Entertainment and culture: What to expect in 2015

Allen Leech, left, Tom Cullen and Michelle Dockery in "Downton Abbey." (Nick Briggs / PBS)

“Downton Abbey” returns to American television on PBS for Season 5; as usual, it’s aired already in the U.K. Class still has its privileges.

The Philharmonie de Paris, a joint undertaking financed by the French government and Paris to build a major music complex in the Parc de la Villette. (Bouygues Construction / Philharmonie de Paris)

The Orchestre de Paris’ new home, designed by Jean Nouvel, opens.

Composer Henryk Górecki. (Anacleto Rapping / Los Angeles Times)

The posthumous work will be given its U.S. debut by the L.A. Philharmonic, which co-commissioned it. The full orchestral score was completed by the composer’s son, Mikolaj.

Janet Weiss, left, Carrie Brownstein and Corin Tucker of Sleater-Kinney. (Brigitte Sire / Shore Fire Media)

Since influential all-female guitar band Sleater-Kinney went on hiatus in 2006, its influence has only grown. That’s because of a combination of an enduring musical legacy and the pop cultural ascent of singer-guitarist Carrie Brownstein, the band’s cofounder. Now, Brownstein, the star of the comedy series “Portlandia,” and bandmates Corin Tucker and Janet Weiss are returning with their first new album in eight years, “No Cities to Love.” The band also performs at the Hollywood Palladium on May 1 and 2.

Ordinarily, a production of Puccini’s warhorse wouldn’t be cause for much commotion. But San Diego Opera’s staging marks its first big effort since the company’s bitter internal struggle this year to stay in business.

This reading series returns with L.A. crime writer Gar Anthony Haywood and authors Terry Shames, Caitlin Rother, S.W. Lauren and Chuck Greaves. Wash down tales of evil deeds with a Dark and Stormy cocktail at the Mandrake.

A cult classic ahead of its time, “Grim Fandango” marries story and gameplay with humor and a Day of the Dead art style. Narrative games are again in vogue, and “Grim Fandango,” in which the afterlife comes with its own daily stresses, should dazzle in its HD makeover.

Actor Darrell Hammond. (La Jolla Playhouse)

Artistic Director Christopher Ashley directs a piece based on the former “Saturday Night Live” regular’s memoir at the La Jolla Playhouse.

What else is there to do on a Sunday in February? Three out of last four broadcasts of the big game have set a ratings record.

The Dorothy Chandler Pavilion is home to the L.A. Opera. (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

Los Angeles Opera’s revival of John Corigliano’s 1991 comic meta-opera is directed by Darko Tresnjak, who won a Tony Award this year for “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder.” The production stars Patricia Racette and Patti LuPone and will feature the seldom-performed full score.

Some “Breaking Bad” characters travel through a TV wormhole and go back in time to star in the premiere of AMC’s “Better Call Saul.”

“Botticelli, Titian, and Beyond: Masterpieces of Italian Painting From Glasgow Museums” at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art.

The reinvigorated DIY corner of publishing will showcase the city’s most intrepid poets, short-story writers and comics artists, people who create chapbooks and compile zines, speaking on panels and selling their wares, in this Glassell Park event.

Rapper Kendrick Lamar. (Angelo Merendino / Getty Images)

Along with likely new releases from Adele, Rihanna and Kanye West, Kendrick Lamar’s follow-up to his highly touted “Good Kid, M.A.A.D City” is one of the coming year’s most anticipated albums, especially after memorable recent performances on “Saturday Night Live” and “The Colbert Report.” Lamar will also perform at part of snowboarder Shaun White’s Air + Style festival at the Rose Bowl on Feb. 21.

The Mark Taper Forum at the Music Center. (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

Alan Mandell returns to the Mark Taper Forum for Arthur Miller’s drama, along with Kate Burton, John Bedford Lloyd and Sam Robards.

The Getty Museum. (Robbin Goddard / Los Angeles Times)

“J.M.W. Turner: Painting Set Free” at the Getty Museum will exhibit more than 60 paintings from around the world. Organized by the Tate Museum in London, San Francisco’s Fine Arts Museums and the Getty.

Aziz Ansari, left, Aubrey Plaza, Chris Pratt, Retta, Jim O'Heir, Amy Poehler and Adam Scott in "Parks and Recreation." (Colleen Hayes / NBC)

NBC’s “Parks and Recreation” ascends to TV heaven, where according to the pope’s recent words, it will be reunited with Li’l Sebastian.

Although L.A. Opera originally commissioned it, the company has never produced composer Unsuk Chin’s version of the Lewis Carroll tale. The L.A. Philharmonic has decided to take up the challenge, presenting a semi-staged multimedia version being billed as a collaboration with L.A. Opera.

The biennial event returns for a monthlong showcase of restored and preserved films, from early silent movies to Golden Age classics to contemporary gems. Featured works included those by Edgar J. Ulmer, Anthony Mann, Samuel Fuller, Leo McCarey and Julie Dash.

Minnesota Opera presents the world premiere of Kevin Puts’ opera.

Helen Mirren as Queen Elizabeth in the 2013 production of "The Audience." (Johan Persson)

Helen Mirren brings this London hit to Broadway, again playing Queen Elizabeth but this time receiving British prime ministers, including Dakin Mathews as Winston Churchill. Written by Peter Morgan, who also wrote the movie “The Queen.”

Actress Elisabeth Moss. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

“Mad Men’s” Elisabeth Moss maps the female experience of a different decade, starring in a Broadway revival of Wendy Wasserstein’s play.

Elaine Sturtevant's "Johns Target with Four Faces." (The Museum of Contemporary Art)

The Museum of Contemporary Art offers a retrospective of the work of Elaine Sturtevant in “Sturtevant: Double Trouble.”

The Musée d'Orsay painting known as Whistler's Mother is part of the exchange of artwork between the Paris museum and the Norton Simon. (Patrice Schmidt / Musée d'Orsay)

A new exchange with Paris’ Musée d’Orsay will bring three paintings to the Norton Simon in Pasadena. Édouard Manet’s “Émile Zola,” 1868, Paul Cézanne’s “The Card Players,” circa 1892-96, and James Abbott McNeill Whistler’s “Portrait of the Artist’s Mother” are the components of “Tête-à-Tête: Three Masterpieces From the Musée d’Orsay.”

The sun sets during the 2014 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival at the Empire Polo Club in Indio. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

Even though the lineup has yet to be announced, both weekends of the festival are sold out. If that suggests a fan base that cares less about the specific music than the experience itself, the festival’s devotees have been busily prognosticating headliners. U2, AC-DC, Foo Fighters, Jack White and Coldplay all seem within the realm of possibility (perennially rumored acts David Bowie or the Smiths less so).

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

Gala to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s opening on Wilshire Boulevard and a kick-off of events through the year. LACMA was part of the Museum of Natural History until 1961, but it wasn’t until 1965 that it opened its doors in its current location.

The world premiere of a play by Rajiv Joseph (“Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo”) opens at South Coast Repertory, which commissioned it.

Conductor John Eliot Gardiner. (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

John Eliot Gardiner conducts concert performances of towering Monteverdi works on subsequent nights at Segerstrom Concert Hall.

Author Toni Morrison (David Levenson / Getty Images)

Still writing in her 80s, Nobel Prize winner Morrison will publish her 11th novel, “God Help the Child.” Sonny Mehta, chairman of publisher Knopf, says the book “is a compact, fierce work of contemporary fiction, one that unfolds in the aftermath of an allegation made by a student about a teacher.”

The superhero-studded sequel to the third-highest-grossing movie of all time kicks off the ever-expanding summer blockbuster season.

Musician John Zorn (Jack Vartoogian / Getty Images)

A rare sight on the West Coast (much less Los Angeles), saxophonist and genre-unto-himself John Zorn offers a marathon survey of his prolific career in a show presented by the Center for the Art of Performance at UCLA. The show begins with an early morning set of organ improvisations at Royce Hall, a near-unfathomable six-hour performance with various ensembles around the galleries of LACMA and a “Triple Threat” concert of Zorn’s compositions with Abraxas, Secret Chiefs 3 and Bladerunner, a trio featuring Zorn with Bill Laswell and Slayer’s Dave Lombardo. Rest up now.

Author David Sedaris (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

Sedaris is a rarity: A great writer who is also a great performer. Maybe he’ll have new work to read; maybe he’ll bring up a hysterical old story about his family or days as a performance artist. Catch him when he appears at UCLA’s Royce Hall.

The city limits of Cannes, France. (Francois Durand / Getty Images)

Swarms of industry insiders, movie stars, journalists and hangers-on will descend upon the south of France for 12 days of wheeling, dealing and revelry at Cannes. Jury and programming information should begin trickling out in the coming weeks.

"Late Show" host David Letterman (Jeffrey R. Staab / CBS)

What are the Top Ten ways we’ll say goodbye to David Letterman when he signs off “Late Show” after almost 22 years?

L.A. Philharmonic music director Gustavo Dudamel conducts the orchestra during a performance at Walt Disney Concert Hall on Oct. 2, 2014. (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

Gustavo Dudamel conducts premieres by Philip Glass, Bryce Dessner and Caroline Shaw as part of the L.A. Phil’s “Next on Grand” festival.

Attendees try out the Oculus Rift 2 during E3 2014. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

E3, an industry marketing bonanza at the Los Angeles Convention Center in which the game slate for 2016 and beyond will be showcased. Spoiler alert: There will be lots of games with guns.

Actor Benedict Cumberbatch (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times)

Benedict Cumberbatch takes a break from TV and film to play Shakespeare’s philosophizing prince at the Barbican in London. The 12-week run is sold out.

Author Jonathan Franzen (Timur Emek / Getty Images)

Farrar, Straus and Giroux publishes “Purity,” the latest novel by Franzen, about a young woman named Purity Tyler, who goes by Pip, searching for her father. Things to watch for: resemblances to Charles Dickens’ “Great Expectations” and a fable-like turn in Franzen’s fiction.

Architect Frank Gehry inside Walt Disney Concert Hall. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

A large retrospective of the work of architect Frank Gehry, seen at the Pompidou Center in Paris in the fall, comes to LACMA in slightly different form.

Bonnie Ross, general manager of 343 Industries, presents "Halo 5: Guardians" in June 2014. (Damian Dovarganes / Associated Press)

The game that’s expected to be the showcase title for Microsoft’s Xbox One, “Halo 5: Guardians” will also be watched to see if the franchise has a life outside of a console. The game is expected to launch around the same time as that of a Steven Spielberg-produced TV series.

The round window on the second floor of the Broad museum is known as the "occulus." (Katie Falkenberg / Los Angeles Times)

The opening of Eli Broad’s new art museum on Grand Avenue, designed by Diller, Scofidio + Renfro.

At IndeiCade 2014 attendees could test out "Use of Force," a virtual reality immersive journalism experience. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Once a small festival dedicated to independent games, IndieCade is now a multi-day Culver City event and is ground zero for some of the most diverse, risk-taking games in the biz. Not a video gamer? Don’t worry, there are also board games and outdoor games that span city blocks.

Daniel Craig, left, and Rory Kinnear film a scene for the movie "Spectre." (Alastair Grant / Associated Press)

Bond, James Bond, suits up for his latest big-screen mission (played for the fourth time by Daniel Craig) and tangles with an old enemy. Sam Mendes is at the helm, and the cast includes Christoph Waltz, Ralph Fiennes and a very fancy Jaguar.

Among the films waiting under the tree for moviegoers are “Joy,” starring Jennifer Lawrence; “Mission: Impossible 5,” starring Tom Cruise”; “The Hateful Eight,” directed by Quentin Tarantino; “The Revenant,” starring Leonardo DiCaprio; and “Dirty Grandpa,” with Robert De Niro.

Madison Marlow, right, and Taylor Dye of Maddie & Tae. (Rick Diamond / Getty Images)

The best commercial country song of the year was devoted to country songs themselves: Maddie & Tae’s “Girl in a Country Song.” The catchy kiss-off to the male singers who treat their ladies like objects hit the top of the charts, and the forthcoming debut full length will likely do the same. Fans were given an appetizer in November, when the duo released its first EP. Given that they’re signed to the Taylor Swift-affiliated Big Machine Records, expect to hear much more.

A scene from Nintendo's "Splatoon." (Nintendo)

Nintendo relies heavily on its stable of recognizable characters, so when the company releases a game without Mario, Link or Donkey Kong it’s an event, especially when Mario creator and game legend Shigeru Miyamoto has a say in it. “Splatoon” looks nutty, with characters armed with paintball guns who can turn into squids.