Saturday
An Arab and an Israeli step onto a stage and make people laugh. Or that’s to be their goal, anyway. Tonight, the Improv Olympic West presents “The Arab/Israeli Comedy Hour,” a two-person comedy review aiming to provide some comic relief to the political tension. Israeli-born Roni Geva and Lebanese American Hassan Arawas perform sketches including one described as “an ancient Mesopotamian version of ‘The Jerry Springer Show'” and another titled “West Bank Story” this evening, hoping “to bring peace through humor to the Middle East.”
10 p.m. (Saturday), 9 p.m. (Friday). Oct. 17, 18, 24 and 25. $10. 6366 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood. (323) 962-7560.
Sunday
ABC Family brings us a romantic comedy with a message tonight. The TV movie “Beautiful Girl” features Tony Award-winner Marissa Jaret Winokur (“Hairspray”) as Becca Wasserman, a chubby girl with a talented singing voice who decides to try out for a beauty contest, and Fran Drescher as her disapproving mother. Singing two songs written by Deborah (née Debbie) Gibson, will Becca succeed in singing her way into the judges’ hearts?8-10 p.m. ABC Family Channel. abcfamily.go.com.
l Seven more inspiring stories of Jewish resistance stand in defiance of lambs-to-the-slaughter notions today. Premiering at the Hollywood Film Festival this evening, “Unlikely Heroes” is the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Moriah Films latest documentary release, narrated by Sir Ben Kingsley.
Also this week, the festival showcases “Deutschland, Deutschland: A MusicalJourney With Sigmund Nissel.” $11. Arclight Cinemas, 6360 Sunset Blvd.,Hollywood. For tickets, visit
Monday
Are you ready for a miracle? Israeli bio-energy healer Ze’ev Kolman won’t harness your chi or balance your chakras, but if you’re lucky he will assess your aura and heal what ails you this evening. Counted among his believers are people as varied as parapsychologist and author Hans Holtzer, performers Carly Simon and Robert Wagner, as well as various rabbis and regular folks. As a bonus tonight, Kolman will perform a special group healing meditation with energy transference. Can we get an amen?7-9 p.m. $25. Le Meridien Hotel, 465 S. La Cienega Blvd., Los Angeles. (323) 571-1725.
Tuesday
In UCLA’s 2003 Wight Biennial exhibition, art by promising Bezalel Academy students in Tel Aviv share space with works by students from places as distant as Kyoto, Glasgow and New York. It’s all part of the UCLA art department’s program, wherein graduate students curate a show of works selected from graduate programs around the world. Gal Kinan and Rona Yefman are the two lucky Israelis chosen, thanks in part to The Jewish Federation’s Tel Aviv/Los Angeles Partnership’s Museum Leadership Exchange Project. See it before it closes Nov. 6.9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. (Monday-Friday). Free. New Wight Gallery/Kinross, 11000 Kinross Ave., Los Angeles. (310) 825-3281.
Wednesday
And over at that other Los Angeles university today, we have “Warner’s War: Politics, Pop Culture and Propaganda in Wartime Hollywood.” USC’s Fisher Gallery exhibition looks at the efforts of Warner brothers Jack and Harry to fight Hitler — through movies, speeches and letters. “Confessions of a Nazi Spy” and “Sons of Liberty” are two of numerous examples included in the show. It continues through Dec. 13, with various screenings and panels scheduled along the way.Noon-5 p.m. (Tuesday-Saturday). Free. USC University Park Campus, 823 Exposition Blvd., Los Angeles. (213) 740-4561.
Thursday
Today, you can view images of the American Dream as captured by Walker Evans, Alfred Stieglitz, Berenice Abbott and many other well-known (and unknown) photographers. Organized by the Van Gogh Museum, and with an accompanying catalogue with a forward by Bill Clinton, “The Photograph and the American Dream, 1840-1940,” makes its U.S. debut here this month at the Skirball Cultural Center.Noon-5 p.m. (Tuesday-Saturday), 11 a.m.-5 p.m. (Sunday). Runs through Jan. 4, 2004. $8 (general), $6 (students and seniors), Free (members and children under 12). 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles. (310) 440-4500.
Friday
Young professionals tired of the same old mixers can head to the UJ this evening for the first in a series of unconventional Shabbats. Rabbi Neal Weinberg and Brian Fox lead “Judaism on Both Feet: Exploring Jewish Life Through Text and Improv.” Seems the give-and-take of improv isn’t all that different from the Jewish philosophy that stresses balance as the key ingredient to a good life. So enjoy a traditional Shabbat meal followed by this less-than-traditional after-event as a first step in achieving that whole harmony thing.Ages 22-39. 6:30-9:30 p.m. $20. University of Judaism, 15600 Mulholland Drive, Bel Air. R.S.V.P., (310) 476-9777, ext. 473.
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