9 things to do in L.A. and O.C.: Laguna Beach Music Festival and more

By Matt CooperListings Coordinator

Feb. 5, 2020 1:31 PM PT

The coming weekend has the Laguna Beach Music Festival, Alfred Molina in the poignant stage drama “The Father,” Sean Dorsey Dance presenting “Boys in Trouble” and the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s series on Weimar-era Germany. Jazz great Billie Holiday and Mexican painter Frida Kahlo are remembered in separate bio-dramas, Viver Brasil is bringing samba back, and Le Salon de Musiques offers a Schubert song cycle. If you’re all about that Bard, check out Independent Shakespeare Co.’s “iambic lab” festival.

By the sounding sea

Violinist Ray Chen serves as artistic director for this year’s Laguna Beach Music Festival. This three-day classical-music showcase presented by the Philharmonic Society of Orange County also features the Dover Quartet and the Academy Virtuosi, plus works by Bach, Debussy, Piazzolla and Ravel. Laguna Presbyterian Church, 415 Forest Ave., Laguna Beach. 8 p.m. Thursday. Also at Laguna Beach Artists Theatre, 625 Park Ave., Laguna Beach. 8 p.m. Friday, 7 p.m. Saturday. $38-$58. (949) 553-2422. philharmonicsociety.org

Where is my mind?

Alfred Molina (“Frida,” “Chocolat”) plays an elderly man navigating shifting realities in “The Father,” Christopher Hampton’s translation of French playwright Florian Zeller’s acclaimed drama. Pasadena Playhouse, 39 S. El Molino Ave. 5 p.m. Sunday; other dates through March 1. $25 and up. (626) 356-7529. pasadenaplayhouse.org

Sean Dorsey, center, stands, arms crossed and index fingers pointing up, with a group of men behind him, stretching their hands toward him.

Boys keep swinging

Sean Dorsey Dance is back with “Boys in Trouble.” The San Francisco-based troupe takes a deep dive into the concept of American masculinity in a reprise of transgender choreographer and company founder Dorsey’s 2018 dance-theater work. Glorya Kaufman International Dance Center, USC, 849 W. 34th St., L.A. 2 and 7:30 p.m Saturday. Free; reservations required. calendar.usc.edu

Esa-Pekka Salonen conducting the L.A. Philharmonic, with eyes closed and pinkie extended.

Life was a cabaret

To kick off the L.A. Phil’s multi-venue festival “The Weimar Republic: Germany 1918-1933,” conductor laureate Esa-Pekka Salonen leads the orchestra in a program that includes works by Weill, Schoenberg and Hindemith. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday. $20-$187. (323) 850-2000. laphil.com

Gone too soon

Two groundbreaking female artists, each of whom died in her 40s, are remembered in two shows:

Karole Foreman reprises her role as legendary jazz singer Billie Holiday as Ebony Repertory Theatre presents an encore of International City Theatre’s 2019 production of “Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill.” Nate Holden Performing Arts Center, 4718 W. Washington Blvd., L.A. 8 p.m. Saturday, 3 p.m. Sunday; other dates through March 1. $30-$50. (323) 964-9766. ebonyrep.org

Writer, director and performer Odalys Nanin portrays beloved Mexican painter Frida Kahlo in the Macha Theatre production of “Frida — Stroke of Passion.” Casa 0101 Theater, 2102 E. 1st St., Boyle Heights. 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday; other dates through Feb. 16. $25. casa0101.org

It’s carnival time

Put a little samba in your Saturday morning as L.A.-based company Viver Brasil returns with a family-friendly celebration of Afro-Brazilian music and dance. The Broad Stage, 1310 11th St., Santa Monica. 11 a.m. Saturday. $5. (310) 434-3200. thebroadstage.org

Things to do

Woe is him

The intimate chamber-music series Le Salon de Musiques presents “Winter’s Journey,” an all-Schubert program of works for piano and voice. The concert includes the “Winterreise,” the Austrian composer’s song cycle about a lovelorn wanderer, with baritone Ben Lowe. Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 5th Floor Salon, 135 N. Grand Ave., L.A. 4 p.m. Sunday. $45, $95. (310) 498-0257. lesalondemusiques.com

The play’s the thing

The Independent Shakespeare Co., the kindly folks who bring you the annual Griffith Park Free Shakespeare Festival, celebrates all things Bard-related with “iambic lab 2020: Shakespearean Curios & Treasures,” featuring new works, obscure classics, lectures and more. ISC Studio, Atwater Crossing Arts + Innovation Complex, 3191 Casitas Ave., Suite 130, L.A. 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, 3 p.m. Sunday; other dates through Feb. 15. $25-$40; several events are free (reservations recommended). (818) 710-6306. iscla.org