11 am: Art

Two photography shows offer posed and candid portraits of some of the best-known personalities of our time in “Yousuf Karsh: Portraits of the Twentieth Century” and “Audrey Style: Images of Audrey Hepburn by Master Photographers,” opening Saturday at Peter Fetterman Gallery. Memorable portraits by Karsh capture important writers, artists, scientists and statesmen such as Albert Einstein, George Bernard Shaw, Georgia O’Keeffe and a famous glowering portrait of Winston Churchill. A group show of portraits and candid photographs of Hepburn will include works by Dennis Stock, Sid Avery, Allan Grant and David Seymour.

* “Yousuf Karsh: Portraits of the Twentieth Century” and “Audrey Style: Images of Audrey Hepburn by Master Photographers.” Peter Fetterman Gallery, 2525 Michigan Ave., A-7, Santa Monica. Ends Jan. 8. Tuesday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Free. (310) 453-6463.

8 pm: Jazz

The centennial year of Duke Ellington’s birth may be drawing to a close, but the tributes just keep on coming. This one features vocalist Herb Jeffries, whose broad baritone voice graced Ellington’s Orchestra in the ‘40s, and singer and member of television’s King Family Marilyn King. Pianist Paul Smith will lead the accompanying trio in “Take the ‘A’ Train,” “Rockin’ in Rhythm” and other favorites.

* Salute to Duke Ellington with Herb Jeffries and Marilyn King, Ruth B. Shannon Center for the Performing Arts, Whittier College, 13406 Philadelphia St., Whittier, 8 p.m. $25 to $30. (562) 907-4203.

all day: History

The Civil War comes alive Saturday and Sunday at the second annual Civil War Living History Encampment at the Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace. Simulated battles between the Pennsylvania and Virginia infantries will be staged. Visitors can play war games in miniature and sit with “soldiers” as they trade tales of the war. President Lincoln will also be on hand, and dances from the Civil War era will be presented.

* Civil War Living History Encampment, Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace, 18001 Yorba Linda Blvd., Yorba Linda. Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Library admission: $5.95; active military, $4.95; ages 62 and older and students with ID, $3.95; age 8 to 11, $2; ages 7 and younger, free. (714) 993-5075.

7 pm: Family

The astonishing “Cashore Marionettes,” marvels of intricate engineering, are in town, performing slice-of-life vignettes about an aged maestro’s violin solo, an old and hungry man, a kite-flying boy who’s carried away in more ways than one, and Cyclone, the wonder horse.

* “Cashore Marionettes,” Scherr Forum Theatre, Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, 2100 Thousand Oaks Blvd., Thousand Oaks, 7 p.m. $10 to $14. (805) 583-8700, (805) 650-9688.

8 pm: Theater

A film noir-style P.I. solves the case of a wedding ring lost in 1929 that resurfaces in 1999 in Cornerstone Theater’s world premiere, “Broken Hearts: A B.H. Mystery,” the culmination of a 2 1/2-year theater residency in four “B.H.” communities: Boyle Heights, Chinatown (at Broadway and Hill), Baldwin Hills and Beverly Hills. Playwright Lisa Loomer collaborated with residents and artists in each community to create the play that maps complex interrelations involving Los Angeles’ culture, history and tradition.

* “Broken Hearts: A B.H. Mystery,” Cornerstone Theater at Los Angeles Theatre Center, Theater 2, 514 S. Spring St., downtown Los Angeles. Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 p.m. Through Dec. 12. Dark Nov. 25. $8 to $10, but no one turned away for lack of funds. (213) 485-1681.

8 pm: Pop Music

Fans don’t go to Willie Nelson concerts expecting to hear anything new--it’s the familiarity of the ritual as much as his peerless singing that makes them special. But this time around there might be a taste of music from “Teatro,” his recent, atmospheric experiment with producer Daniel Lanois.

* Willie Nelson, with Mandy Barnett, Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts, 12700 Center Court Drive, Cerritos. Saturday, 8 p.m. and Sunday, 2 p.m. $47 to $57. (800) 300-4345. Also Monday at 7:30 p.m. and Wednesday at 8 p.m. at Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, 2100 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd., Thousand Oaks. $25-$45. (805) 449-2787.

FREEBIES

“Himalayan Celebration” with traditional Nepali dance, a fashion show, food and activities for children, Pacific Asia Museum, 46 N. Los Robles Ave., Pasadena. 1-4 p.m. (626) 449-2742.

*

The new music director-conductor of the Young Musicians Foundation Debut Orchestra, Wilson Hermanto, makes his first appearance at the Wilshire-Ebell Theatre, 4401 W. 8th St., L.A., 8 p.m. (310) 859-7668.