WHAT'S HAPPENING : MUSIC.

Return of a legend: From 1958 to 1974, the legendary Ash Grove in Los Angeles was a mecca for many of the most influential names in blues, country, rock and folk music.

It was where the Byrds got their start, along with Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt and Linda Ronstadt. Mick Jagger caught Muddy Waters there.

Saturday, a new era begins as singer-songwriters Dave Alvin and Peter Case inaugurate the reopening of the 300-seat Ash Grove at Santa Monica Pier.

Alvin, who cut his teeth with the roots-rock Blasters in the '80s, has released a string of well-received solo albums, including ``Blue Blvd.,'' ``Museum of the Heart'' and ``King of California.''

A live set, ``Interstate City,'' is due July 30.

In the '80s, Case was a member of the popular local band the Plimsouls. He's since taken the folkie path with albums that feature rough-hewn songs and spare instrumentation.

The Ash Grove is at 250 Santa Monica Pier, Santa Monica. Admission is $15 and show times are 8:30 and 10:30 p.m. Information: [phone].

SOURCE: - Fred Shuster

theater Life's an opera: ``The Threepenny Opera'' is a timeless piece about theft, hucksterism, corruption, hypocrisy, lust, revenge and a lot of other truly universal themes. Socially conscious and grimly funny, this 1928 collaboration between Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill attempts to open our eyes to the social evils that drive people to crime, as well as the thin line that divides propriety from wrongdoing (i.e. if you've got money or social standing, most anything is proper; if you don't, it's not).

Go spend a night in the woods, if you dare, with rakish Macheath; the lovely Polly Peachum; her conniving father, Peachum; the corrupt Lockit; and timeworn lady of the evening Jenny Diver in the Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum's outdoor amphitheater. Heidi Helen Davis, the gifted interpreter of such past Theatricum triumphs as ``A Streetcar Named Desire'' (1993) and ``The Glass Menagerie'' (1994), stages this ballad opera, as adapted into English by Marc Blitzstein.

The Theatricum is at 1419 N. Topanga Canyon Blvd., in the middle of the canyon. Performances are at 8 p.m. Saturdays through Sept. 14 and 7:30 p.m. Sundays through Aug. 4 only. Tickets are $15, available on site; no reservations necessary. For more information, call [phone].

SOURCE: - Daryl H. Miller

art A take on the Beat Generation: The Los Angeles County Museum of Art is presenting the first retrospective of the artwork of William S. Burroughs, a member of the Beat Generation who is best-known for his 1959 novel ``Naked Lunch.''

``Ports of Entry: William S. Burroughs and the Arts'' is a collection that includes his 1960s and '70s photo collages, scrapbooks and collaborations with Brion Gysin and his later shotgun-blast paintings.

Burroughs' collaborations with other artists and portraits of Burroughs by such photographers as Annie Leibovitz and Herb Ritts also will be on display. The exhibit ends Oct. 6.

LACMA is at 5905 Wilshire Blvd. Hours are from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday, and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Admission is $6 for adults, $4 for senior citizens and students 18 and older with ID, and $1 for children and younger students. Children 5 and younger are free. For information, call [phone].

SOURCE: - Lori Moody

film Saving the world: The end of the world will be a roaring good time, at least according to ``Independence Day.'' The mother ship of all alien invasion movies, it melds massive destruction with rah-rah hokum in a goofy yet most satisfying way.

Unless you've been living on some other planet, you know what happens. Giant battle saucers appear over Earth's major cities. Goodbye cities. Then a rainbow coalition of survivors - President Bill Pullman, computer genius Jeff Goldblum, fighter pilot Will Smith and his stripper girlfriend Vivica Fox, drunk crop-duster Randy Quaid - lead the desperate counterattack.

It's all '50s cheeseball sci-fi, but done on such a huge scale that it's impossible to resist. And even though the characters are cardboard constructions, they're still more interesting than anyone in ``Twister'' or ``Mission: Impossible.''

SOURCE: - Bob Strauss

dining Finny Friday feasting:The Cafe Sierra at the Universal City Hilton, 555 Universal Terrace Parkway, Universal City, has introduced a Friday (6:30 to 10 p.m.) buffet with shrimp, oysters, clams (raw and baked), mussels, crab claws, sushi rolls, tuna sashimi, scallops (various ways), calamari, grilled mahi-mahi, sea bass teriyaki, New England clam chowder, wok-fried crab, various salads, dips, corn, bok choy, pineapple fried rice, yogurt sundae bar and more for $19.95 ($12 for children under 11, under 3 free). Reservations: [phone].

The Cafe Plaza at the Century Plaza, 2025 Avenue of the Stars, Century City, has a similar Friday dinner buffet called Netter's Night from 5:30 to 10:30 p.m.This one features oysters, crab and crab legs, steamer clams, seafood pastas, smoked seafood, marinated vegetables, salads, two fresh-catch entrees, carving stations, baked potatoes and an ice cream sundae bar, all for $14.95 (children under 13, $7.50; under 6, 10 cents per pound of their weight). Reservations: [phone].

SOURCE: - Larry Lipson

family Jazz in the park: Billy Mitchell's Uptown Jazz Band is the latest free concert at Warner Park this summer. Scheduled from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Mitchell's band will perform a variety of jazz and blues music.

Opening the show at 4 p.m. will be the Woodland Hills Community Theatre ``Salute to Rock Operas.''Warner Park is at 5800 Topanga Canyon Blvd., Woodland Hills. For more information, call the concert hot line: [phone].

SOURCE: - Kevin Ainsfeld

CAPTION(S):

4 Photos

Photo: (1) Dave Alvin plays Saturday.

(2) The Beat goeson as the Los Angeles County Museum of Art presents ``Crazy Man'' (1988) and other works by Beat Generation writer and artist William S. Burroughs.

(3) Apartment space in New York is about to become a lot harder to come by as an alien ship advances on the Big Apple in ``Independence Day.''

(4) Macheath (Patrick O'Connell) and Jenny Diver (Ellen Geer) ponder life's cruel twists in ``The Threepenny Opera'' at the Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum.