BEST BETS Saturday 11/11

8:30am

Family

Get out of the house early for the Pasadena Symphony’s “Musical Circus.” The symphony’s program for ages 4 to 10 presents the Wicked Tinkers bagpipe group and a “musical petting zoo,” followed by a final rehearsal of Peter Schickele’s world premiere cello concerto “In Memoriam FDR.”

* “Musical Circus,” Pasadena Civic Auditorium, 300 E. Green St., Pasadena. Saturday, 8:30 to 10 a.m. Free. (626) 793-7172, Ext. 10.

10am

Movies

“BookWars,” a film about the community of New York City street booksellers and their battle with Mayor Rudolph Giuliani over their right to ply their trade, screens this weekend as part of the six-film “Documentary Days” series at the Laemmle’s Sunset 5 in West Hollywood. The film focuses on such issues as the use of public space and urban life in the era of corporate interdependence. Each film in the series plays a second weekend at the Laemmle’s Monica 4-Plex in Santa Monica. The series runs through Dec. 10 at the Sunset 5 and Dec. 17 at the Monica. See Screening Room, Page XX.

* “BookWars,” Sunset 5, 8000 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood. Saturday-Sunday, 10 a.m.; Monica screenings are at 11 a.m. $8.50. (323) 848-3500.

11am

Music

A new season for Toyota’s Symphonies for Youth at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion begins with an Aaron Copland program called “Launch Your Voice!” and conducted by Miguel Harth-Bedoya. Designed for children ages 5-11, and their parents, the series is hosted by John de Lancie.

* Toyota’s Symphonies for Youth take place in the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion at 11 a.m. (pre-event activities at 10 a.m., 135 N. Grand Ave., downtown Los Angeles. $9-$11. (323) 850-2000.

8pm

Theater

Tony Award-winner Phyllis Frelich (“Children of a Lesser God”) will direct Deaf West Theatre’s production of Bernard Slade’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play, “The Gin Game.” In this new adaptation presented in American Sign Language with voice interpretation, Frelich and Freda Norman will portray two elderly deaf women in a nursing home whose lives are revealed over a game of cards.

* “The Gin Game,” Deaf West Theatre, 5112 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood. 8 p.m.Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Saturdays, 2 p.m.; Sundays, 3 p.m. Dark Nov. 23-26. Ends Dec. 17. $20. (818) 762-2773; (818) 762-2782 (TTY).

7:30pm

Theater

A Veteran’s Day celebration takes the stage: Tom Cole’s edgy drama, “Medal of Honor Rag,” about a tormented Vietnam veteran and the psychiatrist who hopes to save him; plus performances by gospel singer Dave Shirley, and a drill team and marching band.

* “Medal of Honor Rag,” Miracle Theater, 226 S. Market St., Inglewood. 7:30 p.m.; Also Sunday, 4 p.m. $20. (310) 671-4665.

8:30pm

Comedy

Hal Kanter--the award-winning comedy writer who gave Jack Paar and Bing Crosby jokes to crack--has gathered up some of his pals for a show that’s a danger to delicate ribs. “My Funny Funny Friends” features Gerry Bednob the anti-P.C. “Turban Cowboy,” plumber-turned-comedian Frankie Pace and storyteller Bruce Smirnoff.

* “My Funny Funny Friends,” Gindi Auditorium, University of Judaism, 15600 Mulholland Drive, Los Angeles. 8:30 p.m. Also Sunday, 2 and 7:30 p.m. and Tuesday, 8 p.m. $25 to $30. (310) 476-9777, Ext. 203.

SATURDAY FREEBIE:

East West Players’ Asian Pacific Tales Company presents two folk-tale adaptations: “Baseball-Do” and “Maui Captures the Sun,” Autry Museum’s Wells Fargo Theatre, 4700 Western Heritage Way, Los Angeles, 1 p.m. (323) 667-2000.

Music by Copland, Beethoven, Saint-Saens, Tchaikovsky from the Culver City-Marina del Rey-Westchester Symphony, with Frank Fetta conducting and Kamil Musaev on cello. Veterans Memorial Auditorium, 4117 Overland Ave., Culver City, (310) 837-5757. 8 p.m.