Grab Bag of Fun for Big New Year

The year 2000 kicks off with ample opportunities for family-friendly arts appreciation and creative endeavors. Here’s a sampling of special events, performances and arts competitions for adults, teenagers and the lunch-box set:

He Should Have Stayed in Bed: When a kid awakes to find gum in his hair, cavities to be filled, no dessert in his lunch box and lima beans on the supper menu, it’s definitely going to be one of those days. Welcome to “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.” Judith Viorst’s comic stage adaptation of her ever-popular children’s book about a feisty little boy and his catastrophic day, with music by veteran stage and screen composer Shelly Markham, is being presented at Southland venues in January by Kennedy Center Imagination on Tour.

* “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day,” Irvine Barclay Theatre, UC Irvine, Cheng Hall, 4242 Campus Drive, Irvine, Jan. 7, 7:30 p.m., $9 to $12, (949) 854-4646; Haugh Performing Arts Center, Citrus College, 1000 W. Foothill Blvd., Glendora, Jan. 8, 1:30 and 3:30 p.m., $5, (626) 963-9411; Fred Kavli Theatre, Thousand Oaks Performing Arts Center, Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, 2100 Thousand Oaks Blvd., Jan. 12-13, noon, $10, (805) 388-4411; Smothers Theatre, Pepperdine University, 24255 Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu, Jan. 15, 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., $15, (310) 456-4522.

New Plays for Children’s Theatre Competition: Beverly Hills Theatre Guild is sponsoring a national contest to encourage aspiring and established playwrights to create new works for young audiences.

The competition offers cash prizes in two categories: The prize for Category I--plays suitable for grades six through eight--is $750; the prize for Category II plays--for grades three through five--is $250. Musicals are not eligible.

Playwrights may submit one entry in each category. The script may be original or an adaptation, and it may have had one nonprofessional or educational production. Submissions will be accepted between Jan. 15 and Feb. 29; entries postmarked before Jan. 15 will not be accepted. Winners will be announced in June.

* Children’s Play Competition: All submissions must be accompanied by the official entry forms, which may be obtained, along with competition rules and submission regulations, by sending a self-addressed, stamped envelope (size No. 10) to BHTG--Children’s Play Competition, 2815 N. Beachwood Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90068-1923.

Explore Your World: The Pacific Asia Museum’s first “Family Free Day” of the year 2000 will be a “Micronesian Adventure,” on Jan. 15. The celebration of the diverse peoples, rituals and arts of the lesser known island cultures of the Pacific, presented by the museum’s education department, will include traditional dances from the Marshall Islands, a video presentation, samples of island foods and children’s workshops in spiritual dagger-making and Tapuanu mask-making.

* ‘Micronesian Adventure,” Pacific Asia Museum, 46 N. Los Robles Ave., Pasadena. Jan. 15, 1 to 4 p.m. Free. (626) 449-2742.

Teenage Photographers, Check It Out: The Pacific Asia Museum is also hosting “Portraits of L.A.,” a student photography contest, open to any Los Angeles-area high schooler. Photographic works can include any aspects of daily life, culture, architecture, people or events in Los Angeles. Prizes include cameras, photography books, gift certificates, a day with a professional photographer and more.

Photos must be the work of the student entrant and should be 8 by 10 inches and mounted on 11-by-14-inch poster board or matted to 11 by 14 inches. Works will be judged on originality in interpreting the theme, the visual impact, quality and neatness of presentation, and may be submitted directly by the individual student or through classes, teachers, libraries or after-school programs as part of group assignments. The photos will be exhibited at the museum and at Borders Books & Music in Pasadena.

On the back of the entry, include the student’s name, home address, phone number with area code, grade and age, as well as school name, address and phone number.

* “Portraits of L.A.”: Entries must be postmarked no later than Feb. 12. Mail to Pacific Asia Museum/Education Department, 46 N. Los Robles Ave., Pasadena, CA 91101. (626) 449-2742, Ext. 31.

Countdown 2000: At Kidspace, children 6 and younger can ring in the year 2000 on Friday from 11 to noon with their own pint-sized “New Year’s Eve Kid’s Countdown,” with noisemakers, party hats and a sparkling juice toast.

Meanwhile, children and parents can express their hopes and dreams for the future by contributing to the “Kidspace Millennium Sculpture” today and Friday at Kidspace Museum in Pasadena. The result, titled, “My World in the Year 2000,” will be mounted on a three-sectional wall piece in the museum.

* “New Year’s Eve Kid’s Countdown,” Kidspace Museum, 390 S. El Molino Ave., Pasadena. Today, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Friday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. (626) 449-9144.