A lovesick poet, a goddess disguised as a man and a slew of drunken students walk into a tavern. So begins Los Angeles Opera’s current production of Jacques Offenbach’s “The Tales of Hoffmann,” the story of an oft-inebriated writer named Hoffmann (Vittorio Grigolo) recounting his failed experiences with three past lovers before realizing that his true love is for his art. Read more...

Photo: In the first act of “The Tales of Hoffmann,” the titular character (Vittorio Grigolo) falls in love with a mechanical doll named Olympia (So Young Park) after mistaking her for a real woman.(Ken Howard / LA Opera)

Belly dancers rehearsed to the beat of traditional Arab doumbek drums in Freud Playhouse. This year’s iteration of the Iranian Student Group’s annual culture show Friday and Saturday will showcase such traditional and modern Iranian dances, along with singing and comedy skits displaying customs reaching as far back as A.D. Read more...

Photo: Paniz Arab, a fourth-year global studies student, will participate in the Iranian Student Group’s culture show, which will showcase both traditional and modern Iranian dances. (Photo illustration by Habeba Mostafa/Daily Bruin and Jintak Han/Assistant Photo editor)