This week’s 5 best bets for arts & culture in Las Vegas

If you’re looking for a vicarious escape from the sweltering Las Vegas summer, it’s as close as Bellagio’s Gallery of Fine Art, where “Primal Water” — which begins a four-month run Friday — presents 28 contemporary Japanese works, from paintings and sculptures to site-specific installations and, in an adjacent studio, artist Kisho Mwkaiyama creating a new work. Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily; admission is $10 to $12. More details: bellagio.com/bgfa.

Ronny Cox

Ronny Cox’s big- and small- screen credits include “Deliverance,” “Beverly Hills Cop,” “Desperate Housewives” and “True Detective.” But he’s also a singer, songwriter and musician — and he and his band will perform songs and stories addressing “the human condition” at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Winchester Cultural Center, 3130 S. McLeod Drive. For tickets ($11-$13), visit clarkcountynv.gov/parksregistration.

‘August: Osage County’

A family crisis brings three daughters home to Oklahoma to face their sharp-tongued, cancer-stricken mother in “August: Osage County.” A Public Fit brings Tracy Letts’ Pulitzer Prize-winning dramatic comedy to life in a free reading at 7:30 p.m. Friday at the Clark County Library, 1401 E. Flamingo Road. Visit apublicfit.org for more details.

Michelle Johnson

Las Vegas-based singer Michelle Johnson returns to Cabaret Jazz at The Smith Center for a “Salute to the Great Singer-Songwriters,” including favorites by (among others) Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell, James Taylor, Stevie Wonder, Bob Dylan, Carole King and Tracy Chapman. Catch her act at 8 p.m. Friday; tickets are $22 to $40 and available at thesmithcenter.com.

‘Accomplice’

You may know Rupert Holmes as the “Escape (The Pina Colada Song)” guy. But he’s also an award-winning playwright, as he demonstrates in this witty thriller about a weekend gathering punctuated by adultery, murder — and an endless series of twists. Theatre in the Valley’s production plays at 7:30 p.m. Fridays, 3 and 7:30 p.m. Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays through July 15 at 10 W. Pacific Ave., Henderson. For tickets ($10-$15), visit theatreinthevalley.org.