Three-day forecast

MOVIES

An eye on suspicious activity

Following the L.A. County Museum of Art’s eight-film Elio Petri retrospective earlier this month, the Nuart presents a one-week run of the Italian director’s 1970 Oscar-winner for best foreign language film, “Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion.” Gian Maria Volonte stars as an antihero police chief who plants evidence against himself to test his department’s honesty. The sultry Florinda Boikan costars.

“Investigation of a Citizen Under Suspicion,” rated R, opens Friday exclusively at the Landmark Nuart, 11272 Santa Monica Blvd., West L.A. (310) 281-8223.

THEATER

For mature audiences

UCLA Live’s second annual International Theatre Festival presents two works for mature audiences: “Jewess Tattooess,” British artist Marisa Carnesky’s solo personal and political journey, a blend of early melodrama of the Yiddish Theatre and fairground sideshow; and “uBUNG,” the U.S. premiere of Belgium director-writer Josse De Pauw’s commentary on the destructive lessons that adults unwittingly pass on to the next generation, as six children mimic the words and actions of adults at a dinner party depicted in a silent black-and-white film overhead. (In Flemish, with English subtitles.)

“Jewess Tattooess”: UCLA’s Macgowan Little Theater, Westwood. Opens Wednesday. Runs Wednesday, Friday-Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 7 p.m.; ends Oct. 5. $30. (310) 825-2101. “uBUNG”: Freud Playhouse, 405 Hilgard Ave., Westwood. Opens Wednesday. Runs Wednesday-Saturday, 8 p.m.; ends Oct. 4. $30-$45. (310) 825-2101.

DANCE

Rice fields to stage

Rice can be made into everything from luxurious paper to tangy wine, though its most important function is as Earth’s most widely consumed food. It’s also the subject of the Art of Rice Traveling Theatre, an 11-person ensemble -- musicians, actors, dancers and shadow puppeteers -- from China, the Dominican Republic, India, Bali, Myanmar, Japan, Vietnam and the U.S. Inspired by the exhibition “The Art of Rice: Spirit and Sustenance in Asia” (coming to UCLA’s Fowler Museum on Oct. 5), the performance is the result of workshops held in the rice fields of Bali over the last two years and many summers of collaboration in the innovative AAsia Pacific Performance Exchange series at UCLA. (Related story, Page 16.)

Art of Rice Traveling Theatre, Aratani Japan America Theatre, 244 S. San Pedro St., downtown L.A. Saturday, 7 p.m.; Sunday, 2 p.m. $20-$23. (213) 680-3700

WORDS

Levinson gets booked

Think of Oscar-winning director Barry Levinson, and films such as “Diner,” “Bugsy,” “Good Morning, Vietnam” and TV shows such as “Homicide: Life on the Street” come to mind. Levinson has just about done it all: and now he’s a novelist. “66” is the tale of friends growing up in 1960s Baltimore. The hippie culture, the Vietnam War and drugs impinge on their decisions about love, careers and life.

Barry Levinson, Book Soup, 8818 Sunset Blvd. Mon., 7 p.m. (310) 659-3684.

MUSIC

Benefit for education

Chamber Music Los Angeles, a nonprofit group newly formed by Stephen Erdody, founding cellist of the Angeles String Quartet, gives its inaugural concert to benefit arts education for children. Works by Haydn, Ravel and Mendelssohn will be played to benefit Discovery Arts, a Tustin-based organization that works with seriously ill children in hospitals in Orange County and Long Beach.

Chamber Music Los Angeles, Zipper Concert Hall, Colburn School of Performing Arts, 200 S. Grand Ave., L.A. Sunday, 7:30 p.m. $100. (323) 669-5227.

FESTIVAL

Affair with the world

The south lawn of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County will resemble the site of a World’s Fair this weekend during the Celebrate L.A. festival. Storytellers, dancers and musicians representing countries from around the world will perform, in a setting that includes a marketplace for artists, interactive workshops and food from the Global Cafe. Featured performers include the Dragon Knights, a group combining stilt walking and puppetry inspired by the French circus, and Asha’s Baba, a storyteller who takes traditional African tales and gives them a contemporary spin.

Celebrate L.A., Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, 900 Exposition Blvd., L.A. Sat.-Sun., 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Free admission. (213) 763-3466.

JAZZ

Voice for modern poets

Chicago-based jazz singer Kurt Elling performs Friday at the Getty Center, before his four shows in Orange County next week. The six-time Grammy nominee was also chosen top jazz vocalist in Downbeat’s Reader Poll in 2000, 2001 and 2002. Elling specializes in vocalese -- writing and singing words to the recorded horn solos of Wayne Shorter, John Coltrane and other jazz greats. His lyrics are influenced by the work of such writers as Jack Kerouac, Kenneth Rexroth, Marcel Proust and other modern poets. His latest CD, “Man in the Air,” was released earlier this summer.

Kurt Elling and the Laurence Hobgood Trio, Getty Center, 1200 Getty Center Drive, L.A. Friday, 7:30 p.m. Free, but the Getty is no longer taking parking reservations. (310) 440-7300.

Also at Founders Hall, Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa Oct. 3 and 4, 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. $46-$49. (714) 556-2787

POP MUSIC

Radiohead: All hail

Radiohead keeps its gaze fixed firmly ahead on its latest concert tour, which includes sold-out shows today and Friday

at the Hollywood Bowl. The bulk of the material on its set list comes from the group’s critically acclaimed sixth album, “Hail to the Thief,” sprinkled with some staples such as “Kid A” and “Lucky.” Look perhaps for an extra measure of enthusiasm in the new songs as the Brits return to the city where they recorded “Hail” last year about this time.

Radiohead, Hollywood Bowl, 2301 N. Highland Ave., L.A. Today and Friday, 7:30 p.m. Sold out. (323) 850-2000.

POP MUSIC

Blues fest returns

to Ojai

After three years at Lake Casitas, the Bowlful of Blues for its 21st edition will return to its ancestral home at oak-tree-lined Libbey Bowl in Ojai. The event has long served up blues and roots music in its many regional forms, performed by veteran musicians from around the country -- some familiar and others more obscure. And as longtime patrons will attest, the bayou beat is always a mainstay here: Zydeco pioneers accordionist Fernest Arceneaux and drummer Jockey Etienne headline this year. Event organizer Michael Kaufer will once again tap into a wealth of local talent to field a house band that includes Jimmy Calire, Jackie Lomax, John Marx, Mark Parson and Randy Rich. The aforementioned assemblage will back up special guests Perla Batalla, Julie Christensen and a host of others. On the periphery: Creole food, vintage roots recordings, blues memorabilia, plus arts and crafts.

Bowlful of Blues, Libbey Bowl, Signal Street and East Ojai Avenue, Ojai. Saturday, 4 p.m. Advance, $20; at the gate, $24; people 65 and older and students, $12. (805) 646-7230. www.bowlfulofblues.com.