WEEKEND FORECAST

FRIDAY

Gershwin at the Bowl

The Gershwin celebration at Hollywood Bowl ends this weekend with excerpts from his great opera “Porgy and Bess.” Audra McDonald, Brian Stokes Mitchell and Wayne Brady will sing the leading roles, with the Paul Smith Singers filling out the residents of Catfish Row. Pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet will be the soloist for “Rhapsody in Blue,” and the program will open with Rob Mathes’ “Gershwiniana,” an arrangement of Gershwin songs. Leonard Slatkin conducts the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Gershwin celebration, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Hollywood Bowl, 2301 N. Highland Ave., Hollywood. 8:30 p.m. Friday.

$4 to $110. (213) 480-3232. www.HollywoodBowl.com.

* Also 8:30 p.m. Saturday.

Married to Stalin

Little is known about the life of Nadezhda Alliluyev, the wife of Joseph Stalin. She met the Russian leader, who was 23 years older and a friend of her parents (and rumored lover of her mother) when she was a child. Betrothed at 16, she was found dead 14 years later with a revolver in her hand. Suicide? Murder? Slava Tsukerman (“Liquid Sky”) directs the historical documentary “Stalin’s Wife.”

“Stalin’s Wife,” unrated, opens Friday exclusively at Laemmle’s Fairfax Cinemas, 7907 Beverly Blvd., L.A. (323) 655-4010.

Laughs and the Bard

Two theater companies offer comedic, open-air interpretations of the Bard this weekend. Troubadour Theater Company, known for its madcap clowning and pop music-influenced Shakespearean satires, turns tragedy into comedy in “Hamlet, the Artist Formerly Known as Prince of Denmark.” The Kingsmen Shakespeare Festival takes a classic approach to “The Merry Wives of Windsor,” Shakespeare’s rowdy romp of love and deception, with pre-show musicians, dancing, juggling and sword-fighting demonstrations.

* “Hamlet, the Artist Formerly Known as Prince of Denmark,” Muckenthaler Cultural Center, 1201 W. Malvern Ave., Fullerton. Opens 8 p.m. Friday. Runs 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; ends July 23. $25. (310) 979-7196. www.troubie.com* “The Merry Wives of Windsor,” California Lutheran University,

60 W. Olsen Road, Thousand Oaks. Opens 8 p.m. Friday. Runs 8 p.m. Saturday, Sunday and July 29-31, Aug. 5-7; ends Aug. 7. Grounds open at 5:30 for picnicking. $10; under age 18, free. Box seating, $50 and $65. (805) 493-3455. www.kingsmenshakespeare.org

SATURDAY

Festival of words

Street poets, published authors and veteran performers representing more than a dozen Southland spoken-word venues gather this weekend at the Knitting Factory Hollywood for the inaugural PalabraZilla, a festival of literary reading. Conceived by Conrad Romo, who stages the monthly Tongue & Groove series at the Hotel Cafe, the two-night event kicks off with a poetry reading by actor Michael O’Keefe. Then some of the area’s top spoken-word artists take over, including representatives of Studio City’s Story Salon, Silver Lake’s Rhapsodomancy, Redondo Poets, Hollywood’s Sit N’ Spin and Word-A-Rama and Fairfax’s Da’ Poetry Lounge, among others.

PalabraZilla, Knitting Factory, 7021 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood. 6 p.m. Saturday. $7; $10 for two-night pass. (323) 463-0204.

* Also: 6 p.m. Sunday.

Cruising in Glendale

Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Dave Mason and legendary guitarist Link Wray headline the 12th annual Cruise Night street concert in downtown Glendale. Guitarist-singer-songwriter Mason was inducted into the hall in 2004 as a member of the 1970s group Traffic, but he also had a successful solo career with such hits as “Only You Know and I Know” and “We Just Disagree.” Wray, renowned for his 1957 instrumental hit “Rumble,” is considered the “father of the power chord” by some rock aficionados.

Glendale Cruise Night Concert and Car Show, Brand Boulevard between Broadway and Doran Street, Glendale. Saturday, 5:30-10:30 p.m. Free.

(818) 548-6464.

Twists on ‘Teapots’

In the group show “Teapots,” the vessels on display are neither short nor stout. Instead, the teapot is given a makeover by ceramists Ralph Bacerra, Philip Cornelius, Robert Hudson, Gustavo Perez, Adrian Saxe and Anna Silver. The artists approach the teapot through different forms and mediums, including transforming the subject into an abstract sculpture, an assemblage piece and an oversized canvas.

“Teapots,” Frank Lloyd Gallery, Bergamot Station, 2525 Michigan Ave., B5B, Santa Monica.

Opens Saturday. (310) 264-3866.

* Hours: 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. Ends Aug. 13.

Hiatt still adapting

John Hiatt’s new album, “Master of Disaster,” looks at the many ways the best-laid plans of mice and musicians go astray. For his 21st album, the Indiana singer-songwriter teamed up with musicians Cody and Luther Dickinson from the North Mississippi Allstars, who also are opening and then backing him on many of the stops on his new tour. To carry through a “bring the family” atmosphere, Hiatt tapped their father, veteran record maker Jim Dickinson, to produce.

John Hiatt, House of Blues,

8430 Sunset Blvd.,

West Hollywood. 7:30 p.m. Saturday. $40.

(323) 848-5100.

Jazz Fest in Pasadena

Smooth jazz and R&B; sounds will fill the air when Brookside Park hosts the 10th annual Old Pasadena Jazz Fest this weekend. Jazz Attack, featuring Rick Braun, Jonathan Butler, Richard Elliot and Peter White headline Saturday’s lineup, which also includes Will Downing and Brian Culbertson. Sunday’s lineup includes James Ingram; Groovin’ for Grover featuring Gerald Albright, Jeff Lorber and Kirk Whalum; Lalah Hathaway, Triple Threat and Eric Darius. During intermissions on the main stage, a second stage will also feature music.

Old Pasadena Jazz Fest, Brookside Park, 360 N. Arroyo Blvd., Pasadena. 10:30 a.m.-9:30 p.m. Saturday. $10-$160, 5 and younger, free. (949) 360-7800.

* Also Sunday, 10:30 a.m.-9:30 p.m.