Best Bets / APRIL 1-7, 2001

Movies

Imax goes backstage, onstage and up close in “All Access.” The footage shot at mega-concerts around the country features Carlos Santana, Sting, Moby, George Clinton, Kid Rock and others. Opens Friday at Universal City Imax.

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“Texas Rangers” stars Dylan McDermott as the leader of a group of rangers battling a renegade outlaw (Alfred Molina) and his gang in 1875 Texas. With Usher Thomas, above left, James Van Der Beek, above right, Ashton Kutcher, Robert Patrick, Randy Travis and Vincent Spano. Opens in general release Friday.

Pop Music

It’s been awhile since Rock for Choice staged a concert, but with abortion-rights organizations mobilizing a national “Save Roe” campaign, the girls are back onstage. Friday’s Rock for Choice benefit at the Hollywood Palladium features Melissa Etheridge, bottom left, Paula Cole, the Bangles, Los Angeles singer-songwriter Mia Doi Todd and a special appearance by Sarah McLachlan.

Music

In its four-decade history, Orange County’s Opera Pacific has never mounted a Richard Strauss work. With “Der Rosenkavalier,” opening Tuesday, that changes. Alternating as the Marschallin are Helen Donath and Elizabeth Holleque; Patricia Risley and Deanne Meek sing Octavian; Nancy Allen Lundy is Sophie at all five performances, with Daniel Lewis Williams and Markus Hollop as Baron Ochs. John DeMain conducts.

Dance

Icons of spontaneous expression will gather for “Dancing Is ... Improvisational,” an event combining lecture, performance and interview, in Theatre 200 of UCLA’s Kaufman Hall on Wednesday. Participants in the latest segment of the 3-year-old “Artist Alphabets” series include Simone Forti, Steve Paxton, Susan Foster and Carmela Herman.

Theater

Three scientists who claim to have discovered oxygen re-create their experiments in 1777 Stockholm, while their wives reveal their lives in the world premiere of “Oxygen.” The “science in theater” play is by world-renowned chemistry professor and author Carl Djerassi and Roald Hoffmann, winner of the 1981 Nobel Prize in chemistry. Opens Monday at San Diego Repertory. Randall Dodge, above right, plays Antoine Laurent Lavoisier with Erin Cronican, above left, as Marie Anne Lavoisier.

Video

Glenn Close returns as the outrageous dognapper Cruella De Vil in “102 Dalmatians,” the sequel to the hit 1996 live-action version of “101 Dalmatians.” In this outing, Cruella is released from prison on good behavior and promises to have nothing more to do with fur. But it flies, so to speak, when she buys a failing dog shelter. Gerard Depardieu plays her fashion furrier partner, Jean Pierre Le Pelt. The comedy can be spotted Tuesday on VHS and DVD.