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SCMP Reporter

MUSIC John Kennedy, Friday and Saturday, 8pm, Fringe Club Theatre, $80, students and members $65.

Two farewell shows from itinerant singer/songwriter John F. Kennedy, who has decided after a couple of years in Hong Kong to move on again and explore pastures new.

  It appears our fair city has failed to ignite his creativity to any greater extent than the composition of two songs, both of which will probably be performed in the concerts.

  The audience will be allowed to nominate any favourites they have from his repertoire of self-penned 'songs of travel and heartache', and those who don't know any will be able to pick them at random off a list.

  He departs bemoaning 'a pathetic local live music scene and apathetic Hong Kong audiences', and, with a small tribute to our illustrious sister paper, 'The South China Morning Post won't be mourning long/but don't get me wrong, I like Hong Kong'. Bon voyage.

Harold Jackson, from Monday, 6.15pm The Bar, Peninsula Hotel, free.

With the opening of The Bar featuring American pianists au fait with jazz and show tunes, the Peninsula took a welcome step towards seriously improving the sophistication of early evening and late night bar entertainment around town.

  Others following suit include Bacchus, the Rickshaw Club and Tiffany's New York Bar at the Grand Stanford. Something of a piano bar culture is beginning to develop.

  The current attraction at the Peninsula is Los Angeles-based Harold Jackson, who, appropriately, wrote the song Los Angeles for the blues singer Joe Williams.

  Jackson has performed with Dinah Washington, Billy Eckstine and Lionel Hampton, among others, and has a repertoire of more than 4,000 tunes.

  Drop by and hear a handful.

The Victoria Jazz Band, Friday, 9.15pm, Cafe Deco, Peak Galleria, free to diners.

John Hubbard and Hong Kong's longest established jazz band, albeit with an ever-shifting lineup, play swing and 30s music to complement Cafe Deco's art deco-influenced design.

  It's danceable stuff if you know the stops and a good night out for nostalgia addicts of a certain age. The playing is pretty good, too.

THEATRE Arts Festival, Grimm Tales, Saturday, 7.45pm, Arts Centre Shouson Theatre, $220, $170, students $48.

Tim Supple directs the Young Vic's production of Carol Anne Duffy's adaptation of the Grimm and, in this interpretation, gothically grim fairy tales.

  Apparently, London audiences were wowed by the in-your-face readings of Rumpelstiltskin, Cinderella, Hansel and Gretel et al, and the show should appeal to both adults and children, who are far less easily shocked than most of their elders anyway.

  Not suitable for those who read Politically Correct Bed Time Stories and failed to get the joke.

BALLET Arts Festival, Romeo et Juliette, Saturday 8pm, Academy for Performing Arts Lyric Theatre, $520, $400, $280, $150, students $112 and $60.

The Lyon Opera Ballet performs a version of the great love story that has overtones of Orwell's 1984 and Ridley Scott's Bladerunner as well as of Shakespeare's play.

  A radical new interpretation of Verona has been developed by comic strip artist Enki Bikal and choreographer Angelin Preljocaj.

  The production has been hailed by audiences from New York to Tokyo and marks the company's first Arts Festival appearance since 1988. Essential for dance enthusiasts.

EXHIBITIONS A Five Leg Tour, from Friday, noon to 2am, Fringe Club Gallery and Heineken Gallery.

An exhibition by cinematographer Henry Chung, who apparently occupies himself when not shooting commercials and documentaries with stereo stills photography. Special viewers are being set up to give each shot its full effect and subject matter apparently ranges from travel images to back shots from the sets on which Chung is occupied with his day job.

  An optical novelty featuring what sounds like interesting material.



Going Out