TODAYDANCEHe liked to do things bigUsing martial...

TODAY

DANCE

He liked to do things big

Using martial arts, action and dance choreography, hundreds of lavish costumes and set designs inspired by traditional Chinese performing arts styles, “Terracotta Warriors” tells the story of Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China, who had the famous stone soldiers created for his tomb and the Great Wall built, then went completely insane. Then? Who could tell? This musical theater work was written and directed by Dennis K. Law. Hao Wei Ya composed the music.

“Terracotta Warriors,” Kodak Theatre, 6801 Hollywood Blvd., L.A. 8 tonight. $17.50 to $57.50. (213) 480-3232; www.ticketmaster.com* Also 8 p.m. Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday.

ART

Hanging around

This weekend, two art trade fairs slug it out in Santa Monica. Art L.A. -- with participants including LACE, Peres Project and ACE -- highlights the hip and cutting-edge. For a broader range of works, head to Los Angeles Art Show, which also hosts a series of lectures with a variety of personalities, including art critic David Pagel.

* Los Angeles Art Show, Barker Hangar, 3021 Airport Ave., Santa Monica. $18. (310) 822-9145. Hours: noon to 7 p.m. today through Saturday; noon to 6 p.m. Sunday.

* Art L.A. 2007, Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, 1855 Main St., Santa Monica. $15 to $25. (323) 937-4659. Hours: noon to 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday; noon to 6 p.m. Sunday.

FRIDAY

THEATER

More than surviving

Academy Award winner Olympia Dukakis (“Moonstruck”) stars in “Rose,” Martin Sherman’s portrait of a survivor of the Warsaw Ghetto (inspired by the experiences of the playwright’s maternal grandmother). Nancy Meckler directs the visiting production.

“Rose,” Irvine Barclay Theatre, 4242 Campus Drive, Irvine, 8 p.m. Friday. $38 and $45. (949) 854-4646. www.thebarclay.org* Also 8 p.m. Saturday.

MOVIES

He’s a man on the run

Pierce Brosnan continues his string of portraying off-type characters as a mysterious man on the run after the Civil War in the suspense-filled western “Seraphim Falls.” The questions are: Why is he running and why is Liam Neeson pursuing him with such unwavering fervor? The film, directed by David Von Ancken, features a cast including Anjelica Huston, Michael Wincott, Ed Lauter and Robert Baker.

“Seraphim Falls,” rated R for violence and brief language, opens Friday in general release.

SATURDAY

WORLD MUSIC

A night

in Tunisia

Violinist Amina Srarfi’s Orchestra Azifet is a trailblazing ensemble, widely acknowledged as the “first all-female orchestra in Tunisia.” Performing with a combination of Western instruments as well as the oud (lute), rabab (fiddle) and qanun (zither), the traditionally garbed players will offer selections from Tunisia’s ancient malouf music, as well as classic Tunisian popular songs and French Tunisian chansons from the ‘20s and ‘30s. The program complements the exhibition “Stories in Stone: Conserving Mosaics of Roman Africa; Masterpieces From the National Museums of Tunisia.”

Orchestra Azifet, the Getty Villa, 17985 Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu. 8 p.m. Saturday. $25; $20, seniors and students. (310) 440-7300. www.getty.edu

* Also 3 p.m. Sunday

MUSEUMS

A world made by ‘Machine’

The allegory of the Eloi, the privileged species evolved from humans in H.G. Wells’ novel “The Time Machine,” is the launching point for the group exhibition “Eloi: Stumbling Towards Paradise.” Photographic works of bleak landscapes, freeways, motel rooms and planned communities by Liset Castillo, Miles Coolidge, Todd Hido, Malerie Marder, Tracy Powell and Alex Slade examine the harsh realities of imperfection, disillusionment and redemption.

“Eloi: Stumbling Towards Paradise,” UC Riverside California Museum of Photography, 3824 Main St., Riverside. Opens Saturday. $3. (951) 784-3686.

* Hours: noon to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. Ends April 14.

POP MUSIC

‘Sounds’ heard again

Perhaps heeding the advice of one of his great early Beach Boys songs, “Do It Again,” Brian Wilson will return for one final Southern California performance of the Beach Boys’ 1966 landmark album “Pet Sounds,” six years after first mounting it at the Hollywood Bowl and three months after its memorable return (with fellow Beach Boy Al Jardine) at Royce Hall.

Brian Wilson, Long Beach Terrace Theatre, 300 E. Ocean Blvd., Long Beach. 8 p.m. Saturday. $38.50 to $58.50. (562) 436-3636.

JAZZ

Time with

a Marsalis

The Marsalis family’s star saxophonist has cruised comfortably through every area of the music world -- from straight-ahead jazz to classical recordings, from backing pop star Sting to leading the band on “The Tonight Show.” Making one of his relatively rare Southland appearances, Branford Marsalis performs in the stimulating, musically empathic surroundings of his regular quartet, with longtime associates Joey Calderazzo, piano; Eric Revis, bass; and Jeff “Tain” Watts, drums, setting the stage for world-class improvising.

Branford Marsalis, Backstage at the Vault, 330 Pine Ave., Long Beach, 8 and 10:30 p.m. Saturday. $41.25 to $82.20. (562) 590-5566.

SUNDAY

MUSIC

Birthday party for Steve Reich

Conductor Grant Gershon and the Los Angeles Master Chorale celebrate Steve Reich’s 70th birthday with two of the composer’s works: a reprise of “You Are (Variations),” which was co-commissioned by the Chorale, Lincoln Center in New York and the Friends of the Ensemble Modern, and the West Coast premiere of “Daniel Variations.” The latter was written in memory of Daniel Pearl, the Wall Street Journal reporter who was kidnapped and killed while on assignment in Pakistan in January 2002. Reich, who was born Oct. 3, 1936, will be at the concert. The program also will include early Renaissance motets.

Los Angeles Master Chorale, Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., L.A. 7 p.m. Sunday. $19 to $129. (800) 787-5262. www.lamc.org

TUESDAY

WORDS

The story of a great love

The bestselling writer Calvin Trillin has humorously captured the largest and smallest aspects of American life, from the foibles of the Bush administration (in rhyme, mind you) to the strategic art of Manhattan parking, but never has he been as moving as he is in “About Alice,” his tribute to his wife and longtime muse. When Alice Trillin died in 2001 from cardiac failure, the veteran New Yorker contributor received an outpouring of condolences, including a letter from a young woman who wrote that when she looks at her boyfriend, she sometimes thinks, “But will he love me like Calvin loves

Alice?” The Kansas City native converses with

Los Angeles Times

Book Review Editor David Ulin.

Calvin Trillin in conversation with David Ulin, ALOUD at Central Library, Mark Taper Auditorium, 5th and Flower streets, downtown L.A., 7 p.m. Tuesday. (213) 228-7025.

WEDNESDAY

THEATER

Return to Robben Island

The Market Theatre of Johannesburg, which introduced many of South Africa’s leading playwrights and directors, will reprise Athol Fugard’s landmark 1970s play, “The Island,” set during the country’s apartheid regime, about two political prisoners preparing a performance of Sophocles’ “Antigone” for inmates and prison staff at notorious Robben Island.

“The Island,” UC Santa Barbara, Campbell Hall, 8 p.m. Wednesday. $40. (805) 893-3535; www.artsandlectures.ucsb.edu

* Also at UC Riverside, University Theater, 900 University Ave., Riverside. 8 p.m. next Thursday. $26. (951) 827-4331; www.culturalevents.ucr.edu