Briefs: Music, theater and family fun

Music

LISA HILTON PLAYING

AT CABARET JAZZ

Making a good impression.

That’s jazz pianist and composer Lisa Hilton, who brings “American Impressions and More” to The Smith Center’s Cabaret Jazz on Friday and Saturday.

Trained as a classical pianist, Hilton — dubbed “The Lioness of Jazz” — also holds a degree in art. Both play into the creation of her evocative, impressionistic “sound paintings,” which draw on classical traditions and 20th-century modernists as well as American jazz and blues influences.

Her recent album, April’s “Getaway,” features the other members of her trio: bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Nasheet Waits. They’ll perform at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday in Cabaret Jazz at The Smith Center for the Performing Arts, 361 Symphony Park Ave. For tickets ($33-$45), call 702-749-2000 or go to www.thesmithcenter.com.

Family fun

FESTIVALS HONOR

PACIFIC ISLANDS

A trio of gatherings — at the Springs Preserve, the Cannery and Clark County Library — celebrate Polynesian, Pacific Islander and Filipino culture this weekend.

The Springs Preserve’s first Ohana Festival, saluting Hawaiian and Pacific Islander culture Saturday, features a variety of hands-on activities, from lei making to hula dancing. Also on the menu: various island edibles, along with music from the Kalama Brothers, whose debut CD, “Keau,” explores the brothers’ Hawaiian roots.

The Ohana Festival runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at the Springs Preserve, 333 S. Valley View Blvd. Admission is $5 for adults, $3 for children 5-12 and free for children 4 and under. For information, call 702-822-7700 or go online to www.springspreserve.org.

North Las Vegas’ Cannery, meanwhile, welcomes the Islands of the Pacific Cultural Fest Saturday and Sunday.

Honoring the history, culture and traditions of Hawaii and the Pacific Islands, the festival includes specialty food, crafts and performances — along with a separate concert featuring Society of Seven at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.

The festival runs from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday at the Cannery, 2121 E. Craig Road, North Las Vegas.

General admission is $7; children 5-10, seniors 55 and up and military are $5. Society of Seven concert tickets are $15, while concert and festival packages are $20. For information, call 702-507-5700 or go online to www.cannerycasino.com.

And Sunday afternoon at the Clark County Library, a free dance concert will provide “A Taste of Polynesia and the Philippines.”

Dancers dressed in handmade costumes from Hula Halau O’kaleo O’kalani will perform native and new generation dances from Hawaii, Tahiti and the Philippines in celebration of Asian-American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.

The free concert begins at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Clark County Library, 1401 E. Flamingo Road. For more information, call 702-507-3459 or visit the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District’s website at www.lvccld.org.

Musical theater

‘PUTTING ON A SHOW’

TO BENEFIT THEATER

Hey, kids, let’s put on a show!

That hallowed cry inspires this weekend’s “Putting on a Show,” a benefit for the guest artist program at the Nevada Conservatory Theatre, the professional arm of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas theater department .

Cast members from “Jersey Boys,” “Million Dollar Quartet,” “Vegas the Show” and “Menopause the Musical” join young performers from the Las Vegas Academy and UNLV’s theater d epartment .

They’ll perform an eclectic array of original theater songs by local composer Christopher Lash; a 17-piece orchestra rounds out the roster of performers.

“Putting on a Show” will be staged at 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday in the Judy Bayley Theatre at UNLV, 4505 S. Maryland Parkway. For tickets ($20 general, with $10 student and senior discounts available), call 702-895-2787 or go online to www.unlv.tickets.com.

Opera

SIN CITY OPERA

GATHERS ‘LUCIAS’

From Mozart to Puccini, from Wagner to Weil, Sin City Opera rounds up the usual suspects — make that composers — for this weekend’s musical mashup “Night of 1,000 Lucias” at the Onyx Theatre.

Using arias from several genres, and in several languages, “1,000 Lucias” weaves together an original tale, as parallel stories of love, desperation and regret unfold — culminating in excerpts from the famous mad scene from Donizetti’s “Lucia di Lammermoor .”

Led by Skip Galla, Sin City Opera’s artistic director, and musical director Karalyn Clark, the “Night of 1,000 Lucias” cast features Galla, Ginger Land-van Buuren , Stephanie Weiss, Cordelia Anderson, Nathan Van Arsdale and Jonathan Mancheni .

“Night of 1,000 Lucias” will be staged at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the Onyx Theatre, 953 E. Sahara Ave. For tickets ($15), call 702-732-7225 or go online to www.onyxtheatre.com; more information on the production is available at www.sincityopera.com.

— By CAROL CLING