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…
Must-see entertainment in Southern California
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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…
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Disneyland Resort
Disney California Adventure's premier show is the 22-minute World of Color, a dazzling nighttime display of lasers, lights and animation projected over…
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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…
San Diego
Good, clean fun at this cavernous Gaslamp bar with dueling pianos. Talented players have an amazing repertoire, including classics, rock and more. We once…
San Diego
Live venue hosting a range of acts, local and international. Previous artists have included Ben Harper, BB King and Jimmy Cliff. Expect everything from…
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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…
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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…
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Hollywood
Assigned seats, exceptional celeb-sighting potential and a varied program that covers mainstream and art-house movies make this 14-screen multiplex the…
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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…
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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…
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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),…
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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…
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Disneyland Resort
A live stage version of the animated movie musical Frozen is presented here, with actors, the hit songs and Broadway-style costumes, sets and lighting.
Del Mar Racetrack & Fairgrounds
San Diego
Del Mar’s biggest draw during summer months was founded in 1937 by a prestigious group which included Bing Crosby. It’s worth trying to brave the crowds…
San Diego
Balboa Park’s Old Globe Theater dates from the 1935 Exposition, and in the 1970s the main stage was rebuilt à la 17th-century Globe in England, where…
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…
San Diego
This elegant 1924 building began life as a vaudeville and movie theater, then presented Mexican films to a growing Latino audience in the 1930s before…
San Diego
This Gaslamp venue presents an eclectic lineup of concerts (some free), a good-mood-inducing Sunday Gospel brunch, raucous party nights and other events…
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Orange County
Hear ye, hear ye! All those who have sired knights-to-be and future princesses, gather ye clans and proceed forthwith for an evening-long medieval feast…
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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…
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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…
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Santa Barbara
Built by Works Progress Administration (WPA) artisans during the 1930s Great Depression, this naturally beautiful outdoor stone amphitheater has ocean…
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Hollywood
Dating back to the Roaring Twenties, the since-restored Henry Fonda Theatre remains one of Hollywood’s best venues for live tunes. It’s an intimate, …
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Los Angeles
Founded by the late hard-bop drummer Billy Higgins, this place doesn’t serve food or drink, just good music from some of the best emerging talents in jazz…
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Coastal Orange County
Next to Segerstrom Center, South Coast Rep was started by a band of plucky theater grads in the 1960s and has evolved into a multiple Tony Award–winning…
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Hollywood
An anomaly on glittery Cahuenga Corridor, this intimate venue is the place for handmade music by message-minded singer-songwriters. It’s mainly a stepping…
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San Diego
Re-imagined colorful containers make up this new outdoor community space and stage in East Village, a short walk from Gas Lamp. Home to a coffee shop,…
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Hollywood
The place for grown-up salseros. Order a mojito and watch the beautiful dancers do their thing (or join in if you feel you’ve got the moves). Live shows…
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Hollywood
On Monday nights, KCRW’s Chris Douridas brings School Night (www.itsaschoolnight.com), a free live-music club featuring buzz-worthy talent to the…
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Santa Barbara
With over 40 beers on tap, pool tables and a video arcade (Skee-Ball!), this bowling alley near UCSB is good ol’ family fun. Call ahead to get on the wait…
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Hollywood
Disney rolls out family-friendly blockbusters at this movie palace, sometimes with costumed characters putting on the Ritz in live preshow routines. The…
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Los Angeles
Cinema complex in the heart of downtown Culver City, screening mainly new-release mainstream films. Parking validation is available for the Cardiff and…
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Los Angeles
What was originally an art-deco movie house is now a 317-seat theater used by the Center Theatre Group to stage oft-terrific new plays by fresh, up-and…
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La Jolla
One of the area’s most established comedy venues, the Comedy Store also serves popcorn, drinks and barrels of laughs. Expect a cover charge (from $10 on…
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Hollywood
Every seat is within 100ft of the stage at this up-close-and-personal outdoor amphitheater. Recently renovated and with the Hollywood Hills as a backdrop,…
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Segerstrom Center for the Arts
Coastal Orange County
The county's main performance venue is home to the Pacific Symphony, Philharmonic Society of Orange County and Pacific Chorale. It draws international…
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Hollywood
Runs the hugely popular summer season of outdoor movies at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, as well as organizing occasional film screenings at Downtown's…
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Hollywood
Established in 1997, this acclaimed, non-profit theater company is known for staging innovative, eclectic works, including world and West Coast premieres…
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Santa Barbara
Harking back to 1931, this Mission Revival–style movie palace has a Spanish courtyard and a star-spangled ceiling. It’s a drop-dead gorgeous place to…
