Hawaii Opera Theatre is a bold, successful effort to bring internationally acclaimed performers and the most fantastic opera productions to the Hawaiian island since 1960. Today, Hawaii Opera Theatre is known as one of the largest performing arts organizations in the state and Hawaii's only professional opera company. The Theatre's season is a mix of classical and new opera. The theater has staged notable productions such as "Madama Butterfly," "Le Nozze di Figaro," "La Boheme" and "Carmen." Recent performances have included Faust and La Traviata. The company typically performs three operas at the beginning of the season, then continues through a summer season as well. International artists from the New York Met and throughout Europe and Asia have performed at the Hawaii Opera Theatre throughout the years, competing up to three years in advance to get on stage alongside local Hawaiian talent.
Sample the variety of tastes and the unique flavor of local hops at the annual Kona Brewers Festival on the shores of Kailua Bay. The growing microbrewery movement in Hawaii promotes local companies and their art form.
The U.S. Army Museum of Hawaii was once a bastion built to protect Hawaii from foreign invaders. Today, it tells the military story of Hawaii from its Polynesian beginning to the Vietnam conflict. The story that unfolds at the Army Museum details the men and the machines that protected a nation.