The Votes Are In!
2024 Readers' Choice is back, bigger and better than ever!
View Winners → Live Apr 13, 2022
Amir ElSaffar Rivers of Sound. | Photo by Alice Gebura, courtesy of Walker Art Center
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Most adults may not get a spring break but that doesn’t mean we can’t get out, try new things and have fun.
Odd Nights At The Autry
Autry Museum | Griffith Park, 4700 Western Heritage Way, Los Angeles, CA 90027 | April 15 | theoddmarket.com
After a two-year hiatus, Odd Nights returns with 18 food trucks, two emerging bands, inflatables, a full bars, 80 crafters and exclusive access to the museum gallery. Odd Nights at The Autry runs every third Friday from 6-10 p.m. from April through September.
Gene Loves Jezebel
The Mixx | 443 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101 | April 15 | themixxclub.com
Gene Loves Jezebel performs live. Dance and sing along to hits like “Heartache” and “Desire.”
Lupine
Whisky a Go Go | 8901 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069 | April 15 | eventbrite.com
Lupine brings its eclectic mix of indie rock and pop to the Whisky a Go Go stage.
La Santa Cecilia
The Paramount | 2708 E. Cesar E. Chavez Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90033 | April 15-16 | paramountla.com
Grammy-winning, LA-born La Santa Cecilia is known for its mix of Latin and rock cultures. The band has collaborated with the likes of Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones and Pepe Aguilar.
Selena’s Birthday Tribute
The Mixx | 443 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101 | April 16 | themixxclub.com
Celebrate the legacy of the TexMex queen of cumbia with a live tribute by Ukulena and her band, and a special video mix by DJ Santi.
“Both And (A Play About Laughing While Black)”
Boston Court Pasadena | 70 N. Mentor Ave., Pasadena, 91106 | April 16-May 15 | bostoncourtpasadena.org
If you didn’t catch a preview of “Both And (A Play About Laughing While Black),” written and performed by Emmy-nominated actor and director Carolyn Ratteray and directed by Andi Chapman, it officially opens April 16. Through clowning, poetic text, and a tour-de-force performance, Both And deeply investigates the nucleus of Black joy. As her mother is dying, Teayanna finds herself in a netherworld between life and death, struggling to help her mother cross over. The journey reveals the wisdom of the ancestors, invokes the legacy of the Middle Passage, and unfolds the surprising secrets within her mother’s purse. This unique and powerful story, rich with humor, raw honesty, and passion, becomes a brilliant meditation on how to reconnect with joy.
Coleadero Baile
Pico Rivera Sports Arena | 11003 Rooks Road, Whittier, CA 90601 | April 16 | ticketon.com
Headliner Chuy Lizarraga is joined by multiple acts like Polo Urias, Azabache, Banda El Coronel, Banda Alta Potencia and many more to get you dancing.
“Jane Austen Unscripted”
Garry Marshall Theatre | 252 W. Riverside Drive, Burbank, CA 91505 | April 16-May 8 | garrymarshalltheatre.org
Starring the critically acclaimed Impro Theatre, join live musicians, delectable tea and treats, and the company members of “Jane Austen Unscripted,” in a modern, Regency comedy. “Jane Austen Unscripted” is a fully improvised play that brings the world of Austen to life with audience suggestions and participation.
Holi Hai: Festival Of Color
Parking Lot of AMC Produce/RYM Media | 1268 E. 6th St., Los Angeles, CA 90021 | April 17 | eventbrite.com
Dress in white and play with color at this family-friendly Bollywood party celebrating Holi Hai, India’s festival of colors. The festival will feature dance performances, color throw, Bollywood dance lessons, food, drinks and photo opportunities.
Long Beach Antique Market
Long Beach Veterans Stadium | 4901 E. Conant St., Long Beach, CA 90808 | April 17 | longbeachantiquemarket.com
The Long Beach Antique Market bills itself as “The flea market with style” for its offerings of unique, vintage items. From 6:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. (you can pay to enter early at 5:30 a.m.), hunt down some treasures to take home.
Jimmy Vivino Band
Malainey’s Grill & One Hell of an Irish Bar | 168 N. Marina Drive, Long Beach, CA 90803 | April 17 | eventbrite.com
The famed guitarist from Conan O’Brien’s Jimmy Vivino Band performs the best of the blues.
Remembrance Readings With “The Diary of Anne Frank”
Pasadena Playhouse | 39 S. El Molino Ave., Pasadena, CA 91101 | April 18 | pasadenaplayhouse.org
The Pasadena Playhouse hosts the 6th annual National Jewish Theater Foundation Holocaust Theater International Initiative’s “Remembrance Readings with The Diary of Anne Frank,” a reading by the JFed Players, presented by the Jewish Federation of Greater San Gabriel and Pomona Valleys. This reading commemorates International Holocaust Remembrance Day and the week of Yom HaShoah, which will honor the victims and survivors of the Holocaust. Their collective goal is to keep alive the memories, stories, and must-never-be-forgotten lessons.
Wallows
Fox Theater Pomona | 301 S. Garey Ave., Pomona, CA 91766 | April 18 | axs.com
The LA-based trio brings their eclectic mix of indie-rock (think Haim and Vampire Weekend) to Pomona.
Yoga In The Garden
Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden | 301 N. Baldwin Ave., Arcadia, CA 91007 | April 19 | arboretum.org
Register for a strengthening and tension-releasing evening of yoga in a lush garden sanctuary.
Movies That Matter: “Manzanar, Diverted: When Water Becomes Dust”
Virtual | April 20 | events.caltech.edu/series/movies-that-matter
The Movies That Matter series —curated and presented in a collaborative partnership between the student-led Caltech Y, Caltech Sustainability Programs, Caltech Public Programming, and the Caltech Center for Inclusion and Diversity — continues with a virtual screening of the climate crisis documentary “Manzanar, Diverted: When Water Becomes Dust.” The screening is followed by a panel discussion of the film and its impact, featuring the director/producer Ann Kaneko and Maximilian Christman, Caltech sustainability manager.
TCM Classic Film Festival
Hollywood | April 21-24 | filmfestival.tcm.com
Movie lovers unite to enjoy classic films on the big screen in various venues around Hollywood, with the people who made them. The official opening night film is “E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial” with special guests Steven Spielberg, Drew Barrymore, Robert Macnaughton, Henry Thomas, Dee Wallace and Kathleen Kennedy. Each day has an extensive schedule that includes movies like “To Kill a Mockingbird,” “Annie,” “Tootsie,” “Spartacus” and “A League of Their Own.”
Street Art Live
Magic Box LA | 1933 S. Broadway, Los Angeles, CA 90007 | April 22-July 3 | thelume.com
Embark on a multi-sensory trip through the world of street. With 360-degree moving visuals and a curated musical score, you will be immersed in the era and location in which the piece was created like New York, London, São Paulo, Melbourne and Berlin.
Pittance Chamber Music: Liebeslieder!
First United Methodist Church | 500 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91011 | April 23 | pittancechambermusic.org
Members of the LA Opera chorus — mezzo-soprano Melissa Treinkman, tenor Edmond Rodriguez and baritone James Martin Schaefer — are joined by soprano Elissa Johnston, with LA Opera conductors Grant Gershon and Jeremy Frank on piano four hands for the complete “Liebeslieder” of Johannes Brahms.
Amir ElSaffar And His Rivers Of Sound Orchestra
The Soraya | 18111 Nordhoff St., Northridge, CA 91330 | April 23 | thesoraya.org’
Revered Iraqi-American trumpeter, santur player, vocalist, and composer Amir ElSaffar fuses elements of traditional Middle Eastern modal music and American jazz to create a mesmerizing sonic hybrid that moves into a free state of uninhibited musical exploration. His diverse and virtuosic 17-piece pan-Arabic Rivers of Sound Orchestra features Middle Eastern masters as well as U.S. jazz stars, including guitarist Miles Okazaki, drummer Nasheet Waits, and woodwind legend J. D. Parran. The Chicago Tribune said “ElSaffar’s melismatic trumpet lines conveyed tremendous lyric beauty, his phrases bending and twisting in ways that Western ears are not accustomed to hearing…among the most promising figures in jazz today.”
626 Night Market Mini
Lot 27 | 1324 5th St., Santa Monica, CA 90401 | April 23-24 | 626nightmarket.com
Starting a new series of events in Downtown Santa Monica from 1-10 p.m., 626 Night Market Mini will have food vendors like Shake Ramen, Tao’s Bao, Chick N’ Skin, Ghostix and Rockin’ Gyoza.
Festival Of Books
USC | University Park Campus, Los Angeles, CA 90089 | April 23-24 | events.latimes.com
Bibliophiles unite to celebrate the best books of 2021. This year’s lineup includes over 500 authors, poets, artists, chefs, celebrities and musicians. Additionally, the festival hosts over 250 indoor and outdoor events featuring discussions on current events, literature, pop culture, readings, performances and cooking demonstrations.
Opera: Diana Damrau & Nicolas Testé
The Broad Stage | 1310 11th St., Santa Monica, CA 90401 | April 24 | thebroadstage.org
Global superstar and Metropolitan Opera favorite, Diana Damrau returns alongside famed bass Nicolas Testé for a fun and lively program of opera, operetta, lieder, and songs. They will be accompanied by Maciej Pikulski on piano
Lee Alexander McQueen: Mind, Mythos, Muse
LACMA | 5905 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90036 | April 24-Oct. 9 | lacma.org
Highlighting fashion designer Lee Alexander McQueen’s tailoring and dressmaking skills, the exhibition examines the different disciplines, imagination, innovation and artistic process that defined McQueen’s career. The exhibition will display McQueen garments from the Collection of Regina J. Drucker alongside artworks from LACMA’s permanent collection.
LA’s Original Beach Comedy Show
Will Rogers Beach | 15800 Pacific Coast Highway, Los Angeles, CA 90272 | April 24 | eventbrite.com
What’s more relaxing than a night of laughs on the beach as the sun sets? The lineup includes Morgan Jay (semi-finalist on NBC’s “Bring the Funny”), Michael Blaustein (MTV’s “Punk’d” and Amazon Prime’s “Inside Jokes”) and Chip Nicholson (top finalist of the San Diego Comedy Festival and Best of Fest winner of Arizona’s Big Pine Comedy Festival).
Spring Jubilee
LA County Parks | Through April 16 | instagram.com/p/Cb-bKdErBzH/
LA County Parks bring Spring Jubilee, featuring arts & crafts, games, egg hunts, story time, music and childrens’ entertainment, to 56 parks across the county. Check online for dates and times.
Knott’s Boysenberry Festival
Knott’s Berry Farm | 8039 Beach Blvd., Buena Park, CA 90620 | Through April 24 | knotts.com
Knott’s “food-inspired” festival features a lineup of dishes with a boysenberry twist, and desserts and drinks only available during this limited time. The festival also features local crafters, live music, stage shows and fun activities.
“Mixpantli: Space, Time, And The Indigenous Origins Of Mexico”
LACMA | 5905 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90036 | Through May 1 | lacma.org
LACMA is marking the 500th anniversary of the fall of Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital and site of Mexico City. According to LACMA, the exhibition “subverts the traditional narrative of conquest by centering the creative resilience of Indigenous artists, mapmakers, and storytellers who forged new futures and made their world anew through artistic practice.”
Tupac Shakur. Wake Me When I’m Free
The Canvas at L.A. Live | 944 Georgia St.,Los Angeles CA 90015 | Through May 1 | wakemewhenimfree
Created in collaboration with the Shakur Estate, this exhibit delves into Tupac’s activism, music and revolutionary art through technology, art and artifacts from the rapper’s personal archives.
“Mapping Fiction”
The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens | 1151 Oxford Road, San Marino, CA 91108 | Through May 2 | huntington.org
This new exhibit focuses on the ways authors and mapmakers have built compelling fictional worlds. The exhibit includes a first edition of James Joyce’s “Ulysses,” early editions of Lewis Carroll’s “The Hunting of the Snark, Robert Louis Stevenson’s maps from “Treasure Island” and “Kidnapped,” J. R. R. Tolkien’s map from the trilogy “The Lord of the Rings,” and science fiction writer Octavia E. Butler’s hand-drawn maps from notes for “Parable of the Talents” (1998) and her unpublished novel “Parable of the Trickster.”
Renaissance Pleasure Faire
Santa Fe Dam Recreation Area | 15501 E. Arrow Highway, Irwindale, CA 91706 | Through May 22 | renfair.com/socal/
Huzzah! The Renaissance Pleasure Faire is back this year with its infamous lineup of bawdy and traditional songs, comedy shows (some rated NC-17 just for adults), jousting tournaments, aerial performances, magic shows and actors on different stages, ax throwing, archery, turkey legs, hand pies and more beer than you could ever imagine.
“Archival Intimacies: Queering South/East Asian Diasporas”
ONE Archives at the USC Libraries | 909 W. Adams Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90007
| Through May 29 | one.usc.edu
Three artists-in-residence at ONE Archives at USC Libraries, Prima Jalichandra-Sakuntabhai, Vinhay Keo, and Pamila Matharu were invited to develop new works in response to the archive. Jalichandra-Sakuntabhai and Keo’s work investigates the remnants of embodied history, migration, exile, and queerness. Accompanying these works is “Satrang at 25: Queer South Asian Diaspora(s) in Context,” on view at ONE, examining the history of Satrang, an organization supporting queer South Asian communities in Southern California and placing its evolution in the context of broader queer diasporic histories.
