedition left Hawaii and he had to return. The season of Lono was over, Lono wasn’t supposed to be there, and Cook was obviously not Lono. A Hawaiian stole one of the ship’s boats, Cook tried to take an ali‘i hostage to get the stolen boat returned, there was a conflict and Cook was killed.

Playwright Dennis Carroll put a provocative spin on the familiar story when his play, “Way of a God,” premiered Kumu Kahua in 1997. The ali‘i closest to Cook deduce quite quickly that he is not a god, but decide that it is to their personal and political advantage to maintain the charade as long as possible. After all no ali‘i can be more powerful than an ali‘i who is the close personal friend of a god! And Cook finds life is good when you’re a living god.

Twenty-two years later, veteran director Taurie Kinoshita is bringing Carroll’s milestone work back to the Kumu Kahua stage, opening, Jan. 16, and is having a great time doing it.

“I’m so happy to be able to work with Dennis again, getting to learn about Cook was amazing. and there’s just such a really brilliant script,” Kinoshita said earlier this week. “It takes the viewpoint that Cook was starting to believe he was a god, because he was being treated like a god. It’s classic Greek tragedy. Hubris destroys all of us.”

— John Berger, Star-Advertiser

“WAY OF A GOD”

>> Where: Kumu Kahua Theatre, 46 Merchant Street

>> When: 8 p.m. Jan. 16; continues 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday through Feb. 16 (no performance Feb. 2)

>> Cost: $5-$25

>> Info: 536-4441, kumukahua.org