7days

24
Saturday

Klezmer supergroup Mikveh performs in concert at Temple Isaiah tonight, kicking off the Women’s Yiddish Voices conference sponsored by Yiddishkayt Los Angeles and USC Center for Feminist Studies. The four women of Mikveh compose original music and perform rediscovered rare Yiddish tunes, sometimes with inventive English lyric translations. $20 (general admission); $15 (students). 8 p.m. Temple Isaiah, 10345 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles. For tickets, call (323) 692-8151.

Theater and television actors Scott Bakula, Charlene Tilton, Ilene Graff, Lenny Wolpe and Carol Kline are among the parent-celebrities scheduled to appear at “You Gotta Have Friends,” a benefit show for the musical theater program at the Hamilton Academy of Music. More than a dozen other professionals of stage and screen will join in the benefit evening of song, dance and comedy for the renowned public high school’s performing arts program. $20-$50. 7:30 p.m. 2955 S. Robertson Blvd., Los Angeles. For tickets, call (323) 933-4363.

25
Sunday

From Bayside, Queens to Santa Monica by way of Amsterdam, Leigh B. Grode’s autobiographical solo show “Not For Nothing” follows the filmmaker-artist’s wild adventures. Prior to her life as a performer, Grode directed the short docudrama “Outcasts,” about lesbians in Germany before and during the Nazi era. $12. 8:30 p.m. Highways Performance Space, 18th St. Arts Complex, 1651 18th St., Santa Monica. For reservations, call (310) 315-1459.

26
Monday

In their ongoing discussion series on the power of the media, the Anti-Defamation League brings together some local experts for tonight’s panel on “Arts and Ideas”. Ernest Fleishmann, the former managing director of the L.A. Philharmonic responsible for bringing Simon Rattle and Esa-Pekka Salonen to town, joins Getty Center Research Institute director Tom Crow and LACMA Institute of Art and Cultures director Paul Holdengraber on the panel. $29. 7 p.m.-9:30 p.m. Wyndham Bel Age Hotel, 1020 N. San Vicente Blvd., West Hollywood. For more information, call (310) 446-8000 ext. 230.

27
Tuesday

Three generations of swing dancing, the music and the social context, bop across the University of Judaism’s Gindi Auditorium stage for three performances of “SwingDance America.” Short vignettes of music, dance and stories swing through the lindy, jitterbug, jive, shag, boogie woogie, bebop and more, moving from the 1920s through the recent swing revival. $25-$30. Sat., Feb. 24, 8:30 p.m.; Sun, Feb. 25, 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.; Tues., Feb. 27, 8 p.m. 15600 Mulholland Drive, Bel Air. For tickets or more information, call (310) 476-9777 ext. 203.

28
Wednesday

In “Hit and Runway,” Alex, a straight, Italian, Catholic wannabe screenwriter finds his best hope for success is with gay, Jewish Elliot as a writing partner. As these two struggle to finish their screenplay, they must also come to terms with each other. Beth Chayim Chadashim and Congregation Kol Ami are co-sponsoring this screening with Outfest. $7 (general admission); $6 (students and seniors). 7 p.m. The Village, 1125 N. McCadden Place, Hollywood. For reservations, call (323) 960-2394.

1
March

As a founder of the Brentwood Art Center, Ed Buttwinick has been inspiring artists of all ages for over thirty years, while keeping up with his own creations of Judaic assemblage art. Today at The Artists’ Gallery (founded by former students and faculty of the Brentwood Art Center), Buttwinick presents a slide lecture on the stories and symbolism of his artwork. 7 p.m. 2903 Santa Monica Blvd., Santa Monica. For more information, call (310) 829-9556.

2
Friday

Ranier Maria Rilke’s poem “For the Sake of a Single Verse” so inspired artist Ben Shahn that he created 22 lithographs to illustrate that poem’s message of art embedded in everyday life. A frequent artistic interpreter of literature, Shahn’s artwork is noted for its humanitarian and social reformist subject matter. $8 (general admission); $6 (students and seniors); free (members and children under 12). Tue.-Sat., noon-5 p.m.; Sun. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Through March 4. Ruby Gallery, Skirball Cultural Center, 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles. For more information, call (310) 440-4500.

“Wallenberg” dramatizes the story of Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg’s efforts to save Jews from the Nazis. Portrayed as an unremarkable man before the war, the play shows how Wallenberg rose to his crucial task. Dec. 1-2 and Dec. 7-9, 8 p.m.; Dec. 3 and 10, 2 p.m. $8.50 (in advance); $10.50 (general). Bronwyn Dodson Theatre, Fullerton College, 321 E. Chapman Ave., Fullerton. For tickets, call (714) 992-7433 ext. 0.