8 pm: Pop Music

In his turns at the vocal microphone with the Band, Levon Helm sang some of the monuments of rock music, including “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” and “Up on Cripple Creek.” That classic voice has been silenced by successful treatment for throat cancer, and the Arkansas native now channels his passion for the bedrock of American music as the drummer for the Barn Burners, a New York blues band. And there’s still a Helm voice to be heard--his daughter, Amy, sings with the group.

* Levon Helm & the Barn Burners, the Coach House, 33157 Camino Capistrano, San Juan Capistrano, 8 p.m. $16.50. (949) 496-8927. Also Saturday at the House of Blues, 8430 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, 9 p.m. $17.50. (323) 848-5100.

8 p.m.: Theater

Harold Gould stars as Uncle Carmine in the world premiere of “Shooting Craps,” a satire written and directed by Tom Dulack (“Breaking Legs”), about politics, gambling and reelection campaign promises.

* “Shooting Craps,” El Portal Center, Mainstage Theatre, 5269 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood, Friday, 8 p.m. Regular schedule: Tuesdays-Wednesdays, Sundays, 7 p.m.; Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Saturdays, 4 p.m.; Sundays, 2 p.m. Ends Feb. 25. $30-$45. (818) 508-4200, (800) 233-3123.

8 p.m.: Music

The Artemis String Quartet took top honors at the German Music Competition in 1995, the Munich Competition in 1996 and the Borciani Competition in 1997. Not bad for an ensemble formed only in 1989. For their Orange County debut, violinists Natalia Prischepenko and Heime Muller, violist Volker Jakobsen and cellist Eckart Runge will play Beethoven’s Second and Eighth quartets and Ligeti’s String Quartet No. 2.

* Artemis String Quartet, Founders Hall, Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. 8 p.m. $36. (714) 556-2787.

8 p.m.: Music

Vigorously imagining President Nixon’s historic meetings in 1972 with Mao Tse-tung, which led to the opening of China to Western nations, John Adams’ opera “Nixon in China” proved a critical and box-office hit. The composer will lead the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Los Angeles Master Chorale in selections from the work, composed in 1987, plus his 1997 piano concerto, “Century Rolls.” James Maddalena, who created the role, will sing Richard Nixon, Susan Naruki will sing Pat Nixon, and William Sharp will sing Chou En-lai. Emanuel Ax will be the soloist in the piano concerto.

* Selections from “Nixon in China,” Los Angeles Philharmonic, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave., L.A. 8 p.m. Also Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2:30 p.m. $10 to $70. (323) 850-2000.

all day: Movies

Where will you find Mel Gibson in an art-house flick with U2’s Bono as one of the co-writers? Welcome to “The Million Dollar Hotel,” a downtown L.A. flophouse peopled by a rogue’s gallery of skid-row refugees and the latest release by German filmmaker Wim Wenders (“Wings of Desire”). Gibson plays an FBI hard case investigating the death of one of the hotel’s residents, a junkie who turns out to be the heir to a media empire. Bono concocted the story with Wenders and contributes to the soundtrack. Jeremy Davies, Milla Jovovich, Jimmy Smits, Peter Stormare, Amanda Plummer, Gloria Stuart and Bud Cort are among the ensemble cast.

* “The Million Dollar Hotel,” rated R for language and some sexual content, opens Friday in limited release.

1 p.m.: Festival

Parts of historic downtown Riverside will be transformed into Charles Dickens’ 19th century England during the 8th annual Dickens Festival. The weekend celebration will kick off on Friday with Dickensian vignettes and music at the Olive Grove Retirement Resort and a Pub Night Supper at the Life Arts Building in Riverside. Saturday and Sunday activities and attractions will include a London marketplace, a Victorian costume ball, vaudeville music hall show, street entertainment and characters, teas, fashion shows, historical reenactments, storytelling, a mini-faire for children, an Oliver Twist book discussion and a flea circus.

* Dickens Festival, all activities except the Dickensian vignettes and music show will take place on Mission Inn Avenue between Lime and Orange streets, downtown Riverside. Friday, 1 p.m.-9 p.m.; Saturday 10 a.m.-midnight; Sunday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Call for event locations, times and ticket prices. (909) 781-3168 or (800) 430-4140. Web site: https://www.pe.net/dickens.

8 p.m.: Theater

“The Diary of Anne Frank,” a young girl’s bittersweet chronicle of the two years that her family and friends spent in hiding in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam, is newly adapted by Wendy Kesselman from the script by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett.

* “The Diary of Anne Frank,” West Coast Ensemble, 522 N. La Brea Ave., L.A. Fridays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 3 p.m. Ends March 25. $20. (323) 525-0022.

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FREEBIE: Marc Wolf performs “Another American: Asking and Telling,” his solo drama on the experiences of gays in the military, at 8 p.m. at the UC Santa Barbara Multicultural Center. (805) 893-8411.