Regional arts and entertainment events

Sunday

Tragic art For us, Puccini's Madama Butterfly is the pinnacle of operatic achievement. Add challenging stage design by sculptor Jun Kaneko to the tale of a geisha's doomed love affair with a naval officer, and you have something near perfection. The Opera Company of Philadelphia production goes on at the Academy of Music, Broad and Locust Streets, at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, 8 p.m. Friday, and 2:30 p.m. next Sunday. Tickets are $7 to $210. Call 215-893-1018.

Sex ed Billy Aronson's comedy The First Day of School takes the conventions of the farce and moves them to the suburbs, with a quintet of soccer moms (and dads) rediscovering their libidos after the kids go back to the classroom. The 1812 Productions show goes on at 2 p.m. at Plays and Players Theater, 1714 Delancey St., and continues on a Wednesday-through-Sunday schedule to Oct. 25. Tickets are $20 to $35. Call 215-592-9560. . . . In the musical Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, two con men preying on lonely hearts on the Riviera make a bet as to who can first fleece an American heiress. The show goes on at 2 p.m. at the Walnut Street Theatre, 825 Walnut St., and continues on a Tuesday-through-Sunday schedule to Oct. 25. Tickets are $10 to $70. Call 215-574-3550.

Monday

In clubland Canadian prog-rockers Mahogany Frog play at 7 p.m. at the North Star, 2639 Poplar St. Tickets are $8. Call 215-787-0488. . . . California psychedelic folk trio the Dodos play at 8 p.m. at First Unitarian Church, 2125 Chestnut St. Tickets are $12. Call 215-821-7575.

Tuesday

Crime epic When Michael Corleone speaks, there is no point of refusal: "My final offer is this: nothing." Most sequels are pale imitations, but with The Godfather Part II, Francis Ford Coppola somehow surpassed his earlier achievement, itself one of the masterpieces of American cinema. The film screens at 7 p.m. at the Bryn Mawr Film Institute, 824 W. Lancaster Ave., Bryn Mawr. Tickets are $9.50; $6.75 seniors and students. Call 610-527-4008.

No big top, but big The amazing Cirque du Soleil troupe usually pitches a tent for its high-flying acrobatics. But for the more intimate "arena" edition of Alegria, it will move indoors to the Liacouras Center, 1776 N. Broad St., for shows at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday. Tickets are $35 to $95. Call 215-204-8499.

Wednesday

The doltish play "Is this a doughnut I see before me?" For his one-man show MacHomer, actor Rick Miller melds The Simpsons and Shakespeare into a performance that's equally Krusty and compelling. The show goes on at the Annenberg Center's Zellerbach Theatre, 3680 Walnut St., at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday, and 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are $20 to $45. Call 215-898-3900.

Sulu speaks Actor George Takei is renowned for his portrayal of the helmsman Mr. Sulu on Star Trek, but his rise to fame has followed no traditional route, starting from his childhood in a World War II internment camp, to his first jobs as a voice-dubber in 1950s Japanese monster movies and TV heavies, to costarring in with John Wayne in The Green Berets, to his post-Trek life as a gay-rights activist and Howard Stern sidekick. Takei discusses his life at 7:30 p.m. at Drexel University's Mitchell Auditorium, Bossone Research Center, 3128 Market St. Admission is free. Call 215-895-1029.

Thursday

Let's eat Philadelphians of a certain age (OK, us) fondly recall Frög and the Commissary, the legendary late-20th-century eateries founded by chef Steve Poses. Now using his food smarts as a caterer, Poses has written Things I've Learned: A Caterer's Guide to Cooking and Home Entertainment. He'll discuss his work at 7:30 p.m. at the Free Library's Montgomery Auditorium, 19th and Vine Streets. Admission is free. Call 215-567-4341.

Friday & Saturday

Top of the key Roots rockers Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers have a winner in their new CD, The Bear. They play at World Cafe Live, 3025 Walnut St., at 8 p.m. Friday and 9 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are $25 and $35. Call 215-222-1400.

Next step In her three-decade career, author Liz Rosenberg has found success as a poet (the Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize for The Fire Music) and a children's book writer (the Children's Choice Award-winning Monster Mama). Her first novel, Home Repair, is a finely crafted tale of loss and resilience, following a middle-aged mother as she deals with memories of one husband killed in an accident and another who just walked out. Rosenberg reads from her work at a Mount Airy jewel, the Big Blue Marble Bookstore, 551 Carpenter Lane, at 3 p.m. Saturday. Admission is free. Call 215-844-1870.

With strings The dynamic cellist Matt Haimovitz performs a solo recital, including works by Elliott Carter, Steven Stucky, Luna Pearl Woolf, and the composer/producer Socalled in the Kimmel Center's Innovation Studio, Broad and Spruce Streets, at 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are $10. Call 215-893-1999.

Dream worlds With their ethereal, guitar-driven drone, Southern post-rock duo Hammock create textured, ambient soundscapes. They play at the Gatherings, St. Mary's Hamilton Village, 3916 Locust Walk, at 8 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are $20; $10 students. Call 1-800-965-4827.

A complete guide to events in the region over the coming weekend will appear in the Weekend section in Friday's Inquirer. Send notices of events for "7 Days" to Michael Harrington at mharrington@phillynews.com.