Theater, live music and an exhibit of photographs by Japanese artist Kijuro Yahagi at the Helen Foresman Spencer Museum of Art — called “Hidden Japan” — are among the many entertainment offerings this weekend in the area. Here are some other events to check out:

Today

• “The Dinner Party,” 2 p.m., 4 p.m. and 8 p.m., American Heartland Theatre, Crown Center, 2450 Grand Blvd., Suite 314, Kansas City, Mo.
• “African Film Series” featuring two animated films and a documentary, 2 p.m., Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 4525 Oak St., Kansas City, Mo.
• Americana Music Academy community acoustic jam, 3:30 p.m.-5:30 p.m., Aimee’s Coffee House, 1025-A Mass.
• John Jervis, classically-trained guitarist, 7 p.m.-9 p.m., Paradise Cafe, 728 Mass.
• Love is Red, 12 Tribes, Hope and Suicide, 7 p.m., El Torreon, 3101 Gillham Road, Kansas City, Mo.
• Live jazz, featuring Mr. Van’s Jazz Band, 7 p.m.-10:30 p.m., Bichelmeyer’s Steakhouse Restaurant, 427 E. Fourth St., Tonganoxie.
• Branson-style country music, 7:30 p.m.-10 p.m., Glen’s Opry, Fourth and Main streets, Tonganoxie.
• Heather Claybrook, and Teresa and Dennis Cook, 7:30 p.m., Glen’s Opry, Fourth and Main streets, Tonganoxie.
• Cordelia Brown at piano, 8 p.m.-10 p.m., The Lodge, 502 Ames St., Baldwin.
• Jimmy Cobb Quintet, featuring Randy Brecker, 8 p.m., Folly Theater, 12th Street and Central Avenue, Kansas City, Mo.
• Swing Canyon, 9 p.m., The Jazzhaus, 926 1/2 Mass.
• Corey Stevens, 9 p.m., Grand Emporium, 3832 Main St., Kansas City, Mo.
• Society’s Finest, As I Lay Dying, Flattery Leads to Ruins, 9 p.m., New Earth Coffee House, 3953 Walnut, Kansas City, Mo.
• The Grand Fiasco, 9 p.m., The Hurricane, 4048 Broadway, Kansas City, Mo.
• Porter Hall Tennessee, 9 p.m., Davey’s Uptown, 3402 Main St., Kansas City, Mo.
• Vibralux, Sunday Afternoon Rebellion, 9 p.m., The Brick, 1727 McGee, Kansas City, Mo.

Sunday

• “Art of the Lega” guided tour, 1 p.m., Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 4525 Oak St., Kansas City, Mo.
• “The Dinner Party;” 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.; American Heartland Theatre, Crown Center, 2450 Grand Blvd., Suite 314, Kansas City, Mo.
• Symphony Sundays at Yardley Hall, 2 p.m., Carlsen Center, Johnson County Community College, 12345 College Blvd., Overland Park.
• Amy Lassiter, soprano, and Josh Dixon, baritone, Topeka Opera Society and Concert Assn., 2 p.m., Sheffel Room, Topeka and Shawnee County Library, Topeka.
• Lawrence Barn Dance Assn. Family Barn Dance, 4 p.m., potluck at 5:30 p.m., Ecumenical Christian Ministries building, 1204 Oread Ave.
• Simple Plan, Anything But Joey, 6 p.m. (early show), The Bottleneck, 737 N.H.
• The Uprights, Spoiled Solidarity, The Shuffles, Stopping Power, 7 p.m., El Torreon, 3101 Gillham Road, Kansas City, Mo.
• Billy Ebeling Solo, 7 p.m.-11 p.m., Jazz Louisiana Kitchen, 39th Street and State Line Road, Kansas City, Mo.
• Lonnie Ray, 8 p.m.-11 p.m., Teller’s, 746 Mass.
• Swing dance, 9 p.m.- 1 a.m., with salsa and swing lessons from 7 p.m.-9 p.m., Dance Academy, 1117 Mass.
• Cross Canadian Ragweed, 10 p.m., The Bottleneck, 737 N.H.
• Don Mumford and Friends, 10 p.m.-1:30 a.m., Eighth Street Tap Room, Eighth and New Hampshire streets.

Ongoing

• Mini train and carousel, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturdays and 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sundays, Topeka Zoo, 635 S.W. Gage Blvd., Topeka.
• Pastel landscapes and pencil portraits by Peggy Shopen, through today, Z’s Divine Espresso, 1800 E. 23rd St., Suite A.
• Country Club Plaza Season of Lights, through Sunday, Country Club Plaza, 46th Street and J.C. Nichols Parkway, Kansas City, Mo.
• “Charlotte Street Fund,” featuring works by Lori Raye Erickson, Tammie Kennedy, Marchie Miller Gross, May Tviet, Alonzo Washington and Davin Watne, through Jan. 22, Johnson County Community College Gallery of Art, 12345 College Blvd., Overland Park.
• “Bald Eagle Nests in Kansas” by Mike Watkins, through Jan. 27, south lobby, Lawrence Public Library, 707 Vt.
• “Anita’s Art,” artwork by Anita Shikles, through Jan. 29, Kansas City, Kansas Public Library, West Wyandotte Branch, 1737 N. 82nd St., Kansas City, Kan.
• Charcoal portraits by Will Dowdell, through Jan. 31, Z’s Downtown Espresso, 10 E. Ninth St., Suite A.
• “Paintings” by JoHanna Hicks, “Watercolors” by Kathleen Anderson and “Portraits and More” by Carol Anderson, through January, Lawrence Public Library, 707 Vt.
• “Haunted Castle” in 3-D, through Feb. 8, Union Station-Science City, Pershing Road and Main Street, Kansas City, Mo.
• Watercolors and serigraphs by Bess Duston and Jack O’Neal, bronze sculpture by Marlene Mourey and raku pottery by Nancy Sams, through Feb. 15, Images Art Gallery, 1721 Westport Road, Kansas City, Mo.
• “Hidden Japan,” through Feb. 16, Helen Foresman Spencer Museum of Art, Kansas University.
• Paintings by Hunt Slonem, through March 1, Dennis Morgan Gallery, 114 Southwest Blvd., Kansas City, Mo.
• “New Works: Judith Burns McCrea, Sonya Clark and Melba Price,” through March 1, Sherry Leedy Contemporary Art, 2004 Baltimore Ave., Kansas City, Mo.
• “Innovation/Imagination: Fifty Years of Polaroid Photography,” through March 15, Helen Foresman Spencer Museum of Art, on Mississippi Street west of the Kansas Union, KU.
• “Czars: 400 years of Imperial Grandeur,” 9 a.m.-7 p.m., through March 15, Kansas International Museum, West Ridge Mall, 1801 S.W. Wanamaker Road, Topeka.
• Ice Terrace, Crown Center, through March 23, 2450 Grand Blvd., Kansas City, Mo.
• “Spencer Museum of Art Celebrates 25 Years,” through March 30, Helen Foresman Spencer Museum of Art, KU.