Itinerary: The Devil’s Due

This is a time of great spiritual struggle in the entertainment world.We’ve got “Touched By an Angel” and Biblical epics on TV, and we have Adam Sandler playing the spawn of Satan (“Little Nicky”), coming soon to a theater near you.

But say this for old Beelzebub--his stuff is funnier. This weekend, give the devil his due, entertainment-wise.

Today

Want to prove that rock ‘n’ roll (or, in this case, punk rock) is the work of the devil? The lineup of bands at the “Rumble at the Galaxy” should make the case, easily.

On the bill: Hellbound Hayride, Shot to Hell, Spurs and Diablo 44, all at 8 p.m. at the Galaxy Theatre (3503 S. Harbor Blvd., Santa Ana. $8. [714] 957-0600).

Friday

We all know the myth of Orpheus. His wife, Eurydice, died from a snakebite, so he took his lyre down into the underworld to get her back. His songs were so moving that he won over Hades himself. Hades agreed to let Eurydice follow Orpheus out of the underworld--but only if Orpheus did not look back at her until they returned home. Orpheus turned around, however, and his wife was pulled back into the underworld, effectively dying a second time.

Musician Daniel Gilboy follows a long line of Orpheus adaptations with his new rock opera, “Orpheus: A Season in Hell” (2100 Square Feet, 5615 San Vicente Blvd., Los Angeles. Thursday-Saturday, 8 p.m. $15. [323] 860-6568). Gilboy plays the title character as well in the cast of 20. The show runs through Nov. 18.

Saturday

L.A. TheaterSports takes a much more lighthearted approach to the thought of eternal damnation in “The Hell Show” (Bitter Truth Theatre, 11050 Magnolia Blvd., North Hollywood. Saturday, 8 p.m. Ends Dec. 2. $10. [818] 505-6406). In creator-director Brian Lohmann’s show, seven sinners in purgatory try to keep from going to hell by entertaining a demon-bureaucrat. They improvise a musical--which is, in fact, made up on the spot by a rotating cast each week. At the end, the audience votes on whether they go to hell. Talk about a tough crowd.

Hell itself isn’t any hotter than Club Makeup. This glam club at the El Rey Theatre (5515 Wilshire Blvd., [323] 936-4790) is turning into a head-banger’s heaven, dubbed “Ride the Highway to Hell,” on Saturday at 10 p.m. There’ll be heavy metal on the turntables and the house band, the Gutter Gangster All Stars, on stage at midnight, plus Monique Powell, Steven Adler and host Eva Destruction (a.k.a. Alexis Arquette). Surely someone will sing “The Devil Went Down to Georgia.”

Sunday

A devilish pair of features is currently in cinemas: “Bedazzled” and “The Exorcist.”

For purists, the remake of “Bedazzled” will never match the original starring Dudley Moore as the loser willing to sell his soul for seven wishes, and the comic genius Peter Cook as the devil who finds the loophole in each wish. But if you can’t find that on video, the new version with Brendan Fraser and Elizabeth Hurley will suffice.

The devil isn’t so funny--but is probably more dangerous--in “The Exorcist.” In re-release with some additions, William Friedkin’s film of the William Peter Blatty novel has been performing well at the box office during the Halloween season. Linda Blair plays the possessed 12-year-old girl who shows a flair for levitation. Ellen Burstyn is the mother who calls on a pair of priests--Jason Miller and Max von Sydow--to keep her daughter on this Earth.