TODAYEVENTSTwinkly lights againYou know when the holiday...

TODAY

EVENTS

Twinkly lights again

You know when the holiday season has arrived in Los Angeles when the Griffith Park Holiday Light Festival opens. This annual attraction features a mile-long stretch of lighted displays and music along Crystal Springs Drive. The holiday eye candy can be viewed from your car or on foot. A shuttle from the L.A. Zoo parking lot will be available Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through Dec. 11 and daily Dec. 16-30 except for Christmas and Christmas Eve.

Griffith Park Holiday Light Festival, Griffith Park 4800 Carousel Drive, L.A. 5 to 10 p.m. daily. Free. (323) 913-4688, Ext. 9.

* Ends Dec. 30; dark Dec. 24-25.

MOVIES

Oil for food for thought

Writer-director Stephen Gaghan finds human drama within the political, economic and social forces that drive the global oil industry in the thriller “Syriana.” Gaghan, who successfully wove together multiple story lines in winning a best adapted screenplay Oscar for Steven Soderbergh’s “Traffic,” again takes a complex narrative route in navigating the colliding destinies of a veteran CIA operative (George Clooney), a young oil broker (Matt Damon), an idealistic Middle Eastern prince (Alexander Siddig), a corporate lawyer (Jeffrey Wright) and an adrift Pakistani teenager.

“Syriana,” rated R for violence and language, now at Pacific’s the Grove Stadium 14, 189 the Grove Drive (at 3rd Street), (323) 692-0829; and the AMC Santa Monica 7, 1310 Third Street Promenade, Santa Monica, (310) 289-4262.

FRIDAY

JAZZ

Weekend of saxophone

Saxophonist Plas Johnson has been one of the top-line studio musicians in L.A. since the 1950s. He’s equally at home with jazz, blues and R&B; styles. It was his sax solo on Henry Mancini’s “Pink Panther” soundtrack. He’s worked with many of the greats, including Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole, Peggy Lee and Ray Charles. This weekend, Johnson will do four shows with Art Hillery on piano and B3 organ; Richard Reid on bass; Gerryck King on drums; Phil Upchurch on guitar and Spanky Wilson on vocals.

Plas Johnson and Friends, Orange County Performing Arts Center, Founders Hall, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. Friday. $47-$52. (714) 556-2787.

* Also 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. Saturday

MUSIC

Concerto

in string

Shostakovich composed his Violin Concerto No. 1

in 1947 for his friend David Oistrakh, but the political climate at the time -- and for years afterward -- was so repressive that this

Yiddish music-inspired work didn’t see the light of day until 1955. Nadja

Salerno-Sonnenberg

will be the soloist with

the Los Angeles Philharmonic under the leadership of former Philhamonic

associate conductor Miguel Harth-Bedoya. The program will also include

works by Mussorgsky and Ravel.

Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., L.A. 8 p.m. Friday. $15 to $129. (323) 850-2000.

* Also 8 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday.

SATURDAY

POP MUSIC

Apple picks up the intensity

Fiona Apple’s spirit was nearly broken during the making of her latest album, with musical makeovers and run-ins with her record label at one point driving her to quit music entirely. Her resignation was short-lived, and the intense singer-songwriter emerged from the experience as a stronger person and artist. The album, “Extraordinary Machine,” is one of the most acclaimed of the year, and her return to the L.A. concert stage figures to carry even more of an emotional charge than usual.

Fiona Apple, with David Garza, the Wiltern LG, 3790 Wilshire Blvd. L.A. 8 p.m. Saturday. $40. (213) 380-5005.

ART

Ceramics

in good form

A group show featuring works by artists Harrison McIntosh, Tony Marsh and Karen Thuesen Massaro looks at the different possibilities of ceramics. The exhibition features sculptures by McIntosh, a prominent figure in California ceramics; a new series of works by Marsh, chair of the ceramics department at Cal State Long Beach; and small-scale pieces by Massaro.

“Group Show: Harrison McIntosh, Tony Marsh and Karen Thuesen Massaro,” Frank Lloyd Gallery, Bergamot Station, 2525 Michigan Ave., B5B, Santa Monica. Opens Saturday. (310) 264-3866.

* Hours: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. Ends Dec. 31.

MUSIC

Redemptive Wagner

Wisdom achieved through compassion and suffering is the theme of Wagner’s final opera, “Parsifal.” Long reserved for Bayreuth, the opera house built exclusively for Wagner’s music dramas, it was originally called a “Buhnenweihfestpiel” or “festival work for the initiation of a stage.” Director Robert Wilson sees it more as a spiritual than a religious drama in his production staged by Los Angeles Opera. Placido Domingo sings the title role. Linda Watson sings Kundry, the tortured temptress longing, like just about all the characters, for redemption. Hartmut Welker is the evil Klingsor. Kent Nagano will conduct.

“Parsifal,” Los Angeles Opera, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave., L.A. 5 p.m. Saturday. $30 to $205. (213) 972-8001.

* Also 6:30 p.m. Wednesday and Dec. 3, 8 and 14; 2 p.m. Dec. 11 and 17.

DANCE

Politics

in action

Sidelined by a dislocated shoulder about five minutes before the end of a performance of his “Kruel Summer” in August, dancer-choreographer Michael Mizerany had to cancel two additionally scheduled performances. Now he’s back with a reworked version of this political dance-theater action piece. Let’s hope no injuries occur this time out when he makes up the promised two additional performances.

“Kruel Summer,” MizeranyDance, Highways Performance Space, 1651 18th St., Santa Monica. 8:30 p.m. Saturday. $16. (310) 315-1459.

* Also 7:30 p.m. Sunday.

MONDAY

THEATER

Hum along with Berlin classics

“Blue Skies,” “How Deep Is the Ocean” and the evergreen title

song -- Broadway/LA presents the Southern California premiere

of “Irving Berlin’s White Christmas, the Musical” a new stage adaptation of the film classic. Chock

full of standards, it’s about two song-and-dance buddies who put on a holiday show in a picturesque

Vermont inn and meet their dream girls in the process.

“Irving Berlin’s White Christmas,” Pantages Theatre, 6233 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood. Opens 7 p.m. Monday. $25-$87. (213) 365-3500. www.broadwayla.org

* Runs 8 p.m. Wednesday through Dec. 2; 2 and 8 p.m. Dec. 3; 1 and 6:30 p.m. Dec. 4. Starting Dec. 6, runs 8 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays, 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sundays. Holiday schedule: 2 p.m. Dec. 24; 6:30 p.m. Dec. 25; 8 p.m. Dec. 27; 2 and 8 p.m. Dec. 28-29; 8 p.m. Dec. 30; 2 p.m. Dec. 31; and 1 p.m. Jan. 1. Ends Jan. 1.

WEDNESDAY

THEATER

For World AIDS Day

Performance artist-activist Michael Kearns and Highways Performance present Life Expectancies, World AIDS Day 2005, a 28-hour event to honor World AIDS Day. The bill opens Wednesday evening with scenes written by Tony Kushner, Luis Alfaro and Larry Kramer, then a candlelight vigil, followed by actors reading from Kearns’ new book, “Life Expectancies.” At midnight, a 24-hour “televent” begins. Created by David Reid’s AIDSWatch, it will broadcast thousands of names of those who have died of AIDS. The program will be shown on TV screens throughout the venue.

Life Expectancies, World AIDS Day 2005, Highways East@Michael Kearns Workspace, 3929 Fountain Ave., Silver Lake. From 8 p.m. Wednesday to midnight next Thursday. Donations accepted, but no one will be turned away for lack of funds. (323) 856-6168. www.highwaysperformance.org.