'Peter and the Wolf' gets pidgin presentation at Manoa Valley Theatre

Jun. 26—"Peter and the Wolf, " the classic children's story set to music, gets an island touch this week with performances in pidgin, Hawaiian and English.

The popular work by Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev will be performed eight times at the Manoa Valley Theatre from Tuesday to Sunday, with six performances in pidgin, one in English and one in Hawaiian ; the latter two are for families with children. Visit for times and dates and to reserve tickets ($35, $5 for children ).

"Peter and the Wolf " often serves as an introduction to orchestral music for children, featuring themes and instrumentation that identify characters in the story. Peter, a youth who is portrayed by a light melody on strings, goes hunting for a wolf (French horn ) accompanied by a duck (oboe ), bird (flute ) and cat (clarinet ).

Hawaii Public Radio's Sandy Tsukiyama will be doing most of the pidgin narrations.

Several celebrities have narrated the tale, ranging from Oscar-winning actors Viola Davis and Ben Kingsley to political leaders Bill Clinton and Mikhail Gorbachev to rock musicians Sting, David Bowie and "Weird Al " Yankovic.