WEEKEND FORECAST

TODAY

MUSEUMS

A sampling of Dresden

Since 1995, the J. Paul Getty Trust has partnered with the Dresden State Museums on Dresden publication and conservation projects. “From Caspar David Friedrich to Gerhard Richter: German Paintings From Dresden” brings the collaboration to L.A. by focusing on the Romantic paintings of Friedrich and the postwar work of Richter. The exhibition also features other German paintings on loan from the Galerie Neue Meister alongside works from the Getty’s collection.

“From Caspar David Friedrich to Gerhard Richter: German Paintings From Dresden,” Getty Center, 1200 Getty Center, L.A. Opens today. Free; parking $8. (310) 440-7300.

* Hours: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday, except 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Ends April 29.

FRIDAY

OPERA

The ‘Ring’ engagement

To begin the extraordinary 17-day Maryinsky Festival at the Orange County Performing Arts Center, Valery Gergiev will conduct the North American premiere of the Kirov Opera production of Wagner’s roughly 15-hour “Der Ring des Nibelungen.” The four-opera cycle from St. Petersburg, Russia, will open Friday with “Das Rheingold,” and continue on subsequent nights through Oct. 11. Placido Domingo will sing Siegmund in “Die Walkure” on Saturday.

“Das Rheingold,” Kirov “Ring” Cycle, Segerstrom Hall, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. 7 p.m. Friday.

* Continues with “Die Walkure,” 6 p.m. Saturday; “Siegfried,” 6 p.m. Monday; “Gotterdammerung,” 4 p.m. Wednesday. “Ring” cycle tickets for all four operas: $308 to $1,500. Individual operas, $77 to $375. (714) 556-2787. www.ocpac.org

DANCE

Moving along with the times

Celebrating its 50th anniversary, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montreal makes its debut at the L.A. Music Center with a two-part contemporary program that the New York Times called “breathtaking.” Dutch choreographer Didy Veldman uses music by Shostakovich for “TooT,” set inside a garish circus world. And for “Noces,” Flemish choreographer Stijn Celis radically reinterprets a classic Stravinsky score to highlight conflict between the sexes.

Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montreal, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave., downtown L.A., 7:30 p.m. Friday. $25 to $95. (213) 365-3500. www.musiccenter.org/dance.html

* Also 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday.

MOVIES

Hollow in the ‘burbs

“Little Children” is not really about the offspring of a group of materially well-to-do but emotionally hollow suburbanites, it’s about their parents -- and how they cope, or don’t, with the way their lives have turned out. In his follow-up to “In the Bedroom,” director Todd Field along with co-writer Tom Perrotta has created another astute, intimate drama that plays out in often uncomfortable ways that include the intrusion of a convicted pedophile who is paroled to the neighborhood. The film features Kate Winslet, Jennifer Connelly, Patrick Wilson and Jackie Earle Haley.

“Little Children” opens Friday at the ArcLight Cinemas, 6360 W. Sunset Blvd. (323) 464-4226; AMC Century City, 10250 Santa Monica Blvd., (310) 289-4AMC; Laemmle’s Monica, 1332 2nd St., Santa Monica (310) 394-9741.

JAZZ

Keeping up standards

Singer Madeleine Peyroux has followed up the success of her 2004 million-selling “Careless Love” CD with the release of a new album, “Half the Perfect World.” Like its predecessor, the new CD, which was released last month and entered the Billboard Hot 200 at No. 23, offers a mix of pop standards, tunes by more contemporary composers (Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell and Fred Neil) and some originals. Peyroux performs Friday at UCLA’s Royce Hall.

Madeleine Peyroux, Royce Hall, UCLA, Westwood. 8 p.m. Friday. $25 to $45. (310) 825-2101.

SATURDAY

POP MUSIC

Artistry along with popularity

It would be impossible to overstate the importance of Iranian singer Googoosh to her worldwide legions of dedicated fans. Mention Judy Garland, Barbra Streisand, Madonna, Celine Dion -- even Elvis Presley -- and the comparison pales for an artist who, in the ‘70s, set a stylistic standard for Iranian young people. Banned from performing after the Islamic revolution of 1979, she returned to the stage in 2000. Her show that year at the Forum, beyond its sheer love-fest qualities, was a display of extraordinary virtuosity from a singer whose artistry transcends style or origin. Singing in Farsi, she has no trouble connecting with Western listeners. Singing in English and other languages, she displays all the attributes of an international pop star.

Googoosh, Kodak Theatre, 6801 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood. 9 p.m. Saturday. $48 to $228. (323) 308-6300.

* Also: 9 p.m. Sunday.

SUNDAY

BOOKS

Maybe not Bush’s bud

Frank Rich, the acclaimed New York Times Op-Ed columnist, started at the paper as a theater critic, a critical training ground that has no doubt served him well in his evaluations of the Bush administration. In his new book, “The Greatest Story Every Sold: The Decline and Fall of Truth from 9/11 to Katrina,” he challenges the stances of President Bush, Donald Rumsfeld and what he describes as the relentless PR machine that sold the war to the American people. The writer speaks with Kit Rachlis, editor in chief of Los Angeles magazine.

ALOUD presents Frank Rich in conversation with Kit Rachlis, Mark Taper Auditorium at the Central Library, 630 W. 5th St., L.A. 3 p.m. Sunday. Free; reservations required. (213) 228-7025.

FAMILY

Kindred spirits

Will Geer and Woody Guthrie first met when they performed together at union rallies and immigrant camps in California in the late 1930s. A friendship developed and endured. Years later, Guthrie lived for a time at Geer’s home in Topanga. On Sunday, the Theatricum Botanicum will celebrate the friendship and spirit of these two American originals with its annual Hootenanny and a performance of “The Woody Show.” The Hootenanny is a family fair with arts and crafts vendors, live music and storytelling. “The Woody Show,” at 3 p.m., will feature members of Geer’s extended family performing Guthrie’s words and music.

Hootenanny and “The Woody Show,” Will Geer’s Theatricum Botanicum, 1419 N. Topanga Canyon Blvd., Topanga. 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. $8 to $25. (310) 455-3723.

MUSIC

A festival’s big finish

Two conductors, two orchestras and two works conclude Pacific Symphony’s “American Russian Festival.” Carl St.Clair will lead the Pacific in Stravinsky’s World War II-inspired Symphony in Three Movements. Then Valery Gergiev will lead Shostakovich’s “Leningrad” Symphony, composed during the 900-day Nazi siege of Leningrad, with 130 musicians drawn from the Pacific and the Kirov Orchestra. Both portraits of war end in victory.

Kirov Orchestra, Pacific Symphony, Segerstrom Concert Hall, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. 5 p.m. Sunday. $100 to $275. (714) 755-5799. www.pacificsymphony.org

WEDNESDAY

THEATER

Acts of ‘Charity’

Molly Ringwald, who launched her film career with such iconic 1980s films as “Pretty in Pink” and “The Breakfast Club,” has taken to the stage in recent years. Her latest gig is as headliner in the new national tour of “Sweet Charity,” the Neil Simon-Cy Coleman-Dorothy Fields musical about gullible, eternally optimistic dance hall hostess Charity Hope Valentine. Presented by Broadway/LA.

“Sweet Charity,” Pantages Theatre, 6233 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood. Opens 8 p.m. Wednesday. $25 to $70. (323) 468-1770, (213) 365-3500. www.BroadwayLA.org* Runs 8 p.m. Tuesdays to Fridays (exception: 2 and 8 p.m. next Thursday), 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays. Also 1 and 6:30 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 15; and 1 and 6 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 22. Ends Oct. 22.

THEATER

Elegy to a father

“Absence and Presence” is an autobiographical piece by noted English director, dancer and mime artist Andrew Dawson, presented as an elegy to his father, whose body was not found for 10 days after his death in 1985. Dawson uses sculpture, video, mime and his father’s letters in his meditation on the emotions stirred by the death of a parent. Part of UCLA’s 5th International Theatre Festival.

“Absence and Presence,” UCLA, Macgowan Little Theater, Westwood. Opens 8 p.m. Wednesday. $32. (310) 825-2101; www.uclalive.org

Continues 8 p.m. next Thursday and Oct. 13, 2 and 8 p.m. Oct. 14, 7 p.m. Oct. 15; ends Oct. 15.