BEST BETS 1/18

BREA

8:30 p.m.

Comedy

He’s been dubbed “The Freddy Krueger of Comedy.” No wonder. The Amazing Jonathan, a veteran comic magician, is known for pulling his arm out of its socket, cutting limbs to the bone, coughing up razor blades and juggling his eyeballs. A San Francisco street performer in the ‘70s, the Amazing Jonathan describes his bizarre, fast-paced show as “Benny Hill on crack.” As he told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: “It’s kind of a magic-gone-wrong type of show. I’m like an evil magician. There’s a lot of horror in the show, but it’s offset by the comedy.” Rolling Stone dubbed him “one of the top road comics working the circuit today.”

* The Amazing Jonathan, Brea Improv, 945 E. Birch St. 8:30 p.m. Also Friday, 8:30 and 10:30 p.m.; Saturday, 8 and 10:30 p.m. $15 to $17. (714) 529-5823.

NEWPORT BEACH

7 p.m.

Theater

Henrik Ibsen’s “Rosmersholm” is hardly ever produced, so this weekend’s series of free staged readings by Readers Repertory Theater could be a once-in-a-generation opportunity to hear actors deliver the 1886 text. This turbulent tragedy has clear relevance in contemporary America. Its tormented love story is set against culture wars between conservatives and progressives, tactics akin to what today’s Washington has labeled “search and destroy politics” and “the politics of personal destruction.” John Rosmer, the most respected man in his Norwegian district, is a minister whose shifting social and religious beliefs prompt him to break with the conservative faction that had considered him a bedrock member. The new love in his life, Rebekka West, has been pushing him toward modern, progressive views. They come under heavy fire from the opposition, putting their love and their moral fiber to the test.

* “Rosmersholm,” tonight, Newport Beach Library, 1000 Avocado Ave.; Friday at Mesa Verde Library, 2969 Mesa Verde Drive, Costa Mesa; Saturday at Mission Viejo Library, 25209 Marguerite Parkway; Sunday at Vanguard Theatre Ensemble, 699-A S. State College Blvd., Fullerton. Tonight-Saturday, 7 p.m.; Sunday, 1 p.m. Free. (949) 206-9674.

FULLERTON

8 p.m.

Theater

Like the Tom Hanks film “Philadelphia” and Tony Kushner’s Pulitzer Prize-winning epic drama “Angels in America,” Steven Dietz’s play “Lonely Planet” is an early-1990s work about life in the shadow of AIDS. Dietz’s two-character play is intimate and oblique, with no portrayal of symptoms or sickbeds, not even a mention of the words “AIDS” or “HIV.” Instead, we get a highly metaphoric play in which two friends try to cope with the fear and mortality surrounding them. Maps and empty chairs are the chief symbols. One character runs a map shop and is afraid ever to leave it. His strange, mercurial buddy tries to push him out of his shell and for some reason keeps bringing him chairs that come to clutter the store. The themes are developed through symbolic fantasies and dreams, with the serious thrust relieved by a contrasting current of humorous byplay.

* “Lonely Planet,” Vanguard Theatre Ensemble, 699-A State College Blvd., Fullerton. Preview tonight at 8. Regular shows begin Friday. Fridays and Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays 5 p.m. $13-$15. $5 student rush tickets available at show time. Through Feb. 17. (714) 526-8007.

IRVINE

8:30 p.m.

Comedy

Like many of his stand-up comedy peers, Bill Bellamy’s resume includes a growing list of acting roles. In Bellamy’s case, that includes playing the wide receiver in Oliver Stone’s “Any Given Sunday” and doing the voice of “Skeeter” in Nickelodeon’s action-comedy series “Cousin Skeeter.” But Bellamy keeps his comedy chops honed with regular stand-up appearances. The Newark, N.J.-born comic prefers to talk about his experiences onstage. “I just do what I know,” says Bellamy, whose road to show business began at Rutgers University, where he entered a male beauty pageant and won after showcasing his talent for comedy.

* Bill Bellamy, Irvine Improv, 71 Fortune Drive. 8:30 p.m. Also Friday, 8:30 and 10:30 p.m.; Saturday, 7, 9, 11 p.m.; Sunday, 7 p.m. $20. (949) 854-5455.

COSTA MESA

7:30 p.m.

Opera

Verdi’s “Macbeth” was the first of the three operas he set to texts by his beloved Shakespeare. Opera Pacific will cast Richard Paul Fink and Gordon Hawkins as alternates in the title role. Audrey Stottler and Cynthia Lawrence will take turns as Lady Macbeth. Andrew Richards will sing Macduff. Eric Owens will portray Banquo. Opera Pacific artistic director John DeMain will conduct. Colin Graham will direct this 1992 production designed by Ramon Lopez for Teatro Municipal de Santiago, Chile.

* Verdi’s “Macbeth,” Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. 7:30 p.m. Also Friday and Saturday, 7:30 p.m.; Sunday, 2 p.m. $29 to $107. (714) 556-2787.