Wilshire Theatre

When former supermodel Jerry Hall divorced Mick Jagger in 1999, she vowed to get out of his shadow. Since then, she's been studying for a university degree, interviewing psychics and astrologers for a new BBC series called "Spirit" ("Love to you and your gurus" reads the card on a hotel floral arrangement sent by her "ex"), and, after a 10-year absence from the stage, she replaced Kathleen Turner as the sultry Mrs. Robinson in the London production of "The Graduate" -- nude scene and all. In the show -- based on Mike Nichols' 1967 feature film classic -- Hall plays an alcoholic trapped in a dead-end marriage who seduces the son of friends.

When Sandra Tsing Loh was a temp at a Van Nuys insurance office, the women were required to wear pantyhose--even if they were wearing pants. Alec Mapa's temp travails included a stint at a Century City office where he shredded documents--and cried--all day. And this was after he starred in "M. Butterfly" at the Wilshire Theatre and on Broadway. Loh and Mapa can swap temp-job horror stories with the best of them. Both are in their 30s, so they share a generational perspective.

Scan any list of the Dems' biggest givers and money-raisers and you'll find the names of Haim and Cheryl Saban, but their most recent cause is a decidedly local one with deep roots in their hometown: restoration of the landmark Wilshire Theatre in Beverly Hills. The media mogul and his wife have agreed to donate $5 million to restore the historic theater's proscenium and orchestra area as well as to refurbish the marquee, which will soon display the name "Saban Theatre."

A year ago, if you had asked knowledgeable Los Angeles theatergoers which local space should host the first stop for the national touring production of director Sam Mendes' grimly re-imagined "Cabaret," hardly anyone would have suggested the Wilshire Theatre in Beverly Hills. Compared to the much smaller nightclubs where "Cabaret" was playing in New York, the 1,910-seat Wilshire would have struck most observers as too big and stodgy.

A world without "Nicholas Nickleby" is a poorer world--in more ways than one. "We knew it was a calculated risk, that we were most likely going to lose money," Ahmanson Artistic Director Robert Fryer said of the show's recent Los Angeles run. "We put a ceiling on our losses of $300,000. The board of directors (of Center Theatre Group) voted to absorb $150,000. Douglas Cramer (a board member) who is Aaron Spelling's partner asked Spelling for $100,000. Robert Ahmanson put up the final $50,000."

For its local debut, Wednesday at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre, the Daniel String Quartet offered three works that revealed its strengths and weaknesses--and in the most unlikely places. In a Music Guild event dominated by stylistically challenging works of Webern and Debussy, the Israel-formed, Amsterdam-based group seemed the most befuddled by, of all things, a quartet by Mozart. His K.

"New York City," the third song on Christopher Owens' debut solo album "Lysandre," is kind of an opposite-universe version of Lou Reed's "Walk on the Wild Side" that zips along a major-key melody with a mix of hope and devastation. That blend has been the hallmark of Owens' writing since his time fronting the indie-rock band Girls, and while his work on his own isn't much of a departure it broadens the range that made him a troubadour of millennial drifters and those who love them. Wilshire Ebell Theatre, 4401 West 8th St., L.A. Fri. 7 p.m. $23. http://www.ticketmaster.com .

Movies, movies, movies: I have a 10-year-old, Shane, and Friday is a no-homework night, so we rent a movie and make dinner or go out to a movie. If we rent a movie, it's usually something my son would like. He likes karate a lot, and recently we saw Jackie Chan's "Supercop," which he loves. If we go to a movie, we like the Encino Town Center. It's close, has a bunch of different theaters, and there's a Koo Koo Roo right there. Saturday outings: Usually we do some big activity.

In houses and apartments across L.A., people are gathering together to practice a little-known, but growing, devotional ritual called kirtan. Somewhere between a singalong and a group meditation, kirtan (KEER-tan) is a call-and-response spiritual practice that has roots in Indian religions, including Buddhism, Hinduism and Sikhism. It was introduced to America in 1923, at a performance in Carnegie Hall. Since then, it has transitioned from an exotic performance to a common practice.

That the Pasquier Trio cut Menahem Pressler down to size on Wednesday at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre may sound like an act of unwarranted cruelty. Pressler does, after all, stand not much (if anything) over 5 feet tall. But it may be the most potent 5 feet of pianist in the world of chamber music. Pressler tends to dominate ensembles, including the Beaux Arts Trio with which he been identified for 35 years. One regards his collaborators as sidemen rather than equals.