7 & 8:45 pm: Jazz

The outdoor amphitheater overlooking Newport Bay is an idyllic setting for smooth jazz star David Benoit, a keyboardist capable of sensitive Bill Evans-inspired readings as well as groove and backbeat tunes. Benoit kicks off the Hyatt Newporter’s 17-performance Summer Jazz Series, which in the coming weeks will feature such contemporary-minded jazz musicians as George Duke, Chuck Mangione, Najee, Larry Carlton and Lee Ritenour.

* David Benoit, Summer Jazz Series at the Hyatt, Hyatt Newporter Hotel, 1107 Jamboree Road, Newport Beach. 7 p.m. show, $20; 8:45 p.m. show, $25. (714) 650-5483.

8 pm: Theater

After a young woman’s encounter with a coyote in Griffith Park, her life takes a strange turn in “Coyote Woman,” the premiere of the latest offbeat comedy by the Cast Theatre’s acclaimed resident playwright, Justin Tanner (“Pot Mom,” “Heartbreak Help”).

* “Coyote Woman,” Cast-at-the-Circle Theatre, 800 N. El Centro Ave., Hollywood. Fridays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 7 p.m. Ends July 14. $20. (213) 462-0265.

8 pm: Theater

“Heading East: The Musical,” East West Players’ second production of its inaugural season at the David Henry Hwang Theatre, offers a musical look at a family retracing its footsteps from 1848 to the present. With book and lyrics by Robert Lee and music by Leon Ko, the show highlights the roles played by Asian Pacific peoples in California history.

* “Heading East: The Musical,” East West Players, David Henry Hwang Theatre, Union Center for the Arts, 120 N. Judge John Aiso St., Little Tokyo. Fridays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 p.m. Through June 7. $20-$25. (800) 233-3123.

8:15 pm: Classical Music

The three-day, seven-event Ojai Festival opens with a joint performance by 1998 music director-pianist Mitsuko Uchida and the Brentano String Quartet. There will be four concerts in the Festival Bowl on Saturday and two more Sunday. Other performers include conductor David Zinman; the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra and L.A. Philharmonic New Music Group; pianist Ignat Solzhenitsyn, singers Elissa Johnston, Joyce Castle and Kurt Ollmann; and violinist Mark Steinberg.

* The Ojai Festival, Friday-Sunday. Festival Bowl, downtown Ojai. $12-$40. (805) 646-2094.

All day: Movies

NBC recently ran a one-hour compilation of the late Chris Farley’s best “Saturday Night Live” skits. Now comes his last film performance, “Almost Heroes,” in which the self-deprecating comedian and “Friends’ ” Matthew Perry star as two hapless explorers who almost made history (but were beaten to the punch by those Lewis and Clark guys). Rated PG-13.

* In general release.

All day: Movies

In “Hope Floats,” Sandra Bullock plays Birdee Pruitt, an erstwhile prom queen who returns to her small West Texas hometown after her husband and best friend betray her on a Jerry Springer-type TV talk show. Suddenly an unemployed, single parent, Birdee moves in with her free-spirited mother (Gena Rowlands) and discovers romance with a hunky carpenter (Harry Connick Jr.). The PG-13-rated film is directed by Forest Whitaker (“Waiting to Exhale”).

* In general release.

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Freebie: Los Angeles Philharmonic, St. Lucy’s Catholic Church, East Los Angeles, 7 p.m. (213) 266-0451 for reservations.