Today’s Best Bets

POP

R&B-gospel; singer Mavis Staples presents a tribute to the late gospel great Mahalia Jackson.

* Irvine Barclay Theatre, 4242 Campus Drive, Irvine, (949) 854-4646. 8 p.m.

TELEVISION

The Lakers and Mighty Ducks are playing on the tube but there is competition of another sort from Branson, Mo.: Fifty-one women are competing to inherit the title of Miss USA from 1998 winner Shawnae Jebbia, left.

* “The Miss USA Pageant,” 9 p.m. on KCBS-TV.

STAGE

Not even funeral homes are immune to the threat of hostile takeover in “Eubie Waller’s Last Rites,” a comedy-drama by Mark W. Curran.

* Stella Adler Theatre, 6773 Hollywood Blvd., (323) 660-8587. 8 p.m. Regular schedule: Friday-Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 3 p.m. Ends March 14.

MUSIC

Romanian pianist Radu Lupu, who debuted with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra in 1973, takes the spotlight with a recital of works by Gershwin, Ravel, Brahms and Debussy.

* Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave., downtown Los Angeles, (323) 850-2000. 8 p.m.