Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
275
Finds
Free Morning Music at Hollywood Bowl
It's not widely known, but the Bowl's summer morning rehearsals are open to the
public and absolutely free. On Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday from 9:30am to
12:30pm, you can see the program scheduled for that evening. So bring some
coffee and doughnuts (the concession stands aren't open) and enjoy the best
seats in the house (
&
323/850-2000;
www.hollywoodbowl.org).
the orchestra or band tune up. 2301 N. Highland Ave. (at Pat Moore Way), Hollywood.
&
323/850-2000.
www.hollywoodbowl.org.
THEATER
Major Theaters & Companies
Tickets for most plays cost $10 to $35, although big-name sho ws at the major theaters
can fetch up to $75 for the best seats.
LA Stage Alliance
(
&
213/614-0556
), a non-
profit association of live theaters and producers in Los Angeles, offers full- and half-price
tickets to more than 100 v enues via their I nternet-only service at
www.lastagetix.com
.
This handy site featur es a fr equently updated list of sho ws and av ailability. Tickets can
be purchased online with a credit card and they'll be waiting for you at the box office; a
service fee is applied depending on the cost of the ticket.
Note:
One caveat of the half-
price bargain is that the seating assignments ar e solely at the discr etion of the theater—
there's no guarantee you'll be sitting next to your partner—and you must bring a printed
or faxed copy of your e-mail confirmation to the bo x office.
The all-purpose
Music Center of Los Angeles County ,
135 N. G rand Ave., Down-
town, houses the city 's top two playhouses: the
Ahmanson Theatre
and
Mark Taper
Forum.
They're both home to the Center Theater Group (www.taperahmanson.com), as
well as trav eling pr oductions (often B roadway or London br ed). Each season, the
Ahmanson Theatre (
&
213/628-2772
) hosts a handful of high-pr ofile shows, such as
the Tony Award-winning
Jersey Boys,
Andrew Lloyd Webber's
Phantom of the Opera,
and
Oprah Winfrey's musical
The Color Purple.
Tip:
The best seats in the theater ar e in the
mezzanine section.
The
Mark Taper Forum
(
&
213/628-2772;
www.centertheatregroup.com) is a more
intimate theater with a thr ust stage—where the audience is seated on thr ee sides of the
acting area—that hosts contemporary works by international and local playwrights. Neil
Simon's humorous and poignant
The Dinner Party
and Tom Stoppard's witty and eclectic
Arcadia,
which has won 3 P ulitzer P rizes and 18 Tony Awards, ar e among the mor e
popular productions performed on this internationally recognized stage.
One of L.A.'s most venerable landmarks, the
Orpheum Theatre,
842 S. Broadway at
9th Street (
&
213/749-5171;
www.laorpheum.com), recently reopened after a 75-y ear
hiatus. Built in 1926, this renowned venue has hosted an array of theatrical productions,
concerts, film festiv als, and television and mo vie shoots—fr om J udy G arland's 1933
vaudeville performance to a taping of
Ally McBeal.
The 2,000-seat theater is home to the
Mighty Wurlitzer, one of three original theater organs still existing in Southern California
theaters.
Across town, the moderate-size
Geffen Playhouse,
10886 Le Conte Ave., Westwood
(
&
310/208-5454;
www.geffenplayhouse.com), presents dramatic and comedic work by
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