DTLA ArtNight
Downtown LA | June 4 | dtlaartnight.com
ArtNight expands to Grand Avenue with The Broad, MOCA, Grand Performances, The Biltmore LA, Pez Cantina, and The Omni Los Angeles. During ArtNight, enjoy art, music, food, drinks, and discover late-night stops along the way. More than 50 galleries will be participating.
‘Haunted’
Sierra Madre Playhouse | 87 W. Sierra Madre Blvd., Sierra Madre | June 5 | sierramadreplayhouse.org
Based on California Poet Laureate Dana Gioia’s narrative poem “Haunted,” this dance opera recounts a passionate but doomed love affair wrapped in a ghost story, which, at the end, takes a direction no one expects. “Haunted,” scored for baritone, three dancers, violin, piano, and percussion, combines Paul Salerni’s musical acumen with Gioia’s poetry to form rich and unique narratives. Tickets: $35.
Beach Movie Nights
Dockweiler Youth Center | 12505 Vista del Mar, Playa del Rey | June 5 | beaches.lacounty.gov
Enjoy a free screening of “Encanto” on the sand, by the waves, and under the stars. Seating is festival-style, available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Mariachi USA
Hollywood Bowl | 2301 Highland Ave., Los Angeles | June 6 | mariachiusa.com
Now in its 37th year, Mariachi USA returns to the Hollywood Bowl with more powerful, live performances of classic mariachi. The show closes out with fireworks. Tickets start at $35.
Family Fest | Pride
Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts | 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills | June 6 | thewallis.org
This free, mid-day outdoor event is filled with puppets, music, movement, crafts and fun for all. Family Fest Pride includes the Bob Baker Marionette Theater in “Puppets and Pride,” a show celebrating love, self-acceptance, and community through a musical marionette lineup of puppets, performing a confection of medleys from LGBTQ+ icons, and queer history. Singer/songwriter Iwalani Music will join with her unique blend of soul, funk, rock, and hip-hop. Arts and crafts activities include creating your own fan using simple materials, your imagination and the spectrum of colors in the rainbow flag. Or create your own stick puppet hero using colored paper, markers, yarn, buttons, rhinestones and more. Activities also include color stations, rainbow face painting, personalized pride poetry and more. Admission is free.
Downey Greek Food Festival
St. George Greek Orthodox Church | 10830 Downey Ave., Downey | June 6-7 | tickettailor.com
The Downey Greek Food Festival is a family-friendly celebration of Greek culture, food, and community featuring Greek dishes, live music, traditional folk dancing, specialty drinks, and a vendor marketplace. One-day ticket: $5.
‘Romeo and Juliet’
Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum | 1419 N. Topanga Canyon Blvd., Topanga | June 6 – Sept. 26 | theatricum.com
Co-directors Ellen Geer and Willow Geer have set their “Romeo and Juliet” in New York City during the tumultuous Gilded Age, a period marked by stark social inequality and rampant industrialization. Through this lens, the famous love story becomes not just a tragedy, but a powerful warning about the costs of division, hatred and fear. Tickets to performances range from $15 to $63. Children 4 and under are free. Pay-What-You-Will at the performances on Monday, Aug. 3.
Last Remaining Seats: ‘Rebel Without a Cause’
Orpheum Theatre | 842 S. Broadway, Los Angeles | June 6 | laconservancy.org
Join Leonard Maltin and Natalie Wood’s daughter Natasha Gregson Wagner at this special screening of “Rebel Without a Cause.” Arrive early to hear Edward Torres play the Orpheum’s Mighty Wurlitzer organ before the film. Tickets: $25.
Watermelon Festival
Hansen Dam Soccer Fields | 842 S. Broadway, Los Angeles | June 6-7 | watermelonfest.org
From unique watermelon treats like watermelon fish tacos, to kids activities, live bands, a car show, carnival rides, photo ops, and line dancing, the Watermelon Festival has something for everyone. Adult ticket: $20.
Twinkle Time: Bilingual Pop-Rock Concert for Families
Sierra Madre Playhouse | 87 W. Sierra Madre Blvd., Sierra Madre | June 6 | sierramadreplayhouse.org
Twinkle Time blends bilingual pop-rock music, hip-hop, EDM glam, and empowering messages in a joyous family concert geared for children and adults. The award-winning Billboard-charting recording artist invites families to join the fun as part of her interactive show, urging them to sing and dance together. She also encourages kids to embrace their uniqueness, celebrate diversity, and feel empowered to say: “It’s okay to be me.” Tickets: $25.
Uncorked LA
California Science Center | 700 Exposition Park Drive. Los Angeles | June 6 | uncorkedwinefestivals.com
Sip and savor more than 100 wines and bubblies from around the world, wander the museum after-hours, dance to a live DJ, snap pics at the photo ops, and enjoy delicious bites from local food trucks. General admission: $70.
American Indian Arts Marketplace
Autry Museum of the American West | 4700 Western Heritage Way, Los Angeles | June 6-7 | theautry.org
The American Indian Arts Marketplace brings together more than 100 Native contemporary and traditional artists who present and sell handmade jewelry, sculpture, beadwork, pottery, paintings, and more. There will also be live performances, indigenous films, new play readings, and hands-on experiences. Adult ticket: $20.
D23 x SFC: ‘Muppets: Treasure Island’
LA State Historic Park | 1245 N. Spring St., Los Angeles | June 6 | streetfoodcinema.com
Experience “Muppets: Treasure Island” in the exact location where the polo scene was filmed. There will also be food trucks and a bar on site. General admission: $29.94.
The Sun Rises In Harlem: Black Brilliance and the Harlem Renaissance
Skirball Cultural Center | 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles | June 7 | muse-ique.com
The music of the Harlem Renaissance encompassed everything from red-hot jazz to all-Black Broadway musicals, to the first classical music by a Black woman to be performed by a major U.S. orchestra. Timeless songs like “Ain’t Misbehavin’,” “Stormy Weather,” and “They Can’t Take That Away From Me” were carried on the searing, soulful voices of Bessie Smith, Ella Fitzgerald, and Billie Holiday, on the iconic instruments of Fats Waller and Louis Armstrong, and brought to life in legendary nightspots like the Cotton Club by bandleaders Cab Calloway and Duke Ellington. They’ll be brought back to life by Broadway veteran Kecia Lewis, who won a Tony award for her performance in Alicia Keys’ “Hell’s Kitchen”; Sy Smith, a five-octave R&B belter who recently portrayed Michelle Obama in “44: The Musical”; Leo Manzari, a gifted tap dancer who’s been a featured guest on “So You Think You Can Dance”; and DC6 Singers Collective, the genre-hopping vocal group recently heard in the Oscar-winning “Sinners,” all led by MUSE/IQUE’s Artistic & Music Director Rachael Worby. Admission for non-members starts at $75 for a single admission or $100 for a trial membership with admission for two people.
Sunday Afternoon Concerts in the Dome
Mt Wilson | 100 Mt Wilson Circle Road, Mt Wilson | June 7 | mtwilson.edu
Made up of Eleanor Dunbar and Megan Shun on violins, Rita Andrade on viola, Zach Reaves on cello, and Karl McComas-Reichl on bass, Rogue Lemon Collective brings live music under the vaulted dome of the 100-inch telescope. Tickets: $65.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum | 1419 N. Topanga Canyon Blvd., Topanga | June 7 – Oct. 10 | theatricum.com
Set against the natural backdrop of Topanga’s woods, this production requires no elaborate set design to conjure Shakespeare’s enchanted forest brimming with magic, mischief and romance. Audiences of all ages will be enchanted by the whimsical entanglements of four lovers, a troupe of bumbling actors, and the mischievous fairies who meddle with them. Tickets to performances range from $15 to $63. Children 4 and under are free. Pay-What-You-Will at the performances on Wednesday, Aug. 12.
Dia de San Juan Festival
Rainbow Lagoon Park | 400 Shoreline Drive, Long Beach | June 7 | fiestalegre.com
Celebrate Puerto Rican culture with music from Frankie Vasquez, Flaco Navaja, Bobby Escoto Y Conjunto Afro Son, Martin Cache Y La Obsesion, and Juan Karlos Y Sangre Nueva. Beyond the music, guests can savor authentic Puerto Rican dishes and enjoy free children’s activities. General admission online: $50
ONGOING
‘Little Shop of Horrors’
Lineage Performing Arts Center | 920 E. Mountain Ave., Pasadena | Through June 7 | lineagepac.org
Lineage breathes new life into this sci-fi cult classic with dance. Tickets start at $38.62.
Photography and the Black Arts Movement
The Getty | 1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 403, Los Angeles | Through June 14 | getty.edu
“Photography and the Black Arts Movement brings together works by more than one hundred photographers, painters, graphic designers, and multimedia artists who used photographic images in their struggles against inequality,” says Timothy Potts, Maria Hummer-Tuttle and Robert Tuttle Director of the J. Paul Getty. Divided into eight sections, this exhibition brings together more than 150 artworks in a range of media, including video art, paintings, collages, contact sheets, newsletters, and magazines, giving a sense of the varied ways that photographic imagery circulated at the time.Admission to the Getty Center is always free, but a reservation is required for admission.
‘Brigadoon’
Pasadena Playhouse | 39 S. El Molino Ave., Pasadena | Through June 14 | pasadenaplayhouse.org
Two American travelers lose their way in the Scottish Highlands and stumble upon Brigadoon—a mysterious village that appears for just one day every hundred years. With its lush score, live orchestra, sweeping choreography, and a newly adapted book, this beloved classic is a heart-stirring journey into a world where time stands still, and love defies all logic. Tickets start at $58.
‘Hymn’
Odyssey Theatre | 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles | Through June 14 | odysseytheatre.com
“Hymn” is a life-affirming new play by Olivier Award-winning playwright Lolita Chakrabarti (“Life of Pi,” “Hamnet”). Two middle-aged Black men form a deep bond against a background of R&B rhythms, boxing, and rounds of scotch in this soulful play about love, faith and male friendship. Tickets to all performances are $35. A $3 fee will be added to each ticket purchased with a credit card. Discounts are available for students and seniors.
DIAVOLO | Architecture in Motion: Escape
L’ESPACE DIAVOLO | 616 Moulton Ave., Los Angeles | Through June 14 | diavolo.org/escape
Founder and Creative Director Jacques Heim, choreographer of Cirque du Soleil’s long running Las Vegas production KÀ and creative director of the 16th Asian Games Opening Ceremony, continues his mission to explore the relationship between the human body and its environment. This 70-minute piece explores the conditions of the human struggle to break free from a chaotic world — featuring a company of 22 artists testing themselves against a variety of DIAVOLO’s most famous custom-made architectural structures. Pre-show and post-show interactive opportunities give audiences the opportunity to experience movement with the architecture pieces as well. Tickets start at $39.
‘Ascent’
Skylight Theatre | 1816-1/2 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles | Through June 14 | skylighttheatre.org
Based on the true story, “Ascent” tells about the life of Qian Xuesen, the brilliant aerospace engineer who helped launch America’s space age—until Cold War paranoia forever changed the future of both his new and native homelands. In this play and its production, two fascinating American stories are told – the true story of Qian Xuesen (spelled often as Tsien Hsue-shen), a father of American rocketry and co-founder of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, who became later known as the father of Chinese rocketry – giving that country nuclear capacity, and playwright Henry Ong, a beloved playwright and powerful figure in the Los Angeles theatre community for more than thirty-five years. General admission starts at $29.
‘The Physicists’
The Actors’ Gang Theater | 9070 Venice Blvd., Culver City | Through June 20 | theactorsgang.com
In Friedrich Dürrenmatt’s 1961 “The Physicists,” the world’s greatest physicist, Johann Wilhelm Möbius, is in an asylum and haunted by King Solomon. His friends are two equally deluded scientists – one who believes he is Einstein and the other Newton. As the play progresses, they are not as harmless as they appear as they plot the end of the world abetted by their psychiatrist, Mathilde von Zahnd. Like Peter Weiss’ “Marat/Sade,” also originally directed by Peter Brook, “The Physicists” asks where the line is between mad and dangerously insane. Tickets: $38; seniors, students and educators are $28.
‘WASHOKU | Nature and Culture in Japanese Cuisine’
Japan House LA | 6801 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles | Through Oct. 18 | japanhousela.com
This landmark exhibition explores the core elements, evolution, and cultural significance of washoku, a UNESCO-recognized intangible cultural heritage.
‘Studio Ghibli’s Ponyo’
Academy Museum of Motion Pictures | 6067 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles | Through Jan. 10 | academymuseum.org
The Academy Museum presents Studio Ghibli’s Ponyo, celebrating the artistry of Studio Ghibli and the hand-drawn animation behind the 2008 film. The exhibition features over 100 original materials from Studio Ghibli, including art boards, posters, an animation desk, and hand drawings by Hayao Miyazaki, many on display in North America for the first time. Curated by Jessica Niebel with assistant curator Emily Rauber Rodriguez. The museum is open six days a week, closed on Tuesdays. Tickets $15–$25; film screenings $5–$10.
‘Marilyn Monroe: Hollywood Icon’
Academy Museum | 6067 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles | Through Feb. 28 | academymuseum.org
“Marilyn Monroe: Hollywood Icon” will celebrate Marilyn Monroe as a visionary actor and image-maker, examining the many facets of how she created and shaped her public image in the context of the classical Hollywood studio system. The pink satin gown will be on view in the exhibition, located on Level 3 in the Rolex Gallery. General admission tickets for the museum’s exhibitions are $25 for adults, $19 for seniors (age 62+), and $15 for students.
