WEEKEND FORECAST

TODAY

Ghost dancers

Hands-across-the-border collaboration reaches the REDCAT at Walt Disney Concert Hall when the locally based Rosanna Gamson/Worldwide company joins forces with Mexico’s Contradanza for “Aura,” a full-evening dance drama. Inspired by Carlos Fuentes’ ghost story of the same name, the work will merge movement by Gamson and Cecilia Appleton with a bilingual text and the music of David Gamson and Alejandro Escuar, evoking a world of dreams. Gamson’s acclaimed, multidisciplinary “Grand Hope Flower” is also scheduled for a revival May 12-15 and May 19-22 at the Skirball Cultural Center.

“Aura,” REDCAT Theater at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, 631 W. 2nd St., downtown L.A. 8:30 tonight. $20 to $32. (213) 237-2800.

* Also 8:30 p.m. Friday through Sunday.

Frank and his friends

Cabaret and musical theater buddies Lee Lessack, Brian Lane Green and Johnny Rodgers decided to reassemble the Rat Pack, in spirit at least, for a tribute-paying skip through some of the repertoire that Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. used to sing when they got together on stage. The three aim to put their own spin on Rat Pack material by adding harmonies and vocal interactions that typically weren’t on the agenda when the original threesome got together. Guest Joan Ryan will sing numbers Liza Minnelli performed on a 1988 Rat Pack tour.

“Three Men and a Baby ... Grand: A Salute to the Rat Pack,” Founders Hall, Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. 7:30 tonight. $44. (714) 556-2787 or www.ocpac.org.

* Also 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Swinging sessions

The Newport Beach Jazz Party, the fifth edition of which kicks off tonight, describes its style of sound as “right down the middle and straight ahead.” Singer-guitarist John Pizzarelli, along with his legendary father, Bucky, heads a formidable lineup of jazz talent that also includes Houston Person, Dena DeRose, Ken Peplowski, Lanny Morgan, Larry Goldings, Mulgrew Miller, Bill Cunliffe, Holly Hofmann, Lewis Nash, Terell Stafford, the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra and many others.

Newport Beach Jazz Party, Sutton Place Hotel, 4500 MacArthur Blvd., Newport Beach. 8 to 11 tonight. $15-$300. (949) 759-5003 or www.newportbeachjazzparty.com.

* Also noon-midnight Friday; noon to 12:45 a.m. Saturday; 10 a.m. to 12:30 a.m. Sunday.

FRIDAY

English usage

Though hailing from Canada, Robert MacNeil has become a luminary in U.S. journalism, over the decades covering stories that included the Kennedy assassination and Watergate, and becoming co-host of “The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour.” Now the celebrated newsman focuses his passion for language in a three-part PBS documentary and companion book, “Do You Speak American?” The work explores the ways Americans use English, as well as the links between language and race, gender and power. He’ll discuss those topics along with screenwriter Amy Heckerling in an appearance co-presented by Writers Bloc.

Robert MacNeil, in conversation with Amy Heckerling, Skirball Cultural Center, 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd., L.A. 7:30 p.m. Friday. $20. (310)440-4500.

Explosive terrain

In Iraq, the fields of Kurdistan have been mined for generations, and director Bahman Ghobadi dramatizes the situation in his film “Turtles Can Fly.” In a village near the border with Turkey in 2003, an intrepid teenager nicknamed “Satellite” is responsible for maintaining the large dish his people rely on for news of the imminent U.S. invasion as well as for directing the local children in defusing the area’s numerous landmines.

“Turtles Can Fly,” unrated, opens Friday exclusively at Laemmle’s Music Hall, 9036 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, (310) 274-6869.

Tsunami relief rocks

Tenacious D scored the Southland’s highest-profile tsunami benefit to date when it recruited Eddie Vedder, Beck, Dave Grohl and Josh Homme for their Wiltern LG fundraiser last month. But the bar is raised out of sight Friday when Music for Relief takes over the Arrowhead Pond for a concert featuring Linkin Park with Jay-Z, No Doubt, Blink-182, Ozzy Osbourne with Camp Freddy, Jurassic 5, Story of the Year, the Crystal Method and more.

Music for Relief, Arrowhead Pond, 2695 E. Katella Ave., Anaheim. 7 p.m. Friday. $85-$125. (714) 704-2500.

SATURDAY

Persuasive percussion begets art

Whether utilizing jazz drum brushes to create patterns on a sandpaper surface or using amplified plant materials to create an orchestra, the various sculptures, drawings and prints in the exhibition “Percussion Music” are all connected to sound in some way. The show includes the work of nine artists, including Tom Marioni, Channa Horwitz, Steve Roden and composer John Cage.

“Percussion Music,” Solway Jones, 5377 Wilshire Blvd., L.A. Opens Saturday. (323) 937-7354.

* Hours: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Ends March 19.

SUNDAY

Liszt on Bach

One of Franz Liszt’s most challenging and forward-looking works is his “Variations on ‘Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen.’ ” Inspired by the bass line of Bach’s Cantata No. 12 -- the opening line of which is “Tears, complaints, care, fear, anguish and stress are the bitter bread of Christians” -- the piece took on added meaning for the composer when his daughter Blondine died in the midst of his writing it. Martin Haselbock plays this stupendous piece as part of his Liszt organ recital, which also includes the “Prelude and Fugue on the Name B-A-C-H” and other works.

Martin Haselbock, Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., L.A. 7:30 p.m. Sunday. $15-$41. (323) 850-2000.