8pm: Dance

A planned annual Southland residency for the much-loved Paul Taylor Dance Company kicks off this week with master classes, lecture-demonstrations and two different programs by Taylor 2, the professional, six-dancer adjunct to Taylor’s main company. Watch for his “Airs,” “Runes’ and “Company B” on Friday, followed by “Images,” “Polaris,” “Profiles” and “Funny Papers” on Saturday--in versions adapted by Taylor himself for a chamber-size ensemble. Also watch for a free student workshop performance of excerpts from “Aureole” on April 3 at the Alex Theatre in Glendale: exactly where the main company dances new rep on April 24 and 25.

* Taylor 2, Keck Theater, Occidental College campus, 1600 Campus Road, Eagle Rock. Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m. $10 to $20. (323) 259-2922. Student workshop performance: April 3, 3 p.m., Alex Theatre, 216 N. Brand Blvd., Glendale. Free.

8pm: Theater

The well-regarded Los Angeles Women’s Shakespeare Company presents its new, all-female production of Shakespeare’s romantic comedy “Much Ado About Nothing,” with Kelly Coffield (“In Living Color”) as strong-willed Beatrice, who meets her match in Benedick, played by artistic director Lisa Wolpe. Wolpe co-directs with Natsuko Ohama and the production features original music by O-Lan Jones and a set designed by Academy Awards art director Elina Katsioula.

* “Much Ado About Nothing,” [Inside] the Ford Theatre, John Anson Ford Amphitheatre Complex, 2580 Cahuenga Blvd. E. Wednesdays through Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 3 p.m. Ends April 25. $15 to $20. (310) 289-1487.

8pm: Opera

A tragic tale of economic struggle and enduring love, “Porgy and Bess” contains some of America’s most-admired music, written by George and Ira Gershwin, including “Summertime,” “It Ain’t Necessarily So” and “I Loves You Porgy.” This Living Arts Inc. production out of New York promises to make Catfish Row come alive.

* Porgy and Bess, Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts, 12700 Center Court Drive, 8 p.m. Also Saturday, 2 and 8 p.m.; Sunday, 2 and 7 p.m. $32 to $47. (800) 300-4345.

all day / Movies

His Q-rating may not be as high as his cartoon brethren from “Rugrats,” but Doug Funnie from ABC’s popular Saturday morning series “Disney’s Doug” is about to make his feature film debut in the aptly titled “Doug’s 1st Movie.” In the film, the wily 12-year-old and his best friend, Skeeter, discover a monster in Lucky Duck Lake, and Doug contemplates asking pretty Patti Mayonnaise to the school dance.

* “Doug’s 1st Movie” opens Friday in general release.

all day / Movies

In last summer’s hit film “The Truman Show,” Jim Carrey played a man whose entire life had been broadcast on television, unbeknownst to him. Now director Ron Howard gives us the flip side of that scenario with “EDtv”: Matthew McConaughey plays Ed Pekurny, a laid-back slacker type who agrees to let a cable television camera crew follow him around 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Ed quickly becomes a pop-culture icon, spawning fan clubs, imitators and even stalkers. Woody Harrelson, Jenna Elfman, Ellen DeGeneres, Dennis Hopper, Elizabeth Hurley, Sally Kirkland and Martin Landau round out the cast.

* “EDtv” opens Friday in general release.

8pm: Music

Music director Mariss Jansons brings his Pittsburgh Symphony back to the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, offering as his main course Mahler’s imposing Fifth Symphony. Soloist is Helen Huang, who begins the program playing Beethoven’s First Piano Concerto.

* The Pittsburgh Symphony plays in the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave., (323) 850-2000 at 8 p.m. $9 to $65. The orchestra plays another program Saturday at 8 p.m. in the Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa, (949) 553-2422. $20 to $60.

Freebies:

Veteran bassist Art Davis, who has played with John Coltrane, Art Blakey and Max Roach, leads his trio at LACMA, 5905 Wilshire Blvd., 5:30 p.m. (323) 857-6000.

*

A joint concert of the Los Angeles Zimriyah Chorale, Choral Society of Southern California, Adat Ari El Adult Choir, and the Temple Beth Hillel Choir will be held at Adat Ari El Synagogue, 12020 Burbank Blvd., North Hollywood, 8 p.m. (818) 766-9426.