THREE-DAY FORECAST

MUSIC

Joshua Bell Leads Ensemble

The touring ensemble of the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, with Grammy-winning violinist Joshua Bell, plays two concertos -- one by Bach, in A minor, the other by Haydn, in C minor -- and Bell conducts Mahler’s arrangements of Schubert’s “Death and the Maiden” for quartet. This stop is one of 13 on the British ensemble’s current U.S. tour.

Joshua Bell and the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields. Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts, 12700 Center Court Drive, Cerritos. Thursday, 8 p.m. $55-$75. (800) 300-4345.

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MUSIC

Pops goes Broadway

A trio of Broadway veterans joins the Pacific Symphony Pops for an evening of songs by Rodgers and Hammerstein and Andrew Lloyd Webber. On board are Jodi Benson (the voice of Ariel in “The Little Mermaid”), Doug LaBrecque (“Phantom of the Opera”) and Ron Raines (“Showboat” and “Chicago,” plus daytime TV’s “Guiding Light”).

Pacific Symphony Pops, Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. Friday-Saturday, 8 p.m. $26-$80, $16 student and senior rush tickets. (714) 755-5799.

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STAGE

Trading places

It took a foursome of U.K. playwrights -- one each from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales -- to create “Sleeping Around,” in which twosomes do what twosomes will in each of the 12 scenes in a change-partners pattern set by Arthur Schnitzler in his century-old play, “La Ronde,” and repeated by David Hare in “The Blue Room.” Mark Ravenhill, Hilary Fannin, Stephen Greenhorn and Abi Morgan jointly crafted these glimpses of folks reaching for contact against a backdrop of deadening economic pressures and consumerist imperatives. Rude Guerrilla Theater Company, which triumphed last year with Ravenhill’s first play, “Shopping and ... ,” is giving the 1998 “Sleeping Around” its U.S. premiere. Nobody under 18 will be admitted.

“Sleeping Around,” Empire Theater, 200 N. Broadway, Santa Ana. Fridays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2:30 p.m. Also Dec. 12, 8 p.m. No performances Nov. 29-Dec. 1. Ends Dec. 15. (714) 547-4688.