Best Bets Orange County HERE AND NEAR

TODAY 7:30 p.m. Theater

Commissioned by actress and California Sesquicentennial Commissioner Beulah Quo, “Heading East” is a musical that celebrates the 150-year history of Asian Americans in California, their trials and tribulations and their successes. This original production premiered last summer at Los Angeles’ David Henry Hwang Theatre under the auspices of East West Players. Written by Robert Lee and Leon Ko, the musical concerns a Chinese emigre seeking his fortune in California, and how other Asian immigrants challenge his vision of the New World. Each performance will be followed by a VIP reception with special guest hosts. Tonight’s host is Huell Howser (PBS’ “California’s Gold”), and Friday’s are “Joy Luck Club” actress Kieu Chinh and Olympic Gold Medalist Sammy Lee.

Irvine Barclay Theatre, 4242 Campus Drive, Irvine. Also 7:30 p.m. Friday. $20-$50. (949) 854-4646.

TODAY

8 p.m.

Music

Rich in melody and personal inspiration, Dvorak’s Concerto for Cello and Orchestra is an irresistible romantic work. Legendary Hungarian cellist Janos Starker will be the soloist with the Pacific Symphony led by Carl St.Clair. The program also will include Schubert’s “Unfinished” Symphony and Pacific composer-in-residence Richard Danielpour’s Concerto for Orchestra.

* Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. $17-$48. (714) 556-2787.

FRIDAY

8 p.m.

Pop Music

Here’s the he-and-she bill of the season, and we’re not talking about that Hole/Marilyn Manson pairing next weekend at the Pond. Jann Browne and Chris Gaffney are the king and queen of O.C. roots-and-country singing, songwriting and band-leading--artists who for years have played the game on the highest level without getting breaks commensurate with their merit. There should be lots of collaborative music-making--with honky-tonk traditionalist Patty Booker also on hand--and more magnificent, honest songs in one evening than mainstream country stations play in a year.

* Coach House, 33157 Camino Capistrano, San Juan Capistrano. $12.50-$14.50. (949) 496-8930.

FRIDAY

all day

Movies

How differently would “The Godfather” trilogy have turned out if the Corleones had sat down with a good family counselor? Well, maybe that’s pushing it too far, but in the new Harold Ramis comedy, “Analyze This,” Robert De Niro plays an anxiety-ridden mob boss who enlists the help of psychologist Billy Crystal. You try explaining the terms “boundary issues” and “dysfunctional family” to a Mafioso!

* “Analyze This,” which is rated R, opens Friday in general release.

FRIDAY

all day

Movies

The North American debut of the new British comedy “Lock, Stock and 2 Smoking Barrels” at this year’s Sundance Film Festival was a smash even if the film had previously been passed on by a slew of U.S. distributors, including indie stalwart Miramax. Gramercy (which is now owned by Polygram) is distributing the film, which Times film critic Kenneth Turan calls “whip-smart, deliciously complex entertainment about a quartet of young Londoners who get in over their heads with the local underworld.” The fresh young cast includes new faces Nick Moran, Jason Flemyng, Jason Statham and Dexter Fletcher, but look for Sting (whose wife, Trudie Styler, is one of the film’s executive producers) in a cameo.

* “Lock, Stock and 2 Smoking Barrels,” which is rated R, opens Friday at selected theaters.

SATURDAY

4 and 8 p.m.

Theater

One of the more outrageous playwrights of the end of the century, England’s Steven Berkoff, took time off from inspecting sociopolitical issues in 1986 to skewer an ultimately dysfunctional Jewish family in his wild free-for-all of a comedy “Kvetch.” Its world premiere at L.A.’s Odyssey Theatre ran for more than a year, and it has since been played all over the world. The L.A. Jewish Theatre is reviving the comedy in Long Beach, where we all just might see ourselves depicted somewhere in the madness onstage.

* Actors Playhouse, 1409 E. 4th St., Long Beach. 4 and 8 p.m. Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays. Ends April 11. $16. (562) 590-9396.

WHAT DAY

Music

Founded in 1959 by Neville Marriner, the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields originally was a small, conductorless string ensemble specializing in Baroque repertory. But its size and scope have increased. This program will include music by Purcell, Mozart, Bartok and Britten conducted by Kenneth Sillito, artistic director of the British ensemble. Sillito replaces Iona Brown, who is ill. The program is sponsored by the center.

* Segerstrom Hall, Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. $15-$60. (714) 556-2787.

SUNDAY

11 a.m.

Art talk

This morning’s version of “Good Morning, Laguna,” the Laguna Art Museum’s monthly lecture series, offers reminiscences from fabled portraitist Don Bachardy. Nearly 100 of his inimitable drawings and paintings of Los Angeles artists from the last four decades are at the museum through April 11.

* Laguna Art Museum, 307 Cliff Drive, Laguna Beach. Admission: $3 plus museum admission ($5 general, $4 students and seniors, free for children under 12).

SUNDAY

5 p.m.

Social Dance

Ogle top ballroom pros, dine, and do your own fox trot, tango or waltz. It’s all on the dance card at the Orange County chapter of the United States Amateur Ballroom Dancers Assn.’s second annual spring dinner-dance. “Puttin’ on the Ritz” features live dance music by Touch of Brass and a performance by such local ballroom stars as Peta Siddall and Josie Neglia.

* Sequoia Club, 300 Orangethorpe Ave., Buena Park. $35. (949) 499-6276.

SUNDAY

8 p.m.

Pop Music

Fold Zandura has a niche on the local music scene, playing an alluring brand of rock in which Beatles-conscious melody and spiritually tinged lyrics float in dense but warm currents of wafting guitars akin to the regal side of Smashing Pumpkins. Jump in and have a mind-bath.

* With Darlington, the Kreepdowns, Pitch Glass and Mayday. Chain Reaction, 1652 W. Lincoln Ave., Anaheim. $6. (714) 635-6067.

SUNDAY

1-4 p.m.

Food

After spending the morning at the Festival of Whales, stop by the Doubletree Hotel at the Dana Point Marina and satisfy that whale-size hunger. The Taste of Dana Point Harbor, a fund-raiser sponsored by Capistrano Unified School District Foundation, will feature samples from 10 harbor area eateries, including El Torito, Wind & Sea, Harpoon Henry’s, the Harbor Grill, Proud Mary’s, the Jolly Roger, The Brig, Coffee Importers and Beach Cities Pizza. In addition, there’s entertainment by area choruses and school groups, as well as face-painting clowns for the kids; all for the minnow-sized price of $5, which includes five tasting tickets. Additional tickets can be purchased for $1 each. Proceeds will be used for library enhancement projects, scholarship programs and grant incentives for teachers, among other educational programs.

* Doubletree Hotel at the Marina, 24933 Dana Point Harbor Drive, Dana Point. $5. (949) 496-1094.