WEEKEND FORECAST

TODAY

MUSIC

Clearly clarinets in Claremont

The most voice-like of the woodwind instruments, the clarinet, has fascinated composers from Mozart to the present. You can sample a wide range of solos, duets and ensemble works in the concerts that are part of this week’s Claremont Clarinet Festival. Today, Los Angeles Philharmonic bass clarinetist David Howard plays a Hindemith solo and a Mendelssohn concert piece with festival teacher and coach Margaret Thornhill. The Friday program -- which is free -- includes Peter Schickele’s “Monochrome” for nine clarinets and Steve Reich’s “New York Counterpoint” for clarinet, bass clarinet and tape. The Friday and Saturday programs feature different solo works played by eight festival participants. Twyla Meyer will be the pianist.

Claremont Clarinet Festival, Lyman Hall, Thatcher Music Building, Pomona College, 340 N. College Ave., Claremont. 8 tonight. $10 and $15. (310) 464-7653.

* Also 8 p.m. Friday, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday. The Friday concert is free.

FRIDAY

DANCE

If Joyce

had been

a dancer

Say yes, you will, yes, to “Blooming, Re-Joyce-ing,” the dance program celebrating Bloomsday, the single day covered in James Joyce’s classic novel “Ulysses.” Choreographed by the award-winning Loretta Livingston, this newly commissioned work features video segments by Kate Johnson, an original score (played live) by Alan Terricciano plus special movement and vocal improvisations by Claire Filmon. Three dancers will divide and share the role of Molly Bloom: wife, earth mother and stream-of-consciousness icon.

“Blooming, Re-Joyce-ing,” Mark Taper Auditorium, Central Library, 5th and Flower Streets, downtown L.A. 7 p.m. Friday. $7 (library associates, $5). Reservations: www.aloudla.org.

* Also 3 p.m. Saturday.

THEATER

Behind a dark ‘Smile’

Burned-out caregivers seek an unusual solution to a relentlessly draining situation in John Belluso’s dark comedy, “A Nervous Smile,” based on a real-life case, about a married couple and a single mother who conspire to desert their children born with cerebral palsy. The production at the International City Theatre is a West Coast premiere.

“A Nervous Smile,” International City Theatre, 4901 E. Carson St., Long Beach. Opens 8 p.m. Friday. Opening night performance and reception, $50 to $60. (562) 436-4610. www.ictlongbeach.org

* Runs 8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays. Ends July 9. $32 to $42.

MOVIES

Running on Rudy ‘Time’

In the documentary

“Giuliani Time,” filmmaker Kevin Keating details the criminal record of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s father, the alleged ties of family members to organized crime and

Giuliani’s high-profile

career in the Department

of Justice during the Reagan Administration. The focus of the film, however,

is on Giuliani’s uncompromising tenure as Gotham’s mayor from 1993 to 2001. Supporters and detractors of Giuliani, including

Donald Trump and former Mayor Ed Koch, passionately attest to his influence on the city.

“Giuliani Time,” unrated, opens Friday at Landmark’s Westside Pavilion Cinema, 10800 Pico Blvd., West L.A. (310) 281-8223.

WORDS

Notes from the ground

Found magazine has made a fine enterprise out of our discarded to-do lists, hasty break-up notes, impromptu valentines and other forms of revealing detritus, gaining high-profile fans such as Ira Glass, Drew Barrymore and Lynda Barry, and frequent guest spots for founder Davy Rothbart on the David Letterman show. Rothbart and his brother Peter are touring with Found’s second book, “Found II: More of the Best Lost, Tossed, and Forgotten Items From Around the World,” but this won’t be your average bland bookstore reading. Expect a veritable trunk show of curiosities recently unearthed by Rothbart’s team of scavengers and a chance to show off your own discoveries.

Davy and Peter Rothbart: Found Magazine’s Cavalcade of Thrills Tour 2006, Skylight Books, 1818 N. Vermont Ave., L.A. 7:30 p.m. Friday. (323) 660-1175.

SATURDAY

POP MUSIC

One rowdy lineup

Country music doesn’t get much bigger and brassier than that dispensed by Kenny Chesney, and if you thought his Staples Center concert last summer was an ultimate mix of Nashville basics and arena-rock dynamics, wait till you see him take over the mini-stadium setting of Home Depot Center in Carson. Joining the hip-swiveling singer on the bill are Dierks Bentley and Carrie Underwood.

Kenny Chesney, Dierks Bentley, Carrie Underwood, Home Depot Center, 1000 E. Victoria St., Carson. 7 p.m. Saturday. $45 to $85. (310) 630-2020.

THEATER

Inspired by Ken Kesey

“Open Secrets” marks the world premiere of two plays by Dale Wasserman: In “Boy on Blacktop Road,” an investigator questions five people related to the arrival and subsequent disappearance of a young boy. “The Stallion Howl” is about a woman who refuses to reveal to her husband the reason for a surprise inheritance from a wealthy man. The inspiration for both plays: a Ken Kesey quote. With Gigi Bermingham, Cliff De Young, Karen Grassle, David Birney, Eric Lange.

“Open Secrets,” Rubicon Theatre, 1006 E. Main St., Ventura. Opens 7 p.m. Saturday. $26 to $49. (805) 667-2900. www.rubicontheatre.org.

* Runs 2 and 7 p.m. Wednesdays; 8 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays; ends July 9.

EVENTS

Chalk it up to sidewalk artists

The Pasadena Chalk Festival boasts of being the world’s largest street painting festival. That’s quite a heady claim. It’s true the 14th annual event will feature more than 600 artists who will create murals on sidewalk pavement the size of two city blocks with more than 24,000 sticks of pastel chalk. But that’s only the numbers. Every style of art will be represented -- classic, contemporary, whimsical, socially relevant and others. There will also be live music, food, children’s activities and other attractions. And best of all, it’s free.

Pasadena Chalk Festival, Paseo Colorado, Colorado Boulevard between Marengo and Los Robles avenues, Pasadena. 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday. Free. (626) 795-9100. www.pasadenachalkfestival.com.

* Also 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday.

ART

Here lies a public work

In 1995, the epitaph on the tombstone belonging to Joyce Burstein at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery would constantly change. They weren’t messages from beyond, but rather part of “The Epitaph Project,” a public art installation that allowed cemetery visitors to write on a tombstone that artist Burstein carved from slate. The exhibition features photographs of the responses, which vary from poignant to irreverent, and a multimedia presentation that examines mortality and self-discovery.

“The Epitaph Project,” Ben Maltz Gallery, Otis College of Art and Design, 9045 Lincoln Blvd., L.A. Opens Saturday. (310) 665-6905. Hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays, except 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursdays. Ends Aug. 31.

SUNDAY

MUSEUMS

As if they’re everywhere

As self-described “pervasive artists,” Gary Baseman and Tim Biskup are as talented as they are media-savvy. Both artists have been successful incorporating their cartoon characters into a variety of mainstream consumer-based outlets outside of the art world that includes board games, clothing, books, and television series. The exhibition “Pervasion: The Art of Gary Baseman and Tim Biskup” features animation, paintings and sculptural works.

“Pervasion: The Art of Gary Baseman and Tim Biskup,” Laguna Art Museum, 307 Cliff Drive, Laguna Beach. Opens Sunday. $8 to $10; 11 and younger, free. (949) 494-8971.

* Hours: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday. Ends Sept. 24.

MONDAY

POP MUSIC

British invasion

Programs! Programs! You can’t tell your new British bands without a program. This current profusion isn’t tailing off yet, and while this year’s crop surfaces, some of the slightly older acts are out to show they’ve got what it takes to stick around. Even with Snow Patrol canceling its dates this week, Keane (Wednesday at the Henry Fonda Theatre) and the Futureheads (Monday) make their cases, the latter touring behind their sophomore album, “News and Tributes.”

Futureheads, Henry Fonda Theatre, 6126 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood. 8 p.m. Monday. $15. (323) 464-0808.