FRIDAY: Happy BirthdayMusical director Robert Chauls will...

FRIDAY: Happy Birthday

Musical director Robert Chauls will lead members of the Valley Symphony Orchestra in a salute to Franz Schubert at Valley College on Friday night, the 200-year anniversary of the composer’s birth.

Schubert, who was born Jan. 31, 1797, was only 31 when he died. But he composed a great deal of music, which has sometimes been described as intensely melodic.

Like most of the composers of his day, Schubert lived in the shadow of Beethoven. Schubert’s genius was only fully appreciated some 40 years after his death. In the latter half of the 19th century, his music began to be published and receive wider circulation. He was a major influence on Brahms, Dvorak, Bruckner and Mahler.

He is said to be the first great composer in history who was not also a great conductor or instrumentalist. Schubert lived a bohemian lifestyle--seldom having money, moving in with friends and spending many hours at cafes--with a circle of musicians, artists and literary figures in Vienna.

* “A Salute to Franz Schubert” at 8 p.m. Friday in the Music Recital Hall at Valley College, 5800 Fulton Ave., Van Nuys. Tickets are $10 general, $7 students and seniors. Call (818) 781-1200, Ext. 349.

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SATURDAY: Lots o’ Laughs

The Sportsmen’s Lodge in Studio City hosts an “All-Star Comedy Festival” on Saturday night headlined by the ubiquitous Steve Allen.

Marc Weingarten, the former owner of the Ice House and producer of the “Rick Dees Comedy Concert,” will be producing the show, which will be co-sponsored by KLOS-FM and hosted by Long Paul of that station’s “Five O’Clock Funnies.”

Besides Allen, the show will feature comics Pam Stone, George Lopez and Jimmy Brogan. The producers also promise several famous surprise guests.

The festival marks the opening of a new comedy club--Laff’n at the Lodge--at the Studio City hotel. The club will be open Fridays starting Feb. 7.

* “All Star Comedy Festival” starts at 8:30 p.m. Saturday at the Sportsmen’s Lodge, 12833 Ventura Blvd., Studio City. Tickets are $15-$30. Call (818) 985-5059.

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TUESDAY: More Laughs

A 1960s TV comedians hall of fame swoops down on the University of Judaism this weekend with the invasion of Yarmy’s Army.

This troupe began meeting several years ago to laugh and have dinner with a sick friend, comic actor Dick Yarmy, after he was diagnosed with inoperable cancer.

Yarmy, the brother of “Get Smart” star Don Adams, was a veteran film and stage actor and director who was also featured in a long-running series of “George and Marge” TV commercials for Union Oil in the 1970s. He was a member of Theatre West in Universal City, where his friends staged a memorial service for him after his death in May 1992.

After that, the Army decided to stay together and do work for charity. The Army has included Adams, Shelley Berman, Bill Dana, Pat Harrington, Harvey Korman, Ronnie Schell, Pat McCormick and several others.

Yarmy’s Army originally was to perform only Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday at the Gindi, but the first two shows sold out quickly and two more performances, for Feb. 8 and 9, have been added.

* Yarmy’s Army performs at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 8 and 9 in Gindi Auditorium of the University of Judaism, 15600 Mulholland Drive. Tickets are $20-$25. Call (310) 476-9777, Ext. 201.