BEST BETS: Friday 8/2

7:30pm Music

The opening night at SummerFest La Jolla 2002 is a genuine embarrassment of riches. The players include violinists Cho-Liang Lin and Leila Josefowicz, violist Michael Tree, cellists Ralph Kirshbaum and Ronald Leonard, and pianists Leon Fleisher, John Novacek and Christopher O’Riley. The program? Schubert’s F-minor Fantasy, Samuel Barber’s Sonata for cello and piano, John Adams’ “Road Movies” and Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s Suite for Two Violins, Cello and Piano. The festival continues through Aug. 18.

SummerFest La Jolla, Sherwood Auditorium, 700 Prospect St., La Jolla, 7:30 p.m. $40 to $50. (858) 459-3728.

all day Movies

Director and writer M. Night Shyamalan (“The Sixth Sense,” “Unbreakable”) weaves a suspenseful tale about an ordinary farmer whose life is interrupted by the mysterious appearance of crop circles in his fields. In “Signs,” the farmer, played by Mel Gibson, attempts to find the meaning and cause of the curious swaths cut through his cornfields. But what he discovers might change forever the lives of his brother (Joaquin Phoenix) and children (Rory Culkin, Abigail Breslin).

“Signs,” rated PG-13 for some frightening moments, opens Friday in general release.

all day Movies

Steven Soderbergh (“sex, lies and videotape”) returns to his low-budget roots with “Full Frontal,” a comedy about people, love and relationships: Linda would love to be loved. Carl loves his wife, Lee. Lee is looking to be loved by Calvin. Calvin plays Nicholas, who discovers he’s in love with Catherine. Catherine, who is really Francesca, finds true love. And Gus loves himself. Totally lost? Well, a fine ensemble cast--David Duchovny, Nicky Katt, David Hyde Pierce, Julia Roberts and Blair Underwood--leads the way through. See related story, Page 34.

“Full Frontal,” rated R for language and some sexual content, opens Friday in selected theaters.

9pm Words

Friday is the night. Midnight Records is the place and Safe House Poetry Jam is the setting to hear accomplished as well as fledgling local poets. The weekly event is hosted by Los Angeles-based poet Gaknew and features an ever-changing lineup. Bring along that notebook full of verse; the club sets aside time for open-mike contributions.

Safe House Poetry Jam, Midnight Records, 2867 S. Robertson Blvd., West L.A., Fridays 9 p.m. to 12 a.m. Free. (310) 839-9455.

1pm Theater

The 17th annual Hispanic Playwrights Project at South Coast Repertory offers four play readings in two days. “Electricidad” is Luis Alfaro’s recasting of Sophocles’ “Electra” in a contemporary Chicano milieu; Magdalena Gomez offers “Lobster Face (or the Shame of Amanda Cockshutt),” about the title character’s journey from kindergarten through hippiedom to old age; “Lost in Translation,” by Rogelio Martinez, tosses Americans and Cubans together by chance in a Havana hotel; and “The Beauty of the Father,” by Nilo Cruz, concerns an aging artist’s attempt to reconnect with his long-absent daughter.

Hispanic Playwrights Project, Founders Hall, Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. “Electricidad,” Friday, 1 p.m.; “Lobster Face,” Friday, 3:30 p.m.; “Lost in Translation,” Saturday, 1 p.m.; “The Beauty of the Father,” Saturday, 3:30 p.m. $8 for each reading. (714) 708-5555.

8:30pm Dance

Classical instrumentalists and new-age Canadian circus performers get together in Cahuenga Pass this weekend when the L.A. Philharmonic joins forces with Cirque Eloize for “Cirque Orchestra: A Night at the Circus” at the Hollywood Bowl. For its Bowl debut, Cirque Eloize weds contemporary dance and acrobatics in a way that has won it acclaim in more than 200 cities worldwide. Led by associate conductor Miguel Harth-Bedoya, the Philharmonic plays its own kind of circus music: Barber’s “Adagio for Strings,” Chabrier’s “Espana,” Sibelius’ “Valse Triste,” Saint-Saens’ “Danse Macabre” and “Danse Bacchanale,” plus excerpts from Stravinsky’s “Firebird,” Tchaikovsky’s “Nutcracker” and Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Capriccio Espagnol.”

L.A. Philharmonic, Miguel Harth-Bedoya, conductor, Hollywood Bowl, 2301 N. Highland Ave., Hollywood. “Cirque Orchestra: A Night at the Circus.” 8:30 p.m. Also Saturday, 8:30 p.m. $3 to $90. (323) 850-2000.

all day Art

Adding to an already highly regarded permanent collection, the Norton Simon Museum will display more important works in “The Art of Giving: Recent Acquisitions of the Norton Simon Museum,” opening Friday in Pasadena. Included among the 75 works will be Asian masterpieces, European and American paintings and sculpture and works on paper by Rembrandt van Rijn, Emil Nolde, Lyonel Feininger and George Herms.

“The Art of Giving: Recent Acquisitions of the Norton Simon Museum,” Norton Simon Museum, 411 W. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena. Ends Nov. 4. Daily, noon to 6 p.m., except Fridays, noon to 9 p.m.; closed Tuesdays. Adults, $6; seniors, $3. (626) 449-6840.