4pm Pop Music

4pm Pop Music

Backstreet bro’ Aaron Carter, who did three songs for the soundtrack of the movie “Jimmy Neutron,” headlines the Theatre at the Arrowhead Pond, joined by Dream Street and new teen contender Lindsay Pagano.

Aaron Carter, Theatre at the Arrowhead Pond, 2695 E. Katella, Anaheim, 4 p.m. $30 and $33.50. (714) 704-2500.

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1 to 7pm Festival

Olvera Street will celebrate Chinese New Year with dragon dance performances, a lantern parade, contests, workshops in Chinese calligraphy, kite- and lantern-making, and an art exhibition.

Lantern Festival & Street Fair, Olvera Street, El Pueblo de Los Angeles, Alameda Street across from Union Station, 1 to 7 p.m.; lantern parade, 5:30 to 7 p.m. Free. (213) 628-1274.

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all day Exhibition

If you want to see the acting or editing in this year’s Oscar nominees, head to any cineplex or video store. But to get a close-up look at the costumes, head downtown to “The Art of Motion Picture Costume Design.” The exhibition in the galleries of the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising features actual costumes from almost 20 of last year’s films, including “Moulin Rouge,” “The Lord of the Rings,” “The Princess Diaries,” “Gosford Park” and “Ocean’s Eleven.” As part of this 10th anniversary exhibition, the institute is displaying Oscar-winning costume designs from the past decade as well, including outfits from “Bugsy,” “The English Patient,” “Titanic” and “Shakespeare in Love.”

“The Art of Motion Picture Costume Design,” Museum Galleries on the Park, the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, 919 S. Grand Ave., L.A., 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday-Saturday. Ends May 3. Free. (213) 624-1200.

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4:30 & 7:30pm Theater

Wells Fargo Radio Theatre presents “The Heart of Biddy Mason,” Ted Lange’s play about one of the most remarkable women in Los Angeles history. Mason began life as a slave in Georgia, was a traveling preacher’s wedding gift and won her freedom in California in 1856. She went on to become the first African American homesteader in L.A., a midwife and a founder of the First African Methodist Episcopal Church.

“The Heart of Biddy Mason,” Wells Fargo Theatre, Autry Museum of Western Heritage, L.A., 4:30 and 7:30 p.m. $17. (323) 667-2000, Ext. 354.

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8pm Comedy

Here’s honesty in comedy for you: When Team Uncabaret--Greg Miller and Beth Lapides--put together the lineup for the final evening of the Comedy Project 2002, they pretty much said, “Who’s free on the 23rd?” The result is an eclectic bill of writers, actors, music types and a chef. But they’ll all be within their realm of expertise in this show, titled “If There’s One Thing I Know....” Comedians Taylor Negron, Carol Leifer, Patton Oswalt and Jay Kogen will be joined by writer Bruce Wagner, restaurateur Mary Sue Milliken, DJ Chris Douridas and rocker Ray Manzarek.

“If There’s One Thing I Know ,” Skirball Cultural Center, 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd., L.A., 8 p.m. $15, $12 members, $10 students. (323) 655-8587.

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8pm Dance

Beware of blisters from tapping your toes, because vintage recordings by the likes of Frank Sinatra, Nat “King” Cole, Duke Ellington, the Andrews Sisters and Billie Holliday offer an irresistible trip to nostalgia heaven all by themselves. Add choreography by New York’s William Soleau and San Francisco’s Robert Sund, plus dancing by Santa Barbara’s up-and-coming State Street Ballet, and you have “Ballroom: A Salute to the Swing Era,” the kind of evening guaranteed to leave everyone except champion Lindy hoppers weak in the knees. Can ballet dancers swing while on their toes? Don’t ask, just look.

State Street Ballet in “Ballroom: A Salute to the Swing Era,” Luckman Fine Arts Complex, Cal State L.A., 5151 State University Drive, L.A. 8 p.m. $22.50 to $32.50. (323) 343-6600.

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8pm Music

Classical guitarist Manuel Barrueco and jazz pianist Pablo Ziegler--each in his only local appearance this winter--give a joint recital in Royce Hall, the guitarist playing music by Piazzolla, Lecuona, Rodrigo and Copland; Ziegler also performing pieces by Piazzolla, as well as original compositions.

Manuel Barrueco and Pablo Ziegler, Royce Hall, UCLA, 8 p.m. $25-$40. (310) 825-2101.