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Weekend Picks for Sept. 27-30: The LA Phil hits 100, Ballet Hispánico returns, and Ohana Fest rocks

Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic will launch the orchestra's 100th season with a gala concert at Walt Disney Concert Hall on Thursday.
(Michael Owen Baker / For The Times)
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The LA Phil’s gala 100th-season opener on Thursday and related festivities on Sunday lead off our recommendations for this weekend. Also, three other local classical ensembles begin new seasons, two Critics’ Picks dramas ring down the curtain, Ballet Hispánico returns is back, and there’s a star-studded bash on the beach just down the 5 Freeway. And if you love animated musicals, Musco Center has the best of the best, featuring a score performed live to picture.

LA Phil goes big for 100th

Congratulations, LA Phil, you don’t look a day over 99! Under the trusty baton of artistic director Gustavo Dudamel, our homegrown but world-famous symphony orchestra launches its jam-packed centenary season with a jam-packed weekend of special events, starting with “California Soul.” This gala concert features the world premiere of Julia Adolphe’s “Underneath the Sheen,” plus works by John Adams and Frank Zappa, and special guests including the Los Angeles Master Chorale and Coldplay’s Chris Martin. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., L.A. 7 p.m. Thursday. $104-$320. www.laphil.com

Then on Sunday, there’s “Celebrate LA! LA Phil 100 x CicLAvia,” a daylong, citywide street festival featuring Poncho Sanchez, trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, Rivers Cuomo from Weezer, Lula Washington Dance Theatre and hundreds of other singers, musicians and dancers, performing on stages set up at assorted hubs along a car-free eight-mile route from downtown L.A. to Hollywood. Various locations, beginning at 8:30 a.m on Sunday. Free. www.ciclavia.org

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Capping things off, it’s “LA Phil 100 at the Bowl,” a free community concert featuring the LA Phil with special guests including pop superstar Katy Perry, jazz great Herbie Hancock and Youth Orchestra Los Angeles. Hollywood Bowl, 2301 N. Highland Ave., Hollywood. 7 p.m. Sunday. Free. www.hollywoodbowl.com

Ohana Fest rocks OC beach

There’ll be fun in the sun, on the sand, and especially in your ears at the Ohana Music Festival. This three-day all-ages showcase will feature main-stage sets by big-name acts like Norah Jones, Eric Church and John Doe (Fri.); Eddie Vedder, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Liz Phair (Sat.); and Mumford & Sons and Beck (Sun.). Doheny State Beach, 25300 Dana Point Harbor Drive, Dana Point. Gates open at noon on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Single-day passes: $99, $499; three-day passes: $275, $1200. www.ohanafest.com

Norah Jones is among the performers slated for Ohana Fest at Doheny State Beach in Dana Point.
(Eva Hambach / AFP / Getty Images)

Ballet Hispánico is back on the boards

New York-based Ballet Hispánico continues its residency at the Luckman with a trio of works by Latina choreographers that includes Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s “Línea Recta,” “Con Brazos Abiertos” by Michelle Manzanales, and Tania Pérez-Salas’ “3. Catorce Dieciséis.” Luckman Fine Arts Complex, Cal State L.A., 5151 State University Drive, L.A. 8 p.m. Saturday. $28-$48. www.luckmanarts.org

‘Arrival & Departure’ departs Fountain

It’s your last weekend to catch the L.A. Times Critics’ Choice show “Arrival & Departure.” Noel Coward’s screenplay for 1945’s “Brief Encounter” serves as the inspiration for Stephen Sachs’ modern-day romantic fable about a deaf man and a hard-of-hearing woman who make a connection after a chance meeting in the subway in New York City. Performed in spoken English and American Sign Language with open captioning. The Fountain Theatre, 5060 Fountain Ave. L.A. 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 2 p.n. Sunday. $20-$40. www.fountaintheatre.com

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Orchestral maneuvers around SoCal

It’s not just the LA Phil — symphonic season-openers abound! Pacific Symphony’s features Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 with pianist Olga Kern plus Ravel’s “Boléro.” Segerstrom Center for the Arts, Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday; $25 and up. www.pacificsymphony.org

Also, Long Beach Symphony kicks things off with a program that includes Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” featuring pianist Terrence Wilson. Long Beach Convention Center, Terrace Theater, 300 E. Ocean Blvd., Long Beach. 8 p.m. Saturday. $28 and up; students, $10. www.longbeachsymphony.org

And last but not least, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra returns with a program that includes Mendelssohn’s “Italian” Symphony, the U.S. premiere of Franco Donatoni’s “Eco,” and Bach’s Concerto for Two Violins featuring violinist Hilary Hahn and LACO concertmaster Margaret Batjer. Alex Theatre, 216 N. Brand Blvd., Glendale. 8 p.m. Saturday. Also at Royce Hall, UCLA, 340 Royce Drive, Westwood. 7 p.m. Sunday. $28 and up; discounts available. www.laco.org

Violinist Hilary Hahn will join Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra for the ensemble's season-opening concerts this weekend.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

‘Beauty and the Beast’ with live score

A tale as old as time is retold once again in “Disney’s Beauty and the Beast in Concert.” A 65-piece orchestra provides live accompaniment for a screening of the beloved 1991 animated musical based on the classic French fairy tale. Musco Center for the Arts, Chapman University, 1 University Drive, Orange. 7:30 p.m. Saturday. $20-$50. www.muscocenter.org

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‘Sense and Sensibility’ closes at South Coast Rep

It’s also the last weekend to see Jessica Swale’s stage adaptation of Jane Austen’s romantic novel “Sense and Sensibility,” about two sisters looking for love in late 18th century Britain. Also an L.A. Times Critics’ Choice. South Coast Repertory, Segerstrom Stage, 655 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. 7:30 p.m. Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday, 2:30 and 8 p.m. Saturday. $23 and up. www.scr.org

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