Walt Whitman heard America singing. Carpenter, boatman, mother, washerwoman. Young fellows “Singing with open mouths their strong melodious songs.” In Matthew Aucoin’s troublingly perceptive opera, “Crossing,” which was given its West Coast premiere this weekend at the Wallis Annenberg Center for....

Considering the fairy tale is only a year removed from a live-action update, a Hollywood Bowl restaging of Disney’s animated “Beauty and the Beast” could have come off as nostalgia overkill. Or worse, it could have shined a light on some of the 1991 film’s more unsavory aspects — plot points that...

Capsule reviews are by Philip Brandes (P.B.), F. Kathleen Foley (F.K.F.), Margaret Gray (M.G.), Charles McNulty (C.M.) and Daryl H. Miller (D.H.M.). Openings A Very British Lesbian Writer-performer Fiona Goodwin shares her personal journey in this solo show. Zephyr Theatre, 7456 Melrose Ave.,...

Nixon Library Sunday Concerts Young players from the Placentia-Yorba Linda School District perform chamber music. Richard M. Nixon Library, 18001 Yorba Linda Blvd., Yorba Linda. Sun., 2 p.m. Free. (714) 993-5075. Restoration Concerts The New Hollywood String Quartet plays pieces by Debussy, Haydn....

June 1 Action Point Johnny Knoxville stars as the proprietor of a safety-challenged theme park threatened by the arrival of a nearby mega-amusement park. With Chris Pontius, Dan Bakkedahl, Matt Schulze, Eleanor Worthington-Cox. Written by John Altschuler & Dave Krinsky; story by Knoxville, Derek...

Coppelia Long Beach Ballet stages the classic fable about a young man who falls in love with a life-sized dancing doll. Terrace Theater, Long Beach Convention Center, 300 E. Ocean Blvd., Long Beach. Sun., 2 p.m. $38 and up. (562) 426-4622. Gala Flamenca: Arte de Verano Cristina Hall, Wendy Castella..

Daniel Lanois and Venetian Snares, “Venetian Snares X Daniel Lanois” (Timesig). Fortunate is the soul able to beckon a Lyft and end up a few minutes later in musician and producer Lanois’ living room studio with the artist himself. But, lo, this listener recently did just that, climbing the steep...