Reggae returns with encore
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Newport Beach’s concerts in the park will kick off Sunday with the return of a reggae band back by popular demand, according to organizers. Upstream will be the first in a series of five free acts performing in parks around the city throughout the summer.
The schedule includes the always well-attended Shakespeare by the Sea performances, which are changing venues this year to Bonita Canyon Park in order to accommodate the crowds the event drew last year.
The company, which will perform in 15 cities in Southern California this summer, will come to Newport Beach for one weekend to perform “Antony and Cleopatra” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”
Musical entertainment could hardly be more diverse, with samplings of classical, jazz and popular music.
Upstream, a five-man “island music” group from Trinidad and Tobago, played two years ago at a Newport Concert in the Park.
The band’s music features syncopated rhythms accompanied by soft, smooth guitar and keyboard harmonies with mellow vocals that lull listeners into relaxation. After moving from their tropical home, the band now lives in Southern California.
Orange County’s local opera company, Opera Pacific, will perform a pastiche of arias it calls “Opera Soup,” and the Joel Penner Sextet will bring its arrangements of jazz and big band classics later in the summer.
No tickets are necessary. For more information call the Cultural Arts Hotline at (949) 644-3211 or go to the city’s website www.city.newport-beach.ca.us.
Sunday — Upstream (reggae) at Bob Henry Park on Dover Drive at 6 p.m.
July 20 — Opera Pacific (opera) at Grant Howald Park in Corona del Mar at 6 p.m.
Aug. 17 — Joel Penner Sextet (jazz) at Eastbluff Park at 6 p.m.
Shakespeare by the Sea:
Aug. 2 — “Antony and Cleopatra,” at Bonita Canyon Sports Park at 6:30 p.m.
Aug. 3 — “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” at Bonita Canyon Sports Park, 6:30 p.m.
ALAN BLANK may be reached at (714) 966-4623 or at [email protected].
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