September 16, 2022

Each week, Arts Orange County and Voice of OC are excited to deliver to you this look at the stories and events happening in our arts and cultural community.
♦ Marquee ♦

Kim's Convenience

Before it was a hit TV series, Ins Choy's story about a Korean-Canadian family and their struggles to pursue individual dreams while keeping their small store running was making audiences laugh on stages all over North America, and the Laguna Playhouse is putting it back where it originated MORE

♦ Visual Arts ♦

New Documentary Critical of Disney, Created by a Disney Heiress

Contrary to popular belief, Disneyland is not the happiest place on Earth, particularly for many of its workers.


In fact, a significant number of Disneyland Resort workers toil at poverty-level wages, can’t afford to buy a house or pay rent for an apartment, need to survive on food assistance and can’t afford health insurance. Many attest to having slept in their vehicles to get by, even while working fulltime.


All of this is captured in a new documentary, “The American Dream and Other Fairy Tales,” which is co-directed, co-written and co-produced by Abigail Disney, grand-niece of the late, great Walt Disney, and granddaughter of Roy O. Disney, co-founder of Disney Studios and the company’s first CEO. She’s also the daughter of Roy E. Disney, a senior executive for the Walt Disney Company and latter-day critic who died in 2009 at Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach.

♦ In Case You Missed It ♦

O.C. Performing Arts Groups Look for New Normal

Welcome to the Age of Anxiety — a confusing time when the performing arts in America, along with many other aspects of life, face a host of perplexing questions that don’t have easy answers:


-- Are we entering a recession, or do the robust job numbers mean we’re heading for a soft landing?

-- Is the pandemic over, or not?

-- Will inflation make tickets too expensive and chip away at disposable incomes?

-- Will the climate continue its increasingly dramatic journey to strange new extremes?

-- How will the earthshaking social changes of the last few years — the #MeToo Movement, Black Lives Matter, increasing political partisanship — alter programming choices, personnel decisions, and the fundamental power structure of cultural institutions?


As the 2022-23 season begins, these questions will play a role in what we see and where we see it.

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. We always suggest you be mindful of the most recent health and safety guidelines in California, Orange County, and the venue for the listing.
♦ Local Spotlight ♦

Plan 9 from Outer Space

One of Maverick Theater's beloved annual revivals is this live send-up of the notorious "Worst Movie Ever Made" - Ed Wood's 1957 sci-fi cheapie about aliens attempting to conquer Earth using zombies MORE

♦ Wallet Friendly ♦

Richard Turner - No Ideas but in Things

The veteran sculpture has assembled pieces dating back as far as the 1960's at Chapman University's Guggenheim Gallery to explore a non-chronological interplay between the evolutionary stages of one artist's life's work MORE

♦ For the Family ♦

National Dance Day at Segerstrom

A day-long celebration of the joy and diversity of dancing, including live performances and lessons good for any experience level, unfolds on Segerstrom Center's outdoor Argyros Plaza and is free with reserved tickets MORE

♦ Wildcard ♦

Lido Village Books Celebrates Banned Books Week

The opening of a new location for Lido Village Books coincides with the annual event honored by booksellers and libraries since 1982 which celebrates the freedom to write and publish ideas that challenge the status quo MORE

 

"In these uncertain times, some arts organizations stay in place, while others move ahead and demonstrate their importance. Arts Orange County has truly risen to the challenges presented by COVID-19, by equipping local organizations with funding and educational resources"

- Jerry Mandel, Ph.D., President,

Irvine Barclay Theatre 

Make a Gift to Support ArtsOC's Mission
Voice of OC is Orange County's nonprofit newsroom with a mission to consistently deliver fair, focused and thorough journalism on critical quality of life and local issues for Orange County communities.
Arts Orange County builds appreciation of, participation in and support for the arts and arts education throughout Orange County. Event information provided by SparkOC, an Arts OC program.