Aug. 15th weekend

I'm a fan of the Irvine Barclay Theatre - their programming is top-notch, world-class, cutting-edge, fabulously eclectic, what else can I say? Ah yes, sadly, their shows aren't free. Well, if you've always wanted to attend an Irvine Barclay Theatre show but could not afford it, here's your chance. The Orange County Great Park has been working with them. You can enjoy a wide variety of musical genres this weekend at the Preview Park, from swing jazz and traditional pop to gypsy music, opera, cabaret, and klezmer. On friday, Aug. 15, the Mike McCaffrey Trio, a a piano/vocal group which does Sinatra and Nat King Cole will be playing at the dance party, 8:00 - 10:00 pm. On Saturday, Aug. 16, our concert entertainers will be the Vagabond Opera a talented group of musicians from Portland, Oregon, bringing us edgy cabaret theatre, cribbing from Dietrich and Piaf, Kurt Weill and klezmer. A Washington Post review, earlier this year, had this to say about them: "A Vagabond Opera show is a chance to time-travel. Specifically, to 1920s Paris..." According to the same article, the 6-piece ensemble can sing in 11 different languages including English, French, Bulgarian, Russian, and Yiddish! Here is a short video from one of their performances.

The Orange County Great Park is celebrating its third year in a variety of ways; a volunteer Ambassador program (I am one of them) has been launched this summer along with Night Flights - the summer cultural programming for the public that includes free night flights in the Balloon, friday dance parties, and saturday concerts. The 2 Aug. 2008 Reuters press release shortly about the kickoff with HONK describes all the entertainers we can enjoy for free this summer, thanks to the Irvine Barclay Theatre and the Great Park.