So Cal Arts & Entertainment

You have to wonder about the Newport Beach Film Festival when you’re asked to be a moderator for a Q&A session following a TV show you’ve never heard of, and don’t know anyone involved. Fearing the first question would be, “Who the heck is he and why is he here?,” I...

It’s always an event when the Pacific Symphony returns to the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall for a new season. Thursday, September 26, marks not only the cyclical beginning for the hall’s resident orchestra but Music Director Carl St. Clair’s 35th anniversary...

A man walks into a bar… trust me, you haven’t heard this one before. The plot of the offbeat new movie comedy “The Falling Star”— released here by Kino Lorber—is so bizarre and the characters so quirky it could’ve been written by Eugene Ionesco.  For openers, there’s...

If timing is everything, what more relevant time for not one but two plays about the rise of fascism and antisemitism in pre-war Germany? The title isn’t likely to pull you in, but anyone who loves compelling drama is urged to head over to the Victory Theatre Center...

What do women want? It’s a question old as time. In David Harrower’s “Blackbird” at the Chance in Anaheim Hills (through June 23), a young woman’s motives remain unclear even after she identifies a middle-aged man as a former partner in an illegal relationship and...

Despite some unfortunate opening night sound issues—or perhaps just the usual weak acoustics—one thing comes through loud and clear in Beetlejuice at Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa: Miss Isabella Esler, a recent high school grad in her professional debut...

It’s that time again. Turner Classic Movies’ 15th annual TCM Classic Film Festival is fast approaching, slated for April 18–21 in Hollywood. Among the highlights: actress and filmmaker Jodie Foster will be honored with a hand and footprint ceremony at the TCL Chinese...

If the arts are still slowly emerging from the pandemic, Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo’s Coppél-i.A. is proof positive imagination is alive and well. This adaptation of the classical ballet Coppélia, at Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa through Mar. 10, is not...

Passes and tix are now on sale for the 27th San Francisco Silent Film Festival, taking place April 10–14 at San Francisco’s historic Palace of Fine Arts. The Beaux Arts-style Palace was originally built for the 1915 Panama–Pacific International Exposition. The iconic...

Must-see TV? Must avoid is more like it these days. My idea of a must-see is Itzhak Perlman, who returns to Segerstrom Center for the Arts tonight (Jan. 24) in Costa Mesa, courtesy of the Philharmonic Society of Orange County. [https://www.philharmonicsociety.org]...