Briefly in Datebook

Center announces new concert season

The 2000-01 concert series at the Orange County Performing Arts Center

will include classical ensemble and vocal series with such artists as the

Vellinger and American string quartets and Denyce Graves.

The classical season begins Nov. 9 with the Vellinger String Quartet and

Christopher Parkening on Nov. 12. The Academy of Ancient Music and Andrew

Manze perform on Nov. 19, and the Rossetti String Quartet is set to

appear Nov. 30.

The series continues with Musica Angelica on Dec. 14, the American String

Quartet on Jan. 14 and Artemis Quartet on Feb. 2. Cellist Nina Kotova is

scheduled to perform Feb. 15, and Jordi Savall and Hesperion XX are set

to appear March 15.

The Assad Duo will perform a March 21 concert, with the Emerson String

Quartet closing the season April 19.

The vocal series has just two performances: Denyce Graves on Jan. 26 and

Kathleen Battle on Feb. 11.

All concerts will be performed in Founders Hall. The vocal performances

will be in Segerstrom Hall.

Subscriptions to both series are on sale: $185 to $245 for the classical

ensemble series and $59 to $110 for the vocal series. The Center is at

600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. For more information, call (714)

740-7878 or (714) 556-2787.

‘Beauty and the Beast’ tickets on sale

Tickets to the Tony Award-winning Broadway hit “Beauty and the Beast” at

the Orange County Performing Arts Center go on sale today. The musical

rolls into town for a two-week stay July 11 to 23.

The production is based on the Disney animated film.

Tickets can be purchased either at The Center’s box office at 600 Town

Center Drive, Costa Mesa, or through TicketMaster at (714) 740-7878.

SCR announces Pacific Playwrights Fest lineup

The lineup for South Coast Repertory’s third Annual Pacific Playwrights

Festival will include two workshop productions, seven staged readings and

performances of “The Education of Randy Newman,” which premieres in May.

The two-weekend festival, which runs June 15 to 18 and 22 to 25, also

incorporates the theater’s Hispanic Playwrights Project, of which three

plays were chosen for the festival.

The two workshop productions are “The End of it All” -- from the Hispanic

Playwrights Project -- by Cusi Cram and “Fighting Words” by Sunil

Kuruvilla. Other plays from the Hispanic Playwrights Project are

“Hortensia” and the “Museum of Dreams” by Nilo Cruz and “Vieques” by

Jorge Gonzalez.

The other five readings are “Kimberly Akimbo” by David Lindsay-Abaire,

“The Butterfly Collection” by Theresa Rebeck, “The Beard of Avon” by Amy

Freed, “Modern Orthodox” by Daniel Goldfarb and “Tom Walker” by John

Strand.

Tickets to the festival are $18 for workshop productions and $8 for

staged readings. South Coast Repertory is at 655 Town Center Drive, Costa

Mesa.

For more information, call (714) 708-5555.