Each week, Arts Orange County and Culture OC deliver you this look at the stories and events happening in our arts and cultural community.

Concerts on the Green

Music is always in the air on Saturday afternoons at Laguna Beach's Festival of the Arts - this week the featured act is the Surf City Allstars MORE

To Sit or Not Sit at the Bar, That is the Question

Picture this: You just arrived at a restaurant without a reservation to dine and drink alone. The host extends immediate seating at the bar, but you decline for a proper table in the main dining room. Forty-five minutes pass and you give up and head elsewhere. How could this wait have been avoided or reduced besides making a reservation? By following the advice of the host and making yourself at home at the bar/lounge.

So why defend bartop dining?

Hallmark Movie Musical' is Supercharged with an Immersive Audience Experience

Some people don’t just want to watch a Hallmark movie on TV, crying, laughing and indulging in the emotions the characters wear on their sleeves.

They want to be part of that world, and maybe even stumble onto a new romance just as if it had been scripted especially for them.

For anyone who fits – or possibly fits – that definition, Irvine Theater Company’s upcoming production of “My (unauthorized) Hallmark Movie Musical” sounds like it’s exactly what the doctor ordered.

Actor and playwright Eloise Coopersmith created and wrote the show in 2022, drafting her pal, composer Roxanna Ward, to write original music for the show’s songs, with lyrics by Coopersmith.

The show has played in San Francisco, Los Angeles and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, directed by Anne Runolfsson. The Irvine staging is its Orange County premiere.

Festival of Tabla Takes Center Stage at Soka

The Aliso Viejo university is billing the event as ‘the largest gathering of Indian classical musicians on the West Coast’ and calling it ‘a cultural symphony.’

Each week, we recommend a variety of events and experiences from the listings at SparkOC.com, our free website for Orange County's arts and cultural community.

San Clemente Art Show

Once a month, you can shop for beautiful handmade pieces from local artists and craftspeople in the heart of downtown San Clemente MORE

Flamenco on The Plaza

No experience required during Tuesday Night Dance on the Argyros Plaza at Segerstrom Center for the Arts as visitors get the chance to try Flamenco steps under the guidance of award-winning instructor Claudia de la Cruz MORE

Who's Afraid of Classical Music?

A fast-paced, kid-friendly introduction to classical music styles from all over the world, free with admission to Casa Romantica MORE

Anaheim Blvd: Hood to Suburb

Santa Ana's Crear Studio presents a solo photography exhibit by Alkaid Ramirez that explores neighborhood changes wrought by development and gentrification MORE