‘American Idiot’ musical to hit Segerstrom Center for the Arts

Gabrielle McClinton (Whatsername), center, is joined by other cast members of "American Idiot." (Photo by Doug Hamilton)

Punk band Green Day skyrocketed to fame in the 1990s, but is winning over an entirely new audience with its latest offering: a Broadway musical.

But their “American Idiot” is a far cry from “Camelot.” It’s a gritty, urban-inspired show that uses the same punk songs that made the band famous, and adds more than a smattering of simulated drug use, strong language and other adult situations.

“American Idiot,” which arrives in Costa Mesa on May 29, follows the lives of three disaffected suburban youths: Johnny, Will and Tunny.

The country’s residents are riveted by their television sets, and the boys want a way out. Johnny and Tunny move to the big city, where Tunny soon is brainwashed by an Army recruitment ad, shipped off to war, and wounded. Johnny, in the meantime, discovers heroin — and love. Passive-aggressive Will stays at home to support his pregnant girlfriend, but takes his solace in beer and pot.

The musical is based in part on Green Day’s 2004 “American Idiot” studio album, and more specifically with the song that became “Homecoming.”

The three band members spent a day in the studio creating solo 30-second songs, which later merged and connected into the song, and inspired a full concept album akin toThe Who’s”Tommy” orAndrew Lloyd Webber’s”Jesus Christ Superstar.”

Michael Mayer, the director of the wildly successful modern musical “Spring Awakening,” heard the album and approached the band about adapting it for the stage. It had a successful run on Broadway before being launched as a nationwide touring production.

–Candice Baker, Special to the Daily Pilot

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Tourism conference: O.C. cities should work together

Sibling rivalries are expected, and to a degree, beneficial, but when it comes to tourism in Orange County cities, the message Wednesday was all about working together.

“Of course, we’ll keep working individually too — I still want to keep my job,” Gary Sherwin, president and chief executive of Visit Newport Beach Inc., joked while speaking at the fourth annual Tourism Conference, organized by the Orange County Tourism Council (OCTC) at the Newport Beach Marriott Hotel and Spa.

Overall, speakers encouraged the audience — and each other — to work together to develop “The OC” as a global brand and destination for international visitors.

“We’re talking about this wonderful shared asset called Orange County,” Sherwin said to the audience. “When you hear ‘The OC’ anywhere in the world, you know what they’re talking about — they’re talking about us. And we take a lot of pride in that.”

Panelist Judith Bijlani, president and chief executive of the Laguna Beach Visitors and Conference Bureau, pointed to the county’s miles of beaches, many art museums and galleries, and shopping as several of the key components making up “part of the OC experience,” a tagline she encouraged local businesses to adopt.

–Sarah Peters, @SPeters01, Daily Pilot

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Mansoor accuses opponent of willingness to work with unions

Assemblyman Allan Mansoor speaks at a Surf City Tea-sponosored forum at the Huntington Beach Central Library on Monday. (SCOTT SMELTZER)

Assemblyman Allan Mansoor (R-Costa Mesa) told a conservative group Monday that he believes his Republican opponent in the June 5 primary will bow down to unions and special-interest groups in Sacramento.

During a Surf City Tea-sponsored forum in the Huntington Beach Central Library, Mansoor said Newport Beach Councilwoman Leslie Daigle, who is running against him in the 74th Assembly District race, supports unions and raising taxes.

“That’s a clear difference between me and my opponent, who calls herself Republican,” he said.

Daigle said Tuesday that there is no basis to Mansoor’s claims.

“There’s nothing in my record of public service that suggests I’m a tax-raiser,” she said. “I would say that together with my colleagues, we’ve gotten more pension reform [in Newport Beach] than Allan [did when he was on the Costa Mesa council].

“Several of the employee groups are now paying their full share of their employee pension, and we’re in the process of working with police and fire, and we anticipate reaching an agreement by the end of the month.”

–Mona Shadia, @MonaShadia, HB Independent

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Costa Mesa man, dog found dead in minivan

A 44-year-old man and his dog were found dead Wednesday afternoon in his minivan that was parked in his Costa Mesa driveway, according to authorities.

He could have been there for two or three days, authorities said.

About 3:15 p.m., a gardener went to the man’s house in the 2600 block of Riverside Drive to do some work when he found the man apparently dead in his Toyota minivan.

Orange County Sheriff’s deputies said that the man appears to have died from health-related issues, and his death was not considered suspicious. All the windows in the van were up, and authorities could not immediately say how the dog died.

The man’s father had last been seen him alive two or three days ago, authorities said.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Department Hazardous Materials team initially responded to the scene but was later called off.

The man’s identity was not immediately available. The coroner was responding to the scene.

— Joseph Serna, @JosephSerna, Daily Pilot

Whelan Gallery vacating North Laguna space

Patrick Whelan of the Whelan Gallery. The gallery space on North Coast Highway will close at the end of May. (KEVIN CHANG)

After nearly six years in North Laguna, Whelan Gallery will be closing its doors at the end of the month.

Owner Patrick Whelan said he was told last month that he had until the end of May to vacate the space at 353 N. Coast Hwy. He sublets it from Adam Neeley, who has decided not to renew the lease, Whelan said.

According to Whelan, he had no plans to leave any time soon before this. The gallery was “doing alright,” he said, and “holding its own.”

He said it’s not the last that Laguna will see of the gallery.

He is hosting the second annual Night of a Hundred Angels show in conjunction with the Laguna College of Art & Design, and he’ll be showing in the Festival of the Arts in the summer.

He plans to look for another space in the fall.

“We’re not going away,” he said. “There’s just going to be a big dent up here in the north.”

Whelan will have a temporary office at the Cottage Gallery, 1524 S. Coast Hwy.

For more information, visit whelanartgalleries.com.

–Joanna Clay, @joannaclay, Coastline Pilot

Eat Chow expands to West Newport

Eat Chow has opened a second location on 62nd Street in West Newport, pictured here. (Don Leach)

A popular Eastside Costa Mesa restaurant has expanded into Newport Beach with a menu geared toward the grab-and-go surf crowd.

Eat Chow’s new location — described by owner Brian McReynolds as “modern Californian cuisine, like a gastropub with Mexican food” — on 62nd Street in West Newport is having an invite-only, grand-opening party Thursday to celebrate. The restaurant is Eat Chow’s second, the first being at Newport Boulevard and 18th Street, which opened about four years ago.

A soft opening in Newport was held April 23. So far, the response has been positive, McReynolds said.

“We’re keeping the same menu as Eat Chow One, but we’re slowly incorporating more beach food and hand-held food,” he said. “More tacos, more sandwiches, and for breakfast, more grab-and-go items for surfers and people in the community.”

–Sarah Peters, @SPeters01, Daily Pilot

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Cyclist pedals around the world, stops through Laguna

Kate Crinion is cycling around the world. One of her latest stops was Laguna Beach. (Don Leach)

Cyclist Kate Crinion’s tour of the world adventure brought her to Laguna Beach last week, where she stopped for a few days before heading down to San Diego.

“I read a book about a retired school teacher, who was 58 years old, had never ridden a bike, was overweight … and I thought, ‘if she can do it, I can do it,’” Crinion said by phone Monday.

The book, “A Bike Ride: 12,000 Miles Around the World” by Ann Mustoe, inspired Crinion so much that for 10 years she saved her money so she could cycle around the world.

She blogs about her travels along the way at cyclingcuriosity.blogspot.com, which will soon have highlights from her visit in Laguna with pictures and a blog post.

She also is doing it for charity, to support Mucopolysaccharide (MPS) Ireland, a group dedicated to the rare metabolic diseases such as Hurler, Scheie, Hunter, Sanfilippo and Morquio, and something a dear cousin of hers was diagnosed with, according to her blog.

–Alisha Gomez, @CoastlinePilot, Coastline Pilot

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Downed power line possible cause of Newport Coast vegetation fire

Courtesy Newport Beach Fire Department

Newport Beach firefighters quickly extinguished a vegetation fire behind Sage Hill School at 9:43 a.m. Wednesday, according to a fire department statement.

A 911 caller alerted authorities to the blaze, which was off the 73 Toll Road.

“Once on scene they found a brush fire in vegetation that covered roughly 50 by 50 feet of vegetation,” the statement said. “Newport Beach firefighters aggressively attacked the fire and it was quickly extinguished.”

The fire did not damage any structures, and no one was injured, fire officials said.

“At this time, there is no estimated damage from the fire as only a small area of vegetation burned,” the statement said. The cause remains under investigation, but it appears that a downed power line may have started the blaze.

“The Newport Beach Fire Department would like to remind individuals that it is fire season and individuals should be careful when in wildland areas,” the statement said. “Additionally, if you see suspicious activity in these areas you should immediately notify the authorities.”

–Amy Senk, @coronadelmartdy, Corona del Mar Today

Crowd cries out against class sizes in H.B.

Overcrowding — of more than one kind — was the theme at the Ocean View School District’s board meeting Tuesday, as dozens of people came to protest larger class sizes while district leaders pleaded for the crowd to thin so the meeting could take place.

As the clock ticked past 7 p.m., an overflow audience of teachers, parents and students crammed the boardroom and spilled out into the adjoining rooms of the district headquarters. The visitors, some of whom circulated petitions and brought signs and balloons with slogans, showed up in response to the board’s May 1 vote to increase class sizes in the lower grades.

Starting this fall, student-to-teacher ratios in kindergarten through third grade will increase from 24-to-1 to 29-to-1 to help fill a state budget shortfall. The district adopted the current ratio three years ago after having limited classes to 20 students.

The meeting Tuesday was impassioned, as speakers took the microphone for nearly two hours to urge the board to reconsider its vote. For a while, though, it looked as if a meeting might not take place at all.

With the standing-room-only crowd exceeding the allowed capacity of 180 for the boardroom, Assistant Supt. of Administrative Services Mark Schiel and board President Tracy Pellman asked some people to leave so the meeting could legally begin. Minutes later, district officials called the Fire Department to keep an eye on the crowd for safety purposes.

–Michael Miller, @MichaelMillerHB, HB Independent

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O.C. couple plead guilty to faking death to get benefits

Santiago and Rosa Carrasco. (Orange County district attorney's office)

A Santa Ana husband and wife pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges of faking the man’s death to steal more than $400,000 in death benefits, authorities said.

Santiago Carrasco, 52, and Rosa Carrasco, 54, were accused of traveling to Mexico in the summer of 2004 to obtain a phony death certificate stating that he died of a heart attack there, the Orange County district attorney’s office said.

In September 2004, Rosa Carrasco began collecting death benefits on behalf of her husband, according to prosecutors. She was charged with receiving the money while the couple were living together in Santa Ana.

Rosa Carrasco worked at a retail store in South Coast Plaza, while Santiago Carrasco was a truck driver based out of Fontana.

Prosecutors said the Carrascos were collecting the benefits up until their arrest Aug. 1, 2011.

Each was sentenced to two years in custody and two years of mandatory supervision after they are released, the district attorney’s office said. The couple was also ordered to pay more than $413,000 in restitution.

— Robert J. Lopez, Los Angeles Times