BEST BETS Thursday 8/31

noon Music

Placido Domingo’s international vocal competition, Operalia 2000, occupies Royce Hall at UCLA for the next several days, at the finals assisted by the L.A. Chamber Orchestra. The 40 contestants at the preliminaries will be accompanied by piano, as will the semifinalists, to be heard Sunday at 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Operalia concludes Tuesday at 7 p.m.

* Operalia 2000 preliminary auditions take place today and Friday in Royce Hall at UCLA, noon to 4 p.m. Semifinals on Sunday, 11 a.m.; finals on Tuesday, 7 p.m. Admission is free today, Friday and Sunday, but tickets are required. Call the UCLA ticket office, (310) 825-2101. Admission for Tuesday finals: $25 to $75.

8pm

Theater

The 1950s-style foursome “The Taffetas”--Maggie Gish, L.J. Stankoe, garic, Jennifer O’Hagen and Karen Volpe--take a musical jaunt back in time to the world of jukeboxes, poodle skirts, cherry Cokes, sock hops and soda fountains.

* “The Taffetas,” Cinegrill, Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, 7000 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood. Today through Sunday and Sept. 5 and 6, 8 p.m. $15. (323) 769-7273.

8pm

Pop Music

Compay Segundo, one of the newly canonized saints of Cuban music as a member of the Buena Vista Social Club, brings an understated touch to the island’s son tradition. The 93-year-old musician follows last fall’s House of Blues appearance with this open-air affair.

* Compay Segundo, John Anson Ford Amphitheatre, 2580 Cahuenga Blvd. East, Hollywood, 8 p.m. $35 and $55. (323) 461-3673.

all day

Art

Drawings influenced by the Peter Paul Rubens work “The Assumption of the Virgin,” a recent acquisition by the J. Paul Getty Museum, will be featured in “Peter Paul Rubens and the Art of Drawing in Flanders,” which opened earlier this week at the Getty Center. The exhibition will include drawings by the influential draftsman as well as his Flemish contemporaries Anthony van Dyck, Frans Snyders, Jan Cossiers and Jacob Jordaens, highlighting the flourishing artistic culture in Flanders during the 1500s and 1600s.

* “Peter Paul Rubens and the Art of Drawing in Flanders,” J. Paul Getty Museum, 1200 Getty Center Drive, Brentwood. Parking reservations required, with the exception of college students and Thursdays and Fridays from 4 to 9 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Thursdays and Fridays, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Saturdays and Sundays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Ends Oct. 22. Free; parking, $5. (310) 440-7300.

Freebie

The Autry Museum’s Sizzling Summer Nights! series continues as the honky-tonk band Lucky Stars performs from 5:30 to 8 p.m. complemented by refreshments, dancing and free admission to the museum. 4700 Western Heritage Way, Griffith Park. (323) 667-2000.