SPOTLIGHT

OPERA PACIFIC’S ‘DER ROSENKAVALIER’

Its plot is fantastically complicated. Its music is fantastically

beautiful. And for Opera Pacific, it is a first -- its first Richard

Strauss opera.

The Orange County-based opera company will present “Der Rosenkavalier”

on Tuesday through April 8 at the Orange County Performing Arts Center.

Strauss, no relation to Josef or Johann Strauss, borrowed liberally

from the work of Moliere for his fifth opera.

The opera, which will star Helen Donath (shown above with director Jay

Lesenger) alternating with New York City Opera star Elizabeth Holleque,

centers around a middle-aged German woman of the 1700s -- the

Marschallin.

She and her much younger lover Octavian are carried through a comedic

story rife with elements of disguise and intrigue.

FYI

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

Costa Mesa

When: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and 2 p.m.

April 8

Cost: $29-$107

Contact: (714) 740-7878

National library week gets local celebration

From Newport Beach City Manager Homer Bludau reading “Flappy Waggy

Wiggly” to Mayor Gary Adams reading “Duck in Truck,” the Newport Beach

Central Library will feature a series of public officials at their

various storytimes in honor of National Library Week. Other events

include an appearance by magician Jeff Martin and an American Girls tea.

So go to the library and check it out. Who knows, amid all the fun, you

may even find a book to read.

FYI

What: National Library Week events

Where: Newport Beach Central Library, 1000 Avocado Ave., Newport Beach

When: Various times

Cost: Free

Contact: (949) 717-3801

PLANNING AHEAD

DIONNE WARWICK AND THE POPS

The woman who says a little prayer for us the moment she wakes up will

sing with the Pacific Symphony Pops at The Center.

Friday, April 13

FOSSE

Celebrate the legacy of choreographer extraordinaire Bob Fosse when

“Fosse” comes to The Center.

Wednesday, April 18

NUMERICALLY SPEAKING

118: The number of short films that will be shown over the course of

the Newport Beach Film Festival, which ends Thursday.