8 pm: Pop Music

Bob Dylan tours like a country preacher--not as a career strategy but as an unquestioned calling. That’s why he’s been on the road almost constantly for more than a decade. The difference this time around is the presence on the pulpit of a great new album, “Love and Theft.” And on this tour the famously contrary musician has been showcasing such instant classics as “Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum” and “Sugar Baby.”

* Bob Dylan, Staples Center, 1111 S. Figueroa St., L.A., 8 p.m. $35 to $64.50. (213) 624-3100.

8:30 pm: Pop Music

Dylan isn’t the only great ‘60s songwriter still at it. Ray Davies has revived his post-Kinks fortunes with a solo show mixing song and conversation in an autobiographical kaleidoscope ranging from childhood in London’s Muswell Hill to the pinnacle of Brit-rock stardom.* Ray Davies, John Anson Ford Amphitheatre, 2580 Cahuenga Blvd., L.A., 8:30 p.m. $36.50. (323) 461-3673.

all day: Movies

A yacht returns from a weekend cruise with one of its famous passengers dying. Was it from a gunshot fired by a wealthy newspaper publisher in a jealous rage or was it a heart attack brought on by acute indigestion that killed silent film mogul Thomas Ince? That’s the question posed by this weekend’s “The Great Hollywood Murder Mystery of 1924?,” devoted to one of Hollywood’s more enduring dark legends. Events begin Friday evening with a screening of “The Cat’s Meow,” a fictionalized version of the events that transpired on tycoon William Randolph Hearst’s yacht, directed by Peter Bogdanovich, based on Steven Peros’ play, scheduled to be released by Lions Gate Films next spring. Among those aboard the seagoing party that weekend were Hearst (played in the film by Edward Herrmann) and his mistress, actress Marion Davies (Kirsten Dunst), Ince (Cary Elwes), Charlie Chaplin (Eddie Izzard), British novelist Elinor Glyn (Joanna Lumley) and future gossip columnist Louella Parsons (Jennifer Tilly). Bogdanovich, Peros and available members of the cast and crew will participate in a post-screening discussion. The rest of the weekend includes screenings of films of those involved with the mystery, including some rare silents from Ince’s studio.

* “The Great Hollywood Murder Mystery of 1924?,” American Cinematheque, Lloyd E. Rigler Theatre at the Egyptian, 6712 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood. “The Cat’s Meow,” Friday, 7:30 p.m. “Civilization,” plus “A Tour of the Thomas Ince Studios,” Friday, 9:45 p.m. “The Gold Rush,” Saturday, noon. “It,” Saturday, 5 p.m. Marion Davies double feature: “The Patsy” and “Peg O’ My Heart,” Saturday, 7 p.m. “The Return of Draw Egan” and “The Coward,” Sunday, 5 p.m. “Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans,” Sunday, 7:30 p.m. $12 to $15 for “The Cat’s Meow,” $6 to $8 for other screenings. (323) 466-3456.

7:30 pm: Opera

For the second revival of the original 1992 production, Los Angeles Opera presents 10 performances of Verdi’s “La Traviata,” conducted by Placido Domingo and William Vendice. Ana Maria Martinez, who last sang here as Mimi in Puccini’s “La Boheme” in 1997, takes the title role. Her alternating Alfredos are Rolando Villazon (debut) and Bruce Sledge. Jorges Lagunes sings the elder Germont; the rest of the cast includes Suzanna Guzman, Jessica Rivera, James Creswell, Pablo Porras and Louis Lebherz. Marta Domingo returns as the production’s original stage director.

* Los Angeles Opera produces Verdi’s “La Traviata,” Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave., L.A. 7:30 p.m. $30 to $165. Also Sunday, Tuesday and Oct. 28 and 31, Nov. 2, 4, 7, and 10 at 7:30 p.m. and Oct. 27 at 1 p.m.

8 pm: Theater

In 1965, then-fledgling South Coast Repertory introduced Southern California audiences to the work of new playwright luminary Harold Pinter, presenting “The Homecoming,” a drama about a British professor who introduces his wife to his father and brothers’ all-male household with tumultuous results. SCR revisits its landmark production, with a revival of the Pinter play directed by Martin Benson.* “The Homecoming,” South Coast Repertory, 655 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa, Tuesdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 7:30 p.m.; Saturdays-Sundays, 2:30 p.m. Ends Nov. 16. $27 to $52. (714) 708-5555.

7:30 pm: Theater

In “An Evening With Groucho,” Frank Ferrante reprises his internationally touring portrayal of legendary, anarchic comedian Groucho Marx, featuring classic one-liners, anecdotes, and such icons as Charlie Chaplin, W.C. Fields, favorite Marx foil Margaret Dumont and the other Marx Brothers. The show also includes those memorable signature songs “Hooray for Captain Spalding” and “Lydia, the Tattooed Lady.”* “An Evening With Groucho,” Theater on the Hill at Pierce College, 6201 Winnetka Ave., Woodland Hills, Friday and Saturday, 7:30 p.m. $15 to $25. (818) 753-3306, (866) 468-3399.

9 pm: Pop Music

With the world looking more and more like something out of a Clash song, that band’s former ringleader, Joe Strummer, tours the U.S. with his perception undimmed. He may not be doing “Rock the Casbah,” and the beats may be global rather than pure punk, but he and his new young band, the Mescaleros, are intently attuned to the vibe of the times.

* Joe Strummer & the Mescaleros, House of Blues Anaheim, 1530 S. Disneyland Drive, Anaheim, 9 p.m. $27.50. (714) 778-2583. Also Monday, Tuesday, next Thursday and Oct. 26 at the Troubadour, 9081 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood, 8 p.m. $30 (Oct. 26 sold out). (310) 276-6168.

Freebie

* Folk-rock titan Richard Thompson gives a solo performance at the Getty Center’s Harold M. Williams Auditorium, 1200 Getty Center Drive, Los Angeles, 7:30 p.m. Reservations are recommended: (310) 440-7300.