Three-day forecast

FESTIVAL

Talking about words

The 2004 Los Angeles Times Festival of Books happens this weekend at UCLA. The two-day celebration of the written word features seven stages, 95 panels, nearly 300 booksellers and almost 400 authors. Each day is filled with readings, discussions and signings, plus activities for children and the whole family. Authors slated to appear include Ray Harryhausen, Carl Hiaasen, Elmore Leonard, Dave Eggers, James Ellroy, Tariq Ali, Ray Bradbury, Susie Bright, Douglas Brinkley and Clive Barker.

2004 Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, UCLA campus, Westwood. Saturday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; Sunday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Free, but tickets are required to attend some events. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster. Info: (213) 237-2665, or check www.latimes.com/fob.

DANCE

Updated ritual

Dancer/choreographer Sophiline Cheam Shapiro specializes in the exquisite, antique classicism of her native Cambodia -- but with a difference. In her creations for the Khmer Arts Academy and other companies, Shapiro has focused this glorious traditional idiom on new expressive priorities. In “Samritechak,” she reconceived Shakespeare’s “Othello” as a Cambodian dance drama and now, in “Buong Suong,” she and music master Ho Chan adapt and restage an ancient ritual prayer formerly invoked in times of drought to bring prosperity to Southern California. Also, an assortment of Cambodian arts, crafts, music and types of food will be on display in the plaza in front of the theater starting at 5 p.m.

Khmer Arts Academy in “Buong Suong,” Aratani Japan America Theatre, 244 S. San Pedro St., L.A. Saturday, 8 p.m. $17 to $23. (213) 680-3700.

MUSEUMS

Electronica nd art

It’s almost time for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s nice, long season of jazz and dance nights. But before that begins in May, a monthly electronic music event makes a bid as the L.A. thing-to-do. It’s Sonic Court, to be held on the Pentimento Patio on Times Mirror Central Court, where DJ Drew Brown spins house, techno, funk, soul sounds and even some ambient sounds. Give a listen and take a stroll through some of the museum’s impressive exhibitions -- “Inventing Race: Casta Painting and Eighteenth-Century Mexico,” “Diane Arbus Revelations,” “Kamisaka Sekka: Rimpau Master -- Pioneer of Modern Design” and the “Ardabil Carpet: A Sixteenth-Century Masterpiece Conserved.”

Sonic Court, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Pentimento Patio, Times Mirror Central Court, 5905 Wilshire Blvd., L.A. Today, 12:30 p.m.-4 p.m. Free. (323) 857-6000

POP MUSIC

Ferociously tasty brew

Punk rock is going strong, but it’s been a while since the music has had a female singer as ferociously charismatic as the Distillers’ Brody Dalle. The railin’ Australian and her three California-boy bandmates might not be expanding punk’s horizons, but her shredded voice has the ring of experience, and they have the hooks to keep their high-energy attack airborne.

The Distillers, with the Icarus Line, Eagles of Death Metal, Darker My Love, Henry Fonda Theatre, 6126 Hollywood Blvd., L.A. Saturday, 6:30 p.m., sold out; Monday, 7 p.m., $15.50. (323) 468-1770.

MUSIC

Laguna ounds

The second annual Laguna Chamber Music Festival culminates this weekend in three different programs. Each features the Biava String Quartet, the Orion Winds and Italian pianist Bruno Canino. Composers include Beethoven, Poulenc, Mendelssohn, Debussy, Barber and young American Mason Bates, among others. The festival is sponsored by the Philharmonic Society of Orange County, the Laguna Chamber Society and Laguna Beach Live.

Laguna Beach Artists’ Theatre, 625 Park Ave., Laguna Beach. Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m. Sunday, 3 p.m. $20. (949) 497-2787.

THEATER

ABBA marches on

Colleen Fitzpatrick leads the cast in the return of “Mamma Mia!,” the Benny Andersson-Bjorn Ulvaeus ABBA song celebration about a free-spirited mother confronting her wild past, and her about-to-be-married daughter.

Pantages Theatre, 6233 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood. Opens Sunday, 6:30 p.m. Runs Tuesdays-Fridays, 8 p.m.; Saturdays, 2 and 8 p.m.; Sundays, 1 and 6:30 p.m.; also, June 7, 8 p.m. and June 10, 2 p.m.; ends June 12. $27- $82. (323) 468-1770. (213) 365-3500.

FAMILY

Long and short of it

Grammy-nominated Trout Fishing in America -- guitarist Ezra Idlet and bassist Keith Grimwood -- for many years one of family music’s top duos, performs witty storytelling songs with a dynamic pop beat for all ages. The duo’s 11th album, “It’s a Puzzle,” blends humor with all manner of musical styles -- try to keep a straight face during “Alien in My Nose” or “Why I Pack My Lunch.” Onstage, the 6-foot-9 Idlet and the 5-foot-1 Grimwood demonstrate that smiles come in all sizes.

Orange County Performing Arts Center, Founders Hall, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. Friday, 7 p.m.; Saturday, 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.; Sunday, 2 p.m.; ends Sunday. $10. (714) 556-2787. (714) 740-7878.

MOVIES

A Haitian’s legacy

Academy Award-winning director Jonathan Demme (“Silence of the Lambs”) has periodically sprinkled his oeuvre with nonfiction, memorably capturing the Talking Heads in concert in “Stop Making Sense” and bringing the late monologuist Spalding Gray’s “Swimming to Cambodia” to the screen. The filmmaker returns to the documentary form with “The Agronomist,” a personal look at the life of the late Haitian journalist and activist Jean Dominique. Demme first met Dominique in 1987 and continued to film and interview his new friend through the ‘90s as he clashed with various

repressive governments in Haiti and was exiled in New York for much of the decade. Dominique was assassinated after returning to Port au Prince in 2000 and Demme was inspired to assemble more than a decade’s worth of material as his legacy.

“The Agronomist,” rated PG-13 for some violent images and brief nudity, opens Friday in selected theaters.

JAZZ

Timeless vocalist

Jazz singer Diane Schuur has released 16 albums over the last 20 years. Her 1986 “Timeless” and her 1987 “Diane Schuur and the Count Basie Orchestra” both garnered her best jazz vocal Grammys. Schuur, whose latest CD, “Midnight,” was released last year, performs Saturday at the Cerritos Center at the Friends of Arts Education Annual Gala.

Diane Schuur, Cerritos Center, 12700 Center Court Drive, Cerritos. Saturday, 8:30 p.m. $25-$32. (800) 300-4345.

ART

An earthy approach

Collages of found metal pounded onto wood form the canvas for Tony Berlant’s work. Daring with brush strokes and challenging in its use of recycled elements, Tony

Berlant: New Terrain represents the latest in a prolific artists career. Look for brilliant color and a clarion call from Mother Earth: Please do not destroy me.

Tony Berlant: New Terrain, LA Louver Gallery, 45 N. Venice Blvd., Venice. Opens today. Also, Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Ends May 22. (310) 822-4955.