7 Days: A week's worth of entertainment

Sunday

Opera gratis Verdi was persuaded to come out of retirement to write what became his penultimate opera, Otello, based on Shakespeare's drama of jealousy, treachery, and revenge. The Atlantic Coast Opera Festival presents a preview performance of its production at 2 p.m. at the Free Library, 1901 Vine St. Admission is free. Call 215-567-4341.

Monday

Fringe is coming Can't wait for the Fringe Festival to arrive in September? Get a look at what's on the bill with Scratch Night, featuring short theater and dance sets by Fail Better Productions, the Phenomenal Animals, Revolution Shakespeare, Medium Theatre Company, Almanac Dance Circus Theater, Irina Varina, and LeeAnn Mallorie. The show goes on at 7 p.m. at the Rotunda, 4014 Walnut St. Admission is free. Call 215-413-1318.

Tuesday

Local hero Bucks County troubadour Trevor Leonard, who does business as Triangle Shirt Factory, plays his earnest, reggae-inflected folk rock at 8 p.m. at Kung Fu Necktie, 1250 N. Front St. Tickets are $7. Call 215-291-4919.

Wednesday

Burt Lancaster times two One of our greatest film actors, in two of his best performances: In 1953's From Here to Eternity, he's fine as a troubled sergeant having an affair with his superior's wife while stationed at Pearl Harbor just before the December 1941 attack. The film screens at 7 p.m. at the Ambler Theater, 108 E. Butler Ave., Ambler. Tickets are $10.50; $8 seniors; $3 ages 18 and under. Call 215-345-7855. . . . In 1957's Sweet Smell of Success, he's indelible as a vengeful, powerful gossip columnist manipulating an oily publicist (Tony Curtis, also great). The film screens at the County Theater, 20 E. State St., Doylestown. Tickets are $10.50; $8 seniors; $3 ages 18 and under. Call 215-345-6789.

Thursday

Cracked actor Though to some degree his whole public life was a studied performance, David Bowie chose his film roles carefully. In Jim Henson's 1986 fantasy Labyrinth, he's the Goblin King, inadvertently summoned by a young woman who then must traverse a maze to rescue her kidnapped brother. The film screens at 7:15 p.m. at the Bryn Mawr Film Institute, 824 W. Lancaster Ave., Bryn Mawr. Tickets are $12.50; $10 seniors and students. Call 610-527-9898.

Future days A pinnacle of Japanese anime, Mamoru Oshii's 1995 cyberpunk epic,

Ghost in the Shell

, adapts Masamune Shirow's classic manga set in a world completely taken over by computer technology and virtual selves. The story, about a cyborg police detective on the hunt for a hacker mastermind, is brilliant. The visuals, a mix of traditional animation and CGI, can still astound after two decades. The film screens at

the Colonial Theatre

, 227 Bridge St., Phoenixville, at 9:45 p.m. Friday. Tickets are $9; $7 seniors and students. Call 610-917-0223.

Kick back When Jimmy Buffett is in town, everybody's a parrothead. He plays at BB&T Pavilion, One Harbour Blvd., Camden, at 8 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are $36 and $136. Call 856-365-1300.

For more on events in the region, see the DoThis section in Friday's Inquirer and Daily News. Notices for "7 Days": mharrington@phillynews.com