Until October 7
Local pop and R&B singer Justin Lo has been quiet for some time but is striking back now with a concert he is touting as Air Justin 08 Live. The artist hasn’t said much about the show, though he has stated he has recently become fond of dancing, so that will surely play a part in the concert. Catch the singer until October 7 at the HITEC Star Hall. Tickets are $450, $250 and $150 from HK Ticketing, 31 288 288.

Friday October 3
On Sunday, September 21, singer-songwriter duo aniDa and Gloria Tang had a release party for their new CD Home Buddies at Mackie Kitchen at, of course, Mackie Kitchen. This week the duo moves to another eatery with their home-baked, heart-warming and original tunes when they play at Backstage as part of the Raw Show series. The gig will start at 10:30pm with an entry fee of $150, which includes one drink.

Saturday October 4
We can’t decide if it is a blessing or a curse to be called ‘the Mariah Carey of Japan’, but one of the amazing things Misia can do is cover five octaves in her singing – which, no doubt, contributes to the 30-year-old diva being one of Japan’s best selling artists of all time. Since her debut album Mother Father Brother Sister topped the ORICON chart in 1998, the Fukuoka-born R&B singer has made 16 albums and sold 12 millions records worldwide – despite not showing up in any TV music shows. Catch the Rainbow, the theme song to the upcoming The Tour of Misia Discotheque Asia 2008, was also Misia’s first digital release. As for the show, when she says ‘discotheque’ she means it – she will be turning the Asia World-Arena into a glam, chic club and has pledged the audience will be dancing with her on the night. Join Misia at Asia World-Arena on October 4 – the show starts at 8pm and tickets are $790, $490 and $290 from HK Ticketing, 31 288 288.

October 4-7
The Hong Kong International Arts and Antiques Fair returns with more than 80 galleries across Asia, Europe and America exhibiting collections of antiques and art from the Neolithic to the modern ages. The proceeds of charity auctions will be going to the community chest but that doesn’t mean we, the penniless, cannot enjoy the fair. The works of Li Huayi, focusing mainly on the age-old tradition of the Chinese literati, will be amongst those on show and Li will also attend the fair and meet his audience. Expect to see private collections of members of the Friends of the Hong Kong Museum of Art as well. The Hong Kong International Arts and Antiques Fair 08 will run from October 4 to 7 at the HK Convention and Exhibition Centre. Admission is free but you will need to register at www.aaifair.com/visitor/admission.htm for an admission badge first.

October 7
Diana Krall may play a number of roles – two-time Grammy award winner, wife of Elvis Costello, mother of two boys, and officer of the Order of Canada – but when all is said and done, she is still one of the finest vocalists and pianists of her generation. Since signing to the legendary Verve label in 1999 and releasing the award-winning When I Look in Your Eyes, she has never looked back. Her follow-up albums, The Look of Love, The Girl in the Other Room and her latest, From This Moment On, all made considerable impacts on the charts, while 2002’s Live In Paris brought her a second Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Album. Krall will be playing in our city on October 7 to kick off her China tour. The show starts at 7pm at HKCEC’s Hall 7A and tickets are $1280, $980, $680 and $480 from HK Ticketing, 31 288 288.

October 10-11
Established in 1954, the Paul Taylor Dance Company has been hailed by the New York Post as “one of the few indisputably great dance companies in the world” and Taylor has been crowned the reigning master of modern dance by Time magazine. For the troupe’s coming performances in Hong Kong, Taylor has hand picked six dances, four of which (Images, Eventide, …Byzantium and Mercuric Tidings) are signature pieces. The additions are Promethean Fire, which commemorates 9/11, and the choreographer’s latest work to date, Changes, a revisit of the turbulent ’60s when American youth protested against the war in Vietnam. On October 10, the programme includes Images, Eventide and Promethean Fire; while Changes, …Byzantium and Mercuric Tidings will be performed on October 11. The two performances will be staged at Kwai Tsing Theatre Auditorium at 8pm. Tickets are $400, $300 and $200 from URBTIX, 2734 9009.

October 7-11
Tennessee Williams’ play A Streetcar Named Desire, made famous by Marlon Brando and Vivien Leigh, centres on the beautiful old-world Blanche du Bois who has just been expelled from the school she taught at for seducing a 17-year-old. She comes to stay with her sister, Stella, in post World War II New Orleans, where the tension between Blanche and Stella’s brutish husband, Stanley, leads to almost inevitable tragedy. Local group Bigbox Theatre is bringing this Pulitzer Prize-winning play to the stage with Canadian actor and director Scott T Sauer. The show will be accompanied by live piano and original music composed by Jonathan Douglas. It will be staged from October 7 to 11 at 8pm and from October 8 to 10 at 2:30pm at the HK Arts Centre McAulay Studio Theatre. Tickets are $240 from URBTIX, 2734 9009.

October 9, 11-12
After reinvestigating the war-crimes trial at Nuremberg, Theatre Space next revisits Austria and Sigmund Freud on the verge of World War II. The Visitor is a play written by French playwright Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt and set in Vienna in 1938, just after Germany invaded Austria. The Jewish Sigmund Freud is still confident of his future until the Gestapo arrest his daughter one April evening. Struggling and desperate, Freud is visited by a stranger in a tuxedo and top hat who is a lot more than he seems. The play, directed and translated by Dominic Cheung, leads to some challenging questions on belief and reason. It set Schmitt up as a major theatrical voice in Europe when it premiered in 1994 and won three of France’s equivalents of the Tony awards. Theatre Space’s rerun of The Visitor (In Cantonese) will be staged on October 10 at 8pm and October 11 and 12 at 3pm at HK Culture Centre Theatre. Tickets are $200 and $160 from URBTIX, 2734 9009.

October 15-19
Harold Pinter won the 2005 Nobel Prize for Literature and the Laurence Olivier Award for Lifetime Achievement In Theatre, and is closely associated with political theatre but audiences are about to see a slightly lighter side of the English playwright. His 1971 work Old Times is a black comedy revolving around mind – and body – games between a film director, his emotionally detached wife and her long-estranged visiting roommate. Twice as Good Productions and Sometimes Y Theatre present the play with cast members Suzy Sampson, Henry Coombs and Natalie Schull. Old Times will run from October 15 to 19 at 8pm at HK Arts Centre McAulay Studio Theatre. A matinee on October 18 will start at 2:30pm. Tickets are priced at $220 from URBTIX, 2734 9009.