TODAYTHEATERHigh-flying stuff”Ace,” a new musical by Robert...

TODAY

THEATER

High-flying stuff

“Ace,” a new musical by Robert Taylor and Richard Oberacker, with music by Oberacker, pays tribute to the achievements and sacrifices made by the aviation heroes of World Wars I and II. The West Coast premiere is directed by Stafford Arima.

“Ace,” Old Globe Theatre, 1363 Old Globe Way, Balboa Park, San Diego. Opens 8 tonight. $47 to $75. (619) 234-5623; www.theoldglobe.org

* Runs 7 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 8 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays, 2 and 7 p.m. Sundays. Ends Feb. 18.

FRIDAY

THEATER

No. 2 of Shanley’s three

A military base in 1971 North Carolina is rife with racial unease in “Defiance,” John Patrick Shanley’s latest morality tale. A West Coast premiere, it follows the Tony- and Pulitzer-winning “Doubt” as the second in Shanley’s intended trilogy of plays exploring American institutional authority and hierarchies. Andrew J. Robinson directs.

“Defiance,” Pasadena Playhouse, 39 S. El Molino Ave., Pasadena. Opens 8 p.m. Friday. $31 to $60. (626) 356-7529. www.pasadenaplayhouse.org

* Runs 8 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, 4 and 8 p.m. Saturdays, 2 and 7 p.m. Sundays. Exceptions: Dark next Tuesday and Jan. 31; 2 p.m. only on Feb. 7. Ends Feb. 18.

EVENTS

A grand photo op

More than 50 galleries, artists and other exhibitors will showcase work this weekend at the Los Angeles Photographic Art Exposition. Collecting seminars by curators Virginia Heckert and Stephen White and consultant Mary Virginia Swanson will be featured along with lectures by such photographic artists as Mona Kuhn, Todd Hido, Jonathan Anderson, Edwin Low, Alec Soth, Jim Goldberg and Robert Weingarten. Seminar and lecture enrollment is limited and reservations are required. An opening reception from 6 to 9 tonight will be hosted by Graham Nash and will benefit the Elton John AIDS Foundation.

Los Angeles Photographic Art Exposition, Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, 1855 Main St., Santa Monica, noon to 7 p.m. Friday. One-day pass, $20; three-day pass, $30; seminars, $80; lectures, $10; opening reception, $100. (323) 937-4659; www.artfairsinc.com

* Also Noon to 7 p.m. Saturday; Noon to 6 p.m. Sunday. Opening reception, 6 to 9 tonight.

MUSIC

Adams all around

It’s a joyful John Adams weekend with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Pasadena Symphony both playing major works by this Bay Area contemporary composer. Esa-Pekka Salonen leads the Philharmonic in Adams’ “Naive and Sentimental Music,” commissioned by the orchestra and premiered in 1999, in two locations, Los Angeles and Costa Mesa. The work, which borrows its title from Schiller, was dedicated to Salonen. Jorge Mester will conduct the Pasadena Symphony in Adams’ “Grand Pianola Music,” one of his earlier minimalist scores, premiered by the San Francisco Symphony under his direction in 1982. Robert Thies and Gloria Cheng will be the two pianists, who, the composer wrote in a program note, “play essentially the same material, but with one slightly behind the other.... This gives the piano writing its unique shimmer.”

Los Angeles Philharmonic, Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., L.A. 8 p.m. Friday (partial program). $15 to $135; (323) 850-2000. www.LAPhil.com

* Also 8 p.m. Saturday(with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 2). And 3 p.m. Sunday, Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, Orange County Performing Arts Center, 615 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. $25 to $95. (949) 553-2422; www.philharmonicsociety.org

Pasadena Symphony, Pasadena Civic Auditorium, 300 E. Green St., Pasadena, 8 p.m. Saturday. $15 to $69. (626) 584-8833; www.pasadenasymphony.org

MOVIES

Need a ride?

Sean Bean steps into the role made famous by Rutger Hauer in a remake of the 1986 road-trip-from-hell thriller “The Hitcher.” Sophia Bush, Zachary Knighton and Neal McDonough also star for

Michael Bay’s Platinum Dunes production

company, which previously remade “The Amityville Horror” and “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.” Dave Meyers makes his feature directing

debut.

“The Hitcher,” rated R for strong bloody violence, terror and language, opens Friday in general release.

SATURDAY

ART

Nurturing nature

Inspired by ama, the Japanese diving women who are the breadwinners of the family, husband-and-wife team Kozue and Dan Kitchens of Kozyndan imagine a world with closer bonds to the natural environment.

The gouache and ink on paper works in the

exhibition “Nirai Kanai” tackle this contemporary disconnect and draw contrasts between the powerful ama and today’s idolization of waif-like fashion plates.

Kozyndan: “Nirai Kanai,” Sixspace Gallery, 5803 Washington Blvd., Culver City. Opens Saturday. (323) 932-6200.

* Hours: noon to 6 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. Ends Feb. 17.

MUSIC

Serkin steps in

Pianist Peter Serkin makes his Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra debut and his only 2007 Los Angeles appearance this weekend. Hailed by Times music critic Mark Swed for a “deeply personal way of looking at the world that is informed by history yet also transcends it in profoundly successful ways,” Serkin will be the soloist in Bach’s Concerto in D minor, as reconstructed by pianist and composer Robert Levin, and also play in Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 5. Concertmaster

Margaret Batjer will

conduct the chamber orchestra. The program will open with Part’s “Fratres” and close with Tchaikovsky’s “Souvenir de Florence.”

Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and Peter Serkin, Alex Theatre, 216 N. Brand Ave., Glendale. 8 p.m. Saturday. $17 to $76. (213) 622-7001, Ext. 215. www.laco.org

* Also 7 p.m. Sunday, Royce Hall, UCLA, Westwood.

SUNDAY

THEATER

Growing up in the Marcos era

With a diverse cast of characters -- a soft-porn movie star, a Jesuit priest, Imelda Marcos -- Jessica Hagedorn’s “Dogeaters,” a tragicomic look at the Philippines during the reign of Ferdinand Marcos, follows the coming-of-age stories of a movieobsessed girl from an

upper-middle-class family and a poor Afro-Filipino hustler. Jon Lawrence

Rivera directs this

Playwrights’ Arena-

TDRZ Productions staging.

“Dogeaters,” Kirk Douglas Theatre, 9820 Washington Blvd., Culver City. Opens 4 p.m. Sunday. $20 to $40. (213) 628-2772. www.centertheatregroup.org

* Runs 8 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays, 2 and 7 p.m. Sundays; ends Feb. 11.

POP MUSIC

Donovan, Lynch share zeal

Donovan has “Catch the Wind,” his first hit, and David Lynch has “Catching the Big Fish,” his new book. The Scottish troubadour and the American movie director also share a passion for Transcendental Meditation, a cause that has inspired the most unusual concert pairing in years. Donovan will sing and Lynch will speak and take questions in support of the David Lynch Foundation, which endeavors to introduce meditation to at-risk youth.

David Lynch and Donovan, Kodak Theatre, 6801 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, 7 p.m. Sunday. Sold out, (323) 308-6300.

WORDS

Author searches the menu

In sociologist Barry Glassner’s latest book, “The Gospel of Food,” no diet or food trend is safe from this author’s voracious appetite for debunking, including those typically considered virtuous, such as organic food and the vegan diet. Furthermore, Glassner defends the usual suspects, i.e., fast food and “Frankenfoods,” all in the name of liberating us at the table. Sandra Tsing Loh, frequent science writer, essayist and humorist, joins Glassner to discuss our most potent food myths and obsessions.

Writers Bloc presents Barry Glassner and Sandra Tsing Loh at the Fine Arts Theatre, 8556 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills. 3 p.m. Sunday. $20. (310) 335-0917.