Best Bets Orange County HERE AND NEAR

TODAY

all day

Boat Show

When the economy booms, so do boat sales, which is why organizers are expecting a big turnout this weekend at the Newport In-Water Boat Show at the Newport Dunes Resort. Boat enthusiasts will be able to tour an armada of 1999 model motor-yachts, “trailerable” cruisers, sport boats and sleek fishing machines at the 26th annual show, which includes vessels from Carver, Chaparral, Sport Nautique, Johnson Marine, Orca, Crown Line, Zodiac, and more than 10 other leading manufacturers, as well as an assortment of quality used vessels for sale. In addition, shoppers can choose from a wide array of boating products and services. And, of course, loan experts will be on hand to assist in financing the boat of your dreams.

* Newport In-Water Boat Show, Newport Dunes Resort and Marina, 1131 Back Bay Drive, Newport Beach. Continues 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Friday; 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Saturday; 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday. $8. Children under 12 free. (949) 757-5959.

TODAY

8pm

Theater

The breaking down of stereotypes is the business of playwright Josefina Lopez in her comedic examination of nine women in “Confessions of Women From East L.A.” Lopez investigates a group of Latinas in an attempt to shatter images of them as, according to the playwright, “virgins, mothers and whores.” Her work, instead, gives Latinas an opportunity to play characters of dignity, strength, courage and humor. This production is directed by Santa Ana College theater department Chair Sheryl Donchey.

* “Confessions of Women from East L.A.,” Phillips Hall Little Theatre West, Santa Ana College, 1530 W. 17th St., Santa Ana. Also Friday Saturday and May 14 and 15 at 8 p.m.; May 16 at 2:30 p.m. $6-$8. (714) 564-5661.

TODAY

8pm

Theater

The dissolution of the Soviet Union, and its devastating effect on Cubans, particularly traumatizes a radical writer and her sister, being held under house arrest, in Nilo Cruz’s provocative drama “Two Sisters and a Piano.” Their danger is magnified when a guard tries to trade letters from the writer’s absent husband for her favors. Loretta Greco directs the steamy proceedings in her SCR debut, which features Adriana Savan and Jill Remez as the sisters in this West Coast premiere.

* “Two Sisters and a Piano,” South Coast Repertory, 655 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. Tuesdays-Fridays, 8 p.m.; Saturdays, 2:30 and 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2:30 & 7:30 p.m. Ends May 30. $18-$43. (714) 708-5555.

FRIDAY

all day

Movies

Sean Connery stars in “Entrapment” as Robert MacDougal, a dapper and elusive jewel and art thief who is planning the ultimate heist on the eve of the millennium no less. Sultry Welsh-born actress Catherine Zeta-Jones plays an insurance investigator who goes undercover as a master thief in order to catch the legendary MacDougal.

* “Entrapment,” rated PG-13 for some language, sensuality, violence and drug content. Opens Friday in general release.

FRIDAY

7-11pm

Family

“A Night in Fullerton” is a good time for your kids to hit the streets, and you may just want to tag along.

The 35th annual festival features free children’s activities, music, art, dance and drama performed at a dozen venues around the city. Free shuttle service is provided between the attractions, which range from a “Beakman’s World on Tour” science exhibit to Dixieland music and classical dance.

* “A Night in Fullerton.” Schedules and maps available on event night at the Fullerton Museum Center, 301 N. Pomona Ave., Fullerton. (714) 738-6575.

SATURDAY

10am-4pm

For Children

Go, go Power Rangers . . . to Cerritos! Young fans can bop, bounce and slide through an inflatable universe in the Power Rangers Intergalactic Encounter. Billed as the largest inflatable of its kind in the world, the 5,000-square-foot structure includes a maze and loads of air-filled obstacles, pumped up further with black light, music and strobe effects. Kids 4 years and under must be accompanied by an adult. Saturday only from 1 to 2 p.m., the cast of Fox TV’s new “Power Rangers Lost Galaxy” will sign autographs.

* Power Rangers Intergalactic Encounter, Wal-Mart parking lot, 12701 Towne Center Drive, Cerritos. Also Sunday. Free. (310) 235-5434.

SATURDAY

11am-7pm

Family

Don’t know van Gogh from Gaugin? No matter. Gogh van Orange can expand your appreciation of the arts. The fifth annual fair features exhibits--and in some cases, demonstrations--by 45 fine artists from across the Southland. Young dabblers can enjoy hands-on art activities, and there are more than 3,000 pieces of children’s art on view. Live jazz and swing music on Saturday capped off by a Saturday Night Swing Party; the blues rule on Sunday, featuring Arthur Adams from noon to 2:30 p.m.

* Gogh van Orange Art & Music Festival, Stadium Promenade, 1623 W. Katella Ave., Orange. Also Sunday. Free. Saturday Night Swing Party tickets are $10. (714) 538-3581.

SATURDAY

8pm

Pop Music

A local independent label, Superkool Records, has put together a two-disc CD compilation to capture the scope and impact of Orange County’s alternative rock movement going back to its beginnings, but with a focus on today’s scene. The Crowd, the acknowledged originators of the Huntington Beach punk rock scene back in 1978, are fitting headliners for the first of two release parties for the album, “O.C.’s 5400 Day Revolution.” A companion documentary film is due for late-summer release.

* The Crowd, Doom Kounty Electric Chair, Cal Channel and Neil Armstrong Band, Club Mesa, 843 W. 19th St., Costa Mesa. $6. (949) 642-8448.

SUNDAY

4pm

Music

Early music, as performed by the four women of Anonymous 4 and the six men of Lionheart, comes to UCLA and UCI in a program including music of Johannes Ockeghem (1410-1497). Separately and together, the two touring groups re-create the music of the 15th century.

* Anonymous 4 and Lionheart, Royce Hall at UCLA, 4 p.m. $9-$30. (310) 825-2101. The two troupes also perform together at the Irvine Barclay Theatre, Monday at 8 p.m. $25-$30. (949) 854-4646.

SUNDAY

3pm

Music

Marika Frankl’s Harmonia Baroque Players will close their three-concert season Sunday in Newport Beach with a varied program of early music by Sanz, Lassus, Sweelinck, Buxtahude and other composers. Guest soprano Maurita Phillips-Thornburgh will also sing four songs with lute accompaniment by Dowland. The chamber group was formed in 1984 to perform music written for small ensembles during the 17th and early 18th centuries.

* The Harmonia Baroque Players will play a “Musical Banquet” program at Newport Harbor Lutheran Church, 798 Dover Drive, Newport Beach. 3 p.m. Sunday. $12. Seniors and students: $10. (714) 970-8545.

SUNDAY

4:30pm

Music

Mozart was only 17 when he wrote his Concertone for Two Violins, K. 190. Of course, most composers could work their whole lives without achieving the grace and melodic interest the adolescent Mozart did in this piece, a hybrid between a symphony and a concerto. Olivia Tsui and Irina Voloshina, members of the Mozart Classical Orchestra, will play under the direction of conductor Ami Porat. The Mozart program also will include the Overture to “Il Re Pastore” and Symphony No. 30, K. 202. All three works were composed within a 14-month period.

* The Mozart Classical Orchestra will play a Mozart program at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, 600 St. Andrews Road, Newport Beach. 4:30 p.m. Sunday. $23 to $29. (949) 830-2950.

SUNDAY

8pm

Pop Music

Ozomatli, the L.A. band that merges Latin rhythms, rapping, and a New Orleans parade-band sensibility, returns to show why it named itself after the Aztec god of dance.

* Ozomatli, Wozani, Slow Rider. Galaxy Concert Theatre, 3503 S. Harbor Blvd., Santa Ana. $15-$17. (714) 957-0600.

MONDAY

Noon

Retro TV

The 1977-78 TV season has been called “the season of sex.” A big part of the reason was the comedy “Soap.” Even before its premiere episode--which launches another run on Comedy Central--ABC got tens of thousands of letters in protest. Advertisers were urged to boycott the series, about the humorously dysfunctional families of sisters Jessica Tate (Katherine Helmond) and Mary Campbell (Cathryn Damon). Some affiliates were picketed; some refused to air it. But the show went on . . . and on, until 1981. In the premiere, there’s much to amuse and offend: promiscuity, infidelity, impotence, lots of insanity and a food fight.

* “Soap” premiere, Comedy Central. Noon.

TUESDAY

Midnight

Retro TV

He’s a doctor who practices in Miami, and he’s a neighbor of Blanche, Sophia, Dorothy and Rose. But in this “Empty Nest” episode of “The Golden Girls,” which was the pilot for the spinoff, the doctor isn’t widower Harry Weston. He’s George Corliss (Paul Dooley), and he’s still got a wife (Rita Moreno). That 1987 pilot eventually turned into the series that premiered in 1988 and starred Richard Mulligan, Dinah Manoff and Kristy McNichol. One thing the pilot and series have in common is David Leisure, who plays Oliver in that “Golden Girls” episode and Charley Dietz in the “Empty Nest” series.

* “Empty Nest” pilot on “The Golden Girls,” Lifetime channel. Midnight.