If you too are ready for the weekend, read on for a list of exciting events happening in Southern California.

Feb. 3

Dragons, Lore, And More

Natural History Museum Los Angeles County | 900 Exposition Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90007 | Feb. 3 | nhm.org

The first event in February’s First Fridays lineup will explore how nature and science influence the creatures from fantasy worlds. Hosted by neuroscientists Dr. Yewande Pearse, the discussion will include Dr. Rebecca C. Thompson, author of “Fire, Ice, and Physics; The Science of Game of Thrones.” There will also be live music, DJ sets, and pop-up experiences form Golden Apple Comic and Art Foundation and Alf Museum’s Cosplay for Science Initiative.

‘We The People’ Billboard Exhibition

Billboards across LA area | Feb. 3-28 | thebillboardcreative.com

Nonprofit arts organization The Billboard Creative is turning billboards across the LA area into an open-air art exhibition for “We The People.” The exhibition will feature the work of 30 emerging and established artists working in a broad range of media — photography, painting, drawing, mixed media, and collage. For a map to all the locations visit The Billboard Creative’s website. 

Regeneration Summit: A Celebration of Black Cinema

Academy Museum of Motion Pictures | 6067 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90036 | Feb. 3-5 | academymuseum.org

Through interactive pop-up activations, live entertainment, workshops, film screenings, and talks, this three-day event will celebrate the rich history of Black cinema. The first day will kick off with a block party featuring filmmaking workshops, an all-Black mini food market, live music and pop-up performances. 

Taste Of Jalisco

Cathedral City Community Amphitheater | 68526 Avenida Lalo Guerrero, Cathedral City, CA 92234 | Feb. 3-5 | tasteofjalisco.com

Celebrating Cathedral City’s sister-city relationship with Tequila, Jalisco, the festival features live performances, carnival rides and games, authentic cuisine, fashion, vendors, a tequila and beer garden, car show and more. 

‘Man Of La Mancha’

OBCTheater | 815 W. 6th Street, Corona, CA 92882 | Feb. 3-5 | obctheater.com

The musical inspired by Don Quixote’s masterpiece about an imaginative, dying old knight awaiting his hearing in the Spanish Inquisition. 

Feb. 4

San Gabriel Lunar New Year Festival

Mission District | 428 S. Mission Drive, San Gabriel, CA 91776 | Feb. 4 | sangabrielcity.com

The City of San Gabriel’s Lunar New Year Festival will include lion and dragon dancing, cultural music and dance performances, food and artisanal booths and a kids’ zone. 

‘Cycle Of Poverty’

A Noise Within | 3352 E. Foothill Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91107 | Feb. 4-5 | anoisewithin.org

Lower Depth Theatre and A Noise Within’s “Noise Now” community engagement series present the “Cycle of Poverty” reading festival, showcasing four new plays over the course of two afternoons. Each play, developed as part of the Lower Depth Commission Fellowship Program, explores social and racial issues within the cycle of poverty from a BIPOC perspective.

‘The Four Seasons’

Long Beach Terrace Theater | 300 E. Ocean Blvd., Long Beach, CA 90802 | Feb. 4 | longbeachsymphony.org

The Long Beach Symphony will play Mozart’s Symphony No. 40 and Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons.”

Riverside Tacos & Margaritas Fest

El Patrón Downtown Riverside | 3204 Mission Inn Ave., Riverside, CA 92507 | Feb. 4 | fb.me/e/27gdRCOvo 

Visit participating venues with samples and specials on tacos, margaritas, michelada and other Mexican inspired dishes. The event is free to attend and will also feature live music, entertainment and raffle prizes.

Feb. 5

‘Much Ado About Nothing’

A Noise Within | 3352 E. Foothill Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91107 | Feb. 5-March 12 | anoisewithin.org

Shakespeare’s enemy-to-lovers romantic comedy is getting a new setting, Sicily after being liberated by U.S. forces during WWII. Beatrice and Benedick’s stinging verbal sparring hides a mutual attraction both try to deny until circumstances force them to do otherwise. 

Annual Free-For-All Day

Various SoCal Museums | Feb. 5 | socalmuseums.org

More than 30 museums, ranging from art and film to history and science, will open their doors to visitors for free. The offer does not apply to special ticketed exhibitions. 

Chinese New Year Festival

The Huntington |1151 Oxford Road, San Marino, CA 91108 | Feb. 5 | huntington.org

Get your tickets in advance for this popular event featuring lion dancers, a mask-changing artist, martial arts demonstrations, musi, art and craft demonstrations and more around the Chinese Garden.

PCC Flea Market

Pasadena City College | 1570 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91106 | Feb. 5 | pasadena.edu

If you’re not done shopping, head to the Pasadena City College Flea Market to search for antiques and collectibles from over 400 vendors.

Feb. 6

Fran Lebowitz

Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall | 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa, CA 92626 | Feb. 6 | scfta.org

Gaining fame in the late ‘70s for her book “Metropolitan Life,” which was followed in the ‘80s with “Social Studies,” Fran Lebowitz recently reignited interest with the Netflix docu-series directed by Martin Scorsese “Pretend It’s a City.” Lebowitz’s essays and interviews are known for her cultural insights and biting humor.

Country Line Dancing

The Pour House | 405 S. Myrtle Ave., Monrovia, CA 91016 | Feb. 6 | eventbrite.com

Put on your cowboy boots for line dancing starting at 6 p.m. If you’re not familiar with line dancing, there are lessons starting at 7 p.m. for $8. There are also pool tables, music, drinks and food. 

Feb. 7

‘Connections: Asia’

Getty Center Museum | 1200 Getty Center Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90049 | Feb. 7-May 7 | getty.edu

The exhibit features five works of Asian art made between the 14th and 18th centuries in China, India, Korea and Japan on loan from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) and displayed alongside European paintings and sculpture in the Getty’s collection made around the same time. “This juxtaposition creates visual and thematic dialogues that highlight the form and function of devotional images, woodcarving techniques, traditions of painting landscapes and portraits of prominent individuals, and the trade of luxury goods,” according to the Getty.

Feb. 8

Disney+ Date Nite

El Capitan Theatre | 6838 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90028 | Feb. 8-14 | elcapitantheatre.com

See “The Princess and the Frog” as part of El Capitan’s Disney+ Date Nite. The $55 package includes a reserved ticket to the film and dinner at Miceli’s Italian Restaurant in Hollywood. Dinner includes a choice of Spaghetti with Marinara, Spaghetti with Meatballs, Aunt Angie’s Original Lasagna, Eggplant Parmigiana, or Chicken Fettuccini, plus Garden Salad, Miceli’s Famous Dinner Rolls, Mini Cannoli and hot or cold non-alcoholic beverages.

Feb. 9

Valentine’s Film Roast Of ‘Twilight’

The Broadwater Second Stage | 6320 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90038 | Feb. 9 | tinyurl.com/twilightroast

“Twilight” plays on the big screen as comedians Will Hines (“Brooklyn 99”), Jim Woods (“The Office”), and Sarah Claspell (“Brookly 99”) add jokes and commentary. Cosplay is encouraged and free soda and snacks will be available. 

Patti LuPone ‘Don’t Monkey With Broadway’

Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall | 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa, CA 92626 | Feb. 9 | scfta.org

Stage legend Patti LuPone explores how her love affair with Broadway began and her concern for its future through interpretations of classic show tunes. 

My Bloody Valentine: An Evening Of Horror Burlesque

The Federal Bar | 5303 Lankershim Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 91601 | Feb. 9 | eventbrite.com

The Hollywood Jane Revue pays tribute to horror movies from the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s.

Lovett Or Leave It

Dynasty Typewriter at The Hayworth | 2511 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90057 | Feb. 9 | eventbrite.com

Podcast host (“Pod Save America” and “Lovett or Leave It”) and former presidential speechwriter Jon Lovett returns to discuss the day’s headlines with friends and a dash of comedy. 

Ongoing

‘Mr. Yunioshi’

Sierra Madre Playhouse | 87 W. Sierra Madre Blvd., Sierra Madre, CA 91024 | Through Feb. 5 | sierramadreplayhouse.org

How did Mickey Rooney make the decision to play Mr. Yunioshi, an Asian character, in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” in 1961? That’s the question explored in the Playhouse’s newest production. “Mr. Yunioshi” reverses the real-life event by casting Asian American actor J. Elijah Cho to play Mickey Rooney to show how Rooney may have ultimately decided to play an Asian character. Each performance will be followed by a question and answer session.

Agatha Christie’s ‘Towards Zero’

Long Beach Playhouse Theatres | 5021 E. Anaheim St., Long Beach, CA 90804 | Through Feb. 11 | lbplayhouse.org

A love triangle involving a tennis player, his old wife and his new flame ends in murder. Before you can figure out who the murderer is, you must discover who will be brutally murdered. 

Disney’s ‘Frozen’

Segerstrom Hall | 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa, CA 92626 | Through Feb. 19 | scfta.org

Nominated for a Tony Award for Best Musical, “Frozen” will make you melt like a snowman in summer. Featuring songs from the Oscar-winning film and new numbers from the same songwriters, the stage musical adds gorgeous sets, costumes and lighting to bring Arendelle to life.

‘Home Front’

Victory Theatre Center | 3324 W. Victory Blvd., Burbank, CA 91505 | Through Feb. 19 | thevictorytheatrecenter.org

Tony Award-winning playwright Warren Leight’s portrait of a post-World War II interracial marriage will move you. A white woman and an African American soldier fall in love the night WWII ends in a country where racism and Jim Crow make it illegal to marry outside one’s race. The production comes at a relevant time in our current politics. “It’s shocking that, more than 70 years after WW II ended, questions about states’ right to ban interracial marriage have resurfaced,” says Leight.

‘Dance At The Odyssey’

Odyssey Theatre | 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90025 | Through Feb. 19 | dysseytheatre.com

Celebrating new, cutting-edge contemporary dance in LA, this six-week festival will feature the work of a different company or choreographer including No)one. Art House; Roya Carreras and Assaf Salhov; JA Collective; Jessie Lee Thorne’s Poets in Motion; Suchi Branfman’s Dancing Through Prison Walls; and DaEun Jung.

‘PRESSURE: James Cameron into the Abyss’

National History Museum of Los Angeles County | 900 Exposition Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90007 | Through Feb. 20 | nhm.org

Go on a journey to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean through a multimedia experience of “Titanic” and “Avatar” director James Cameron’s dive. The 12-ton, 24-foot-tall submersible explorer that Cameron piloted on his 2012 record-breaking, solo dive to the Mariana Trench will be on display. The display provides insights into the logistics—and challenges—that go into planning an expedition seven miles below the surface where water pressure is about 1,000 times standard atmospheric pressure at sea level, and temperatures are just a few degrees above freezing.

Quilting A Nation

Online class | Through Feb. 22 | skirball.org

In conjunction with the Skirball Cultural Center’s “Fabric of a Nation: American Quilt Stories” exhibit, on view until March 12, instructor and author John Paul Thornton will explain techniques, creative choices and high quality insight into the world of quilting. 

‘Do You Feel Anger?’

Atwater Village Theatre | 3269 Casitas Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90039 | Through Feb. 25 | circlextheatre.org 

The #MeToo movement meets cancel culture in this comedy. When Sofia is hired as an empathy coach at a debt collection agency, she finds she has her work cut out for her. These employees can barely identify what an emotion is, much less practice deep, radical compassion for others. As they painstakingly stumble towards enlightenment, someone keeps mugging Eva in the kitchen, and the unspoken dynamics of their seemingly blithe workplace culture become increasingly unsettling.

‘Twelve O’Clock Tales With Ava Gardner’

Whitefire Theatre | 13500 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks, CA 91423 | Through March 5 | whitefire.stagey.net

This new solo play reveals the contradictions and complexities of the passionate and deeply flawed woman behind silver screen icon Ava Gardner. Set in 1974 on the set of the blockbuster disaster film, “Earthquake,” Gardner focuses on her first big budget starring role in over a decade. Tucked away in her dressing room bungalow, the “queen of the scandal sheets” battles with her past. “Ava was a star in the ‘40s and ‘50s, but she had the sensibility and morés of today’s millennial,” says writer Alessandra Assaf. “She enjoyed her sexuality and had agency over herself in a way that women were not permitted to at the time. She fought against racism and believed in the right to choose.”

‘Open Flowers Bear Fruit’

USC Pacific Asia Museum | 46 N. Los Robles Ave., Pasadena, CA 91101 | Through March 12 | pacificasiamuseum.usc.edu

“Open Flowers Bear Fruit” features 10 photographs from Stephanie Shih’s ongoing series Asian American Still Life. Through her references to 17th-century Dutch still life paintings, Shih’s photographs challenge viewers to consider the complexity of the Asian American experience as it has manifested in the foods we eat and the things that remind us of home.

Disney’s ‘The Lion King’

Pantages Theatre | 6233 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90028 | Through March 26 | broadwayinhollywood.com

Start working on your roar before you head to Pride Rock in this hugely successful musical about family, betrayal, duty and love.

‘Inspiring Walt Disney: The Animation of French Decorative Arts’

The Huntington MaryLou and George Boone Gallery | 1151 Oxford Road, San Marino, CA 91108 | Through March 27 | huntington.org

Organized by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Wallace Collection in London in association with The Huntington, the exhibition explores the early inspirations behind Disney Studios’ creations, examining Walt Disney’s fascination with European art and the use of French motifs in Disney films and theme parks.

‘Designing with Disaster: Stories From Seven Regenerative Cities’

Japan House LA | 6801 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90028 | Through April 2 | japanhousela.com

Inspired by the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami, the exhibition introduces the concept of “Regenerative Urbanism” – anticipatory urban design that explores the optimistic possibility of symbioses between humans and the natural and constructed worlds, embracing inevitable disasters and creating disaster-resilient environments. The exhibition also features illuminated Regenerative City Wells with an immersive physical, video, and audio experience envisioning seven hypothetical regenerative cities. Admission to the exhibition is free.

‘Mulyana: Modular Utopia’

USC Fisher Museum | 823 W. Exposition Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90089 | Through April 8 | fisher.usc.edu

The exhibition is an introduction to Indonesian artist Mulyana’s large kinetic environments composed of intricately constructed, knit modules of marine life sculptures that vividly portray an unadulterated underwater world. Through his artworks, Mulyana hopes to instill a new consciousness of shared responsibility to protect the environment.

‘Regeneration: Black Cinema, 1898–1971’

The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures | 6067 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90036 | Through April 9 | regenerationblackcinema.org

The exhibition explores the achievements and challenges of Black filmmakers in the US in both independent production and the studio system—in front of the camera and behind it—from cinema’s infancy in the 1890s to the early 1970s. The Regeneration Summit, Feb. 3–5, 2023, will be a two-day celebration of Black cinema featuring artists, scholars, and filmmakers participating in conversations, workshops, and activations throughout the museum.

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