Best Bets

Movies

Irishman Stuart Townsend (“About Adam”) takes over from Tom Cruise as Anne Rice’s vampire Lestat in “Queen of the Damned.” In this installment of Rice’s “Vampire Chronicles,” Lestat has become a rock star in San Francisco whose music awakens the title character--the mother of all vampires, played by the late pop star Aaliyah, above right, with Townsend. Opens Friday.

Pop Music

“O Brother, Where Art Thou?” started life as a quirky little Coen brothers movie. Then its soundtrack album became a music industry phenomenon, returning hard-core, traditional Southern styles to the country music throne by selling nearly 4 million copies. It has also spun off a concert documentary called “Down From the Mountain,” and that’s the title of the tour that comes to the Universal Amphitheatre tonight, with Ralph Stanley, below, heading the lineup.

Jazz

Singers will be the featured entree choices this week for Southland jazz fans. Current Grammy nominee Karrin Allyson comes to the Catalina Bar & Grill in Hollywood for a six-night run starting Tuesday. That same night across town, legendary singer-songwriter-pianist Mose Allison takes the stage at the Jazz Bakery in Culver City for 12 shows through next Sunday. Farther south, pianist-singer Bobby Short will perform in concert at the California Center for the Arts in Escondido on Saturday.

Theater

“Black Comedy,” Peter Shaffer’s consummate farce and wicked mind game--for cast and audience-- begins in total darkness, as party- goers gather for a bash at an artist’s loft. When a fuse supposedly blows just before the party gets underway, the lights come up on stage, and from then on, the actors play their roles as if they are actually in the dark. Presented by International City Theatre, it opens Saturday at the Long Beach Performing Arts Center’s Center Theater.

Dance

The Philadelphia powerhouse modern dance ensemble Philadanco, above, appears Friday at El Camino College in Torrance, and Saturday and next Sunday in Campbell Hall at UC Santa Barbara. Jawole Willa Jo Zollar’s “Hand Singing Song” and Bebe Miller’s “My Science” are two works from the company’s “Messages From the Heart” program, exploring issues of class, gender, race and spirit.

Music

Works by Vivaldi and Arvo Part figure prominently in performances at UCLA by the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and Tallin Chamber Orchestra. Tonu Kaljuste conducts the ensemble in Vivaldi’s “Psalm 69” and “Beatus Vir” and Part’s “Te Deum,” Friday at Royce Hall in Westwood.

Video

Michael Douglas plays a successful shrink whose daughter is kidnapped in “Don’t Say a Word.” Gary Fleder directed this New York thriller revolving around Douglas’ pro bono case--a troubled woman (Brittany Murphy) who witnessed the murder of her father.It arrives Tuesday on VHS and DVD.