Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
277
Tips
Half-Price Theater Tickets
There's a convenient new source for purchasing half-price theater tickets in L.A.
The new
Hollywood Visitor Information Center,
located at the Hollywood &
Highland Center at 6801 Hollywood Blvd. (
&
323/467-6412
), has three staffers
on duty from 10am to 10pm daily who will sell you half-price theater tickets for
up to 100 venues throughout the city. Tickets are released on Tuesdays for shows
that week, so visitors can select not only the production but the specific day they
would like to attend (you'll get a printout of your reservation, and the tickets are
held at the theater until the night of the per formance).
time cutting their teeth on L.A.'s busy theater circuit, which is home to nearly 200 small
and medium-size theaters and theater companies, ranging fr om the ' round-the-corner,
neighborhood variety to high-profile, polished troupes of veteran actors. With so many
options, navigating the scene to find the best wor k can be a monumental task. A good
bet is to choose one of the theaters listed below, which have established excellent reputa-
tions for their consistently high-quality pr oductions; otherwise, consult the
L.A. Weekly
(www.laweekly.com), which adv ertises most curr ent productions, or call
Theatre L.A.
(
&
213/614-0556;
www.theatrela.org) for up-to-date performance listings.
Housed in the same complex as Walt Disney Concert Hall,
REDCAT
(an acr onym
for the R oy and E dna Disney/CalArts Theater) is a r elatively new multiuse for um for
cutting-edge performance and media ar ts. Befitting its ultramodern location, the RED-
CAT is one of the most versatile and technologically advanced presentation spaces in the
world.
Tip:
Be sure to arrive a bit early so you can visit the REDCAT lounge and book-
store for a pr e-performance espr esso or cocktail—wrapped in signatur e F rank G ehry
plywood, it's one of the best-kept-secret bars in the city. The REDCAT is located at 631
W. 2nd St. at the southwest corner of the Walt Disney Concert Hall;
&
213/237-2800;
www.redcat.org.
The
Colony Studio Theatre,
555 N. 3r d S t., B urbank (
&
818/558-7000;
www.
colonytheatre.org), was formed in 1975 and has developed from a part-time ensemble of
TV actors longing for their theatrical r oots into a nationally r ecognized company. The
company produces plays in all genr es at the 276-seat B urbank Center S tage, which is
shared with other performing arts groups.
Actors C ircle Theater,
7313 S anta M onica B lvd., West H ollywood (
&
323/882-
6805;
www.actorscircle.net), is a 47-seater that 's as acclaimed as it is tiny
10
. Look for
original contemporary works throughout the year.
Founded in 1965,
East West Players,
120 N. Judge John Aiso St., Los Angeles (
&
213/
625-7000;
www.eastwestplayers.org), is the oldest Asian-American theater company in the
United States. It's been so successful that the company mo ved from a 99-seat venue to the
200-seat David Henry Hwang Theater in Downtown L.A.'s Little Tokyo (p. 179).
The
L.A. Theatre Works
(
&
310/827-0808
) is renowned for its marriage of media
and theater and has performed more than 200 plays and logged more than 350 hours of
on-air programming. Performances are held at the S kirball Cultural Center (see “Muse-
ums & Galleries” in chapter 7), nestled in the S epulveda Pass near the Getty Center. In
the past, personalities such as Richar d D reyfuss, J ulia Louis-D reyfus, J ason R obards,
Annette Bening, and John Lithgow have given award-winning performances of plays by
