BEST BETS SATURDAY 9/23

11am & 1:30pm

Children

How did Californians get around before there were cars? For that matter, how did they get to California? Master storyteller Karen Rae Kraut answers these and other questions for kids ages 5-12 during her show “California Tales.” The centerpiece is a lively reading of the book “Nine for California” by Sonia Levitin. The story, told from a child’s point of view, is about a family traveling west on a Wells Fargo stagecoach. But Kraut also will offer other stories and music about early California life during the 45-minute program--sponsored by the Homestead Museum and the County of Los Angeles Public Library.

* California Tales at the Hacienda Heights Library, 16010 La Monde St., Hacienda Heights at 11 a.m.; Sunkist Library, 840 N. Puente Ave., La Puente, 1:30 p.m. Free. (626) 968-8492.

7pm

Music

Conductor Jeffrey Kahane begins his fourth season as music director of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra with a Copland-Beethoven-Haydn program in Royce Hall, UCLA. Soloist is American violinist Joshua Bell, who plays the Beethoven concerto. This gala opening program, beginning with Copland’s “Latin American Sketches” and concluding with Haydn’s “Drumroll” Symphony, will not be repeated.

* The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Royce Hall at UCLA. 7 p.m. $13 to $53. (213) 622-7001, Ext. 215.

7:30pm

Pop Music

Creed’s crunch-rock is as fundamental as it gets, and the Florida foursome has tapped a large and loyal audience with its grass-roots stance and no-nonsense attitude. Its current album “Human Clay” is seemingly permanently lodged in the top 10, with sales of more than 5 million copies.

* Creed, with Collective Soul and Full Devil Jacket, Saturday at Verizon Wireless Amphitheater, 8808 Irvine Center Drive, Irvine. 8 p.m. $21.50 and $33. (949) 855-2863.

8 & 10pm

Cabaret

Los Angeles is just catching on to Lillias White, but it’s only a matter of time until she builds the following here that she has in New York, where her dusky, bluesy voice has graced such Broadway productions as “The Life”--for which she won a Tony Award--and “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.” Word has been spreading here in the wake of her appearances at the Cinegrill, as well as the “Divas: Simply Singing!” benefit and the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles’ Harold Arlen concert. She returns to the Cinegrill to introduce a new CD, “Lillias White: From Brooklyn to Broadway,” featuring songs by the likes of Cy Coleman and Hoagy Carmichael.

* Lillias White, “From Brooklyn to Broadway,” Cinegrill, Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, 7000 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood. Saturday and Sept. 30, 8 and 10 p.m. $20, plus $10 per person food or drink minimum. (323) 466-7000 or (323) 769-7273.

8pm

Theater

“SNL” alumna Nora Dunn, Gregory Jbara, and Adam Wylie star in the West Coast premiere of ‘Precious Sons,” a new version of George Furth’s biting comedy about parents in 1949 Chicago struggling against each other’s peculiarities as their sons come of age.

* “Precious Sons,” Blank Theatre Company at 2nd Stage Theatre, 6500 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood, Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 3 and 7 p.m. Ends Oct. 29. $27.50. (323) 661-9827.

8:30pm

Music

Veteran conductor Larry Curtis leads the American Winds Concert Band in a mixed program titled “From Ragtime to Our Time” at the Hollywood Bowl. Soloists are vocalist Barbara Morrison, pianist Jack Reidling and saxophonist Leo Potts.

* The American Winds Concert Band plays at Hollywood Bowl, 2301 N. Highland Ave., Hollywood. 8:30 p.m. $5 to $70. (323) 850-2000.

9pm

Pop Music

Lee “Scratch” Perry is a certified legend in reggae music, a musician and producer who’s had a hand in everything from the Wailers’ historic recordings to the Junior Murvin classic “Police and Thieves” (notably covered by the Clash) to the influential studio technique known as dub. His new album “Techno Party” moves his innovations into the electronic present.

* Lee “Scratch” Perry, with Mad Professor, Saturday at the Knitting Factory Hollywood, 7021 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood. 9 p.m. $30. (323) 463-0204.

FREEBIE:

“Contemporary Discovery: Consequences of the New,” an all-day symposium exploring graduate level art education, will be held from 11 a.m.-4:30 p.m. at Gerald R. Daniel Recital Hall, Cal State Long Beach, 1250 Bellflower Blvd., Long Beach. Reservations required: (562) 985-4299.