Best Bets

November 11-17, 2001

Theater

“Do Jump!, Anti-Gravitational Theater,” above, the fast-moving, multimedia dramatic and comedic journey conceived, choreographed and directed by Robin Lane, opens Wednesday at the Geffen Playhouse in Westwood. Performed by a six-member ensemble led by Lane, the theatrical, music-propelled show is a highly physical fusion of dance, acrobatics and aerial artistry, and vaudevillian humor.

Also: The Plaids are the fictional 1960s tight harmony quartet that returned from the dead for the big gig it missed in life, in Stuart Ross’ hugely successful 1989 musical, “Forever Plaid.” They’re back again, in the world premiere of Ross’ “Forever Plaid--A Special Holiday Edition.” Starring Plaid alumni Leo Daignault, John-Michael Flate, Steve Gunderson and Michael Winther, it opens today at the Pasadena Playhouse.

Music

Carl St.Clair conducts the Pacific Symphony, Pacific Chorale and three vocal soloists--261 performers--in the world premiere performances of Richard Danielpour’s “An American Requiem,” a large-scale, 60-minute work that concludes the composer’s residency with the orchestra, Wednesday night in Segerstrom Hall at the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa. A second performance is scheduled for Thursday at 8 p.m.

Art

“Pop Culture!,” opening Friday at the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, celebrates the Pop Art movement of the 1960s in a colorful array of paintings, sculptures and works on paper by major American artists. Andy Warhol’s replication of a stack of Brillo boxes--”100 Brillo Boxes 1969,” left--is on view along with works by Roy Lichtenstein, Claes Oldenburg, Ed Ruscha and Wayne Thiebaud.

Dance

Australia’s 14-member Bangarra Dance Theatre completes its first U.S. tour with a performance of Stephen Page’s “Corroboree” on Saturday in Marsee Auditorium at El Camino College in Torrance. The 74-minute work (no intermission) evokes traditional Aboriginal culture and contemporary Australian life in what Page calls “a conscious awakening of the spirit.”

Jazz

Veteran jazz guitarist and educator Kenny Burrell, who’s performed with John Coltrane, Billie Holiday, Jimmy Smith and many others, engages in some extracurricular activity this week starting Tuesday night at Catalina’s Bar & Grill in Hollywood.

Pop Music

The nation’s mood has changed radically since U2’s Elevation Tour 2001 stopped in Anaheim in April, but if any rock group can tap into a community’s shared feeling, it’s Bono, above, and company. Returning to prime form and to the arena setting on this swing, the Irish quartet figures to provide both healing and release when it hits Los Angeles’ Staples Center on Monday, Tuesday and Nov. 19.