Kauai High students stage The Sound of Music in Lihue this month

Kaua‘i High School Performing Arts Center is bringing one of the best-known musicals in American theater to the Kaua‘i War Memorial Convention Hall this month, giving students from across the island a chance to perform on a major Līhu‘e stage for six live shows. The production runs April 17, 18, 19, 24, 25 and 26, with curtain times at 7 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. on Sundays.

Tickets are $10 and available online through the Kaua‘i Performing Arts Center. The run across two weekends gives families, alumni and other residents more than one shot to catch the show, turning a school production into a broader community event rather than a single-night performance.

KPAC says it serves Kaua‘i public school students in grades 6 through 12, using theater training to build acting, singing and dancing skills while also helping students develop life and leadership abilities. The organization says its mission is to give diverse youth meaningful theatrical experiences and promote appreciation for the performing arts throughout the island community.

That mission has been part of KPAC since the program launched in 1986. Carla Kirk has served as KPAC coordinator since 2021, providing continuity for a student arts pipeline that has carried generations of Kaua‘i performers through spring musicals and stage productions. The organization’s history includes titles such as Fame, West Side Story, The Music Man, Grease, Into the Woods, The Wizard of Oz, Oklahoma, Guys & Dolls, Beauty and the Beast, Anastasia and Footloose.

The Sound of Music fits that tradition with a familiar Rodgers and Hammerstein score and a story centered on Maria and the von Trapp family in Nazi-occupied Austria. On Kaua‘i, that familiar title carries extra weight because it is being led by local students, teachers and families who have made school theater a dependable part of the county’s cultural calendar.

For many in Kaua‘i, the draw is not just the music or the nostalgia. It is the chance to see young performers take on a large, demanding musical in front of a live audience, sharpen stagecraft and teamwork, and bring a well-known story to life in a space that anchors community events in Līhu‘e.