8 pm: Pop Music

Aficionados of idiosyncrasy and innovative pop-music craftsmanship should stake out the Wiltern Theatre on Friday and Saturday, not only for headliner Fiona Apple and her postmodern cabaret rock but for an opening solo set from E, the leader of the acclaimed L.A. band the Eels.

* Fiona Apple, with E, at the Wiltern Theatre, 3790 Wilshire Blvd. Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m. $30 and $35. (213) 380-5005.

7:30 pm: Pop Music

After years of butting heads with the Nashville powers-that-be and turning out uneven records, eclectic maverick Shelby Lynne hooked up with Sheryl Crow’s producer, Bill Bottrell, and recently delivered “I Am Shelby Lynne,” the album that finally shows why she’s been pegged as the true heir to Dusty Springfield.

* Shelby Lynne, with David Mead, at the House of Blues, 8430 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood. 7:30 p.m. $17.50. (323) 848-5100.

7:45 pm: Theater

Tom Donaghy’s comedy, “The Beginning of August,” about a couple’s breakup and the subsequent forging of an unexpected new household out of refugees from other broken families, has its premiere.

* “The Beginning of August,” South Coast Repertory, 655 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. Tuesdays-Sundays, 7:45 p.m.; Saturdays and Sundays, 2 p.m. Ends May 28. $18 to $45; Saturday only, 2 p.m., pay what you can. (714) 708-5555.

8 pm: Dance

In the new issue of Movement Research magazine, choreographer Merce Cunningham speaks of technology as “something that makes me think in a new way,” and it’s not just talk. In “Biped,” he collaborates with digital artists Paul Kaiser and Shelley Eshkar to allow the members of his dance company to interact with large-scale, computer-generated motion-capture images. Projected onto both a gauze scrim covering the front of the stage and a screen at the back, these images exactly duplicate the movement of Cunningham dancers but in the form of animated drawings: a technological counterpoint to the live action. Music by Gavin Bryars adds to this unique experimental project.

* Merce Cunningham Dance Company, Alex Theatre, 216 N. Brand Blvd., Glendale. 8 p.m. Also Saturday, 8 p.m. $15 to $43. (800) 233-3123.

all day: Movies

Oscar-winner Kevin Spacey returns to the big screen as a smooth-talking traveling salesman in “The Big Kahuna,” a dark comedy based on Roger Rueff’s stage play “Hospitality Suite,” which premiered at Costa Mesa’s South Coast Repertory. The film co-stars Danny DeVito and Peter Facinelli as, respectively, the veteran salesman and the new kid on the block. The three men share a suite at a trade convention and are all looking to close a crucial deal. The movie is directed by John Swanbeck.

* “The Big Kahuna,” rated R for language, opens Friday at selected theaters.

8 pm: Theater

Pierre Cardin presents, from Paris, the American premiere of Manon Landowski’s musical comedy “Le Manege . . . (The Carousel),” about the search for perfect and lasting love. The show launches the New Ivar Theatre’s reopening as a venue for legitimate theater.

* “Le Manege . . . ,” New Ivar Theatre, 1605 N. Ivar Ave., Hollywood. Tuesdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 3 p.m. Through May 13. $20 to $30; opening night benefit for California Youth Theatre, $50 to $125. (213) 480-3232; (323) 461-7300.

9 pm: Pop Music

Born in Turkey and based in France, Dimitri From Paris has become one of the dance-music world’s star DJ remixers and recording artists. His new CD, “Respect Is Burning Presents: A Night at the Playboy Mansion,” fuels the scene’s retro-disco fire, and his DJ set at Vynyl figures to carry on its blend of funk and house music.

* Dimitri From Paris, at Vynyl, 1650 Schrader Blvd. 9 p.m. $17.50 in advance; $20 at the door. (323) 465-7449.

8 pm: Theater

A Noise Within’s inaugural season of residency at the Luckman Theatre continues with “Cymbeline,” one of Shakespeare’s last and least-seen plays. Directed by Art Manke, this epic of mistaken identities, Machiavellian mores and faith rewarded revolves around heroic Imogen, who must marry her doltish stepbrother after her husband is banished.

* “Cymbeline,” Luckman Theatre, Cal State L.A., State University Drive. Friday, 8 p.m. $40 opening; $26-$30. In repertory through June 18. Call for dates and times. (323) 224-6420.

May 19, June 7, 8 and 17, 8 p.m.; Saturday and May 20, 2 and 8 p.m.; May 14 and June 18, 2 and 7 p.m. Ends June 18. $26 to $30; opening, $40. (323) 224-6420.

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FREEBIES: “Revisiting Vietnam,” two one-hour documentaries exploring the legacy, myths and realities of the Vietnam War, broadcasts at 1 and 7 p.m. on KCRW-FM (89.9).

Bassist Henry “The Skipper” Franklin and his jazz crew play the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 5905 Wilshire Blvd., 5:30-8:30 p.m. (323) 857-6000.