The Hawaii Performing Arts Festival recently announced that it is offering free tickets for Hilo performances to people displaced by the recent volcanic activity in lower Puna.
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,” this month at the Palace Theater. Twenty-five tickets will be given away for each performance.
• “Little Women,” 7 p.m. 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. 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,” said Genette Freeman, HPAF director of development.
“After some discussion, we thought maybe an evening out could take their mind off their troubles, at least for a few hours.”
HPAF also is asking regular ticket buyers to bring a nonperishable food item to be donated to island food banks helping with the relief efforts.
Those who have been displaced because of the volcanic activity in lower Puna and are interested in tickets should email info@hawaiipaf.org or call 333-7378.