SPOTLIGHT

Written in 1875, Georges Bizet’s “Carmen” was originally thought too

shocking for the stage. The opera deals with a promiscuous and unfaithful

heroine who works in a cigarette factory and eventually gets stabbed --

sex and drugs set to the 1800s version of rock ‘n’ roll.

Starting Tuesday, Opera Pacific will stage the opera that gave us

“March of the Toreadors” and “The Habanera” at the Orange County

Performing Arts Center.

The opera, sung in French with English subtitles, is among the most

popular in the world. Ron Daniels, who directed “Madame Butterfly” for

the company in 1998, will mount the new production. Irina Mishura and

Angela Horn will trade off the title role, and Mark Baker and Michael

Hendrick will trade off the role of Don Jose.

FYI

Where: Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center Drive,

Costa Mesa

When: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 2 p.m. Feb. 25

Cost: $29-$107

Call: (714) 740-7878

Belting those Broadway melodies

A MUSICAL REVUE

Show tunes, past and present, will echo today in the sanctuary of St.

Mark Presbyterian Church in Newport Beach. Ten singers will perform “A

Broadway Bouquet,” a professional music revue being held to benefit the

nondenominational St. Mark Community Health Alliance. The show is themed

around the various stages of a romantic relationship, from “The Longing”

to “The Happy Ending.”

FYI

Where: St. Mark Presbyterian Church, 2100 Mar Vista Drive, Newport

Beach

When: 3 and 7 p.m. today

Cost: Suggested donations are $20 per adult, $10 per child and a

maximum of $50 per family

Call: (949) 644-1341

PLANNING AHEAD

TOSHIBA GOLF CLASSIC

The annual Senior PGA golfing event starts at the Newport Beach

Country Club.

Monday, Feb. 26

ARTHUR -- A LIVE ADVENTURE

Lovable Arthur Read, a charming aardvark, and his sister, D.W., come

to the Orange County Performing Arts Center in this tale for all ages.

Tuesday, Feb. 27

NUMERICALLY SPEAKING

3: Number of books about plein-air painting available at the Newport

Beach Central Library.