7 best things to do in L.A. this weekend including August Wilson’s ‘Jitney’

Best bets for this weekend include the Tony-winning revival of the August Wilson play “Jitney,” Mandy Patinkin in a cabaret show and the return of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra’s “Baroque Conversations.” You have a last chance to catch the Sam Shepard drama “Buried Child” before it closes at A Noise Within. The acclaimed Astana Ballet lands in Beverly Hills, and two distinct works pay tribute to writer-composers Juana Inés de la Cruz and Hildegard von Bingen.

All is fare in Wilson’s drama

“Jitney” is slang for an unlicensed taxicab and also the title of an August Wilson play about African American drivers of the same in 1970s Pittsburgh. Manhattan Theatre Club’s 2017 revival of Wilson’s drama rolls into the Mark Taper Forum, 135 N. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. 6:30 p.m. Sunday; other dates through Dec. 29. $25-$110. (213) 628-2772. centertheatregroup.org

Heidi Duckler Dance presents the new site-specific work “Hildegard Herself.”

(Sean Deckert)

Nun of the above

Heidi Duckler Dance, the local company that specializes in site-specific productions, presents “Hildegard Herself,” the conclusion of a two-part work inspired by the life and times of 12th-century German abbess, author, composer and mystic Hildegard von Bingen. St. John’s Cathedral, 514 W. Adams Blvd., L.A. 7 p.m. Friday-Saturday. $35, $50. heididuckler.org

Broadway’s Mandy Patinkin performs at the Musco Center on Sunday.

(Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times)

Prepare to be entertained

A star of stage (“Evita”) and screens big and small (“The Princess Bride,” “Homeland”) sings show tunes, standards and more in “Mandy Patinkin in Concert: Diaries.” Musco Center for the Arts, Chapman University, 415 N. Glassell St., Orange. 4 p.m. Sunday. $63-$113. (844) 626-8726. muscocenter.org

Deborah Strang and Geoff Elliott costar in A Noise Within’s “Buried Child.”

(Craig Schwartz)

Digging in the dirt

Dark secrets spill forth when a young man and his girlfriend pay an unexpected visit to the old homestead in Sam Shepard’s Pulitzer Prize-winning dysfunctional-family drama “Buried Child.” An L.A. Times Critics’ Choice. A Noise Within, 3352 E. Foothill Blvd., Pasadena. 8 p.m. Friday; 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday. $25 and up; student rush, $20; group discounts available. (626) 356-3121. anoisewithin.org

Going for baroque

Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra launches a new season of its “Baroque Conversations” series with a program that includes Handel’s “Water Music” plus works by Telemann and Richard Strauss. First Presbyterian of Santa Monica, 1220 2nd St., Santa Monica. 7:30 p.m. Thursday. Also at the Huntington, Rothenberg Hall, 1151 Oxford Road, San Marino. 7:30 p.m. Friday. $52 and up. (213) 622-7001. laco.org

A steppe in the right direction

Direct from Kazakhstan, it’s Astana Ballet. The company performs classic, modern and contemporary dance as part of its first West Coast tour. The Saban Theater, 8440 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills. 8 p.m. Friday. $85-$155. eventticketboss.com

Singing the praises of ‘Juana’

The UCLA School of Music stages the premiere of “Juana,” L.A.-based composer Carla Lucero’s opera about the 17th-century Mexican poet, philosopher and composer Juana Inés de la Cruz. Freud Playhouse, UCLA, 245 Charles E. Young Drive East, Westwood. 8 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Sunday. $25. schoolofmusic.ucla.edu