BEST BETS Friday 9/22

BREA

8pm

Theater

Three Texas teenagers grow to young adulthood during the 1960s and ‘70s and see their friendship fray with time in “Vanities,” one of the longest-running shows in off-Broadway history. Heather Tom, a two-time Emmy winner as Victoria on the soap opera “The Young and the Restless,” is featured as the free spirit of the three. The play by Jack Heifner takes its name from a staging device: The characters all are seen periodically making themselves up at their vanities to reflect the passage of time.

* “Vanities” by Jack Heifner at the Curtis Theatre, 1 Civic Center Circle, Brea. Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 2 p.m. $17-$27. (714) 990-7722.

ANAHEIM

8:30pm

Pop Music

As nice as it was to see South Coast Repertory’s loving treatment of a couple dozen of Randy Newman’s songs in its season-launching world-premiere musical “The Education of Randy Newman,” there’s still no substitute for listening to those songs from the twisted lips of their twisted creator, who visits Anaheim on Friday.

* Randy Newman, Sun Theatre, 2200 E. Katella Ave., Anaheim. 8:30 p.m. $35 and $42.50. (714) 712-2700.

NEWPORT BEACH

6:30pm

Film

James Cagney was quoted as saying the key to acting was to “never relax,” and he was rarely less placid than in Raoul Walsh’s 1949 gangster classic “White Heat.” Cagney stars as a hoodlum who escapes from prison and leads his gang in a plant robbery, all the while tracked by an undercover cop (Edmond O’Brien) and struggling with the influence of his domineering mother. Even people who haven’t seen this film are probably familiar with Cagney’s climactic line--”Made it, Ma! Top of the world!”--spoken in the face of an impending explosion.

* “White Heat” (1949), Orange County Museum of Art, 850 San Clemente Drive, Newport Beach. 6:30 p.m. $4-$6. (949) 759-1122, Ext. 204.

SANTA ANA

8pm

Pop Music

His famous granddaddy probably wouldn’t have known what hit him had he seen Hank Williams III’s barnstorming performance in July at the annual Hootenanny festival at Oak Canyon Ranch. But then, even the roots-rock aficionados on hand were caught by surprise at the blitzkrieg punk-country hybrid he bashed out, a sound vastly different from the equally rewarding stone country music on his 1999 debut album. He finally reaches Southern California this week on his long-delayed club tour.

* Hank Williams III, Galaxy Concert Theatre, 3503 S. Harbor Blvd., Santa Ana. With Hank Floyd, Silverfish. 8 p.m. $15 to $17. (714) 957-0600.