WEEKEND FORECAST

A portrait of America

San Francisco Symphony music director Michael Tilson Thomas conducts the Los Angeles Philharmonic in a program of music by American composers Aaron Copland, George Gershwin and Leonard Bernstein. Gore Vidal will be the narrator in Copland’s “Lincoln Portrait,” and baritone Thomas Hampson will sing Copland’s “Old American Songs.” The Symphonic Dances from Bernstein’s “West Side Story” and Gershwin’s “An American in Paris” complete the bill.

Los Angeles Philharmonic, Hollywood Bowl, 2301 N. Highland Ave., L.A. 8 tonight. $1 to $93. (323) 850-2000, www.hollywoodbowl.com/tix

TODAY

MUSIC

BOOKS

Bugliosi riffles files

Vincent Bugliosi, the prosecutor of Charles Manson and other members of his “family,” has unleashed a massive tome in an effort to lend the final word to the persistent JFK assassination debate. “Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy,” 20 years in the making and clocking in at more than 1,600 pages, comes complete with a CD compiling Bugliosi’s copious (1,000 more pages) end notes. The verdict? Lee Harvey Oswald assassinated the president, and he acted alone.

Vincent Bugliosi, Vroman’s Bookstore, 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena. 7 tonight. (626) 449-5320.

FRIDAY

THEATER

Romance at the Bowl

Reba McEntire and Brian Stokes Mitchell head the cast as star-crossed lovers Ensign Nellie Forbush and Emile de Becque in the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic “South Pacific,” with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. The show, with a creative team that includes Emmy-winning director David Lee and Tony-winning music director Paul Gemignani, will have a three-night run under the moonlit sky.

“South Pacific,” Hollywood Bowl, 2301 N. Highland Ave., Hollywood. 8:30 p.m. Friday. $7 to $111. (213) 480-3232.

• Also 8:30 p.m. Saturday and 7:30 p.m. Sunday.

DANCE

Always on the move

The provocative, locally based Hysterica Dance Company celebrates its 10th anniversary at the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre with a retrospective that includes highlights from previous pieces as well as three new works. A sense of the here and now has always been a hallmark of the choreography by founder-director Kitty McNamee. And her love-hate relationship with pop culture has placed unorthodox fashion front and center in Hysterica performances. So the clothes and the dancing are both likely to rock out.

Hysterica Dance Company, John Anson Ford Amphitheatre, 2580 Cahuenga Blvd. E., Hollywood. 8:30 p.m. Friday. $5 (students) and $25. (323) 461-3673, www.fordtheatres.org

POP MUSIC

As stated by Fergie

Even if such hits as “Glamorous,” “London Bridge,” “Fergalicious” and “Big Girls Don’t Cry” don’t exactly set a new standard for musical invention, they do a fine job of fueling Fergie’s funky goddess image. Her headlining appearance at the Orange County Fair figures to include those radio staples (as well as “My Humps”) and will make the case that you can simultaneously be a pop sex symbol and older than 30.

Pacific Amphitheatre, 100 Fair Drive, Costa Mesa. 7 p.m. Friday. $49.50. (714) 708-1500.

ART

In a bubbly mood today

For his first solo show at Hunsaker/Schlesinger, Michael Brunswick has mounted an exhibition of rich, color-saturated canvases that speak to a sense of rebirth and regeneration. Incorporating chance elements to offset and deepen the intent in the marks of his hand, the fluid, mysterious paintings -- full of tiny bubbles and amorphous shapes -- offer a visual and textural richness that the artist calls “dessert”-like.

“Michael Brunswick: New Paintings,” Hunsaker/Schlesinger, 2525 Michigan Ave., T3, Santa Monica. Opens Friday. (310) 828-1133.

• Hours: 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. Ends Sept. 1.

MOVIES

How U.S. altered Iraq

In the documentary “No End in Sight,” first-time filmmaker Charles Ferguson dives into the deep end with an insider’s look at how U.S. policy has led to chaos in the war in Iraq. The film won the Special Jury Prize at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.

“No End in Sight,” unrated, opens Friday at Laemmle’s Sunset 5, 8000 Sunset Blvd., L.A., (323) 848-3500; and Laemmle’s One Colorado, 42 Miller Alley (inside plaza, Fair Oaks Avenue at Union Street), Pasadena, (626) 744-1224.

SATURDAY

WORLD MUSIC

Count all the hyphens

Latin Grammy winner Dori Caymmi comes from a stellar musical family. His father, Dorival Caymmi, is an icon of Brazilian songwriting, and Dori has established a solid position of his own as a successful multi-hyphenate. He’s an A-list arranger and music director, and the complete range of his creative skills is best experienced in small ensemble performances that allow the fullest expression of his dynamic guitar playing and intimate vocalizing.

Caymmi’s appearance at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art is linked to the opening of “The Arts in Latin America, 1492-1820.” (See Hot Ticket, this page.)

Dori Caymmi, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 5905 Wilshire Blvd., L.A. 5 to 7 p.m. Saturday. Free. (323) 857-6000, www.lacma.org

EVENTS

Flavors of N’awlins

New Orleans is famous for its food and its music. This weekend a little bit of the Big Easy comes west with the Long Beach Crawfish Festival: Tons of crawfish flown in from Louisiana and prepared by Cajun chefs will be featured along with N’awlins-style Cajun and zydeco music. There will also be storytelling and other activities for the little ones.

The music lineup includes performances by Lil’ Band o’ Gold, Geno Delafose & French Rockin’ Boogie, the 2nd Line Saviors and Eddie Baytos & the Nervis Bros.

Long Beach Crawfish Festival, Rainbow Lagoon, 400-403 Shoreline Village Drive, Long Beach. Noon to midnight Saturday. $15, admission; $33, admission and crawfish dinner; $13 to $25, advance tickets. (562) 495-5959, www.longbeachcrawfishfestival.com

• Also noon to 11 p.m. Sunday.

EVENTS

Moonlight mellow

You’ve heard of an all-night bender. Tonalism, the brainchild of the boundary-stretching sonic collective Dublab and the urban naturalist group Farmlab, is an all-night mind-bender. It’s an evening of ambient music under the stars in downtown L.A.

The free, all-ages event features live sets from such Dublab mainstays as Dntel (Jimmy Tamborello of the Postal Service), Adventure Time (Daedelus and Frosty) and Languis, as well as video projections. DJs from the Internet radio station will also ply their sonic experimentation, tea will be served and attendees (bring pillows, blankets, etc.) will hear “live nature sound duets.”

Now that sounds chill.

Tonalism, Farmlab, 1745 N. Spring St., L.A. 6 p.m. Saturday to 6 a.m. Sunday. Free. (323) 226-1158, dublabevents.blogspot.com

EVENTS

It’s a jungle out there

The Getty Family Festival will explore the influence of animals on cultures around the world.

Offered in conjunction with the center’s exhibition of “Oudry’s Painted Menagerie,” the festival will feature the Rangoli Dance Company’s “Song of the Cow” from India and a multicultural array of animal tales, dances, costumes and music.

Also to be offered: interactive workshops and other activities for all ages.

Getty Family Festival, Getty Center, 1200 Getty Center Drive, L.A. 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday. Free. (310) 440-7300, www.getty.edu

TUESDAY

THEATER

Playtime in Ojai

The 10th annual Ojai Playwrights Conference, led by artistic director Robert Egan, features public readings of new plays presented by noted directors and actors. Among past shows to come out of the event are “In the Continuum” and “The Paris Letter.”

The festival includes symposiums with prominent guest panelists and a youth writers/performance lab.

Charlayne Woodard, Keith Bunin, Julia Cho and Bill Cain are among this year’s many participants.

Zalk Theatre at Besant Hill School, 8585 Ojai Santa Paula Road (Highway 150), Ojai. Opens Tuesday. Most events, $25; all-events pass, $140. (805) 640-0400, www.ojaiplays.org.• Runs through Aug. 12.