Best Bets Orange County HERE AND NEAR

TODAY

8pm

Music

A Juilliard School classmate of Panayis Lyras once counted all the notes the pianist has to play in Rachmaninoff’s Third Concerto. The total, he said, was more than 28,000, beating the competition--either one of the knuckle-busting Brahms concertos--by several thousand. Lyras will play all the notes with the Pacific Symphony led by Carl St.Clair. The program also includes music by Mozart and Strauss.

* Panayis Lyras will play Rachmaninoff’s Third Piano Concerto with the Pacific Symphony led by Carl St.Clair at the Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. 8 p.m. today. $17 to $48; $10, student and senior rush tickets. (714) 556-2787.

TODAY

8pm

Dance

Founded in 1981 by Moses Pendleton, Momix is a company that “refuses to be categorized,” says Pendleton. Even so, what we know for sure about it is that the troupe combines dance, theater, gymnastics, vaudeville, slapstick and who knows what else in freewheeling but often deeply meaningful movement vignettes. This program will range from some of its classic pieces to more recently conceived works.

* Momix will perform a varied program of playful and imaginative works by Moses Pendleton and other choreographers at the Irvine Barclay Theatre, 4242 Campus Drive, Irvine. 8 p.m. Performances continue 8 p.m. Friday, and 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturday. $22 and $25. ($11 and $12.50 for children at the 2 p.m. Saturday performance.) (949) 854-4646.

TODAY

8pm

Theater

Legendary playwright Bertolt Brecht was forced out of Nazi Germany but never stopped trying to inform the world about its horrors. One of his attempts was “The Irresistible Rise of Arturo Ui,” set in pre-World War II Chicago and detailing the professional advance of a minor thug in the green grocery protection racket to become the kingpin of Chicago’s mob world. Brecht’s rarely produced gangster allegory--equating Capone with Hitler--is as bitterly powerful today as it was when first staged.

“The Irresistible Rise of Arturo Ui,” Studio Theatre, UC Irvine. 8 p.m. Also Friday; Saturday, 2 and 8 p.m.; Sunday, 2 p.m. Ends Sunday. $6-$8. (949) 824-2787.

TODAY

8pm

Theater

Subtitled “A Conversation With Carol Where the Audience Asks the Questions,” this popular evening with television legend Carol Burnett finds fans guiding the program, just as they did in the free-form question-and-answer segment of her long-running TV series. The show is never the same; it’s a close-up view of Burnett as a modern day “hostess with the mostest,” singing the songs the audience wants to hear, telling tales to satisfy their curiosity, in an intimate moment with this prize-winning personality.

“Laughter and Reflection With Carol Burnett,” Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts, 12700 Center Court Drive, Cerritos. $37-$47. (800) 300-4345 or (562) 916-8500.

TODAY

8:30am-6:30pm

Family

“The Dragon and His Tail” is the artistic creation of Staff Sgt. Sarkis E. Bartigan, a World War II motor-pool artist who used the fuselage of B-24s to create nose art for the 5th Air Force Liberators. Nose art was used as a talisman for a safe return; “The Dragon,” which runs the length of the 65-foot, 45,000-pound plane, is considered one of the best examples. (B-24 Liberators, known as the workhorses of World War II, dropped more bombs and flew more combat missions than any other aircraft.) Tours of that B-24 bomber will be available along with the the 8th Air Force’s B-17 Nine-O-Nine (which completed 140 missions without an abort or loss of a crewman).

* Tours of a B-17 and a B-24, Sunrise Jet Center, John Wayne Airport, Dove Street and Campus Drive, Costa Mesa. 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Also Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Free to view the airplanes; tours: $7 for adults, $3 for children. For information on flights, call (904) 451-9508.

TODAY 8pm

Pop Music

Meshell Ndegeocello isn’t easy to peg with her kicking R&B; grooves, jazz influences, hot work on electric bass and songs that cover the sociopolitical as well as the personal. Fans may get an earful of her upcoming third album, “Bitter,” which is due in late August. Ndegeocello’s busy summer ahead also includes a dozen shows as leadoff main-stage artist on the East Coast leg of Lilith Fair.

* Meshell Ndegeocello, with Dakota Moon and Nola’s Yard, Galaxy Concert Theatre, 3503 S. Harbor Blvd., Santa Ana. $20-$22. (714) 957-0600.

TODAY

11am-5pm

Last Chance

The Orange County Museum of Art will close the doors Sunday on its “1999 Biennial,” an exhibition by 10 emerging artists from California whose works celebrate color and space. The show, curated by Bruce Guenther, explores the realm and function and form while emphasizing both formal and personal issues. It includes paintings, constructions, mixed-media works and sculpture by Kim Anno, Kevin Appel, Ingrid Calame, Steven Criqui, Jacci Den Hartog, Michelle Fierro, Jeremy Kidd, Laurie Reid, Tim Rogeberg and Kathryn Spence.

* “1999 Biennial,” Orange County Museum of Art, 850 San Clemente Drive, Newport Beach. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Daily through Sunday. $4-$5. Children younger than 16 free. (949) 759-1122.

SATURDAY

12:15pm

Last Chance

The Children’s Theater Work shop and Paper Bag Players production of “The Pied Piper” closes Sunday at Rancho Canada School in Lake Forest. In the Shubert Frendrich and Patrick Rainville adaptation, a vagabond casts a musical spell on the children of a small village after the town fathers refuse to pay him for ridding their community of rats. Youngsters are encouraged to bring their lunches and arrive 45 minutes early to eat and mingle with the cast as they prepare for the show.

* “The Pied Piper,” Rancho Canada School, 1801 Winding Way, Lake Forest. Also Sunday. $6. (949) 581-5402.

SATURDAY

10a.m.-5p.m.

Flower Show

Mom’s no hothouse flower, but she is a rare bloom indeed, so instead of a bouquet, why not give her a sea of blossoms? Oceans of Orchids Mother’s Day Show and Sale, sponsored by the Newport Harbor Orchid Society and Triangle Square, will feature displays and sales of the brilliant tropical plants and information on their care and feeding, as well as repotting classes.

* Oceans of Orchids Mother’s Day Show and Sale. Also Sunday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Triangle Square, Harbor and Newport boulevards, Costa Mesa. Free admission and parking. (949) 640-2340.

SATURDAY

10a.m.-4p.m.

Family

The Orange County Council of the Boy Scouts of America sets up camp at Mile Square Park for Scout-O-Rama, a home-grown carnival with more than 400 fun activities for all ages. For just $3 a family can play all day at such activities as rock climbing, canoeing, archery, knot tying, Dutch oven cooking, pellet gun shooting, panning for “gold,” catch and release fishing, push-cart racing, tomahawk throwing, and stilt-walking, to name a few. In addition, there will be hundreds of hands-on crafts, games of skill and just plain goofy games (giant sling-shots anyone?). Local police, firefighters and Explorer Posts will give demonstrations and show off their vehicles and equipment.

* Scout-O-Rama, Mile Square Park, Edinger Avenue and Ward Street, Fountain Valley. $3 per family. $4 for parking. (714) 546-4990.

SATURDAY

6:45p.m.

Pop Music

Snide, silly, satirical punk rock from the Vandals and rumbling rap and reggae grooves from the Long Beach Dub All Stars (featuring the Sublime rhythm section, Bud Gaugh and Eric Wilson) will top the bill at Chapman University’s eighth annual Noise for the Needy concert. Proceeds go to Children’s Hospital of Orange County and Mary’s Kitchen, a meals for the homeless project.

* Long Beach Dub All Stars, the Vandals, Slightly Stoopid,Spike 1000 and Medusa. Hutton Center, Chapman University, Glassell St. and Walnut Ave., Orange. $15-$18. (714) 744-7038.

SATURDAY

10:30a.m. and 2p.m.

High Tea

Psst. Lady Emily, a lady-in-waiting to the queen, knows all the court gossip. Dressed in their turn-of-the-century finery, the ladies of the Victorian Tea Society will celebrate the birthday of Queen Victoria with a high tea and lecture in the fitting setting of an 1898 Victorian home. “Mourning Practices and Things Victorian,” by noted authority Glenda Jackson, covers the life and times of the influential English queen; Jackson also portrays Lady Emily.

* High tea, Kellogg House, Discovery Museum of Orange County, 3101 W. Harvard St., Santa Ana, 10:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. Reservations required. $17.50. (714) 540-0404.

SUNDAY

6:30am

Retro TV

Britain’s classic 1974 series “The World at War” is still considered the best of TV’s war documentaries. Interviews and insights come from highly placed aides and secretaries, but it’s Laurence Olivier’s narration, Carl Davis’ haunting opening score and the 60-year-old black and white footage that stays with you. “A New Germany,” the first of 26 installments, will be shown Sunday on the History Channel, and the series continues weekly. You’ll have to put up with commercials, but think of the $500 you’re saving by not buying the video set.

* “The World at War,” the History Channel. 6:30 a.m.

SUNDAY

8pm

Pop Music

The last time Mexican superstar Juan Gabriel performed in the area it was at a rodeo, with a raucous banda ensemble. Now the top-selling Latin pop star of all time is back, for a Mother’s Day performance at the Anaheim Convention Center. Expect lush orchestrations of Gabriel’s most beloved ballads, fabulous costume changes and an overall loving performance from the one-time orphan who has said he long ago forgave his own mother for abandoning him.

* Juan Gabriel, Anaheim Convention Center, 800 W. Katella Ave., Anaheim. 8 p.m. $50-$75. (714) 765-8950.