Must-see entertainment in Los Angeles

  • Hollywood Bowl.

    Hollywood Bowl

    Hollywood

    Summers in LA just wouldn’t be the same without alfresco melodies under the stars at the Bowl, a huge natural amphitheater in the Hollywood Hills. Its…

  • Greek Theatre

    Los Feliz & Griffith Park

    The 'Greek' in the 2010 film Get Him to the Greek is this 5900-capacity outdoor amphitheater, tucked into a woodsy Griffith Park hillside. A more intimate…

  • Dodger Stadium

    Silver Lake & Echo Park

    Few clubs can match the Dodgers' history (Jackie Robinson, Sandy Koufax, Kirk Gibson and sportscaster Vin Scully), success and fan loyalty, and this 1950s…

  • Wiltern Theatre

    Westlake & Koreatown

    Soaring confidently at the intersection of Wilshire and Western Blvds (get it?), this extraordinary, turquoise-hued deco landmark started life as a movie…

  • Echo

    Silver Lake & Echo Park

    Eastsiders hungry for an eclectic alchemy of sounds pack this super-packed dive, basically a sweaty bar with a stage and a back patio. On the music front,…

  • Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre

    Hollywood

    Founded in New York by Saturday Night Live alums Amy Poehler and Ian Roberts along with Matt Besser and Matt Walsh, this sketch-comedy group cloned itself…

  • Mark Taper Forum

    Downtown Los Angeles & Boyle Heights

    Part of the Music Center, the Mark Taper is one of the three venues used by the Center Theatre Group, SoCal’s leading resident ensemble and producer of…

  • Blue Whale

    Downtown Los Angeles & Boyle Heights

    An intimate, concrete-floored space on the top floor of Weller Court in Little Tokyo, Blue Whale serves top-notch jazz nightly from 9pm. The crowd is…

  • Comedy & Magic Club

    South Bay Beaches

    Live music and comedy right on the Hermosa strip. It has something going almost every night, including some big names: David Spade, Arsenio Hall, Alonzo…

  • Harvelle’s

    Santa Monica

    This dark blues grotto has been packing 'em in since 1931, but somehow still manages to feel like a well-kept secret. There are no big-name acts here, but…

  • Off the 405

    Beverly Hills, Bel Air, Brentwood & Westwood

    On selected Saturdays from May to September, the Getty Center courtyard fills with evening crowds for a delicious collision of art, brilliant live acts…

  • Geffen Playhouse

    Beverly Hills, Bel Air, Brentwood & Westwood

    Entertainment megamogul David Geffen forked over $17 million to get his Mediterranean-style playhouse back into shape. The center's season includes both…

  • Los Angeles Philharmonic

    Downtown Los Angeles & Boyle Heights

    The world-class LA Phil performs classics and cutting-edge works at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, under the baton of Venezuelan phenom Gustavo Dudamel.

  • Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum

    Malibu & Pacific Palisades

    Actor Will Geer (TV’s Grandpa Walton) founded this beloved open-air theater as a refuge for blacklisted actors like himself during the McCarthy years. The…

  • Comedy Store

    West Hollywood & Mid-City

    There’s no comedy club in the city with more street cred than Sammy and Mitzi Shore’s Comedy Store on the strip. Sammy launched the club, but Mitzi was…

  • Los Angeles Rams

    Los Angeles

    Professional football returns to LA after a 22-year hiatus. The Rams were the first NFL team in Southern California, starting in 1946, but unbelievably…

  • Rockwell

    Los Feliz & Griffith Park

    If you like to be entertained while you chew, come to this table and stage. Make a reservation for Wednesday night, when Jeff Goldblum and his Mildred…

  • Staples Center

    Downtown Los Angeles & Boyle Heights

    South Park got its first jolt in 1999 with the opening of this saucer-shaped sports and entertainment arena. It’s home court for the Los Angeles Lakers,…

  • ArcLight Cinemas

    Hollywood

    Assigned seats, exceptional celeb-sighting potential and a varied program that covers mainstream and art-house movies make this 14-screen multiplex the…

  • Vista Theatre

    Los Feliz & Griffith Park

    Dating back to 1923, the single-screen Vista has played some colorful roles, nominally vaudeville theater and gay-porn cinema. It's now back to screening…

  • Arclight Cinemas

    Santa Monica

    New Santa Monica outpost of LA's most admired cinema chain. Sitting atop Santa Monica Pl, the cinema offers assigned seating in plush seats, ultra-clean…

  • Improv

    West Hollywood & Mid-City

    Launch pad for countless stand-up comics from Richard Pryor to Jerry Seinfeld, Ellen DeGeneres and Dave Chapelle, the Improv still gets headliners (Maz…

  • Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles

    Los Angeles

    If you're expecting a stand-and-sing concert, you've got another thing coming. The 275-member GMCLA puts on full-on shows with singing, dancing, costumes…

  • Pantages Theatre

    Hollywood

    The splendidly restored Pantages Theater is an art deco survivor from the Golden Age and a fabulous place to catch a hot-ticket Broadway musical. Recent…

  • Largo at the Coronet

    West Hollywood & Mid-City

    Ever since its early days on Fairfax Ave, Largo has been progenitor of high-minded pop culture (it nurtured Zach Galifianakis to stardom). Now part of the…

  • Broad Stage

    Santa Monica

    A 499-seat, state-of-the-art theater anchors Santa Monica College’s striking, modernist performing-arts complex, which is a satellite campus on its own…

  • Groundlings

    West Hollywood & Mid-City

    This improv school and company launched Lisa Kudrow, Will Ferrell, Maya Rudolph and other top talent. Its sketch comedy and improv can be belly-achingly…

  • Aero Theater

    Santa Monica

    Santa Monica's original movie theater (c 1940) is now operated by American Cinematheque, where it screens old and neo classics, and offers Q&A sessions…

  • AVP Manhattan Beach Open

    South Bay Beaches

    Every August thousands of bad-ass volleyballers take to the sand during the world’s oldest and most prestigious volleyball tournament (played since 1960),…

  • Twilight Concert Series

    Santa Monica

    This beloved local institution brings Santa Monicans of all stripes to rock out by the thousands on the pier and on the sand below, gigging local to world…

  • Saint Rocke

    South Bay Beaches

    The South Bay’s best live-music venue lies within a dated brick house with nightly live bands ranging from the up-and-coming to the past-their-prime and…

  • Ahmanson Theatre

    Downtown Los Angeles & Boyle Heights

    This grand space is a Center Theatre Group venue in the Music Center, used primarily for big-time musicals on their way to or from Broadway.

  • Catalina Bar in Hollywood

    Catalina Bar & Grill

    Hollywood

    It might be tucked in a ho-hum office building (enter through the garage), but once you're inside this sultry, premier jazz club all is forgiven. Expect a…

  • Sign for Roxy music club, Hollywood.

    Roxy Theatre

    Beverly Hills, Bel Air, Brentwood & Westwood

    A Sunset fixture since 1973, the Roxy has presented everyone from Miles Davis to David Bowie to Jane’s Addiction, and still occasionally manages to book…

  • Santa Anita Park

    Pasadena & the San Gabriel Valley

    Home of the legendary Seabiscuit, this stunning, art deco thoroughbred racetrack is the oldest and one of the most prestigious in Southern California…

  • Music Center

    Downtown Los Angeles & Boyle Heights

    This county-owned complex is one of America's largest performing arts centers. Its multiple venues – Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Dorothy Chandler…

  • Alex Theatre

    San Fernando Valley

    At the heart of Glendale, this 1400-plus-seat art deco landmark opened in 1925 as a vaudeville and movie palace and now stages productions from cultural…

  • Redondo Fun Factory

    South Bay Beaches

    Families shouldn't miss this dated game arcade, which bills itself as the largest on the West Coast, flashing and blinging with old-fashioned arcade games…

  • Nuart Theatre

    Beverly Hills, Bel Air, Brentwood & Westwood

    This dank, but still hip, art and revival house presents the best in offbeat and cult flicks, including a highly interactive screening of The Rocky Horror…

  • Barbara Morrison Performing Arts Center

    Los Angeles

    Grammy-nominated jazz singer and educator Barbara Morrison has sung with the likes of Ray Charles and Dizzy Gillespie and at jazz festivals worldwide, but…