Denyce Graves

When Los Angeles last saw mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves in June, she was camping it up as the Dragon in Los Angeles Opera's "Grendel." That is presumably about as far as you can get from the formal, austere, nowhere-to-hide setting of a song recital, the format in which Graves was heard at UCLA's Royce Hall on Thursday night. There were gratifications in this -- no smoke, no distracting production, better music.

10pm Movies There will be no crying in Argentina (or maybe there will) when the El Capitan plays host to an "Evita" Sing-a-Long. Come dressed as your favorite character and belt out the words to "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" and "You Must Love Me" right along with Madonna, Antonio Banderas and Jonathan Pryce as you watch director Alan Parker's 1996 Golden Globe-winning adaptation of the Tim Rice-Andrew Lloyd Webber stage hit. Don't know the words?

Vancouver Symphony Orchestra music director Bramwell Tovey was named principal guest conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl at a news conference announcing the 2008 summer season Monday on the Bowl stage. Tovey succeeds Leonard Slatkin, the first person to hold the post, who stepped down at the end of the 2007 season.

Architecture should evoke strong opinions, and I respect the right of critics to "call them as they see them." But Nicolai Ouroussoff's review of the Orange County Performing Arts Center's new Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall errs on several points--some unrelated to architecture ("Concert Hall Design Misses the High Notes," Oct. 30). In his critique, Ouroussoff states that the new venue, designed by renowned architect Cesar Pelli, has a "conventional, unimaginative design."

It's almost Labor Day, so what time is it? It's Jerry Lewis Time. The 26th annual Jerry Lewis Pre-Telethon Extravaganza on Saturday will be the opening event in the traditional fund-raising weekend. "This dinner is the most fun and there will be a band that everybody can dance to," said Jann Carl of TV's "Entertainment Tonight," party co-chairwoman and an emcee for both events for six years.

TV & MOVIES 'PJs' Peeve: Eddie Murphy, executive producer and co-creator of "The PJs," is furious that Fox has left the controversial series off its fall schedule, sources say. The show was the network's only animated comedy not to make the lineup.

At the Los Angeles Music Center Opera's opening of "Carmen," Earl Russell said to the man next to him at an intermission: "That's the sexiest Carmen I've ever seen." "Thank you," the man replied. "That's my wife." The stage Carmen, Denyce Graves; her husband, David Perry, and co-star Placido Domingo and his wife, Marta, were the attractions at the benefit "An Evening in Seville" in the Grand Hall after the curtain calls.

Pacific Symphony music director Carl St.Clair will make his Opera Pacific debut conducting Mozart's "The Magic Flute" from Nov. 7-12 to kick off the Irvine-based company's four-opera season at the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa. The company will present three other operas--including its first performances of Verdi's "Macbeth" and Strauss' "Der Rosenkavlier"--to complete its 2000-01 season.