2pm Pop MusicLila Downs’ intoxicating tour of...

2pm Pop Music

Lila Downs’ intoxicating tour of boleros, American pop standards, tales of Mexico’s indigenous people (in their own languages), Woody Guthrie anthems and idiosyncratic originals reflects her bicultural heritage (mom a Mixtec from Mexico, dad a Minnesota Anglo) and places her at the forefront of the new guard of independent-minded Latina singers. Downs marks Cinco de Mayo with three area performances.

Lila Downs, Santa Monica College Amphitheatre, 1900 Pico Blvd., Santa Monica, 2 p.m. Free. (310) 434-3431. Sunday at Amoeba Music, 6400 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, 2 p.m. Free. (323) 465-7449. Sunday at the Conga Room, 5364 Wilshire Blvd., L.A., 9 p.m. $20 to $40. (323) 938-1696.

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all dayTheater

“Three Plays/Three Voices,” a daylong theatrical reflection on the causes and consequences of the L.A. riots of 1992, features the plays “Corner Store Riot,” M.J. Kang’s drama about Korean shop owners in South-Central L.A. on the eve of the upheaval; “Canned Goods,” Silas Jones’ surrealistic vision of intercity lives; and “Olympic Notions & Supply,” a look at post-riot L.A. through a guarded friendship between two older African American and Korean people, by Robert Barnett. The event will also include “Are We Getting Along Yet?,” a panel discussion with artists, activists, community leaders and the audience.

“Three Plays/Three Voices,” Los Angeles Theatre Center, 514 S. Spring St., L.A., Saturday, noon to 8 p.m. (Each play will be presented twice during the day; performance times are noon, 2:30 and 8 p.m., with two plays presented each time. The panel discussion is at 5:30 p.m.) $10 for the entire event. (213) 485-1681.

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all day Festival

Don’t kid yourself. The 1500s were not this much fun. Plague, intolerance, beheadings, bearbaiting, no MTV.... Nevertheless this weekend, the original Renaissance Pleasure Faire celebrates its 40th year with a re-creation of a 16th century English country fair and marketplace with eight stages of continuous entertainment, food, crafts, games and indoor restrooms with 21st century plumbing.

Renaissance Pleasure Faire, Glen Helen Regional Park, 2555 Glen Helen Parkway, San Bernardino. Saturdays and Sundays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. through June 16. Also open May 27. $7.50 to $17.50; children under 5 are free with paying parent. (909) 880-0122.

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all day Tour

The Venice Garden Tour offers a peek into some of the most interesting private gardens in that beach community. This year for the first time, the self-guided tour will also include a section of the Venice canals area south of Venice Boulevard. Proceeds benefit the Neighborhood Youth Assn. Visitors are advised to begin the walking tour by 2 p.m. to see all the gardens.

Venice Garden Tour starts at Jay Griffith Studio, 717 California Ave., Venice, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. $50. (310) 390-6641.

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8pm Music

Inspired by the public discussion of World War II-era Japanese relocation camps, the Los Angeles Chamber Singers have crafted a program titled “Pearls on Sand: The Japanese-American Connection” for the UCLA faculty composers series. Represented are Ian Krouse and Paul Chihara of the faculty, the late Toru Takemitsu, UCLA alumna Naomi Sekiya and the winner of a recent student competition, Kay Rhie.

Los Angeles Chamber Singers, Peter Rutenberg conducting, Schoenberg Hall, UCLA, Westwood, 8 p.m. $7 to $18. (310) 825-2101.

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8pm Pop Music

All due respect to the Fab Four and “Beatlemania,” but the real Beatle is the one most suited to present that legacy. When Paul McCartney opened his U.S. tour last month, he did the tradition proud, especially in a risky and touching acoustic segment that included salutes to John Lennon and George Harrison.

Paul McCartney, Staples Center, 1111 S. Figueroa St., L.A., 8 p.m. $51.75 to $258.75. (213) 742-7300. Also Sunday at the Arrowhead Pond, 2695 E. Katella Blvd., Anaheim, 8 p.m. $50 to $250. (714) 704-2500.

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7 & 9:30pm Dance

Stop the presses! Remake Page 1! Send out for bigger headline type! Collage Dance Theatre, the locally based master of site-specific performances, takes on American journalism in “Cover Story.” Staged in the Spanish Mission-style Herald Examiner Building downtown, the production moves through a number of atmospheric locations--the ornate lobby, the newsroom, the pressroom--all given a hallucinatory spin through the use of video projections, a marching band and a griot (African storyteller). In “After Eden,” the company’s award-winning hotel extravaganza last year, a mermaid materialized from the depths of the Marriott swimming pool, so who knows what impossible fantasies the Her-Ex environment may inspire?

“Cover Story,” Collage Dance Theatre, Herald Examiner Building, 1111 S. Broadway, downtown L.A., 8 p.m. Regular schedule: Saturdays, 7 and 9:30 p.m.; Sundays, 5 and 7:30 p.m. Ends May 19. $15 to $25. Opening night gala with reception, $75. (323) 655-8587.