Centered in the $32-million Maui Arts and Cultural Center in Kahului (tel. 808/242-7469; www.mauiarts.org), the performing arts are alive and well on this island. The MACC remains the island's most prestigious entertainment venue, a first-class center for the visual and performing arts. Bonnie Raitt has performed here, as have Hiroshima, Pearl Jam, Ziggy Marley, Tony Bennett, the American Indian Dance Theatre, the Maui Symphony Orchestra, and Jonny Lang, not to mention the finest in local and Hawaiian talent. The center is as precious to Maui as the Met is to New York, with a visual-arts gallery, an outdoor amphitheater, offices, rehearsal space, a 300-seat theater for experimental performances, and a 1,200-seat main theater. The center's activities are well publicized locally, so check the Maui News or ask your hotel concierge what's going on during your visit.

People are still agog over 'Ulalena, an extraordinary production that tells the story of Hawaii in chant, song, original music, acrobatics, and dance, using state-of-the-art technology and some of the most creative staging to be seen in Hawaii. There's nothing else like it in the state. A local and international cast performs this $9.5-million production at the comfy Maui Myth and Magic Theatre in Lahaina. Recently opened at the Kaanapali Beach Hotel is a wonderful show that is perfect for the entire family, called Kupanaha.

Nightlife options on this island are limited. Revelers generally head for Casanova in Makawao and Maui Brews in Lahaina. Because they are in different parts of this spread-out island, you'll either have to drive a great distance to these clubs or explore what's happening in the major hotels near you. The hotels generally have lobby lounges offering Hawaiian music, soft jazz, or hula shows beginning at sunset.