Entertainment in California
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Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society
If you’re here on a weekend, don’t miss the Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society and its stellar salon-style jazz, classical and world-music concerts at Douglas Beach House. This is where locals hang. Performances start in the late afternoon. Kids welcome, but if they’re fidgety sit outside. Drinks and finger foods are available, or bring a picnic.
reviewed
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A
Voda
Blue lights are always cool, and vodka is a drink from cooler climes: that's pretty much what Voda's about. This place boasts several dozen vodka imports on its impressive-looking shelves, and the coolest after-work crowd shows up to, well, cool off and look cool. Drink prices are surprisingly reasonable. DJs spin jazz, French-touch electro and hip-hop starting in the early evening.
reviewed
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B
Bruno's
The stage spilleth over at this little joint with a big sound: 20 brass-wielding masters often cram in for Jazz Mafia Tuesdays. Multiple chambers include the narrow, padded-wall Cork Club with a Hammond organ for weekend funk nights, and a swanky piano lounge, where students and well-dressed jazz aficionados arrive early for the Tuesday night around US$8 beer-burger-fries special.
reviewed
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C
Mix
The last Castro bar to open at 6am, the Mix is a must on a pub crawl. We like the low-ceilinged pool and bar area, but prefer the open-air back smokers patio. Expect gal-next-door lesbians, 20-something gay boys, trannie pals and the odd stumbling drag queen. Great drink specials keep everyone wasted. Mondays there's free pool.
reviewed
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D
Savanna Jazz
The carpets are sticky, the lights dim, the drinks strong and the music hot at this midsized black-box showroom and bar. It's mostly swing and bebop, and the place jumps Wednesday evenings for ever-popular Lindy-hop parties (lesson kicks off at 6:30pm).
reviewed
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E
Edinburgh Castle
SF's finest old-school monument to drink comes complete with dart boards, pool tables, rock bands, occasional literary readings and locals acting out (as is our habit). Photos of bagpipers, the Trainspotting soundtrack on the jukebox and a service delivering vinegary fish and chips in newspaper are all the Scottish authenticity you could ask for, short of haggis.
reviewed
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Music Center of LA County
At this linchpin of the downtown performing arts scene, splashy musicals play to capacity at the Ahmanson Theatre, while the more intimate Mark Taper Forum premieres high-caliber plays. With Placido Domingo at the helm, the LA Opera has fine-tuned its repertory of classics by master composers, with performances at the Dorothy Chandler pavilion. Parking costs $8 in the evening.
reviewed
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G
Orpheum Theater
In the early 20th century, cacophonous Broadway was a glamorous shopping and theater strip, where megastars such as Charlie Chaplin leapt from limos to attend premieres at lavish movie palaces. Some - such as the Orpheum Theater have been restored and again host screenings and parties. The best way to get inside is on tours run by the Los Angeles Conservancy.
reviewed
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Nacional
Another entry in Hollywood's growing cadre of club lounges, this one has a seductive prerevolution-Cuba theme with fiery mood lighting and clunky but comfy Bauhaus furniture. The door policy is picky on weekends when world-class guest DJs are often at the decks but relaxes for the Bud Brother's Monday Social (www.budbrothers.com), the city's longest-running house music club.
reviewed
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Cantina
All the Latin-inspired cocktails (think tequila, cachaça and pisco) are made with fresh juice – there's not even a soda gun behind the bar – at this mixologist's dream bar that's mellow enough on weeknights for quiet conversation. The all-local crowd includes many off-duty bartenders – always a good sign. DJs spin on weekends.
reviewed
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J
Roxie Cinema
A little neighborhood nonprofit cinema with major international clout for helping distribute and launch indie films Stateside, and for showing controversial films and documentaries banned elsewhere. Film buffs should monitor this calendar, because tickets to film festival premieres, rare revivals and the raucous annual Oscars telecast sell out fast – but if the main show is sold out, check out documentaries in the teensy Little Roxy next door instead. No ads and personal introductions to every film.
reviewed
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Arclight Cinemas
Preselected seats, an in-house bar and friendly employees – plus proximity to Amoeba Music – make this relative newcomer one of the primo theaters in LA. Star-sighting potential is also exceptionally high, though you won’t see Quentin Tarantino, who’s opposed to the strict ‘No entry after the movie starts’ policy. He has a point – everyone is running late in LA.
reviewed
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Enrico’s
The last old-school swank joint on Broadway has a big, heated sidewalk patio (ideal for smokers) opening into a white-tablecloth restaurant and bar with swoop-back booths, high cocktail tables, and a baby grand piano. Musical bookings run the gamut from classical guitar to R&B, with local chanteuses singing the Great American Songbook other nights. Shine your shoes.
reviewed
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American Conservatory Theater
Breakthrough shows destined for the big time in London or New York sometimes pass muster at the turn-of-the-century Geary Theater, which has hosted ACT's landmark productions of Tony Kushner's Angels in America and Robert Wilson's Black Rider, with a libretto by William S Burroughs and music by the Bay Area's own Tom Waits.
reviewed
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Boardner’s
Keeping barflies boozy since 1942, this dimly lit dive is hot once again with the hipsters – just ask the old salt keeping track from his barside perch. For celeb hounds, Kiefer Sutherland and Vince Vaughn have been spotted here. The B52 nightclub in back draws a different crowd – Saturday night’s Bar Sinister admits only those in black or fetish-appropriate attire.
reviewed
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O
Embarcadero Center Cinema
Forget blockbusters – here locals queue up for the latest Almodóvar film and whatever won best foreign film at the Oscars. The snack bar caters to discerning tastes with good local coffee, fair-trade chocolate and popcorn with real butter.
reviewed
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Jade Bar
Not to sound pervy, but the main reason to go to this trendy three-story bar is the bathroom with the two-way mirror. Technically it's the men's room, but women wait their turn for a see-and-not-be-seen view of the bar while attending to, um, urgent business. Settle in next to the waterfall with a large cocktail, and you might need to come back for a second look.
reviewed
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El Coyote Mexican Café
With 24 tequilas and a variety of margaritas prominently displayed on the menu, there’s no doubt what’s pulling ‘em in at this festive, red-boothed institution where Sharon Tate is rumored to have eaten her last meal. Pay a buck more for the tastier homemade ‘scratch’ margarita, but word to the wise: drinks here are fall-on-your-face strong. Witnesses can attest.
reviewed
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R
Geffen Playhouse
David Geffen forked over $17 million to get his Mediterranean-style playhouse back into shape and, boy, is it gorgeous. Just the perfect venue to show off his Hollywood clout. A recent lineup included the West Coast premiere of Third by Wendy Wasserstein and the US premiere of Joanna Murray-Smith's Female of the Species starring Annette Bening.
reviewed
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S
Church Key
Foggy North Beach nights call for a beer, but warm ones deserve two – ideally from the selection of 55 international craft brews at Church Key. Whether your favorite beer is Brazilian or Kiwi, bacon-flavored or pomegranate-scented, look for the discreet white key sign over the door and head on back to the copper-topped bar for a consultation with well-versed bartenders. There are only a couple of wines on the menu and no cocktails – but with potent 10% to 12% beer, you won't miss them. Cash only.
reviewed
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Sundance Saloon
Pull on your cowboy boots at Sundance Saloon and two-step Texas-style to country music with moustached daddies and their cowpoke admirers. Show up early for lessons. The happy, loyal crowd thins by 10pm: daddies need their rest. It’s in the middle of nowhere, but the bus stops a few blocks away and runs till midnight, long after the party ends.
reviewed
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U
Zaccho Dance Theater
Dance Mission always has something going on, from contact improv to dance jams and classes. There's a lot of ‘extreme dance' in the Bay Area, experimental forms combining aerial performance, site-specific work, circus arts and dance. For these we particularly like Kunst Stoff and Zaccho Dance Theater .
reviewed
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V
Little Radio Warehouse
Another Downtown underground club, this one even has its own internet radio station. It's still pretty improvised but you know they're onto something if bands like Sonic Youth stop by for on-the-QT concerts. Otherwise, it's the usual roster of hopeful garage rock bands. With cheap drinks and parties till sunrise, the place definitely feels more Berlin than LA.
reviewed
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W
City Arts & Lectures
The city's foremost lecture series hosts an all-star lineup of today's most celebrated artists, writers and intellectuals, from Joan Didion to David Sedaris and Madeline Albright to Tina Fey. Most take place at the Herbst Theater, and are broadcast on local public-radio station KQED-FM (88.5); check the website for schedules.
reviewed
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Kunst Stoff
Dance Mission always has something going on, from contact improv to dance jams and classes. There's a lot of ‘extreme dance' in the Bay Area, experimental forms combining aerial performance, site-specific work, circus arts and dance. For these we particularly like Kunst Stoff and Zaccho Dance Theater .
reviewed