Journeys ‘Into the Woods’ and Volcanoes

* MUSIC: Ami Porat leads his orchestra, the Mozart Camerata, in a Mozart program at Irvine Barclay Theatre, Saturday night at 8, and at St. Andrew’s Church in Newport Beach, Sunday at 4 p.m. Soloist is pianist Daniel Shapiro. . . . James Vail conducts Bach’s “Christmas” Oratorio at St. Alban’s Episcopal Church in Westwood, Sunday at 3 p.m. . . . Also in Westwood, Sunday at 4 p.m. at Westwood United Methodist Church, pianist Michael Sellers plays music by Grieg, Villa-Lobos, Chopin and Liszt.

* JAZZ: Three men closely associated with jazz legend Dizzy Gillespie--trumpeter Jon Faddis, bassist John Lee and drummer Ignacio Berroa--will be joined by emerging piano great Cyrus Chestnut tonight and Saturday at the Orange County Performing Arts Center’s Jazz Club at the Center for “All-Star Tribute: Dizzy--the Man and His Music.” . . . In from New Zealand, the Rodger Fox Big Band, with guest trombonist Bill Reichenbach, plays Sunday at the Jazz Bakery in West L.A.

* POP MUSIC: The enigmatic and reclusive Kendra Smith, a forerunner of Hope Sandoval in the band that would become Mazzy Star, returns to her hometown of Los Angeles for a rare appearance at Spaceland in Silver Lake on Saturday.

* PHOTOGRAPHY: Husband-and-wife photographers Diane Cook and Len Jenshel document the awesome beauty of natural disasters in “Hot Spots: America’s Volcanic Landscape,” currently on view at Paul Kopeikin Gallery. Fascinated with American culture and its landscape, the two capture erupting volcanoes, geysers, cinder cones and lava fields in an exhibition of black-and-white prints by Cook and lush color photos by Jenshel. On view through Jan. 21.

* THEATER: “Into the Woods,” Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s fairy-tale musical for adults (and children over age 8), is in good hands at the Interact Theatre in North Hollywood, thanks to John Rubinstein’s strong direction and the top-notch cast. . . . In “Donald Rubinstein: Music, Road Stories and Poems,” at Masquer’s Cafe, jazz musician Rubinstein is reminiscent of the original Beats as he serves up satire and standout songs. Plays tonight, then shifts to Thursdays for a run through Jan. 30.

* MOVIES: Kenneth Branagh has brought “Hamlet” (Royal, West L.A.) to the screen in its full text with maximum accessibility to contemporary audiences in a handsome film that is never less than compelling. Branagh’s own Hamlet is more dynamic than ambiguous, but he soars. . . . “Michael” (general release) is a joyous, high-spirited holiday entertainment that finds John Travolta’s grubby but endearing angel lassoed by tabloid journalists William Hurt, Andie MacDowell and Robert Pastorelli. . . . Albert Brooks’ sparkling yet serious comedy “Mother” (Beverly Center Cineplex, AMC Century 14 and AMC Santa Monica 7) brings back Debbie Reynolds in her first major screen role in 27 years as an imperturbable mother whose distant relationship with her son (Brooks) leads him to believe this is why he’s such a failure with women. . . . Milos Forman’s “The People vs. Larry Flynt” (selected theaters) shows how a crass and cold-eyed pornographer ended up doing something significant for society. Provocative, engrossing and well-acted by Woody Harrelson as Flynt and Courtney Love as his wife, Althea. . . . “Thieves” (“Les Voleurs”) (selected theaters) reunites France’s formidable Andre Techinee with his “Ma Saison Preferee” stars Catherine Deneuve and Daniul Auteuil in another stunning and complex tale of family conflict and contradictory emotions. . . . The Sunset 5’s “Garbo Talks” Saturday and Sunday 11 a.m. series commences with the grittier, rarely seen German-language version of “Anna Christie” (1930). . . . LACMA will present two different programs of jazz legends on film, “Giants of Jazz” Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. (213) 857-6010.

--Compiled by Calendar writers