WHAT'S HAPPENING : MUSIC.

Big Six for hepcats: There's swing and there's ska. Now, there's the Big Six, a '50s-inspired London outfit that merges the two genres to create a sound all its own.

The energetic ensemble, known to wear matching tartan outfits on stage, boasts a red-hot tenor sax, slap bass, honking baritone sax and a singer that won't stand for an audience that sits still.

Members of this all-star combo come from various bands, including the Big Town Playboys, which backed Jeff Beck on ``Crazy Legs,'' the guitarist's 1993 tribute to Gene Vincent's Telecaster-shredder, Cliff Gallup.

Hepcats will get plenty of chances to soak up the Big Six, which has scored a Friday residency tonight through Oct. 17 at the Derby in Hollywood.

Along with a tub of originals, the band has been known to knock out rockin' covers of Gary U.S. Bonds' ``New Orleans,'' Slade's ``Mama Weer All Crazee Now'' as a Sun-period Elvis-style romp and T-Rex's ``20th Century Boy.''

The band has two albums - ``We the Boys Will Rock Ya!'' and ``Ready to Rock!'' - available at some stores.

The Derby is at 4500 Los Feliz Blvd., Hollywood. Show time is 9:30 p.m. and admission is $7. Information: [phone].

?13- Fred Shuster

art

Neon noir: You can see it flickering suggestively in the background of 100 films noir. At night, its queasy glow turned U.S. cities into hallucinations of floating corporate logos.

The mystery material? Neon, of course, which is getting a serious look in a new exhibition, ``Up in Lights,'' through Oct. 30 at the Creative Arts Center Municipal Gallery, 1100 W. Clark Ave., Burbank. More than 20 light art professionals from across the country have contributed works to the show - further evidence that neon has overcome its humble origins as a low-cost advertising medium and gone way legit. Its versatility is especially well-noted in L.A., home of the Museum of Neon Art.

For information, call [phone].

?13- Reed Johnson 

film

It's all `In' fun: ``In & Out'' is smart, broad, wicked and sensitive. Most of all, it's a scream.

A sexual identity comedy that indulges and explodes stereotypes with gleeful abandon, the movie mercilessly lampoons Hollywood and the media while making a cockeyed plea for tolerance and self-honesty. Kevin Kline performs a marvelous act of psychological slapstick as a small-town teacher who is outed by a former student on the Academy Awards broadcast. His friends are shocked, the tabloids descend, but there's really nothing to worry about since the guy isn't gay. At least, that's what he thinks.

With a hysterical Joan Cusack as Kline's long-waiting bride-to-be, Tom Selleck as a sleazy reporter with his own unique agenda, Debbie Reynolds as a wedding-obsessed mom and Shalom Harlow as the dumbest supermodel on the planet, ``In & Out'' has something to make everyone laugh.

?13- Bob Strauss

theater

One of these `Nights': Next time your favorite sitcom runs thin on material, advise the producer to visit Baghdad. With any luck, he or she will discover the next Scheherazade, the Arabian bride whose talent for storytelling is the stuff of legendary literature.

Now, thanks to Chicago's versatile Lookingglass Theatre Company and its amazing director, Mary Zimmerman, Scheherezade's lyrical tales are the stuff of legendary theater, too.

``The Arabian Nights,'' through Oct. 19 at Hollywood's Actors' Gang Theater, turns ancient folklore into a sensuous, acrobatic three-ring circus of theatrical pleasures. As the 17 performers mug, mime, sing, flip somersaults, strum instruments and impersonate various beasts of burden, we're spirited into a realm of imaginative perception that becomes almost hypnotic as the evening glides on. Lookingglass gives a textbook demonstration of ensemble acting, creating an effect that is greater collectively than the sum of its parts. It's hard to imagine a better introduction to live theater for a young person - or, actually, for any person, young or old, anywhere.

The theater is at 6207 Santa Monica Blvd. Tickets are $20. Call [phone].

?13- Reed Johnson

dining

Left-footed monks: Some 40,000 people are expected to attend the two-day fall festival Saturday and Sunday at St. Andrew's Abbey, a Benedictine ranch-monastery, 31001 N. Valyermo Road, Valyermo, near Pearblossom in the Antelope Valley.

One of the highlights of the festival is the vesper dancing by the ``left-footed monks.''

Two flea markets, arts-and-crafts demonstrations, art exhibits, ceramic plaques made by the monks, books, a children's farm, country music, costumed dancers and a multitude of food and drink options are featured from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day.

The food offerings in a huge tented pavilion include the Roast Beef Palace, a Chinese Tea Garden (originally created by Madame Wu of Madame Wu's Garden in Santa Monica), the Cafe Continental for buffet meals, hofbrau fare, hot dogs, hamburgers, corn-on-the-cob, iced watermelon and numerous beverages.

Admission is free. All-day parking is $4.

Proceeds go to the rebuilding of the abbey's youth center and community programs.

Information: [phone].

?13- Larry Lipson

Get your Phil's: There aren't too many of the grand old diners left like Phil's Diner, 11138 Chandler Blvd., North Hollywood.

And there aren't too many communities as ready to party as North Hollywood.

Consequently, the folks in the area decided to celebrate the restoration and reopening of Phil's with a block party from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday.

Chandler Boulevard between Lankershim and Vineland Avenue will be closed off to traffic so that local residents and visiting friends not only can partake of Phil's retro fare, but also enjoy an antique fair, view classic cars, munch on barbecued goodies and enjoy live entertainment such as the cowboy band Outlaw Black.

Admission is free.

?13- Larry Lipson

CAPTION(S):

3 Photos

Photo: (1) Hepcats will get plenty of chances to soak up the Big Six, which has scored a Friday residency tonight through Oct. 17 at the Derby in Hollywood.

(2) ``In & Out,'' with Wilford Brimley, Debbie Reynolds, Joan Cusack and Kevin Kline, indulges and explodes stereotypes with gleeful abandon.

(3) Neighbors are celebrating the restoration and reopening of Phil's Diner in North Hollywood with a block party Saturday.