TODAYMUSICLudwig Van meets the L.A. PhilIt’s a...

TODAY

MUSIC

Ludwig Van meets the L.A. Phil

It’s a densely packed Los Angeles Philharmonic “Beethoven Unbound” weekend. Esa-Pekka Salonen will conduct three Beethoven symphonies -- Nos. 7 and 8 today and Sunday, and Nos. 5 and 7 on Saturday. The new piece on this series, which juxtaposes contemporary works with these pillars of Western music, will be Anders Hillborg’s “Eleven Gates,” played between the Seventh and Eighth symphonies.

The orchestra also will devote a Friday “First Nights” program to Hillborg’s work, an L.A. Phil commission in its world premiere, making the title of that series literally true. Beethoven’s Fifth and Seventh stand alone on Saturday.

Los Angeles Philharmonic, Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., L.A. 8 p.m. today. $15 to $129. (323) 850-2000. www.LAPhil.com

* Also 2 p.m. Sunday.

* “First Nights” program, 8 p.m. Friday.

* Beethoven’s Fifth and Seventh symphonies, 8 p.m. Saturday. $15 to $175.

OUTDOORS

By Jupiter, the sky is dazzling

Amateur astronomers antsy to dust off their telescopes will get a particularly good view of Jupiter and the Eta Aquarid meteor shower starting this weekend. Beginning tonight, sky gazers will get the best view of the king of planets when Jupiter reaches opposition, the point in orbit opposite the sun. Look to the southeast as darkness falls. The very best view is when Jupiter is highest in the sky, sometime around 1 a.m. If you miss it, don’t worry: Jupiter will continue to be bright and conspicuous through October. And while you are up, keep an eye out for shooting stars. The Eta Aquarids -- named because they shoot out from the direction of the constellation Aquarius, near the star Eta -- will peak during the early hours Friday, when observers in dark places can see up to 30 shooting stars per hour.

FRIDAY

EVENTS

Where retro rock meets livestock

Comic Paul Rodriguez and 1970s rock acts War and Foreigner head the entertainment lineup at the San Bernardino County Fair starting this weekend in Victorville and running through May 14. Rough Rider Rodeo and a demolition derby happen next weekend. Also there’ll be livestock and agricultural competitions, carnival games and rides and other attractions. For a complete concert schedule, see www.sbcfair.com.

San Bernardino County Fair, San Bernardino County Fairgrounds, 14800 7th St., Victorville. Opens Friday. $3 to $7; 5 and younger, free; some concerts and other attractions have additional charges, $7 to $25. (760) 951-2200.

* Hours: 4 to 11 p.m. Monday through Friday; noon to 11 p.m. Saturday and Sunday; ends May 14.

MUSEUMS

Duckworth’s designs

In wartime England, ceramic artist Ruth Duckworth worked at a funeral parlor carving tombstones. She’s come a long way, with the intricately carved murals and graceful ceramic structures that she has created in her Chicago studio since the 1960s. Her first U.S. retrospective, “Ruth Duckworth: Modernist Sculptor,” highlights more than 80 pieces, including porcelain, stoneware and bronze-cast works that demonstrate a range of materials and techniques.

“Ruth Duckworth: Modernist Sculptor,” Long Beach Museum of Art, 2300 E. Ocean Blvd., Long Beach. Opens Friday. $6 to $7; 11 and younger, free. (562) 439-2119.

* Hours: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays. Ends July 2.

MOVIES

Military

in conflict

Filmmaker David Zeigers chronicles the Vietnam-era antiwar movement that developed within the U.S. military in the documentary “Sir! No Sir!” Interviews with veterans, Jane Fonda and others, along with archival footage, detail the group actions against the war that affected the existing civilian opposition to the war.

“Sir! No Sir!,” unrated, opens Friday at the Laemmle Monica 4 in Santa Monica; Laemmle’s One Colorado Cinemas, Pasadena; and Edwards University Town Center in Irvine.

JAZZ

Tribute to Miles Davis

Almost 15 years after his death, trumpeter Miles Davis remains one of the most influential jazz artists of the last seven decades. Starting in the late 1940s and up until his death in 1991, Davis kept stretching his music’s boundaries. Trumpeter Eddie Henderson takes the title role this weekend when “The Music of Miles Davis” comes to Malibu and Costa Mesa. The band will include drummer Jimmy Cobb, a member of Davis’ group from the late 1950s to the early ‘60s and a featured player on such classic Davis recordings as “Kind of Blue” and “Sketches of Spain.” Alto saxophonist Steve Wilson, tenor saxophonist Wayne Escoffrey, pianist Dave Kikoski and bassist Ed Howard will round out the ensemble.

“The Music of Miles Davis,” Founders Hall, Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday. $52 to $56. (714) 556-2787.

* Also 2 p.m. Sunday at Smothers Theatre, Pepperdine University, 24255 Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu. $35. (310) 506-4522.

DANCE

Stylish ‘Sylvia’

American Ballet Theatre opened its engagement at the Orange County Performing Arts Center with mixed repertory. (See review, Page 6.) But on Friday the company begins dancing the recent Royal Ballet reconstruction of Sir Frederick Ashton’s full-length 1952 “Sylvia” to music by Delibes. The story is ridiculous: A huntress in service to the goddess Diana is wooed by a shepherd, abducted by a brute but rescued by Eros, god of love. However, style is everything here, in the music, in the choreography and in the performances by four sets of principals.

American Ballet Theatre in “Sylvia.” Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. 8 p.m. Friday. $25 to $85. (714) 556-2787, www.ocpac.org

* Also 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday.

THEATER

Darwin at the beach

Charles Darwin is spending a peaceful afterlife in a beach house with free-spirited female companionship until a visit by friends Bishop Samuel Wilberforce and Thomas Huxley sparks a debate about science and religion. Making its American premiere, British playwright Crispin Whittell’s comedy “Darwin in Malibu” features Robert Foxworth, Rebecca Brooksher and Granville Van Dusen. Casey Stangl directs. A post-show discussion of the play’s themes will take place each Tuesday night.

“Darwin in Malibu,” Falcon Theatre, 4252 Riverside Drive, Burbank. Opens 8 p.m. Friday.

$25 to $37.50. (818) 955-8101, www.falcontheatre.com

* Runs 8 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays, 4 p.m. Sundays; ends May 21.

THEATER

Playwrights on display

The ninth annual Pacific Playwrights Festival showcases new plays by established and emerging playwrights in readings and a workshop production. The festival also includes performances of the world premiere productions “The Studio” by Christopher d’Amboise and “Blue Door” by Tanya Barfield. The readings are “Empty Sky” by Sarah Treem, “System Wonderland” by David Wiener, “The Piano Teacher” by Julia Cho and “Human Error” by Keith Reddin. Workshop: Victoria Stewart’s “Leitmotif.”

Pacific Playwrights Festival, South Coast Repertory, 655 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. 1 to 8 p.m. Friday. $10 per reading; workshop, $15; full productions, $28 to $58. (714) 708-5555, www.scr.org

* Also 10:30 a.m. to 7:45 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

SUNDAY

FAMILY

Global showcase

The Irvine International Family Festival opens with German troupe Theater Trieb-

werk’s three-actor production of “Moby Dick.” It continues next weekend with “4-ISH!,” a visual spectacle featuring a troupe of daredevil skaters and dancers from Amsterdam, and Denmark’s Theatre Fair Play in “A Word Is a Word,” about children who open up a shop that sells words.

Irvine International Family Festival, Irvine Barclay Theatre, 4242 Campus Drive, Irvine. “Moby Dick,” ages 9 to adult, 3 p.m. Sunday. $12 and $16. (949) 854-4646, (714) 740-7878. www.thebarclay.org

* “4-ISH!,” ages 8 and up, 7:30 p.m. May 11 and 12, $16 and $22. “A Word Is a Word,” ages 4 to 7, 9 and 11 a.m. May 12; 10 a.m., 1 and 3 p.m. May 13. $12.

MONDAY

BOOKS

Magical memoirist

If a James Frey-style controversy were to befall memoirist Augusten Burroughs, the author of “Running With Scissors,” “Dry” and “Magical Thinking,” his fans probably wouldn’t care. In fact, his betrayal in “Running With Scissors” of the Finch family, a dysfunctional band of kooks Burroughs lived with in his teens, prompted a defamation lawsuit from the real-life Turcottes of Massachusetts. Yet the film version with Gwyneth Paltrow, Alec Baldwin and Annette Bening is slated for release this fall. Burroughs’ latest book, “Possible Side Effects,” wrings more color and caustic humor from the former advertising executive’s well-documented life, but this time Burroughs includes a caveat: Some events have been “expanded and changed.” So back off, Oprah.

Augusten Burroughs, Club Fais Do Do, 5267 W. Adams Blvd. 7 p.m. Monday. (310) 659-3110.