Best Bets

December 2-8, 2001

Movies

As his follow-up to last year’s “Erin Brockovich” and “Traffic,” director Steven Soderbergh switched creative gears for a remake of the Rat Pack casino heist flick “Ocean’s Eleven.” The cast of contemporary Hollywood’s biggest stars includes Andy Garcia, above left, George Clooney and Julia Roberts. Opens Friday.

Also: “The Last Orders” assembles a cavalcade of British acting heavyweights--Michael Caine, Tom Courtenay, David Hemmings, Bob Hoskins, Helen Mirren and Ray Winstone--in an adaptation of Graham Swift’s novel about a group of old friends carrying out one’s final wishes. Written and directed by Fred Schepisi, it opens Friday.

Theater

Gravity-defying grand illusions and elaborate “ooh-aah” magical tricks and treats are on tap in “Lance Burton: Master Magician,” a splashy extravaganza with an international roster of entertainers. Special guests include juggler and comedian Michael Goudeau, and Poland’s the Great Tomsoni & Company. Friday through next Sunday at Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts.

Art

“Liz Larner,” a mid-career survey opening today at the Museum of Contemporary Art in downtown L.A., explores the work of a Los Angeles artist who makes unorthodox sculpture. Using everything from human hair and flowers to broken mirrors, she creates tiny objects and room-size installations that challenge conventional notions. Above, “Orchid, Buttermilk, Penny,” a 1987 Cibachrome print.

Dance

For her latest project, Jazz Tap Ensemble director Lynn Dally is collaborating with dancers who specialize in flamenco, modern dance, rhythm tap, Javanese dance and Indian dance. On view Thursday to next Sunday at Highways Perform-ance Space in Santa Monica, the result is an intercultural experiment she calls “Rhythm-a-ning: A Percussive Dialogue.”

Jazz

David Sanchez Quartet, regarded by some as one of the finest jazz ensembles currently performing, opens a six-nighter at Catalina Bar & Grill in Hollywood on Tuesday. Also, singer-pianist Diana Krall opens a concert swing through the Southland in Segerstrom Hall at the Orange County Performing Arts Center on Saturday.

Pop Music

December’s spate of benefit concerts will feature everyone from Alanis Morissette to Alicia Keys and Sting to Stevie Wonder. The season kicks off with the KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas at the Universal Amphitheatre in Universal City. It’s anchored on both Saturday and next Sunday by Staind and Linkin Park.

Music

With Carol Vaness, Virginia Tola, Rodney Gilfrey and Dean Peterson in principal roles, Los Angeles Opera presents the Utah Opera production of Lehar’s “The Merry Widow,” below. The seven performances begin tonight and close Dec. 22. John DeMain conducts; stage director is Lotfi Mansouri, who this month also directs another “Merry Widow”--in a new production at San Francisco Opera, the company he led until last season.