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

Eleanor

Laguna Playhouse brings to life the iconic First Lady and spouse of President Franklin Roosevelt in this solo show performed by Kandis Chappell MORE

One More for Old Times' Sake: Top Drink Experiences from 2024

One final 2024 "best of" list - Culture OC's food columnist Anne Marie Panoringan raises a glass to her favorite drink experiences last year. Plus, news from Chef Henry Pineda.

The Show Will Go On at Camino Real Playhouse

The team running the Camino Real Playhouse in San Juan Capistrano found out that they would have to move in 2022. They have been looking for a new home ever since and finally, they've found one – just in time.

In 2017, the building that has been the home of the Playhouse since the early 1990s was purchased by Dan Almquist with Frontier Real Estate Investments. They have allowed the theater to stay in the space at 31776 El Camino Real until they were ready to start work. Almquist, who recently opened the River Street Marketplace and who is behind much of the new development in the city, now seems ready to focus on the Playhouse property.

You Can Work with Orange County Chefs to Help L.A. Residents and First Responders During the Fires

As updates on multiple fires across the Southland come in, individuals in the hospitality industry have put their cooking and administrative skills to use in various ways to aid those in need. From collaborative fundraising to hands-on cooking for the displaced and those fighting flames to save more lives, Orange County chefs, owners and residents are stepping up to donate and provide necessities such as a hot meal and self-care items.

[Updates are being added to this story as new information becomes available.]

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.

Essential Jazz Albums - Live Porgy and Bess & My Fair Lady

The West Coast Jazz Hour Big Band comes to the Irvine Barclay Theatre with a unique concert playing live re-creations of two legendary jazz albums which reinterpretated Broadway Musicals MORE

Our Stories Unite Us/ Nuestras Historias Nos Unen

A free collaboration in Santa Ana between the Santa Ana Unified School District and the literary non-profit LibroMobile presents live readings of storytelling and poetry from the participants in a writing workshop designed to celebrate a community's voice MORE

Saturday Family Art Experience

Watercolor bookmarks will be the craft families learn to make together at the first 2025 edition of the Yorba Linda Cultural Arts Center's art-making workshops MORE

Cookbook Author - Chef Tu David Phu

Enjoy a free lecture and book giveaway (while supplies last) at the Westminster Library as they welcome the Top Chef contestant and Vietnamese American culinary innovator MORE