The carnival is coming to town, and it’s got live music, dance, and nearly extinct animals — but through the art of puppetry, they seem more alive than ever.
Megan Conley is the founder of Ocean Music Action, a nonprofit organization that advocates for nature conservancy using the power of music.
She’s pulling all kinds of strings to put on a one-of-a-kind performance at the Hawaii Theatre. The show is called the “Carnival of the Nearly Extinct Animals,” and it focuses on exactly that — nearly extinct animals.
Through large-scale puppetry, ballet and live music, the performance highlights several endangered animal species in a celebration of hope, rather than despair.
Conley joined HPR to share more about the show and the story it tells.
“Carnival of the Nearly Extinct Animals” makes its world premiere on Friday, Sept. 18 at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, Sept. 19 at 3:00 p.m. at the Hawaii Theatre. More information can be found here.
This story aired on The Conversation on Sept. 10, 2026. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. Jinwook Lee adapted this story for the web.
