In 1926, W. Douglas Burden — a New Yorker with “sporting tastes and a real interest in natural history” — ventured to Indonesia in search of “a primeval monster in a primeval setting.” Once referred to as “land crocodiles,” the enormous Komodo dragons he found (and named) there inspired the Pre-Code Hollywood classic King Kong. Originally billed as “the mighty monarch of all melodramas,” the wild, weird, and wonderful 1933 film combines a timeless beauty-and-beast storyline, elaborate orchestration, and groundbreaking effects meshing live action and stop-motion animation. Texas Public Radio screens the gem that saved RKO from bankruptcy as part of its Cinema Tuesdays series.  

If love is a battlefield, the American pop music business is a guerrilla-infested jungle. Few know this as well as singer/songwriter Pat Benatar, who released her first pop-rock single back in 1974 and has both enjoyed public adoration and endured going out of style. From 1979-84 she released six platinum and multi-platinum albums, but in the nearly 30 years since, she’s only released six more, none of which achieved better than gold sales. Touring with husband and longtime collaborator Neil Giraldo behind the release of her recent Icons compilation, Benatar is a long way from her days of rocking purple zebra leotards and assaulting the pop charts with her rock-n-roll sound. But some things never change and on Tuesday you can expect an energetic romp through this legend’s absolute best.

As street-tough Pittsburgh teen Alex Owens, Jennifer Beals made sweatshirts sexy — among other improbable feats — in Adrian Lyne’s 1983 film Flashdance. Thanks to a theatrical adaptation by Tom Hedley (who co-wrote the original screenplay with Joe Eszterhas) and Robert Carey, Owens is back in leg warmers and dancing like a maniac in Flashdance the Musical. A blue-collar Cinderella story fueled by the liberating power of dance, the musical mixes hits from the film’s Grammy-winning soundtrack (including the Oscar-winning title track “Flashdance…What a Feeling”) with 16 original songs written by Robbie Roth. While it’s yet to debut on Broadway, previous productions, including a 16-week run in London, have reminded audiences of the lovable Billy Elliot. The national tour lands at the Majestic for an eight-show run.

Hamlet is said to be William Shakespeare’s most popular play, a walloping five-acts of betrayal, revenge, double-crossing, and murder. Death by poison, suicide, stabbing, and decree slaughters the cast, while Hamlet, son of slain King Hamlet of Denmark (now a ghost), ponders what to do next. Hamlet Jr.’s mad, pissed off, but maybe crazy-mad, too. The Classic Theatre of San Antonio and experimental theater virtuosos Jump-Start Performance Company have teamed up to perform Method & Madness: Hamlet 2013, an adaptation by Laurie Rae Dietrich in steam punk dress that slices the original down to a 90-minute ride through intrigue. Don’t expect a simple synopsis of the venerable work; the radically different styles of both companies (classic, experimental) will both be in play, and pairings abound. Diane Malone and Jump-Start’s S.T. Shimi co-direct, Billy Muñoz and Rick Malone share lighting design, and Hamlet’s split personalities are performed by Muñoz and Linda Ford. With Christie Beckham, Erik Bosse, Dietrich, Dino Foxx, Pamela Dean Kenny, Robert Rehm, Joseph Urick and Kitty Williams. $15-$20, 8pm Fri-Sat, 3pm Sun, The Sterling Houston Theater at Jump-Start, 108 Blue Star, (210) 227-5867, jump-start.org. Through June 23.

In Brazilian director Eduardo Nunes’ dreamlike film from 2011, a young woman named Clarice gives birth on her deathbed to a baby girl also christened Clarice by a bruxa (witch) attending the nearly simultaneous moments of death and birth.

Comprised of banjo player, singer/songwriter, and producer Danny Barnes and Mandolinist Billy Bright, Barnes/Bright showcase the grit, groove, jam, and glam that is inherent in each of their styles. They will perform a bunch of each other’s songs, as well as shed some different colored light on some of the good old favorites. Their sets are a combination of acoustics and barnyard electronics.