WEEKEND FORECAST

TODAY

DANCE

U.S. debut

of ‘Sinner’

Stan Won’t Dance is the provocative title of a dance duo created by former members of London’s viscerally exciting DV8 Physical Theatre, Liam Steel and Rob Tannion. Their debut piece was “Sinner,” a “self-destructive solo for two men.” It arose out of the 1999 bombing of a gay pub in Soho by David Copeland, who walked out of the place leaving behind a nail bomb that would inflict terrible damage. Stan Won’t Dance makes its U.S. tour debut with the work, which features Ben Wright, seen locally in 1997 as one of the alternating princes in Matthew Bourne’s “Swan Lake.”

Stan Won’t Dance, Skirball Cultural Center, 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd. 8 p.m. today. $12 to $25. (866) 468-3399 (Ticketweb); www.skirball.org

* Also 8 p.m. Friday.

EVENTS

Queen Mary gets a visitor

The Queen Mary, which sailed from 1936 to 1967 and is permanently berthed in Long Beach, plays hostess to a wide range of L.A. denizens, whether it’s frightened children on Halloween or skinny punks rejoicing in the scorched rock bliss of Iggy Pop. But today the ship will be visited by a special guest -- the Queen Mary 2, the world’s largest, longest, tallest and widest cruise ship. At 21 stories high and more than four city blocks long, the Queen Mary 2 visits its namesake for the first time, an event marked by fanfare including skytypers, fireboats and a whistle salutation between the ships that will be heard from up to 10 miles away.

Queen Mary 2, Long Beach Harbor, Long Beach. Noon to 1:30 p.m. today. Free. (562) 436-3645.

FRIDAY

THEATER

Ex-New Kid as the Fonz

New Kids on the Block alum Joey McIntyre, who made his Broadway debut as Prince Fiyero in “Wicked,” heads the cast as king of cool Fonz in the new stage musical “Happy Days,” which is based on the 1970s TV sitcom. Written and directed by the series’ original creator, Garry Marshall, the show features music and lyrics by Paul Williams.

“Happy Days,” Falcon Theatre, 4252 Riverside Drive, Burbank. Opens 8 p.m. Friday. $30 to $37.50. (818) 955-8101.

* Runs 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 4 p.m. Sundays. Also 3 p.m. matinees on March 4 and March 11. Ends March 12.

MOVIES

A woman’s courage

The subtly harrowing “Sophie Scholl -- The Final Days” is an Academy Award nominee in the foreign-language category. The heroic story of a young German woman who was part of the White Rose, an underground movement of Munich college students devoted to undermining the Third Reich’s domination of Europe, the film is exhilarating despite the inescapable bleakness of its outcome. In an inspiring performance, Julia Jentsch (“The Edukators”) stars as Scholl, a Protestant captured with her brother Hans (Fabian Hinrichs) in February 1943 while distributing anti-Nazi pamphlets on a university campus. Marc Rothemund’s film covers the last six days of her life as she faces down her Gestapo inquisitor Robert Mohr (Alexander Held) in a tense ideological war of words.

“Sophie Scholl -- The Final Days,” unrated, opens Friday in selected theaters.

ART

Sculptor Kapoor, man of steel

British artist Anish Kapoor rejects the idea that his work is exotic, but there’s an otherworldly aspect to his massive sculptures and installations. His 110-ton Cloud Gate sculpture in Chicago’s Millennium Park looks like a giant silver bean that dropped from the sky. His latest exhibition at Regen Projects features a new sculpture called the S-Curve, a steel sculpture more than 30 feet long.

Anish Kapoor at Regen Projects, 633 N. Almont Drive, L.A. (310) 276-5424. Opens Friday.

* Hours: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. Ends March 25.

JAZZ

Bossa nova meets Afro-beat

African and Latin musicians have long histories of splicing each other’s rhythms and melodies into vibrant new sounds. None do it better or bigger than Peru Negro, a 35-year-old music and dance ensemble that’s as ravishing to look at as listen to. Equal parts bossa nova sway and Afro-beat exuberance, their sensuous grooves and dances prove how insufficient the term “world music” truly is.

Peru Negro, Royce Hall, UCLA campus, Westwood. 8 p.m. Friday. $20 to $45. (310) 825-2101.

SATURDAY

FAMILY

Competing for love

Cowboys and miners compete for the love of a beautiful woman in the children’s opera “The Prospector,” performed by L.A. Opera. The 45-minute, family-friendly production is adapted by Lee Holdridge and Richard Sparks from David Belasco’s 1905 play “The Girl of the Golden West” and Puccini’s 1910 opera “La Fanciulla del West.”

“The Prospector,” Pasadena Playhouse, 39 S. El Molino Ave., Pasadena. 11 a.m. Saturday. $10 and $20. (626) 356-PLAY, www.pasadenaplayhouse.org

MUSEUMS

Ceramics’ stylish roots

The American Art Pottery Movement grew out of china painting circles and workshops established by well-to-do women in the late 19th century. Inspired by Arts & Crafts in England, studio pottery in the U.S. became a full-fledged industry that included the famous Rookwood and Newcomb potteries. The exhibition “American Ceramics 1884-1972” highlights designs from the movement and includes pieces from Arts & Crafts and Southern California studios.

“American Ceramics 1884-1972,” San Diego Museum of Art, 1450 El Prado, Balboa Park. $4 to $10; 5 and younger, free. (619) 232-7931. Opens Saturday.

* Hours: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays, except 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursdays. Ends Sept. 3.

WEDNESDAY

THEATER

‘Monkey Trial’ at Skirball

Edward Asner, Mike Farrell and Sharon Gless head the cast in L.A. Theatre Works’ presentation of “The Great Tennessee Monkey Trial,” Peter Goodchild’s docudrama drawn from actual transcripts of the infamous Scopes Trial about the right to teach Darwin’s theory of evolution in the classroom. The performance, directed by Gordon Hunt, is the culmination of a 24-city tour.

“The Great Tennesee Monkey Trial,” L.A. Theatre Works at Skirball Cultural Center, 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd., L.A. Opens 8 p.m. Wednesday. $25 to $45. (310) 827-0889. www.latw.org* Also runs 8 p.m. next Thursday and March 3, 3 p.m. March 4 and 4 p.m. March 5. Ends March 5.

BOOKS

Rushdie to read from latest novel

With the publication of “The Satanic Verses” (1988), Salman Rushdie caused such outrage

in the Muslim world that the Ayatollah Khomeini

issued a fatwa, and the Bombay-born writer’s

profile -- in a rare

development for any scribe, much less a literary novelist -- rose to virtually a household name. Some 10 years later, the fatwa was lifted, and Rushdie came out of hiding, started hanging out with Indian model-cum-chef Padma Lakshmi (now his wife), appeared in “Bridget Jones’s Diary” and wrote, among other works, “Fury,” littered with pop-culture references that only a free man could know. At this Disney Hall event, Rushdie reads from his latest novel, “Shalimar the Clown.”

Salman Rushdie presented by the Music Center Speaker Series, Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., L.A. 8 p.m. Wednesday. $240-$440 for four-part series. (323)850-2000.