BEST BETS Friday 6/15

all day

Exhibit

The Petersen Automotive Museum celebrates the 50th anniversary of rock ‘n’ roll and the music’s lyrical link with the automobile with a new exhibit titled “Cars & Guitars of Rock ‘n’ Roll.” A ‘50s Oldsmobile, a Thunderbird from the ‘60s and the “Little Red Corvette” immortalized in the 1983 Prince hit of the same name will be among the 35 cars on display. Eric Clapton’s 1940 Ford and a 1932 hot rod belonging to Jeff Beck will be two of the cars of the stars that will be showcased. The exhibit will also include guitars from such rock heroes as Clapton, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix and Eddie Van Halen.* “Cars & Guitars of Rock ‘n’ Roll,” Petersen Automotive Museum, 6060 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles. Opens Friday. Museum hours: Tuesday-Sunday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. $7; seniors and students with ID, $5; ages 5-12, $3. (323) 930-CARS.

8pm

Dance

Celebrating its annual summer Pacifica Choreographic Project, Ballet Pacifica presents works by four choreographers who have participated in the project one or more times. The four are David Allan, Jamey Hampton, Rick McCullough and Robert Sund. Allan has created a new work for this concert: “Stealing Time,” which uses portions of Karl Jenkins’ score “Imagined Oceans.”

* Ballet Pacifica, Irvine Barclay Theatre, 4242 Campus Drive. 8 p.m. Also Saturday, 2:30 and 8 p.m. $20 to $24. ($8 student rush.) (949) 854-4646.

7:30pm

Pop Music

Sacramento punk-alternative quartet Welt has a brand-new album called “Brand New Dream” to celebrate at a couple of Orange County stops this weekend. The group plays Friday at Chain Reaction and Saturday at Linda’s Doll Hut.

* Welt, Chain Reaction, 1652 W. Lincoln Ave., Anaheim. With the Line, Stranded, Bueno, 400 Blows. 7:30 p.m. $7. (714) 635-6067. Also at Linda’s Doll Hut, 107 S. Adams St., Anaheim. With 001 Losers Club, Lonely Kings. Saturday, 8 p.m. $7. (714) 533-1286.

8pm

Theater

“Carnivals of Desire” kicks off a new era for the New Voices Playwrights Workshop, a consortium of local writers that over the past four years has specialized in readings of plays and productions of short pieces. This one by group member Mary Fengar Gail is New Voices’ first full-length production; it’s about a woebegone carnival in the deep South of 1933 and how a strange, supernaturally gifted old woman keeps it going by the sheer force of her will and imagination.

* “Carnivals of Desire,” a New Voices Workshop Production, Grand Central Art Center, 125 S. Broadway, Santa Ana. 8 p.m. Also Sunday, 2 and 7 p.m.; June 22-23, 8 p.m.; June 24, 7 p.m. $10 to $12. (949) 225-4125.

8pm

Jazz

Never mind the bake sale ... acclaimed vocalist Al Jarreau headlines the fifth annual “Jazz at J.B.” concert to support renovation of the historic, 75-year-old John Burroughs Middle School auditorium.* “Jazz at J.B.” featuring Al Jarreau, John Burroughs Middle School, 600 S. McCadden Place, Los Angeles. 8 p.m. $25, $35, $50. (213) 387-9177.

7:30pm

Movies

Eight Oscar-nominated shorts screen Friday at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as part of the “Academy Standards” series. The three animated films, Oscar-winner “Father and Daughter” by Michael Dudok de Wit, “The Periwig-Maker” and “Rejected,” will open the program. After a brief intermission, the five live-action shorts will be presented, including “By Courier,” “One Day Crossing,” Paolo Machline’s Oscar-winning “Quiero Ser (I Want to Be ... ),” “Seraglio” and “A Soccer Story (Una Historia de Futebol).” The academy has had a public screening of the nominated live-action and animated short subjects each year since 1996.* “Academy Standards,” Oscar-nominated animated and live-action shorts, Samuel Goldwyn Theater, 8949 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills. Friday, 7:30 p.m. $3 to $5. (310) 247-3600.

8:15pm

Pop Music

Ruben Blades takes a break from his career as an actor to demonstrate his unmatched versatility and imagination as a musician.* Ruben Blades, with Victor Manuelle, Universal Amphitheatre, 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City. 8:15 p.m. $28.50-$68.50. (818) 622-4440.

8pm

Theater

In “A Thurber Carnival,” tales by humorist James Thurber have been adapted for stage: “The Night the Bed Fell,” “How Mr. Peeble Got Rid of His Wife,” “The Pet Department” and “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.”* “A Thurber Carnival,” El Portal Center for the Arts, Circle Theatre, 5269 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood. Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 7 p.m.; Saturdays and Sundays, 2 p.m. Ends July 15. $20. (818) 508-4200, (800) 233-3123.

8&9pm

Dance

Last year the C.O.L.A. (City of Los Angeles) performance series made news with its edgy, uncompromising work. This year, it begins with Dulce Capadocia’s Silayan Philippine-American Dance Company holding forth in Theatre 1 at the L.A. Theatre Center and, an hour later, Licia Perea performing a solo work based on Virginia Wolfe’s “Orlando” in Theatre 3. Among the artists who received 2001-02 city fellowships in the performing arts, Capadocia blends a contemporary sensibility with folkloric performing skills while Perea develops her dances from an intuitive perspective. One ticket gets you into both events--with another doubleheader scheduled for next week.* C.O.L.A. (City of Los Angeles) Performance Series, L.A. Theatre Center, 514 S. Spring St., downtown L.A. 8 and 9 p.m. Also Saturday, 8 and 9 p.m. $5 (Arts Card member) to $10. (213) 485-1681.