7 Days in the Arts

13Saturday

The Yiddishkayt Los Angeles Festival zings along as recording artist and VBS Children’s Music Director Cindy Paley presents songs and stories from her latest recording “Zing Along.” Two free performances provide a perfect opportunity to experience the warmth and humor of Yiddish folk music for the first time, or to help pass memories of Yiddish story and song to another generation. 2 p.m. Free. Borders Books and Music, 14651 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks. For more information call (818) 728-6593. Second performance at 7 p.m. Free. Barnes & Noble, 4735 Commons Way, Calabasas. For more information on the second performance, call (818) 222-0542.

14Sunday

o L.A. Theatre Works’ The Play’s The Thing live radio theater series presents Sandra Tsing Loh’s off-Broadway hit solo show “Aliens in America.” Loh, the slacker spokeswoman, Caltech graduate and host of KCRW’s “The Loh Life,” spins satirical, semi-autobiographical tales of growing up middle-class and Chinese-German in Southern California. The performances will be recorded for future broadcast on KCRW 89.9 FM. 4 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. $32/$36 ($10 student rush and $20 public rush tickets may be available 10 minutes prior to curtain). Skirball Cultural Center, 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles. For reservations call (310) 827-0089.

15Monday

Los Angeles Public Library’s Central Library gives the public conversation on the history and future of Tibet some local flavor with a special presentation from Orville Schell, dean of the Graduate School of Journalism at U.C. Berkeley and an expert on modern China and Tibet. Schell will discuss his new book “Virtual Tibet: Searching for Shangri-La from the Himalayas to Hollywood”. 7 p.m. Free. Mark Taper Auditorium at Central Library, Fifth and Flower streets, downtown L.A. For reservations call (213) 228-7025.

16Tuesday

The public is invited to a free screening of “4 Faces” at the Motion Picture Foundation home in Calabasas. The film by veteran Hollywood director Ted Post, which had a private showing at the Directors Guild theater last week, portrays four vastly different characters, all acted by Peter Mark Richman. In an impressive achievement, Richman is in turn a Southern fundamentalist preacher, the father of a drug-addicted teenager, a former SS officer on Eichman’s staff, and an 83-year-old Holocaust survivor living in New York. 7 p.m., preceded by refreshments at 6:30 p.m. L.B. Mayer Theater, 23388 Mulholland Dr. Take the Ventura Freeway (101) west and exit at Valley Circle Drive. For reservations and more information, (818) 876-1900. – Tom Tugend, Contributing Editor

Westwood Kehilla offers another special film presentation, with “The Long Way Home.” This documentary of Holocaust survivors’ struggle to emigrate to Palestine won the 1997 Academy Award for Best Feature Length Documentary. 7:30 p.m. $3. Westwood Kehilla, 10523 Santa Monica Blvd. For more information call (310) 441-5289.

17Wednesday

Israel’s only professional Yiddish repertory theater, Yiddishpiel performs a medley of songs, scenes and monologues by such writers as Sholom Aleichem and Isaac Bashevis Singer. The show, “Good Yom-Tov Yiddish,” reflects at once the resilience and continued relevance of Yiddish culture. In Yiddish, with English supertitles. Tues. and Wed., 8 p.m. $18/$15. University of Judaism, Gindi Auditorium, 15600 Mulholland Dr. (310) 476-9777 x201.

18Thursday

For those seeking an adventure in fine art, Nancy Kattler offers an excursion into the L.A. art scene. The arts consultant, lecturer and founder of Arts Tours of Los Angeles will lead participants on a guided tour that ranges from the Bel Air mansion of a dedicated art collector, through the unlisted, underground galleries of some of L.A.’s promising young artists. A second tour, on June 1, includes a visit to Santa Monica’s cluster of art galleries, Bergamot Station. Both tours begin at 9:10 a.m. at the University of Judaism, and return at 2:45 p.m. $45 per tour or $80 for both. The University of Judaism is located at 15600 Mulholland Dr., Bel Air. (310) 467-9777 x246

Homo Sapiens, a new documentary from Peter Cohen, gets its area premiere at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The film traces the evolution of eugenics from a 19th century movement to a 20th century pseudo-science, and its various manifestations throughout Europe and the U.S. Mr. Cohen will discuss his work following the screening. 7:30 p.m. $7 (general), $5 (members, seniors and students). Bing Theater, LACMA, 5905 Wilshire Blvd. (877) 522-6225.

19Friday

Explore worlds of color, texture and shape at the opening of “Linear Liquidity,” the first solo show of Israeli-born artist Sharon Ben-Tal. Inspired by sources ranging from the Israeli desert to “Forrest Gump,” Ben-Tal’s abstract paintings hang at Artplace in Venice. A reception for the artist will be held 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Gallery hours are Sat. and Sun., 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. or by appointment. Show runs through June 18. Free. Artplace, 12611 Venice Blvd. (310) 398-7404.