Best Bets / MAY 13-19, 2001

Movies

Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz and John Lithgow head the voice cast for the animated comedy “Shrek,” right, about an ornery ogre whose solitude is shattered when fairy tale characters invade his swamp. From PDI/DreamWorks and based on a William Steig children’s book. Opens Wednesday at the Century 14 and citywide Friday.Also: Baz Luhrmann’s “Moulin Rouge,” set in the turn of the 20th century at the legendary Paris music hall, stars Nicole Kidman as the courtesan torn between a young writer and an obsessive duke. Ewan McGregor co-stars. Opens Friday.

Theater

A Latina mother and daughter are trapped inside their home in pursuit of the American Dream in Luis Alfaro’s dark comedy “Bitter Homes and Gardens.” Directed by Playwright’s Arena artistic director Jon Lawrence Rivera, the world premiere opens Friday and launches the company’s inaugural season at the Los Angeles Theatre Center.

Music

Esa-Pekka Salonen conducts music by Henze for the first time when he brings a suite from the ballet, “Undine” (1957) to Los Angeles Philharmonic concerts Friday through next Sunday, pairing the unfamiliar score with Ravel’s popular Suite No. 2 from “Daphnis et Chloe.” At the concerts in L.A.’s Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Mitsuko Uchida, above, returns to play Bartok’s Piano Concerto No. 1.

Pop Music

Things have gotten bright for David Gray over the last year, but one thing hasn’t changed for the English singer-songwriter: He’s still on the road. Gray recently began his fourth U.S. tour since his album “White Ladder” came out in March 2000, a pace that helped transform him from eternal journeyman to prestige headliner. He plays the Universal Amphitheatre on Friday.

Jazz

Pianist Marcus Roberts brings his trio (Roland Guerin on bass and Jason Marsalis on drums) to L.A.’s Union Station today. Roberts is known for integrating his own artistic vision with various classic American piano styles from Scott Joplin and Jelly Roll Morton to Thelonious Monk.

Video

Christopher Guest directed, co-wrote and starred in the delightfully wacky “Best in Show.” Set in the world of dog shows, the comedy follows several couples and their precious pooches. Parker Posey, Michael McKean, Eugene Levy, Catherine O’Hara and a scene-stealing Fred Willard star. The satire arrives Tuesday on DVD and VHS.

Art

“Julian Stanczak: Pioneer of Op Art,” a 50-year retrospective devoted to the pioneering Op--short for Optical--artist, opens Saturday at the Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art. Stanczak’s abstract paintings used repetitive lines, colors and patterns that the artist believed mirrored the universal rhythms of life. Below: “Line-Up” (1978).