Alley Cats to prowl Sunday at the park

The Alley Cats will perform doo-wop, classic rock, salsa and swing

Sunday to launch the Newport Beach City Arts Commission’s concerts in the

park season. The concert will be held from 5 to 6:30 p.m. in Mariner’s

Park, on Dover Drive at Irvine Avenue in Newport Beach.

The Alley Cats, which formed in 1987, have been featured performers at

Disneyland, Knott’s Berry Farm and Hersheypark in Pennsylvania.

White Room will continue the concert series with a performance July 28

at Mariners Park, followed by Brasil Brazil at Buffalo Hills Park on Aug.

25 and The Jumpin Joz Band on Sept. 22. Information: (949) 717-3870.

Cultural grants available in Newport

The deadline for applying for a Newport Beach Cultural Arts Grant is

quickly approaching. The Newport Beach Arts Commission will be accepting

applications through May 24.

Arts organizations offering cultural programs for Newport Beach

residents or visitors are encouraged to apply for the grants, which must

be approved by the City Council. Applicants must have a budget, a plan to

serve the community and be able to document need and quantifiable

success. Information or application: (949) 717-3870.

UCI lecture to explore memory

Want to know more about how memory works? James L. McGaugh, director

of UC Irvine’s Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, will

give a free lecture titled “The Magic of Memory: Peeking Behind the

Brain’s Curtain” at 7:30 p.m. on May 22 at the Irvine Barclay Theatre.

The speech is part of the 8th annual Irvine Health Foundation

Distinguished Lecture Series.

McGaugh will share what researchers are learning about the cooperative

and competitive interactions among the many brain systems that play a

part in memory. New findings are pulling back the curtain of mystery and

revealing the systems that make and manage memory.

Doors open at 7 p.m. Parking is $5. The Irvine Barclay is at 4242

Campus Drive, Irvine. Information: (949) 824-4275, or www.cnlm.uci.edu