Hear the name Giacomo Puccini and perhaps La Boheme and Madama Butterfly come more immediately to mind, but Tosca follows a close third for many. That's because Tosca has everything a good opera should: murder, intrigue, jealousy, Napoleon, a tormented heroine, a tortured hero, a lecherous villain. And last but not least, Tosca shines with stunning showcase arias for its leads, mostly famously "Vissi d'arte" and "Recondita armonia." First performed in the year 1900 in Rome, Tosca combines these exquisite melodies -- and others -- with the highest of drama. It is the story of two lovers, destined to be brought together, powerless against the tide of history. The opera takes its name from its fiery heroine, Floria Tosca, a 19th century Roman singer who loves an artist named Mario Cavaradossi. Mario is talented and good, but suffice to say he has all the wrong friends in a rather politically charged climate and soon finds himself at the mercy of the vile Baron Scarpia, chief of the secret police of Rome. Tosca must intervene to save her man, but of course everything goes gloriously awry and, in the end, everybody dies. Highly acclaimed tenor and Grammy Award-winning recording artist Jerry Hadley makes his local debut with Thursday and Saturday performances of this New Orleans Opera Association production, under the direction of conductor Robert Lyall. Tosca kicks off the 2002-2003 New Orleans opera season, which will also include Richard Strauss' Salome, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Don Giovanni and Giuseppe Verdi's Rigoletto. Performances are at 7:30 p.m. at the Mahalia Jackson Theatre of the Performing Arts (801 N. Rampart St.). Tickets are $30-$100 and are available by calling (800) 881-4459 or 529-3000. -- Shala Carlson

Will Ainsworth Benefit 8 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 9 Maple Leaf, 8316 Oak St., 866-9359 You might not recognize his name, but if you've seen a few performances by a Louisiana music artist in the past few decades, you'd probably recognize Will Ainsworth. The versatile bassist has played with a who's-who of the local scene, ranging in styles from Kenny Wayne Shepherd to Charmaine Neville, from Chris Thomas King to Kim Carson. Ainsworth is currently battling cancer and facing mounting medical bills since he's unable to play, and his friends and peers are rallying around him with a benefit show. At press time, confirmed performers include Irene Sage, Kim Carson, Leslie Smith, Denise Marie, Paula Rangell, Nancy Buchan, Chris Thomas King, Walter "Wolfman" Washington & the Roadmasters, Mem Shannon, Bruce "Sunpie" Barnes, Coco Robicheaux, Washboard Chaz, J. Monque' D, Rockin' Jake and Jerry Embree. Food will be provided by Rockin' Jake and Chef Emile. If you can't make the show, donations can be made directly to Ainsworth at P.O. Box 57812, New Orleans, LA, 70157. Admission $10; includes food and door prizes. -- Scott Jordan

Two for Texas tour featuring Kinky Friedman and Billy Joe Shaver 9 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 9 Tipitina's, 501, Napoleon Ave., 895-8477 Kinky Friedman joins Billy Joe Shaver for the Two for Texas tour that pulls into Tipitina's on Wednesday. New Orleans has seen its share of top-flight comedians like Jerry Seinfeld and Janeane Garofalo in recent months, but this unlikely pairing of Lone Star state legends Kinky Friedman and Billy Joe Shaver could be the most irreverent and hilarious show of the year. The pair is barnstorming the country with an old-fashioned revue-style show, and the humor portion of the night comes courtesy of legendary cult figure Friedman, who first made his mark in the early '70s with his band the Texas Jewboys. Much like acerbic and witty songwriter Randy Newman's best work, Friedman's songs are often widely misunderstood, overlooking the anti-Semitism message of tracks like "They Ain't Making Jews Like Jesus Anymore." Friedman's witty songs have earned him a legion of famous admirers, including Bob Dylan (who recruited Friedman for his Rolling Thunder Revue), and Willie Nelson and Lyle Lovett, who've covered Friedman's work. Billy Joe Shaver, on the other hand, is laughing in the face of death these days. He lost his son and his wife in the past two years, but soldiers on by writing and singing devastating life sketches like "Old Five and Dimers Like Me," sung with arresting and weary grit. Admission $20. 9 p.m. -- Jordan

14th Annual Film Festival Gala 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 10 The Bank Lobby, 210 Baronne St.,528-3818 This year's New Orleans Film Festival is an embarrassment of cinematic riches, featuring some of the hottest upcoming movies of this year and next (as you'll see in the special pullout program in this week's issue). The offerings promise to match last year's batch, which led to record-breaking attendance, including cover-story subject Godfrey Reggio and his new film, Naqoyqatsi. In keeping with the venue's name, the Gala's theme this year is "Cops and Robbers," with Mikko Presents providing actors portraying criminals we have loved (Bonnie and Clyde being the most obvious). Plenty of food and drink courtesy 15 area restaurants and Rain Vodka and Southern Comfort. Austin favorites the Asylum Street Spankers will provide the music to a 16mm projection of Steamboat Bill, Jr., Buster Keaton's 1928 film. Gala tickets range from $35 to $55 and can be purchased through www.ticketweb.com. -- David Lee Simmons

6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 10 Reds, Whites & the Blues Pavilion of The Two Sisters, City Park Cynthia Owen (pictured) joins the Harry Mayronne Trio and Troi Bechet at the Reds, Whites & the Blues benefit Thursday at City Park's Pavilion of the Two Sisters. It's impossible to imagine New Orleans without the performing arts. That's why Gambit Weekly and Select Brands wine brokers have partnered to host Reds, Whites & the Blues, a fundraiser that combines wine, food and music to benefit the Big Easy Awards and the Foundation for Entertainment Development & Education, both of which support music, theater and the classical performing arts through acknowledgement, grants and gifts. About 150 wines from area distributors and food from such restaurants as Bayona, Belle Forche, Chateaubriand, Restaurant Indigo, and Smith & Wollensky will slake thirsts and satisfy appetites, respectively. Music entertainment will be provided by the Harry Mayronne Trio, Cynthia Owen and Troi Bechet. A raffle will be held for a 150-bottle "Instant Wine Cellar," with tickets going for $5 a pop (or six for $20). The benefit runs from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Tickets are $45 in advance; call 486-5900, ext. 160. -- Simmons

Patty Friedmann reading and signing 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 10 Beaucoup Books, 5414 Magazine St., 895-2663 You won't fall in love with her characters because author Patty Friedmann doesn't give you much to love. In her latest novel, Secondhand Smoke, Jerusha Bailey is an intolerant, racist matriarch, a two-packs-a-day smoker who lets her dying husband scream endlessly from agony sans medication since "he only thinks he's in pain." Her offspring -- Zib, a despondent assistant manager at a Winn-Dixie, who seduces a stranger the day of her father's funeral, and Wilson, a cold academic who leaves his mother homeless in downtown New Orleans -- don't inspire much in the way of human kindness, either. It's like Saturn devouring his children, turning his molars on himself, to the wild applause of an audience. Yet Friedmann, with a pen as sharp as a straight razor, manages to elicit, through the unlikely path of her character's flaws, the possibility that these people are somehow worth more than our scorn. And then she dares you to like them. Free admission. -- David Winkler-Schmidt

Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, Eightball & MJG 9 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 10 The Howlin' Wolf, 828 S. Peters St., 522-WOLF Among the first crews from somewhere other than New York or L.A. to win mainstream success, Cleveland's Bone Thugs-n-Harmony got started in 1994 by taking a one-way bus to Cali to sign with Eazy-E's Ruthless Records. With its ill-boding G-Funk sound, the ensuing debut EP, Creepin¹ On Ah Come Up, appealed to the dominant West Coast trend of the time. But it was Bone Thugs' 1995 full-length E. 1999 Eternal that really surprised the industry with overwhelming success. The crew broke up in 1997 and tried the Wu Tang Clan's oft-copped side-project strategy, but solo albums by Bizzy Bone, Krayzie Bone, and Flesh-N-Bone failed to hit it big. A unified crew once again, Bone Thugs will deliver "that buddha bomb shit that everybody wants from us," says Bizzy. Seminal Dirty South duo Eightball and MJG will warm up the crowd. Li'l John & the East Side Boyz and Lady May & Now City are also on the bill. Tickets $20. -- Cristina Diettinger

Ailey II 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday, Oct. 11-12 Orpheum Theater, 129 University Place, 522-5555 In rare cases in the art world, an individual's talent and vision are strong enough to carry on beyond their death, providing an inspired immortality. Such is the case with the late Alvin Ailey. The Texas-born African-American dancer-choreographer shook up the virtually all-white dance world of New York City in the 1950s, appearing in and choreographing Broadway blockbusters and more before forming his own troupe, the Alvin Ailey Dance Company. Now, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater makes its return to New Orleans with Ailey II, which features a collection of the company's 12 rising stars, dubbed "the next generation," to perform in the Ailey trademarks of physical, athletic dance only softened by virtuosity. The program will feature Ailey classics mixed in with work by contemporary choreographers. Tickets range from $7 (students) to $37, and are available through Ticketmaster (522-5555). -- Etheridge

Disco Biscuits 9 p.m. Friday, Oct. 11 House of Blues, 225 Decatur St.,529-BLUE Members of the Disco Biscuits maintain one overarching goal -- to create the craziest music they possibly can. So far, they offer the standard jam-band melange of rock, jazz, funk and soul, with a heavy blanket of electronic texture. Like fellow up-and-coming jam band the New Deal, the Biscuits merge electronic trance with noodly jam-rock for relentless, drawn-out numbers that are meant to transport listeners to the heights of catharsis. And like fellow organic-electronica jam band Sound Tribe Sector 9, they provide a rave-like, multi-sensory concert experience with lights, loops, performers and costumes. The Biscuits are currently touring in support of their new album, Senor Boombox, released last month. The tour includes a stop at Washington, D.C., club the Nation, where the band will present its "Primary Colors 4Peace" concert, the Biscuits' first public expression of its views on the current world conflict. Tickets $15. -- Diettinger

Vivaz at Café Brasil 10:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 12 Café Brasil, 2100 Chartres St., 949-0851 Javier Gutierrez has left behind the smooth sounds of his former band, Acoustic Swiftness, to lead the more in-your-face ensemble dubbed Vivaz. Combining Latin jazz, salsa, South American and Caribbean songs, plus many originals, Vivaz has developed a highly unique and innovative sound. This well-rehearsed and tight outfit features a typical modern Latin big-band setting of two percussionists, two trumpets, two trombones, piano, upright bass, and Gutierrez on lead vocals, tres, and guitar. Clever arrangements highlight a powerhouse brass section and accomplished vocals. Presently, Vivaz is spending quality time in the studio recording their first record, which features originals by Gutierrez as well as fresh arrangements of traditional songs. Vivaz's striking sound and energetic performances are serving to the other Latin bands in town. Move over, Fredy Omar, and watch out, Hombres Calientes, for Vivaz is here! Cover $10. -- Manny Lander

Charlie Haden & Kenny Barron 5 and 7 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 13 Contemporary Arts Center, 900 Camp St., 528-3800 Founder of the Liberation Music Orchestra in 1969, jazz bassist Charlie Haden has long since upheld the delights of melding progressive jazz with Latin music. His latest album Nocturne, a collection of Cuban boleros and like-styled originals, favors the latter. Produced in collaboration with Cuban pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Haden attracted a host of jazz and Latin music luminaries to perform on the album, including guitarist Pat Metheny and saxophonist Joe Lovano. The final product won the 2002 Grammy for Best Latin Jazz Album (beating out our own Los Hombres Calientes' New Congo Square, Volume 3). For this rare performance, pianist Kenny Barron will accompany Haden. Having recorded with the likes of Dizzy Gillespie, Freddie Hubbard, and on Stan Getz's final session, Barron will bring a long career of notable influences to the program. Tickets $15-20. -- Diettinger

Hot, Dark and Far From Tender -- Paintings by Jenny Kahn Through October Cole Pratt Gallery, 3800 Magazine St., 891-6789 The title of Jenny Kahn's current show, Hot, Dark and Far From Tender, is actually how the Philadelphia Weekly's art critic described her work when it was exhibited in that city. Her paintings in this Cole Pratt show are all new, but their subject, old family photos, remains the same. Old photos often induce nostalgia, but in Kahn's case they can also suggest the tensions of being part of a liberal Jewish clan whose penchant for union organizing and civil rights activism wasn't always in synch with the New Orleans power structure of the 1950s. Paintings such as Black and White Photograph: 1952, a slightly blurry image of a white child and her black nanny, convey some of the confusion that a child might face while trying to reconcile idealistic dinner table conversation with pervasive racial realities. In Kahn's world, even photographs convey ambiguous layers of meaning. -- D. Eric Bookhardt