8:15pmPop MusicGarth Brooks once sang about “Unanswered...

8:15pm

Pop Music

Garth Brooks once sang about “Unanswered Prayers” sometimes being the greatest blessing, and sophomore country singer Brad Paisley probably feels like the beneficiary. Brooks reportedly passed on recording Paisley’s new hit “I’m Going to Miss Her (The Fishin’ Song),” as did Alan Jackson and George Strait, but Paisley finally bit and took it to No. 1 on the country charts. The West Virginian’s continuing success has helped him step up to headliner status, and he tops the lineup for the CMT Most Wanted Tour, which stops Friday at Universal Amphitheatre.

Brad Paisley, Universal Amphitheatre, 100 Universal City Plaza. With Shannon Lawson, Steve Azar. 8:15 p.m. $29.50 to $49.50. (818) 622-4440.

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Theater

West Coast Ensemble presents Frank Galati’s Tony Award-winning adaptation of John Steinbeck’s landmark novel “The Grapes of Wrath.” This final production of the company’s 20th anniversary season, directed by Claudia Jaffe, is also its largest ever, featuring 25 actors in more than 55 roles, and is part of the international John Steinbeck Centennial celebration.

“The Grapes of Wrath,” West Coast Ensemble, 522 N. La Brea Ave., Hollywood. Fridays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 3 p.m. Ends $22. (323) 525-0022.

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Movies

Andy Garcia stars as a writer on the skids in George Hickenlooper’s “The Man From Elysian Fields.” Backed into a desperate economic situation, Garcia’s Byron Tiller, a once-promising novelist, finds himself reduced to working for proprietor Mick Jagger’s high-class escort service. Tiller’s clients include the lonely wife (Olivia Williams) of an aging Pulitzer Prize-winning writer (James Coburn), and he is led into an unimaginable situation with his literary hero.

“The Man From Elysian Fields,” rated R for language and sexual content, opens Friday in selected theaters.

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Pop Music

Jim Morrison is commonly lionized as the bad boy of the ‘60s L.A. rock scene, but purists recognize Love frontman Arthur Lee as the seminal wild child, a volatile and enigmatic performer who set the standard of possessed performance. Love’s career has had more ups and downs than a schoolyard teeter-totter, and he spent the last several years in prison on a firearms conviction, resuming touring shortly after his release in December. He and the current Love lineup return Friday to his old Hollywood stamping grounds, albeit at the tony (and recently refurbished) Henry Fonda Theatre, as well as Saturday at the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano.

Love, featuring Arthur Lee, Henry Fonda Theatre, 6126 Hollywood Blvd. 8 p.m. $18 advance, $20 day of show. Also Saturday at the Coach House, 33157 Camino Capistrano, San Juan Capistrano. 8 p.m. $19.50. (949) 496-8930.

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Theater

“InterACTivity ‘02,” Interact Theatre Company’s seventh annual festival of staged readings and workshops, includes 14 different programs presented over four weeks, featuring new plays, musicals and solo plays. Program schedules vary week to week; tonight’s show is “Sex, Sex, Sex, Sex, Sex, Sex, and Sex,” a new play by George Furth.

“InterACTivity ‘02,” Interact Theatre Company, 5215 Bakman Ave., North Hollywood. Tuesdays-Fridays, 8 p.m.; Saturdays, 1 and 3 p.m., 4:30 p.m., 8 p.m.; Sundays, 3 and 7 p.m. Ends Oct. 20. $10. (818) 773-7862.

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8pm

Music

Sitar virtuoso Kartik Seshadri--a disciple of Ravi Shankar--and his ensemble perform on the same stage with guitarists Vlatko Stefanovski and Miroslav Tadic, who play traditional music of Macedonia. Another provocative juxtaposition in the World Festival of Sacred Music.

Kartik Seshadri and Ensemble, and guitarists Vlatko Stefanovski and Miroslav Tadic, Carpenter Performing Arts Center, Cal State Long Beach, 6200 Atherton St., Long Beach. 8 p.m. $25-$30. (562) 985-7000.