Going out

`Wild Party': The off-Broadway hit musical about the roaringly decadent '20s gets one of its first productions outside New York when budding talents at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music Musical Theater Department tackle the racy work. Opens 8 p.m. today, continues through March 9, Patricia Corbett Theater, UC, $13-$22. 556-4183.

CSO: Rising star pianist Lang Lang and guest conductor Jahja Ling join the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra for three musical days. 7:30 p.m. today, Music Hall, $12.50-$52.50. (Tonight's concert serves a free dinner buffet starting at 6:15 p.m.). 381-3300.

David Mead: The hot, young singer-songwriter with a pop-Nashville sound rolls in for a night of music. 8 p.m. today, 20th Century, 3021 Madison Road, Oakley, $8. 562-4949.

British farce: Wilmington College Theater Department opens a rare production of the raucous Joe Orton comedy What the Butler Saw. 8 p.m. today, Boyd Auditorium, Wilmington, $10. (937) 382-6661.

On the air

Top pick: As tensions increase with Iraq, ABC salutes U.S. Special Operations forces fighting terrorism in Afghanistan and the region in a new six-week series, Profiles From the Front Lines (8 p.m., Channels 9, 2).

• Critic John Kiesewetter also says that with sweeps ending Wednesday, viewers will find mostly reruns today, except for Survivor: The Amazon (8 p.m., Channels 12, 7), Scrubs (8:30 p.m., Channels 5, 22), the return of Family Affair (8:30 p.m., Channels 64, 26) and Good Morning Miami (9:30 p.m., Channels 5, 22).

Reds alert: Warm up your radio. The Reds open their exhibition season against the Yankees at 1:15 p.m. today on WLW-AM (700), a sure sign that spring is rounding third and headed for our homes.

The goods

Bargains galore: Well, you gotta love this: Shop at home and save a ton of money. Right, says The Bargain Buyer's Guide 2003 (formerly Wholesale by Mail & Online), save sometimes up to 90 percent by skipping retailers and buying from vendors and manufacturers, many of whom include free shipping. Broken by categories - food, clothing, cookware, art and antiques, furniture - the book lists more than 500 sources has sold more than 2 million copies since its first edition in 1978. The new edition, heavily slanted toward online shopping, is $20.95 from the Print Project.

Planning ahead

24 hours out: Mecklenburg Gardens dishes up another of its popular Bavarian-style sing-a-long beer dinners. 7 p.m. Friday, University and Highland avenues, Corryville, $7-$15. 221-5353.

48 hours out: The Patricia Weiner Gallery opens Cincinnati's Rich Heritage, Recent Acquisitions of the Work of Our Golden Age Artists. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, 9393 Montgomery Road, Montgomery. 791-7717.

72 hours till Sunday: The Linton Music Series hosts CSO concertmaster Alexander Kerr for an afternoon of intimate chamber music with a few selected friends. 4 p.m., First Unitarian Church, Linton and Reading roads, Avondale, $30. 381-6868.

Jim Knippenberg

E-mail jknippenberg@enquirer.com