8 pm: World Music

Japanese taiko drummers present a visual as well as audible spectacle while the percussionists whirl between the giant barrel drums and strike with exaggerated movement. The members of Kodo--the Japanese characters of the name suggest the word “heartbeat”--will portray dreamscapes, landscapes and other exotic destinations when it makes three Southland performances during its One World tour this weekend.

* Kodo, Japan America Theatre, 244 S. San Pedro St., Little Tokyo. $50-$100. (213) 680-3700. Also at Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts, 12700 Center Court Drive, Cerritos; Saturday, 8 p.m., and Sunday, 2 p.m. Sold out. (800) 300-4345.

all day: Movies

“Mysteries of Egypt,” a 40-minute, large-format film, stars Omar Sharif as a grandfather who dazzles his young granddaughter with stories about the ancient people of Egypt. The film is presented by National Geographic, which was able to obtain exclusive access to the Valley of the Nile from the Egyptian government and features aerial views of the Pyramids of Giza and intimate explorations of the storied tombs.

* “Mysteries of Egypt,” California Science Center, Imax Theater, 700 State Drive, Exposition Park. Friday, 11 a.m., 1, 4 and 7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m., 1, 5 and 8 p.m.; Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m., 1 and 4 p.m. Through May 11. $3.75 to $6.50. (213) 744-2014.

7:45 pm: Theater

“References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot,” Jose Rivera’s provocative play revolves around a career soldier’s wife who inhabits a surreal fantasy world in order to cope with her husband’s long absences.

* “References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot,” South Coast Repertory, Second Stage, 655 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. Tuesdays-Sundays, 7:45 p.m.; Saturdays and Sundays, 2 p.m. Ends Feb. 27. $18 to $45, except pay-what-you-can this Saturday, 2 p.m. (714) 708-5555.

8 pm: Pop Music

The African American female a cappella group Sweet Honey in the Rock has its roots in the civil rights movement, so it’s appropriate that the ensemble will be heard next month on the soundtrack of “Freedom Song,” a TNT original movie depicting that upheaval. The Washington-based group’s Wiltern Theatre concert is a benefit for the Santa Monica-based Liberty Hill Foundation, which funds grass-roots community organizations.

* Sweet Honey in the Rock, Wiltern Theatre, 3790 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles. 8 p.m. $25 to $150. (213) 380-5005.

8 pm: Opera

In local performances of the one-person opera “Ravenshead,” vocalist Rinde Eckert and the Paul Dresher Ensemble Electro-Acoustic Band bring the show to the Freud Playhouse at UCLA and to Cal State Long Beach. “Ravenshead”--based on the true story of round-the-world solo sailor Donald Crowhurst--was composed by Steve Mackey, with libretto by Eckert; it is here staged by Tony Taccone.

* “Ravenshead,” Freud Playhouse, UCLA, Westwood. 8 p.m. $25. (310) 825-2101. Saturday at Carpenter Center, Cal State Long Beach, 6200 Atherton St., Long Beach. 8 p.m. $18 to $23. (562) 985-7000.

8 pm: Theater

A big welcome back howdy to Vera Carp, Didi Snively, R.R., Pearl, Bertha, and the rest of the wacky residents of Tuna, Texas. Joe Sears and Jaston Williams, again playing all the roles, return in “Red, White and Tuna,” the new third part of their satiric trilogy about small-town zanies. This time, the setting is a Fourth of July high school reunion.

* “Red, White and Tuna,” La Mirada Theatre, 14900 La Mirada Blvd., La Mirada. Tuesdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2:30 p.m.; Feb. 5 and 12, 2:30 p.m.; Feb. 6 and 13, 7:30 p.m. Ends Feb. 13. $34. (714) 994-6310, (562) 944-9801.

FREEBIE

USC’s School of Fine Arts hosts “Art in Motion,” an all-day international festival of time-based media featuring shorts, CD-ROMs, digital animation and Web sites from 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. in the Annenberg Auditorium on the USC campus. (213) 821-1620.

Cellist Gloria Lum and bassist Chris Hanulik, members of the L.A. Philharmonic, join pianist Gloria Cheng in music by Rossini, Bach and Franck at Byrd Studio at Occidental College, 1600 Campus Road, Eagle Rock. 8 p.m. (323) 259-2785.