ArtHere at last after several postponements, the...

Art

Here at last after several postponements, the John McLaughlin retrospective at the Laguna Art Museum is the first to investigate the seminal West Coast abstract artist’s serene paintings in the context of his entire career. Guest curated by American art historian Susan C. Larsen, the exhibition contains 50 canvases reflecting McLaughlin’s immersion in Japanese art and Zen Buddhism.

The artist, who died in 1976, spent the last 30 years of his life in Southern California. Considered the leading Old Master of California modernism, McLaughlin’s work imbues rectangular bands of color with a feeling of tensionless neutrality, invoking the meditative Eastern concept of the void.

* What: “John McLaughlin: Western Modernism/Eastern Thought.”

* When: Saturday through Oct. 6. Gallery hours: 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday.

* Where: Laguna Art Museum, 307 Cliff Drive, Laguna Beach.

* Whereabouts: Exit the San Diego (405) Freeway at Laguna Canyon Road (California 133); turn right onto South Coast Highway. Museum is one block north of Main Beach.

* Wherewithal: $5; seniors and students $4, children under 12 free.

* Where to call: (714) 494-8971.

Music

Beethoven’s Fifth Piano Concerto opens with the orchestra nobly asserting the E-flat major chord, upon which the soloist immediately spins out a rhapsodic arpeggio up and down the keyboard. No wonder someone--but not Beethoven--decided to label it the “Emperor” Concerto.

French-Canadian pianist Alain Lefevre will play the “Emperor” with the Pacific Symphony led by Carl St.Clair in the third outdoor concert of the season Saturday at Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre. The program also includes Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony.

* What: “Five-Star Beethoven,” a concert by the Pacific Symphony led by Carl St.Clair, with pianist Alain Lefevre.

* When: 8 p.m. Saturday.

* Where: Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre, 8800 Irvine Center Drive.

* Whereabouts: Exit the San Diego (405) Freeway at Irvine Center Drive; turn left if coming from the south, right if coming from the north.

* Wherewithal: $13-$51.

* Where to call: (714) 749-2000.

Kid Stuff

Scurvy dogs and their pups will commandeer the good ship Pilgrim this weekend, and every weekend through Aug. 10, in a new program hosted by the Orange County Marine Institute. The overnight sessions, open to kids ages 8 to 12 and their parents, include skulking about Dana Point harbor in rowboats, squaring off with a blackhearted cap’n and searching for hidden booty before participants drift off to pirate dreamland in the ship’s quarters.

Swashbuckling dress is encouraged; BYO eye patch.

* What: “Life on the Barbary Coast.”

* When: 4 p.m. Friday to 9 a.m. Saturday; also July 26-27 and Aug. 2-3 and 9-10.

* Where: On board the Pilgrim at the Orange County Marine Institute, 24200 Dana Point Harbor Drive, Dana Point.

* Whereabouts: Exit the San Diego (405) Freeway at Pacific Coast Highway; go west. Turn left onto Dana Point Harbor Drive.

* Wherewithal: $90 per parent-child pair. Reservations required (this weekend’s event is sold out).

* Where to call: (714) 296-2274.

Comedy

Tom Rhodes made his name with Comedy Central, covering Super Bowl XXVII, Dream Team II and doing promotional spots for the channel from jail cells. He also taped the one-hour special “Viva Vietnam: A White Trash Adventure Tour.” The title alone gives away Rhodes’ type of twisted observations and weird sense of humor. His antics haven’t gone unnoticed. He has just signed a deal with NBC; come autumn, Rhodes is scheduled to have his own series, “Mr. Rhodes.”

* Who: Tom Rhodes.

* When: 8:30 tonight, 8:30 and 10:30 p.m. Friday, 8 and 10:30 p.m. Saturday, 8 p.m. Sunday.

* Where: The Improv, 4255 Campus Drive, Irvine.

* Whereabouts: Exit the San Diego (405) Freeway at Jamboree Road; go south. Turn left onto Campus Drive. The club is in the Irvine Marketplace.

* Wherewithal: $8-$10.

* Where to call: (714) 854-5455.