Arts

Emmy Award-winning director Weide ("Curb Your Enthusiasm") was a huge film buff as a child and even worked in the Fullerton Public Library inspecting,...

The Segerstrom Center for the Arts recently announced that it was getting into the ballet-school business with American Ballet Theatre in a splashy, high-profile...

Everybody has a story to tell, and I love to listen. This past September, I had the privilege of premiering my play “The Long...

Sabrina Harper has performed at Segerstrom Hall before, and she remembers it fondly: The stage was “huge” and the auditorium was “enormous.”Harper, who grew...

Imagine downtown Garden Grove without cars. Now, imagine that you can casually stroll down the middle of the block, ride a bike, skateboard, or...

She now lives in Washington, D.C., but the just-published author is still a Californian at heart. Thorpe, 29, taps into the beachy vibe of her hometown of Corona del Mar in her first novel, the story of two “roaming and bratty girls.” The title? “The Girls From Corona del Mar” (Random House). Here are a few of her O.C. inspirations.

The renowned Natalia Osipova and Ivan Vasiliev return to the Segerstrom Center for the Arts this weekend on a center-commissioned program, “Solo for Two.” They will premiere a new piece by Ohad Naharin, the acclaimed Israeli choreographer at the helm of the Batsheva Dance Company in Tel Aviv. We caught up with Naharin just before he was to begin work with the couple on “Passo.” Their four performances will also include American premieres by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, of Belgian and Moroccan descent, and Portuguese dance-maker Arthur Pita.

This is a big week for Linda Emond, who will find out at Sunday night's Tony Awards if she wins for best actress in a featured role in a musical for her role as Fraulein Schneider in the acclaimed revival of “Cabaret.” The graduate of Loara High School and Cal State Fullerton is an increasingly sought after Broadway actress (“Death of a Salesman,” starring opposite the late Philip Seymour Hoffman); has had roles written for her by the likes of Tony Kushner and others; and is one of the storied cast members in Terrence Malick’s upcoming movie, slated for release this fall. She’s pictured here with fellow “Cabaret” cast members Danny Burstein (left) and Alan Cumming, and with Burstein (both photos by Joan Marcus). Look for her thoughts on what it was like growing up in Orange County in an upcoming issue.

That girl is coming to town. Actress-author Marlo Thomas and writer Ann Hood (“Comfort: A Journey Through Grief”) headline the eighth annual Literary Orange festival—Orange County’s April 5 celebration of authors and books. More than 30 local writers also will participate, with 15 panels scheduled about food writing, travel, fiction, memoir, mystery, nonfiction, crime, and more. Peggy Hesketh, who gave Orange Coast readers book recommendations in our November Hot Pop column (reprinted below!), will talk about “flowers, bees, words”—among other things—with Vanessa Diffenbaugh and Andrew Tonkovich.

Like many who watched the viral music video “Friday” in 2011, my reaction was a mix of shock, horror, and amusement. It was so hilariously bad that, years later, my husband and I sometimes ironically belt it to each other when Friday rolls around. (We we we so excited, you know?)