Three-day forecast

EVENTS

Get up and go

Hot Import Nights makes its Los Angeles pit stop Saturday at the

Convention Center. The touring show features more than 300 modified, luxury and exotic cars but also

has break-dance and

freestyle dance contests,

celebrity appearances and music by local DJs. Wee Man from MTV’s “Jackass” show will be on hand as will MC Supernatural and

Eddie Paul, the designer of the cars featured in the movie “The Fast and the Furious” and TV’s “Monster Garage.”

Hot Import Nights, Los Angeles Convention Center, 1201 S. Figueroa St., L.A. Saturday, 5 p.m. to midnight. $25. Tickets can be purchased only at www.hotimportnights.com. (949)789-7439.

MUSEUMS

Strength in numbers

When four major Los Angeles cultural organizations -- Santa Monica Museum of Art, LA Theatre Works, LA Louver gallery and LACMA’s Institute for Art and Cultures -- collaborated to present “DUGOUT,” the three-part multimedia work by artist and songwriter Terry Allen, the institutions figured that Allen would have some explaining to do. Allen describes his multi-venue work as “a kind of Supernatural-Jazz-History-Ghost-Blood-Fiction.” Need more details? The”Terry Allen: DUGOUT Conversation” features exchanges among the artist, Otis Institute professor and curator Dave Hickey and actress Jo Harvey Allen.

“Terry Allen: DUGOUT Conversation,” Bing Auditorium, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 5906 Wilshire Blvd., L.A. Monday, 7:30 p.m. $15; members, $8; 25 years and younger, $5. (877) 522-6225 or (323) 857-6088.

MOVIES

The direct approach

Robin Shou, star of “Mortal Kombat,” “Beverly Hills Ninja” and nearly two dozen Asian martial arts films, makes his directing debut with “Red Trousers: The Life of the Hong Kong Stuntmen,” an action-documentary hybrid. The documentary portion breaks into “Lost Time,” a movie starring Shou that illustrates how Hong Kong’s top cinematic martial artists perform their fights. It also goes behind the scenes at the Peking Opera school, where Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan, among others, got their training.

“Red Trousers: The Life of the Hong Kong Stuntmen,” unrated, opens Friday exclusively at the Landmark Nuart Theatre, 11272 Santa Monica Blvd., West L.A. (310) 281-8223.

ART

The hues of the West

Take a scenic excursion through the American West -- wind-whipped clouds in deep blue skies, cowboys at work on the prairie, American Indians -- just by strolling through the “William Albert Allard: In Color” show. The whole of the National Geographic photographer’s professional work was accomplished in full-color photographs. This exhibition features more than 20 of Allard’s iconic, large-format panoramas.

“William Albert Allard: In Color,” Apex Fine Art, 152 N. La Brea Ave., L.A. Tuesdays to Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Ends April 10. (323) 634-7887.

THEATER

The singing dinosaur

No fangs or claws; likes hugs and nursery rhymes. Favorite color: purple. Squishy-sweet Barney, the singing T-Rex, is back on the road with his latest musical extravaganza, “Barney’s Colorful World.” This big stage show for pint-sized fans bounces from the jungle to the Arctic, and from the beach down to the bottom of the sea. Expect lots of set changes, special lighting effects and a super-sized round of “B-I-N-G-O,” among other sing-along treats.

“Barney’s Colorful World,” Kodak Theatre, 6801 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood. Friday, 7 p.m.; Saturday, 11 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.; Sunday, 1:30 and 5 p.m.; ends Sunday. $17 to $37. (323) 308-6363.

DANCE

Versatility to spare

There’s never been a career like the one still in progress for Mikhail Baryshnikov. What a range of public roles: peerless ballet virtuoso, electrifying dancing actor, movie star, artistic director and choreographer, clothing and perfume mogul, postmodern ambassador, cable TV heartthrob. What next? An arts center in New York dedicated to fostering new work and a tour to fund it: “Solos With Piano or Not

“Solos With Piano or Not ... An Evening of Music and Dance With Mikhail Baryshnikov,” Freud Playhouse, UCLA campus, Westwood. Today through Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 2 p.m. $75 to $100. (310) 825-2101.

POP MUSIC

Problems, problems

Heavy-metal bands face a lot of obstacles, but year after year Metallica continues to come up against the same roadblock to head-banging credibility: too much respect. Not only has the group’s reputation as the thinking person’s hard-rock band made it a critical favorite, singer-guitarist James Hetfield and Co. nabbed their seventh Grammy last month. Now, the Metallica documentary “Some Kind of Monster,” which elicited plaudits at Sundance, is making the rounds at other film festivals. What’s next: a -- gasp! -- Academy Award nomination?

Metallica, the Forum, 3900 W. Manchester Blvd., Inglewood. Friday and Saturday, 7:30 p.m. $55 to $75. (310)

330-7340.

JAZZ

May the best band win

Catalina Bar & Grill hosts a battle of big bands tonight. In the cutting-edge corner, Australian drummer-composer-arranger Tim Davies leads a unit that is larger, louder and faster than most large ensembles and plays a hybrid musical mixture that reflects jazz, hip-hop and death-metal influences. In the other corner, for the traditionalist, composer-arranger Chris Walden’s ensemble will perform swing standards, Latin and pop numbers.

Tim Davies and Chris Walden big bands, Catalina Bar & Grill, 6725 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood. Tonight, 8:30. $15. (323) 466-2210.

MUSIC

A trio’s three bows

The chamber music ensemble Pacific Serenades has a tradition of commissioning new works -- more than 70 since Mark Carlson founded the group in 1982. Bruce Babcock’s new Trio for Clarinet, Viola and Piano will get its premiere at three concerts this weekend. Babcock is a Pasadena-born composer who, among other awards, received six consecutive Emmy nominations between 1990 and 1995, winning in 1992 for an episode of “Matlock.”

Pacific Serenades, Saturday concert is at a private home in Tarzana, 8 p.m. (Call for information.) $45. Also: Sunday at 4 p.m. at Pasadena Neighborhood Church, 301 N. Orange Grove Blvd., Pasadena, $28. And March 16 at 8 p.m., UCLA Faculty Center, 405 N. Hilgard Ave., Westwood, $28. (213) 534-3434.

THEATER

Navigating some risky curves

In “Dirty Blonde,” Claudia Shear reprises the two roles she played on Broadway: gutsy, funny bombshell Mae West and an admiring West fan. Shear created the show with director James Lapine, who comes to Pasadena to direct this staging. In this story-within-a story, two New York loners who share an obsession with the voluptuous stage and screen icon engage in an unlikely courtship.

“Dirty Blonde,” Pasadena Playhouse, 39 S. El Molino Ave., Pasadena. Opens Friday. Runs Tuesdays to Fridays, 8 p.m.; Saturdays, 5 and 9 p.m.; Sundays, 2 and 7 p.m.; ends April 4. $34.50 to $49.50. (626) 356-7529.