all day: Museum

If the walls of the California Science Center could talk, they would tell you about how the 135,000 pounds of concrete were used, how 85,000 square feet of glass is held up in the skylight or how the building has been made safe for earthquakes. But kids can learn most of those things anyway from the new exhibition “If These Walls Could Talk: An Exhibit About Buildings.” Developed by the Science Museum of Minnesota, this traveling exhibit looks at the science and history behind structures--from wood-frame houses to igloos to skyscrapers.

* “If These Walls Could Talk: An Exhibit About Buildings,” at the California Science Center, 700 State Drive, Los Angeles. Open daily, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Free. Parking, $5. Ends Sept. 6. (213) 744-7400.

all day: Film Festival

Catch the winning films from the fourth annual Newport Beach International Film Festival, which closes Sunday at Captain Blood’s Village Theater in Orange. The gala awards ceremony will take place today at 7 p.m. at the Edwards Lido, 3459 Via Lido Drive, Newport Beach, followed by a reception at Buzz Restaurant and Bar.

* Newport Beach International Film Festival, Captain Blood’s Village Theater, 1140 N. Tustin Ave., Orange. 2, 4, 6 and 8 p.m. $5.50 to $7. Theater, (714) 538-3545; tickets, (888) 386-8497; festival, (949) 851-6555. See Special Screenings list (Page TK) for full festival schedule.

all day: Movies

The Nuart will screen the longer, and superior, European version of the 1985 wild dystopian satire-fantasy “Brazil” as part of its “The Surreal World of Terry Gilliam” film series. The film is set in a mock-Orwellian London in which past, present and future are in a crazy tangle. Mad bureaucrats, obsessed with terrorism, pursue innocent paranoid residents with fixed smiles and ghastly sadism. A masterpiece of cartoonish design and horror, the film uses its film noir, German Expressionist, Wellesian texture to send up both the world outside and the dreams within. Jonathan Pryce, Michael Palin, Robert De Niro and Bob Hoskins star. Gilliam co-wrote the screenplay with Charles McKeown and Tom Stoppard (who recently won an Academy Award for co-writing “Shakespeare in Love”).

* “The Surreal World of Terry Gilliam,” Nuart, 11272 Santa Monica Blvd., West Los Angeles. Friday through Tuesday, European version of “Brazil.” Wednesday and April 8, “12 Monkeys” and “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.” $5 to $8. (310) 478-6379.

2 & 8pm: Dance

Easter Sunday is an ideal occasion for a fable about rebirth: “Cinderella,” the story of a victimized young woman who finds love and a new life by following her dreams. But expect surprises from Matthew Bourne’s new retelling-in-dance: The choreographer who gave us male swans and a neurotic Windsor-prince in “Swan Lake” isn’t exactly a guardian of tradition. Bourne sets the classic fairy-tale conflicts and relationships in the turmoil of World War II London: a radical shift indeed. Of course, the official opening comes on Wednesday, but previews are giving Bourne’s public a jump on reviewers and first-nighters. Is there a glass slipper? A fairy godmother? A happy ending? Join them and see.

* “Cinderella,” Ahmanson Theatre, Music Center, 135 N. Grand Ave., downtown Los Angeles. Previews: Thursday through Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 2 and 8 p.m. $22.50 to $50 (preview prices); $25 to $65 (for the regular run beginning Wednesday). Through May 23. (213) 628-2772.

3 pm: Clubs

While many Angelenos will be hunting for Easter eggs and doing brunch with granny for Easter, rock ‘n’ roll devotees will be celebrating something else: the 20th anniversary of Al’s Bar, the beloved art and music haven in the heart of downtown Los Angeles. Owner Marc Kreisel opened the legendary nightclub in ’79 as a way to fund an art gallery. Now, the club itself is art--with its walls a stickers archive of pop music past and present, recalling memorable shows by such artists as Los Lobos, Fear, and Wall of Voodoo. Festivities begin at 3 p.m., with performances by such seminal Al’s artists as Keith Morris, Popdefect, Leaving Trains, Kommunity FK, Mike Watt, and Sylvia Juncosa, as well as numerous surprise guests.

* Al’s Bar 20th anniversary party, 305 S. Hewitt St., downtown Los Angeles. 3 p.m. to closing. $5 cover. (213) 626-7213.

4 pm: Jazz

Cellist Fred Katz studied with Pablo Casals and introduced his instrument to jazz in 1955 as a member of the Chico Hamilton Quintet. To celebrate his 80th year, he teams with flutist and New Age godfather Paul Horn and former Bobby Darin pianist Roger Kellaway for a most eclectic gathering of styles.

* Fred Katz, Paul Winter, Roger Kellaway, the Jazz Bakery, 3233 Helms Ave., West L.A. 4 p.m. $20. (310) 271-9039.

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Freebies:

Brazilian vocalists Ana Gazzola and Sonia Santos appear on the Santa Monica Pier at 2 p.m. (310) 396-0897.

Bassoonists Yue Chou and Leslie Lashinsky play classical music with Yoland Liepa, piano; Teresa Chang, oboe; and William Skeen, cello at LACMA’s Leo S. Bing Theater, 5905 Wilshire Blvd., 4 p.m. (323) 485-6873.