Best Bets: Thursday 1/21

8 pm: Theater

Alan Alda, Victor Garber and Alfred Molina re-create their Broadway roles in “Art,” Yasmina Reza’s award-winning comedy about three friends and how their relationships are upset when one buys a piece of modern art.

* “Art,” UCLA/James A. Doolittle Theatre, 1615 N. Vine St., Tuesdays through Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Saturdays and Sundays, 2 p.m.; also this Sunday, Jan. 31, Feb. 14, 28, March 14, 7:30 p.m.; Feb. 4, 18, March 4, 2 p.m. Ends March 14. $20 to $60. (800) 447-7400.

6:30 pm: Theater

Ed Begley Jr. heads the cast in a David Mamet double bill at the Geffen Playhouse: “The Cryptogram,” about the disturbing end of a young boy’s peaceful childhood, in repertory with “The Old Neighborhood,” a journey through one man’s excavation of his complex past.

* “The Cryptogram” and “The Old Neighborhood,” Geffen Playhouse, 10886 Le Conte Ave., Westwood. In repertory. “The Cryptogram”: Friday, 8 p.m.; Saturday, 8:30 p.m.; Sunday, 2 p.m. Also Jan. 26, 28, Feb. 3, 10, 7:30 p.m.; Jan. 30, 4 p.m.; Jan. 31, 7 p.m.; Feb. 5, 12, 8 p.m.; Feb. 6, 13, 8:30 p.m.; Feb. 7, 2 p.m.; Feb. 14, 2 p.m. “The Old Neighborhood”: Today, 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, 4 p.m.; Sunday, 7 p.m.; also Jan. 27, Feb. 2, 4, 9, 11, 7:30 p.m.; Jan. 29, 8 p.m.; Jan. 30, 8:30 p.m.; Jan. 31, Feb. 3, 2 p.m.; Feb. 6, 13, 4 p.m.; Feb. 14, 7 p.m. Ends Feb. 14. $30-$40. (310) 208-5454, (213) 365-3500.

Noon Family

Bishop Charles E. Blake, pastor of the West Angeles Church of God in Christ, will give the keynote address at the 18th annual USC Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday Celebration. Fernando & Spice, a Los Angeles-based jazz quartet; the USC Gospel Choir; and student dancers from the 32nd Street/USC Performing Arts School will perform. Scheduled speakers include Rabbi Susan Laemmle, dean of religious life; and Devon Franklin, chair of the university’s black student assembly. At 1 p.m., flowers will be placed at the Martin Luther King memorial in front of the Law School in a tribute to the Nobel Prize-winning civil rights leader slain in 1968.

* USC Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday Celebration, Bovard Auditorium, enter University Park Campus through Gate 3 from South Figueroa Street at West 35th Street. Free program; parking, $6. (213) 740-8707.

Freebie:

The new documentary “In Bad Taste: The John Waters Story” screens at 10 p.m., followed by a discussion with the director, Steve Yeager, and a Divine look-a-like contest, Sunset 5, 8000 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood. (323) 848-3500.