TODAY’S BEST BETS

Jazz

Toshiko Akiyoshi, a notable arranger and big-band leader, puts the focus on her bop-ish piano during a trio engagement with guest altoist Gary Foster.

* Jazz Bakery, 3233 Helms Ave., Culver City, 8:30 p.m. (310) 271-9039. (Also Saturday and Sunday, 8:30 p.m.)

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Television

Hey, dudes, wanna party? Amy Heckerling’s high-spirited 1982 comedy “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” is memorable for the hilarious turn from Sean Penn as stoned surfer Jeff Spicoli. It also stars Jennifer Jason Leigh, Judge Reinhold and Phoebe Cates.

* “Fast Times at Ridgemont High,” 9:55 p.m. TBS.

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Opera

New but promising, the just-formed South Bay Opera begins life this weekend with performances of Mozart’s “Cosi fan Tutte” at Torrance’s James R. Armstrong Theatre. Veteran Mozartean Frank Fetta is the conductor; stage director is Jae Woo Lee.

* James Armstrong Theatre, 3330 Civic Center Drive, Torrance, 7:30 p.m. (310) 781-7171. (Also Saturday, 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, 2 p.m.)

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Movies

“The Mouse That Roaarrred: British Satire Since Tom Jones” series continues tonight with Terry Gilliam’s wild dystopian satire-fantasy “Brazil” (1985), starring Jonathan Pryce, right.

* Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Bing Theater, 5905 Wilshire Blvd., 7:30 p.m. (323) 857-6010.