BEST BETS Friday 6/16

IRVINE

8pm

Pop Music

Walter Becker and Donald Fagen were never ones to hop on a bandwagon, which is probably why “Two Against Nature,” their first Steely Dan album in 20 years, sounds as timeless as their ‘70s work.

* Steely Dan, Verizon Wireless Amphitheater, 8808 Irvine Center Drive, Irvine. 8 p.m. $24-$71.50. (949) 855-2863.

ANAHEIM

8:30pm

Pop Music

On the heels of her appearance at the all-star tribute to Joni Mitchell in New York City, singer-songwriter Shawn Colvin starts a summer tour with a pair of shows Friday and Saturday in Anaheim.

* Shawn Colvin, Sun Theatre, 2200 E. Katella Ave., Anaheim. 8 p.m. Also Saturday, 8:30 p.m.$29.50-$39.50. (714) 712-2700.

BREA

8:30pm

Comedy

Richard Jeni, a past winner of the American Comedy Award for best stand-up comedian, grew up in an Italian American family in the tough, lower-middle-class neighborhood of Bensonhurst. “It was an interesting neighborhood and probably leads the country in guys with names like ‘Nicky ‘the Squid’ Calamari,’ ” Jeni says. “In my neighborhood, ‘GoodFellas’ was pretty much a home movie.”

* Richard Jeni, Brea Improv, 945 E. Birch St. 8:30 and 10:30 p.m. Also Saturday, 8 and 10:30 p.m.; Sunday, 8 p.m. $15 to $20. (714) 529-7878.

IRVINE

8:30pm & 10:30 pm

Comedy

Attention, “stud muffins.” Your queen, Judy Tenuta, the self-proclaimed Love Goddess and Aphrodite of the Accordion, just can’t seem to get enough of Orange County. She was here only six months ago for a gig in San Juan Capistrano. Now the Petite Flower will pop up in Irvine. Onstage the gaudy Blesser of Bunions is known to pick out a male subject in the front row and anoint him by hocking her gum at him. Then she’ll command him to pick up the moist missile and swallow it. Invariably her appointed Love Hog does as the Deity of Dementia commands in her patented Glenda the Good Witch trill. “Oh-h-h-h-h-h!”

* Judy Tenuta, Irvine Improv, 71 Fortune Drive. 8:30 and 10:30 p.m. Also Saturday, 7, 9 and 11 p.m. $20. (949) 854-5455.

ANAHEIM

7pm

Family

Imagine a summer evening surrounded by trees, stars and a gentle breeze. Suddenly you’re whisked away to the ancient Mayan civilization and then on to a whirlwind tour of the continents. Boxtales, an original theater experience, features professional actors, musicians and storytellers working together to bring folk tales, myths and legends to life through the use of theater, movement, masks and music. The show is performed as part of the Just for Kids series at the Pearson Park Amphitheater. Performances include “Mitos y Cuentos,” a bilingual presentation of Mayan, Aztec and Mexican tales, and “Listen Up!,” multicultural stories delivering messages in morality.

* Boxtales, Pearson Park Amphitheater, Lemon and Sycamore streets, Anaheim. 7-9 p.m. $1-$2. (714) 765-4422.

IRVINE

8pm

Opera

Nathan Wang’s opera “On Gold Mountain” is based on the life and hardships of Fong See, a patriarch of Los Angeles’ Chinatown. His story is recounted in Lisa See’s best-selling book of the same name. See also wrote the libretto for the opera. This work is the first in a three-year touring project titled “Voices of California,” which was created by the Los Angeles Opera.

* “On Gold Mountain,” Irvine Barclay Theatre, 4242 Campus Drive. 8 p.m. Also Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 3 p.m. $10 to $20. (949) 854-4646.