BEST BETS Saturday 7/29

COSTA MESA

8pm

Dance

In celebration of the 10th anniversary of its annual Pacifica Choreographic Project, Ballet Pacifica has invited back four workshop alums to create more works for the Irvine-based troupe. The new pieces by Colin Connor, Rick McCullough, Stephen Mills and Paul Vasterling will be presented informally as works-in-progress. The choreographers will be onstage to answer questions after the performances.

* Ballet Pacifica, South Coast Repertory, 655 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. 8 p.m. $20. (949) 851-9930.

SANTA ANA

8pm

Pop Music

Proving she’s no one-CD wonder, the Bay Area’s Miss Lavay Smith, along with Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers, released a second album in the spring, “Everybody’s Talkin’ ‘Bout Miss Thing!” Smith and her Lickers will be in Santa Ana on Saturday. The new album not only features more big-band swing and blues covers, but six originals, as well as arrangements by David Berger, known for his work with trumpeter Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra.

* Miss Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers, Galaxy Concert Theatre, 3503 S. Harbor Blvd., Santa Ana. With Cross Town 7. 8 p.m. $15 to $17. (714) 957-0600.

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO

8pm

Theater

When the newly independent Mexican governors seized the California missions in the 1820s, most stripped them down for their tiles and woodwork. But Don Juan Forster, who bought Mission San Juan Capistrano, chose to convert it into a home, instead. As a result, this mission remained more intact than most and now has a musical to tell the tale: Bruce Goodrich’s “Capistrano,” which covers the mission’s history from its founding in 1776 through the next hundred years.

* “Capistrano,” Mission San Juan Capistrano, 31522 Camino Capistrano. 8 p.m. Through Aug. 6. $14 to $20. Performances on Aug. 4-6 will be preceded by a Living History Expo exhibit depicting mission life in the 18th and 19th centuries. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. daily. (949) 222-2366.