all day ArtSifting through a thrift store...

all day Art

Sifting through a thrift store in 1987, artist and sometime movie director Julian Schnabel came upon a small painting of a girl that inspired his latest show, “Big Girl Paintings,” opening today at Gagosian Gallery. Using that classic, clean-cut American image as a starting point, Schnabel painted 13 large-scale girls, then deleted the eyes of each with one long, broad stroke. The artist has explained that this loss of sight is meant to force the viewer to look beyond the eyes and examine each painting as a whole.

“Julian Schnabel: Big Girl Paintings,” Gagosian Gallery, 456 N. Camden Drive, Beverly Hills. Tuesdays to Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Free. Ends May 4. A reception for the artist will be held today from 6 to 8 p.m. (310) 271-9400.

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8pm Theater

Paddy Chayefsky’s “Middle of the Night” has always attracted top talent. Written in 1954 for NBC’s “The Philco Television Playhouse,” the play went on to a 1956 Broadway run with Edward G. Robinson and Gena Rowlands. Frederic March and Kim Novak were the May-December lovers in the 1959 film version. Now John Rubinstein directs a new version of the story, a romantic drama about a middle-age man and his neurotic 24-year-old secretary. Elliott Gould, Carol Kane, Amy Pietz and Kenneth Alan Williams star in the live radio theater production for L.A. Theatre Works.

“Middle of the Night,” L.A. Theatre Works at Skirball Cultural Center, 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd., L.A., today and Friday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 4 and 7:30 p.m. Ends Sunday. $10 to $42. (310) 827-0889.

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8pm Comedy

The Baseball Reliquary has made it its mission to preserve the not-so-serious history of baseball--the myths, the absurdities, the outright lies. For the organization’s All-Star Baseball Comedy Benefit, a full lineup of comics will take a swing at our national pastime, including Fred Willard, Jack Riley and Ed Crasnick. Here’s the funniest thing of all: The money will go toward the construction of an inedible cake replica of Ebbets Field.

All-Star Baseball Comedy Benefit, Ice House Annex, 38 N. Mentor Ave., Pasadena, 8 p.m. $20. Reservations required. (626) 791-7647.

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8pm Equestrian

Equestrian ballet has a long and honorable history stretching back to medieval times. The Montreal-based Cheval Theatre continues the tradition with this show created by Gilles Ste-Croix, artistic director of Cirque du Soleil since 1988. More than 30 horses of 17 distinct breeds (Spanish, Belgian, Russian, Arabian and others) will perform within a multi-peaked round tent hand-painted on the outside to look like a castle in the Loire Valley of France. Acrobats, actors, musicians, dancers and trainers from various countries complete the cast.

Cheval Theatre, Orange County Fair & Exposition Center, 88 Fair Drive, Costa Mesa. Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, 8 p.m.; Saturdays, 4 and 8 p.m.; Sundays, 1:30 and 5 p.m. Ends April 7. $49 to $58; students and seniors, $44 to $51; children, $30 to $35. (877) 528-0777.