Best Bets Orange County HERE AND NEAR

TODAY

8pm

Music

Formed in 1991 in London, the Vellinger Quartet won first prize in the London International String Quartet Competition in 1994. Violinists Stephanie Gonley and Harvey de Souza, violist James Boyd and cellist Sally Pendlebury will play music by Haydn, Beethoven and Britten.

* The Vellinger Quartet, Founders Hall, Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. 8 p.m. $24. (714) 556-2787.

TODAY

8pm

Music

Beethoven’s “Triple” Concerto is one of his less frequently performed works because it requires three soloists as well as an orchestra. The Eroica Trio--violinist Adela Pena, pianist Erika Nickrenz and cellist Sara Sant’Ambrogio--will appear with the Pacific Symphony led by Maximiano Valdes. Works by Wagner and Dvorak complete the program.

* The Eroica Trio with the Pacific Symphony led by Maximiano Valdes, Segerstrom Hall, Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. 8 p.m. $10 to $48. (714) 556-2787.

TONIGHT

8pm

Pop Music

“One false move and your career’s over” certainly applies in the fast-moving, fickle rap marketplace. Salt-N-Pepa made the right moves on four million-selling albums during an uncommon eight-year hot streak that started in 1986. But the female rap trio cooled off with its 1997 release, “Brand New.” Salt-N-Pepa doesn’t have a new record to promote, but the subtext of this show will be to prove it can still make the right moves necessary to stay alive on the rap scene.

* Salt-N-Pepa with Groove Salad featuring Vicki Calhoun, Spigot and Grassroots Fallout. Galaxy Concert Theatre, 3503 S. Harbor Blvd., Santa Ana. $21.50 to $23.50. (714) 957-0600.

FRIDAY

all day

Movies

It’s been a long, hard 35 years sitting on the archive shelf for the Beatles’ seminal rock ‘n’ roll movie, “A Hard Day’s Night.” OK, actually the 1964 film did get a re-release in 1982, but it’s high time the Fab Four saw the big screen again. Miramax is re-releasing a new print of the film with a restored negative and soundtrack and new footage. (Despite some subtle drug references, the film is rated G.)

* “A Hard Day’s Night” opens Friday at selected theaters.

FRIDAY

8am-7pm

Jazz

There’s no better place to get a handle on the future of jazz than the 27th annual Fullerton College Jazz Festival, with 356 junior high, high school and college groups from across the country performing before the judges on 12 stages. Friday features the vocal competition, with professional singer Micki Rhyne performing at the 6 p.m. awards ceremony. Saturday, it’s the instrumentalists’ turn with continuous music featured on the patio outside the campus theater as well as at Plummer and Wilshire auditoriums.

* Fullerton College Jazz Festival, numerous locations on campus, 321 E. Chapman Ave., 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Also Saturday. $6 per day. (714) 992-7298.

SATURDAY

2&4pm

For Children

To kick off the 1999 Imagination Celebration, South Coast Repertory’s Youth Players present an original work by Youth Theatre instructor Steve DeNautis. In “Fairy Tale Reunion,” popular storybook characters come together in an unusual convention, at which they delight in revealing their true personalities. This musical play, performed by graduates of SCR’s Youth Theatre training program, delves into the gentle morality of Mother Goose with an edgy sense of humor. Following this weekend’s performances, the group will perform the piece at Bowers Museum and the Huntington Beach Playhouse.

* “Fairy Tale Reunion,” South Coast Repertory, 655 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. 2 and 4 p.m. Also Sunday, 2 and 4 p.m. (Continues May 1 at 1:30 p.m. at Kidseum, Bowers Museum, Santa Ana, and May 8 at 1:30 p.m. at the Huntington Beach Playhouse.) $5. (714) 708-5555.

SATURDAY

7:30pm

Folk Music

Seattle folk singer David Roth comes with kudos from such folkie heroes as Peter Yarrow and Christine Lavin, not to mention “Chicken Soup for the Soul” co-creator Jack Canfield. Roth, who arrived on the scene as the 1987 New Folk winner at the Kerrville Folk Festival, describes his music as “a dash of Dan Fogelberg, a pinch of David Letterman, a whoosh of Will Rogers and a touch of James Taylor.”

* David Roth with the Andy Robinson Band, presented by the Living Tradition, Downtown Community Center, 250 E. Center St., Anaheim. 7:30 p.m. $10. (949) 646-1964.

FRIDAY

7:30pm

Theater

“Sound Off” is the title of a work being presented this weekend by the No Square Theatre in Laguna Beach, and it means exactly what it suggests. The unique variety show features dance, mime, songs and comic sketches, all in American Sign Language, by more than a score of performers including the hearing, deaf and hard of hearing. Directed by Joshua Vecchione, and choreographed by Irene Vecchione, the show is designed to entertain both deaf and hearing audience members in an attempt to build bridges between the two groups.

* “Sound Off,” Laguna Beach High School Artists’ Theatre, 625 Park Ave., 7:30 p.m. Also Saturday, 7:30 p.m. $10. (949) 515-6254 (No Square Theatre).

SATURDAY

7:30pm

Pop Music

Jay-Z and DMX bring a taste of the Hard Knock Life to Orange County. This is arguably the highest-profile hard-core rap tour ever, outside the annual Smokin’ Grooves festival.

* Jay-Z, DMX, Method Man, Redman, Arrowhead Pond, 2695 E. Katella Ave., Anaheim. 7:30 p.m. $15 to $40. (714) 704-2500.

FRIDAY

all day

For the Family

Paint your wagon, pan for gold, gather ‘round for tales of California’s Gold Rush days--then step up to a display of Web pages. As warmup to the state’s sesquicentennial celebration in 2000, the 20th annual Youth Expo has mined an appropriate theme: “Days of Old and Panning for Gold.” But it’s not all about the past. A new computer exhibition celebrates youths’ achievements in computer-generated art, programming and more. The jazz festival, returning after a one-year hiatus, the jazz festival features a competition of junior high and high school bands. The expo welcomes Orange County children from preschool age through high school to enter a talent search, the 44th annual Science and Engineering Fair, exhibits of 4-H and class projects and Girl Scout activities. There’s also a fun zone for everyone in the family and a pampered-pet contest.

* Youth Expo, Orange County Fairgrounds, 88 Fair Drive, Costa Mesa. 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Also Saturday and Sunday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Free admission and parking. (714) 708-1520.

SUNDAY

3:30pm

Music

Known for its refinement and balanced sonority, the San Francisco-based Alexander String Quartet was the first to win the Concert Artists Guild International Award, and that only a year after it formed in 1981. Here, violinists Ge-Fang Yang and Frederick Lifsitz, violist Paul Yarborough and cellist Sandy Wilson will play works by Haydn, Beethoven and Barber as part of the Fullerton Friends of Music’s 40th season.

* The Alexander String Quartet, Sunny Hills High School, 1801 Warburton Way, Fullerton. 3:30 p.m. Free. (714) 525-5836.