WEEKEND FORECAST

FRIDAY

MOVIES

Baa, baa, bad sheep

Hordes of genetically engineered mutton are transformed into ravenous, flesh-eating killers in the New Zealand horror-comedy “Black Sheep,” which takes a gentle poke at the Kiwi national identity. Jonathan King directs.

“Black Sheep,” unrated, opens Friday in selected theaters.

CABARET

She needs no truth lasso

Wonder Woman doing a cabaret act? What will she do if you don’t applaud? Toss you out the door? Seriously, folks, Lynda Carter may be best known for her nubile performances in the ‘70s superheroine show, but she has plenty of other skills, and singing is one of her best. She’s played Mama Morton in the Broadway and West End productions of “Chicago” and made her cabaret debut at San Francisco’s Plush Room in May. Expect to hear a well-polished set from a performer who can deliver a song even better than she can take down a bad guy.

Lynda Carter, Catalina Bar & Grill, 6725 W. Sunset Blvd., Hollywood. 8:30 p.m. Friday. $50 to $75 cover; with dinner or beverage minimum. (323) 466-2210.

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

MUSIC

In tune with America

Formed in San Francisco in 1996, the Cypress String Quartet will play the West Coast premiere of its “Inspired by America” program, a multimedia event that includes chamber music by Barber, Dvorak, Ives and other composers. In addition, the brilliant Bay Area philosopher Jacob Needleman (“The American Soul,” “Why Can’t We Be Good?”) will be interviewed on film about the American experience by Emmy Award-winning director Michael Schwarz. The quartet members are violinists Cecily Ward and Tom Stone, violist Ethan Filner and cellist Jennifer Kloetzel.

Cypress String Quartet, John Anson Ford Amphitheatre, 2580 Cahuenga Blvd. East, L.A. 8:30 p.m. Friday. $25. (323) 461-3673; www.fordtheatres.org

COMEDY

Emerging talents

There’s a silver lining in the news that three top-billed comedians -- George Lopez, Cheech Marin and Paul Rodriguez -- canceled appearances at the Latino Laugh Festival. Now attention will turn to lesser-known comedians who have emerged in recent years. Established stand-ups such as Gabriel Iglesias and Joey Medina join a lineup including an all-female act, open-mike performers and spoken-word artists, leading up to the “Laugh Yourself Loco Finale” on Sunday at the Kodak Theatre. Along the way: Dan Guerrero’s “¡Gaytino!,” Rick Najera’s “Latinologues” and “My Mexican American Wars” with Cris Franco.

“Latino Laugh Festival,” various Hollywood venues. Friday through Sunday. www.latinolaughfestival.com/schedule.html

SATURDAY

ART

In honor of a pioneer

Saturday marks the opening of the exhibition “Flowers From Carmen’s Garden,” honoring Self Help Graphics & Art founder, Sister Karen Boccalero. The exhibition marks the 10th anniversary of her death and will feature artworks inspired by and in tribute to the founder of the East L.A. community printmaking center. On Sunday, Self Help Graphics will hold its annual Print Fair in conjunction with an exhibition of new woodblock, linocuts and mono-prints, a silent auction and an opportunity to commission one-of-a-kind mono-print portraits by artist Yolanda Gonzales.

“Flowers From Carmen’s Garden: Homenaje a Sister Karen Boccalero (1933-1997),” Self Help Graphics & Art, 3802 Cesar E. Chavez Ave., L.A. Opens Saturday; ends Aug. 12. (323) 881-6444,

* Annual Print Fair, noon to 5 p.m. Sunday.

THEATER

Prince and a nymph

In a mythical village, a star-crossed romance plays out between a mortal prince and a water nymph in “Karim at Jasmin,” a Filipino dramatic musical by Ramon Sison Geluz, told with original and traditional Filipino melodies.

“Karim at Jasmin,” Terrace Theatre, Long Beach Performing Arts Center, 300 E. Ocean Ave., Long Beach. 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday. $50 and $65. (213) 480-3232, (714) 740-2000. www.ticketmaster.com

ART

German back in solo

Tim Berresheim, part of a new wave of interest in young German artists (he lives in Cologne), will mount an exhibition at Patrick Painter -- having previously appeared in the gallery’s “Leg Show” group exhibition this year. “Violett (Haar)” which translates into “Violet Hair,” engages an uncanny use of computer-rendered forms that adds a jarring hyperrealism to the disembodied articles of clothing, tufts of hair and household objects that float through his panels.

“Tim Berresheim: Violett (Haar),” Patrick Painter -- West Gallery, 2525 Michigan Ave., Unit B2, Santa Monica. Opens Saturday. (310) 264-5988.

* Hours: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. Ends July 28.

SUNDAY

WORLD MUSIC

Mix this, beat that

KCRW’s World Music Festival -- the Hollywood Bowl’s summer collection of impassioned rhythms from around the globe -- arrives early this year in a program of steaming sounds reaching from Africa to Brazil, enhanced with the magic of turntable electronica. Salvador’s Carlinhos Brown brings his irresistible blend of Bahian percussion and body-moving funk. Sierra Leone’s Refugee All-Stars add their own gumbo of roots music and West African reggae. And the turntable team of DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist offer the debut performance of their showcase compilation, “Brain Placement: 7 Inches of Fury.”

KCRW’s World Music Festival, Hollywood Bowl, 2301 N. Highland Ave., Hollywood. 7 p.m. Sunday. $9 to $45. (323) 850-2000.

THEATER

This and rent too

The precarious state of a couple’s 25-year marriage is profoundly affected by the arrival of a vivacious young boarder in William Inge’s classic drama, “Come Back, Little Sheba.” With S. Epatha Merkerson and Alan Rosenberg.

“Come Back, Little Sheba,” Kirk Douglas Theatre, 9820 Washington Blvd., Culver City. Opens 4 p.m. Sunday. $20 to $50. (213) 628-2772; www.CenterTheatreGroup.org

* Runs 8 p.m. Tuesdays to Saturdays, 7 p.m. Sundays, 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Exceptions: 8:30 p.m. on July 12; dark July 5; ends July 15.

MUSEUMS

Revisiting ‘60s, ‘70s

Rick Griffin’s colorful art has become visually anthemic of the American counterculture of the 1960s and 1970s. In his work, he expresses the idealism, hedonism, politics and eccentricity now associated with the eras. The Laguna Art Museum presents “Heart and Torch: Rick Griffin’s Transcendence,” an exhibition of 140 paintings, drawings, posters, artifacts and album covers Griffin created from the 1960s until his death in 1991. An exhaustive 156-page catalog surveying the artist’s effect on the Psychedelic Rock, surf and born-again Christian movements accompanies the retrospective.

“Heart and Torch: Rick Griffin’s Transcendence,” Laguna Art Museum, 307 Cliff Drive, Laguna Beach. Opens Sunday. $8 to $10; children 12 and younger, free. (949) 494-8971.

* Hours: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Sunday. Ends Sept. 30.

TUESDAY

BOOKS

Her take on Princess Di

Tina Brown, the American publishing dynamo credited with revamping Vanity Fair and the New Yorker after having put England’s Tatler on the map with a fourfold increase in its subscription base, applies her keen insight and access to celebrity culture to a biography of the Princess of Wales. In “The Diana Chronicles,” Brown seeks to strip away the mythology surrounding the People’s Princess. Brown, who was acquainted with Diana, presents the epic dramas and secret psychological torment that reveal a conflicted, dynamic individual battling to reconcile her public and private personas. Writers Bloc presents Tina Brown in conversation with Patt Morrison, Times columnist and host of KPCC-FM’s “Patt Morrison.”

Tina Brown, Writer’s Guild Theatre, 135 S. Doheny Drive, Beverly Hills. 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. $20. (310) 335-0917.