During the glorious San Diego summer months, Balboa Park is more than just museum displays and art exhibitions. After the institutions close around 4 p.m. each day, the park comes to life with live music, classic movies, fun dining, zany critters and more.

Jazz in the Park, the San Diego Museum of Art's after-hours concert series, is held the first Wednesday of every month. Chuck Perrin of Webster's Last Word Records assembles a cross-section of local musical talent with a definitive theme, the galleries are open for exploration, and bars provide wine, beer, salads, desserts, sandwiches and coffee. Live music abounds at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion with the Festival 2000 and Twilight in the Park series. Everything from ballet to banjo bands to barbershop quartets is presented at the Twilight in the Park concerts, held Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays at 6:15 p.m., while Bach, movie and concerto themes highlight the Monday evening Festival shows. For info phone (619) 702-8138.

Hungry? A number of park eateries operate in the evening. The Prado Restaurant (557-9441) in the House of Hospitality serves dinner beginning at 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday; and Albert's Restaurant (231-1515) at the San Diego Zoo serves up its regular menu evenings until 8:30 this summer. Pre-theater quick meals, drinks and snacks during intermission are to be had at Lady Carolyn's Pub at the Old Globe Theatre, and Galileo's Cafe at the Reuben Fleet Science Center offers an opportunity for casual take-away dining.

The Museum of Photographic Arts hosts summer film programs in its new Irwin and Joan Jacobs Theater. Cinephiles and casual enthusiasts alike are invited to two series in August: "Zen and the Art of Drunken Style" (no, not a mystic watering hole but a Hong Kong new wave movie showcase) and "The Great Performers" (laser disc documentaries on classical musicians). Admission is $7.50; $5 for students and seniors. For schedules, call (619) 238-7559 and dial "F" for film.

Through Sept. 4, the San Diego Zoo presents its annual Nighttime Zoo program. Families have an extended chance to see all of the zoo's notorious characters, including panda cub Hua Mei or baby hippopotamus Mashavu, during expanded hours until 10 p.m nightly (last admission at 9 p.m). Nighttime visitors also can see wandering musicians, magicians, a parade of costume characters, animal shows, and the video and laser show "PANDAmonium." Admission is $18 for ages 12 and up, $8 for kids 3 to 11; free for under 2. Call (619) 231-1515.

Finally, outdoor plays at the Starlight and Old Globe theaters enliven the park's summer scene. Shakespeare's "Henry V" through Aug. 12 and Euripides' "The Trojan Women" from Sept. 3 to Oct. 14 play at the Old Globe's Lowell Davies Festival Theatre; the Starlight presents "Peter Pan" from Aug. 3 to 13, followed by "Evita" from Aug. 31 to Sept. 10. Seats range from $9.75 to $42; the Globe box office phone is (619) 239-2255; (619) 544-STAR for Starlight.

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Mardi Snow, Balboa Park's public relations director for four years, has left her position to pursue higher education. Park volunteer and board member Pamela Crooks has stepped in to fill the position until a new p.r. director is found.

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Tickets for the Old Globe's third holiday production of "How The Grinch Stole Christmas!," previously only available to subscribers and members, have gone on sale to the general public. The play, which sold $1.1 million worth of in tickets in 1999 and $934,465 in 1998, will run Nov. 19 through Dec. 31, with matinee previews priced at $26 for adults and $13 for kids running from Nov. 12 to 19. Seuss fans can purchase tickets, priced at $42 for adults and $21 for kids 17 and under, online at oldglobe.org, by phone at (619) 239-2255 or at the Globe box office.

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Balboa Park's official Web site, www.balboapark.org, was recently remodeled, and received 96,877 hits during June. The page is maintained by the House of Hospitality Association, which also manages the Balboa Park Visitors Center, and features detailed and up-to-date information on park happenings, plus links to the City Park and Recreation Department Web site and to most of the park's cultural organizations. During April, the new site received 68,822 hits; in May that number rose to 75,538.

"We credit the success of the site to its new look, improved content and accuracy of the information presented," says Pamela Crooks, acting director, Balboa Park Promotions/House of Hospitality. "There's obviously a great deal of interest in what’s going on in Balboa Park this summer."

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The Mingei International Museum welcomes three new members to its board: attorney James F. Mulvaney, volunteer and philanthropist Jean Hahn Hardy and community volunteer Frances Hamilton White. They replace Joanne Warren and Joyce Glazer, who have rotated off the Mingei board for at least one year.

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Lastly, the House of Ukraine brings the Troyanda Ukrainian Dance Ensemble from Canada to its San Diego California Ukrainian Dance Festival 2000 on Sept. 2 at 7 p.m. Troyanda presents a colorful and lively combination of dance, detailed costumes and traditional Ukrainian music representing the different regions and periods of Ukrainian history and culture. Tickets for the dance festival, held at the Casa del Prado Theater, are $15; group rates also are available. Phone (619) 291-0661 or e-mail sunnyukes@aol.com for more information.