Around Town: Concert series brings the Damned, Seal and Rick Springfield to OC Fair & Event Center

The Damned, Seal and Rick Springfield will perform on Saturday, July 10 and July 11, respectively, as part of the Toyota Summer Concert Series in the Pacific Amphitheatre at the OC Fair & Event Center.

The Damned will perform with X and Reverend Horton Heat at 6:30 p.m. Tickets range from $27.50 to $60.

Seal will perform with Rennie Adams at 7:30 p.m. Tickets range from $40 to $80.

Springfield will perform with the Pacific Symphony at 8:15 p.m. Tickets range from $30 to $65.

For more information, visit bit.ly/2xotxux. The Fair & Event Center is at 88 Fair Drive in Costa Mesa.

Newport’s American Legion post to help kids celebrate Fourth of July

American Legion Post 291 of Newport Beach will partner with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, the Make-A-Wish Foundation and Electra Cruises to give young people with serious illnesses a cruise, breakfast and party for the Fourth of July.

About 200 children and family members will take a cruise around Newport Harbor on Thursday morning, escorted by the Sheriff’s Department Harbor Patrol. Then they’ll dock at the American Legion post for a pancake breakfast before reboarding their boat for a party with music, face painting and dancing.

Undersheriff Bob Peterson will present a $10,000 donation from the Michael Sweig Foundation to Make-A-Wish.

‘Mamma Mia!’ opens at Laguna Playhouse

Dancing queens of all ages are invited to Friday’s opening night of “Mamma Mia!” at the Laguna Playhouse.

The musical, featuring songs by ABBA, follows a young bride-to-be trying to determine who her father is from among three of her mother’s former lovers. The story takes place days before her wedding against the backdrop of Greek islands.

The Playhouse’s summer season runs through Aug. 4. For more information, visit bit.ly/2xqEsUp.

Holiday celebration coming to Huntington Beach on Saturday

SeaLegs at the Beach in Huntington Beach will host an Independence Day celebration with music, food and drinks on Saturday.

The event, featuring a performance by the rock band Tijuana Dogs, will run from 2 to 5 p.m. at 17851 Pacific Coast Hwy.

For more information, visit bit.ly/2XmS824.

Laguna Beach art walk will feature dozens of galleries and live entertainment

An art walk will be held from noon to 9 p.m. Saturday across Laguna Beach.

Attendees can visit the dozens of participating galleries and enjoy artist demonstrations and live entertainment.

For more information, visit bit.ly/2Ypq7Dw.

Country music cover band to perform in Newport Beach

Smith, a country music cover band, will perform Sunday in Newport Beach as part of the city’s Concert on the Green series.

The group, which plays hits from artists like Maren Morris and Miranda Lambert, will perform from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Newport Beach Civic Center, 100 Civic Center Drive.

For more information, visit bit.ly/2xsumm0.

Newport Beach photo exhibit to feature images of post-earthquake Haiti

The Newport Beach City Arts Commission will present an exhibit Monday of photographer Ed Olen’s work capturing life in Haiti following a 2010 earthquake.

Olen has traveled to Haiti on annual mission trips with the Heart of Hollywood Foundation. In particular, he’s focused on the village of Sobier, which was devastated by the earthquake, and taken photographs of daily life during his visits.

The exhibit will be open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. at the Newport Beach Central Library gallery, 1000 Avocado Ave.

For more information, visit bit.ly/2KXMrkC.

Huntington Beach arts academy to host summer dance classes for high school students

The Huntington Beach Academy for the Performing Arts will present a summer dance class for high school students on weekdays from Monday to July 19 at 1905 Main St.

APA Summer Dance will allow students to learn modern, house, hip-hop, jazz, ballet, tap and musical theater dance from a variety of professionals. Students also will be able to rehearse with two professional choreographers.

There will be seminars in the business of dance for students to learn how to market themselves and build an online presence.

Each class will run from 1 to 7 p.m. The program costs $500.

For more information, visit bit.ly/2NCMG70.

Laguna Beach High jazz musicians pay a visit to Boys & Girls Club

Laguna Beach Live brought a group of musicians from the Laguna Beach High School jazz band to the Boys & Girls Club of Laguna Beach last week to give children a chance to experience the feel and sound of instruments such as violins, clarinets and saxophones.

The four musicians demonstrated their instruments and talked about being in a band.

The “Instrument Petting Zoo” is one of the free programs Laguna Beach Live presents at the Boys & Girls Club with help from a $3,000 grant from the Festival of Arts Foundation.

Laguna Beach Live is a nonprofit that presents more than 30 local concerts annually, as well as music education and outreach programs to the Boys & Girls Club, Laguna public schools and the Community and Susi Q Center.

UC Irvine Anti-Cancer Challenge raises $620,000 for research

UC Irvine’s third annual Anti-Cancer Challenge raised $620,000 for cancer research.

More than 2,800 people took part in the fundraiser, biking 14, 35, 60 and 100 miles and running or walking a 5K and 10K.

Those who didn’t take part in the physical activities could attend a festival at the on-campus Aldrich Park, where they could access complimentary screenings for skin cancer and pediatric vision problems.

“We are grateful to the Orange County community for embracing the Anti-Cancer Challenge with more enthusiasm every year,” said Dr. Richard Van Etten, director of the Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center. “Each additional study or early phase clinical trial that people help to fund will reveal something new about cancer — improving our ability to diagnose, prevent or treat these devastating diseases.”

Laguna Beach High seniors are presented $1,000 scholarships

Laguna Beach Live recently gave $1,000 scholarships to two Laguna Beach High School students for essays they wrote about their love of music.

The recipients, Sydney Davison and Leonard Wallstein, have been playing music since they were young. Davison will be attending the University of Wisconsin and Wallstein will be taking a gap year before college.

Sunset Jazz at Newport returns for 10th year

The 10th year of Sunset Jazz at Newport will run every Wednesday night from July 10 to Sept. 18 at the Newport Beach Marriott Hotel & Spa, 900 Newport Center Drive.

General admission for individual concerts is $29. Performances start at 6 p.m.

The schedule is:

July 10: Jazz Cruise All-Stars

July 17: The Four Freshmen

July 24: Teka and Her Newbossa Quintet

July 31: Champian Fulton Trio

Aug. 7: Chuck Redd-Tom Scott Quintet

Aug. 14: John Pizzarelli Quartet

Aug. 21: Jackie Ryan

Aug. 28: Byron Stripling-Bobby Floyd Quartet

Sept. 4: Emmet Cohen Trio

Sept. 11: Barbara Morrison’s birthday celebration

Sept. 18: Tom Kubis Big Band

For more information, visit sunsetjazzatnewport.com.

Speak Up Newport event to focus on John Wayne Airport improvements

Future improvements to John Wayne Airport will be discussed at a Newport Beach community meeting beginning at 5:15 p.m. July 10 at the Civic Center Community Room, 100 Civic Center Drive.

Featured speakers include Tom Edwards, the city’s aviation consultant; Susan Dvorak, who represents residents against airport noise and pollution; and Joe Daichendt, who works for the county’s general aviation service provider, Airports Council International.

For more information, visit speakupnewport.com.

Fountain Valley’s free Concerts in the Park series begins July 11

Fountain Valley’s free Concerts in the Park series will begin July 11 with Lights Touring, a Journey cover band.

Each concert will run from 6 to 8 p.m. on the lawn at the Fountain Valley Recreation Center and Sports Park, 16400 Brookhurst St.

Other performances include Stone Soul on July 18, Hard Day’s Night on July 25 and The Garth Guy on Aug. 1.

Newport Beach Mayor Diane Dixon to provide update on city at public meeting

Newport Beach Mayor Diane Dixon will provide city updates during a Corona del Mar community meeting from 7:30 to 9 a.m. on July 11 at the Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club, 1601 Bayside Drive.

For more information on the free event, visit CdMChamber.com.

Traditional Eastern European concert coming to Laguna Art Museum

The Firebird Balalaika Quintet will perform traditional Russian, Ukrainian and Eastern European songs along with original compositions at 7 p.m. July 11 at the Laguna Art Museum, 307 Cliff Drive.

The quintet’s music will be accompanied by dancers.

The concert is part of “Live at the Museum,” a collaboration of Laguna Beach Live and the museum that is held the second Thursday of each month.

The program is free for museum members and $7 for non-members.

For more information, visit lagunabeachlive.org.

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