TheaterDavid Henry Hwang’s “Golden Child,” fresh from...

Theater

David Henry Hwang’s “Golden Child,” fresh from its New York premiere, goes into previews Friday at South Coast Repertory and opens Jan. 10. Directed by James Lapine on the SCR Mainstage, it tells the resonant story of a family seen in retrospect by a Chinese American young man through the prism of his grandmother’s eyes.

A bittersweet tale of cultural change with both tragic and comic overtones, “Golden Child” has been called Hwang’s best work since “M. Butterfly,” the play that made him deservedly famous.

* What: David Henry Hwang’s “Golden Child.”

* Where: South Coast Repertory, 655 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa.

* Whereabouts: Exit the San Diego (405) Freeway at Bristol Avenue; go north. Turn right onto Town Center Drive.

* When: Begins previews Friday. Performances: 8 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, 2:30 and 8 p.m. Saturday, 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Sunday. Ends Feb. 9.

* Wherewithal: $18-$31 previews; $28-$41 beginning Jan. 10.

* Where to call: (714) 957-4033.

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Music

Mozart wrote two of his 27 piano concertos--No. 15 in B-flat and No. 16 in D--within a week of each other; then he struggled to figure out which took more technique. “I cannot come to a decision,” he wrote his father May 24, 1784. “I consider them both concertos that make one perspire; but in difficulty the one in B-flat beats the one in D.” Daniel Shapiro will be the perspiring soloist in the B-flat concerto, K. 450, with conductor Ami Porat and the Mozart Camerata on two occasions this weekend.

* What: Ami Porat conducts the Mozart Camerata in a Mozart program, with pianist Daniel Shapiro.

* When: 8 p.m. Saturday at the Irvine Barclay Theatre and 4 p.m. Sunday at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church.

* Where: Irvine Barclay Theatre, 4242 Campus Drive; St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, 600 St. Andrews Road, Newport Beach.

* Whereabouts: To Irvine theater: Exit the San Diego (405) Freeway at Jamboree Road; go south. Turn left onto Campus Drive. To St. Andrew’s: Take the Costa Mesa (55) Freeway south until it turns into Newport Boulevard. Turn left onto 15th Street, then right onto St. Andrews.

* Wherewithal: $25-$29 in Irvine; $23-$29 in Newport Beach.

* Where to call: (714) 250-3131.

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Comedy

It was clear early on that Wayne Cotter would have a career in stand-up. When he was 6, he would stay up late to watch Steve Allen on the old “Tonight Show” and memorize the monologue so he could use it the next day. Since then, the New York City native has taken to using original material as he headlines across the country or polishes his act for TV spots, including a three-year stint as host of Fox’s popular “Comic Strip Live” and numerous “Tonight Show” stints.

* Who: Wayne Cotter.

* When: 8:30 tonight, 8:30 and 10:30 p.m. Friday, 8 and 10:30 p.m. Saturday and 8 p.m. Sunday.

* Where: The Improv, 4255 Campus Drive, Irvine.

* Whereabouts: Exit the San Diego (405) Freeway at Jamboree Road; go south. Turn left onto Campus Drive. The Improv is in the University Center shopping center, across from the UC Irvine campus.

* Wherewithal: $10-$12.

* Where to call: (714) 854-5455.

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Art

“Left, Right & Center” is the inclusive title of the 16th annual juried exhibition ongoing at the Orange County Center for Contemporary Art. The artist-run center chose David S. Rubin, curator of 20th century art at the Phoenix Art Museum, as the juror.

He chose 34 artists from 120 West Coast applicants without knowing names, sex, ethnicity or anything else about them. Kelly Phillips of Seattle, Wash., won first place with a mixed-media work, “Oral Harvest.”

* What: “Left, Right & Center.”

* When: 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Wednesday-Sunday. Through Jan. 25.

* Where: Orange County Center for Contemporary Art, 208 N. Broadway, Santa Ana.

* Whereabouts: Exit the Santa Ana (5) Freeway at Main Street, go south. Turn right onto 3rd Street, then left onto Broadway.

* Wherewithal: Free.

* Where to call: (714) 548-4989.