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Home / Pride

Fun things to do in SoCal this week: June 2-8

Happy Pride Month to all! Festivities kick off in West Hollywood, the San Gabriel Valley and Santa Monica this weekend but stay tuned for more events throughout the month.

June 2

OUTLOUD

West Hollywood Park | 647 N. San Vicente Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069 | June 2-4 | weareoutloud.com

West Hollywood’s flagship three-day music festival will feature artists like Idina Menzel, Shangela, Grace Jones, Carly Rae Jepsen and Passion Pit among many others.

‘Starmites’

Atwater Village Theatre | 3269 Casitas Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90039 | June 2 – July 8 | openfist.org

The Tony-nominated sci-fi fantasy musical is a comic book come to life. “Starmites” tells the zany tale of earthling Eleanor, a shy teenager who dreams her way into a comic book quest to save the galaxy. Eleanor teams up with Space Punk, The Starmites and a lizard man named Trinkulus to fight the evil Shak Graa and The Banshees — weird women with dangerous hair-dos — led by Diva.

“The Banshees” (left to right) Sophie Oda, Elle Engelman,Sarah Martellaro and Emily Rafala. | Photo courtesy of Open Fist

First Fridays: Superheroes And The Superpower Of Science

Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County | 900 Exposition Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90007 | June 2 | nhm.org

Explore the museum after hours with live performances from Hurray for the Riff Raff and Mei; discussions with author, educator, and comedian Joy Lin, and neuroscientist Dr. Yewande Pearse exploring the real life science behind some of your favorite superheroes; music sets from Drag Queen/DJ Rubella Spreads; signature cocktails; a cosplay contest and much more.

Summer Jam

Academy Museum | 6067 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90036 | June 2 | academymuseum.org

The Academy Museum is kicking of the summer season with a party free and open to the public featuring art-making activities, photo activations, music, food, drinks and access to the museum’s galleries. 

Superstar Comedy

The Ice House | 24 N. Mentor Ave., Pasadena, CA 91106 | June 2 | showclix.com

Arsenio, Jay Pharaoh, Esther Povitsky, Brian Monarch and Renee Percy will have you laughing all night. 

‘Back Porch’

The Victory Theatre Center | 3324 W. Victory Blvd., Burbank, CA 91505 | June 2 – July 9 | onstage411.com/BackPorch 

Life imitates art when Hollywood descends upon a small Kansas town in 1955 to shoot scenes for the classic film, “Picnic.” Barney Opat is the widowed father of two boys: 18-year-old Gary, who yearns to escape small-town Kansas life for a more glamorous existence, and energetic 13-year-old Del Wayne. The family’s life is upended when a handsome stranger working as William Holden’s stunt double blows into town alongside the all-star “Picnic” cast. Other characters include the Opats’ bachelor boarder, singing teacher Myron Uhrig, and their neighbor, Millard Goff.

Jordan Morgan, Cody Lemmon, Jonathan Fishman, Karl Maschek, and Isaac W. Jay. | Photo by Keira Wight

Tweedy Mile Street Fair

Tweedy Blvd. between California and Alexander avenues, South Gate, CA, 90280 | June 2-4 | cityofsouthgate.org

Gather the whole family for rides, food, and entertainment

Heartbeat of Mexico 2023

Musco Center | 337 N. Cypress St., Orange, CA 92866 | June 2 & 4 | muscocenter.org

Celebrate Mexican culture at this family-friendly community event featuring food, music and dancing. 

‘Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat’

La Mirada Theatre | 14900 La Mirada Blvd., La Mirada, CA 90638 | June 2-25 | lamiradatheatre.com

Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice reimagine the biblical story of Joseph, his family (including father Jacob and 11 brothers) and his multicolored coat.

626 Night Market: Orange County

OC Fair & Event Center | 88 Fair Drive, Costa Mesa, CA 92626 | June 2-4 | 626nightmarket.com

The event features more food, merchandise, crafts, and arts vendors plus games, music, and entertainment.

June 3

‘LA: In Dialogue’

Band of Vices | 5351 W. Adams Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90016 | June 3-17 | getty.edu

The Getty Museum worked with four local non-profit organizations across Los Angeles—Black Image Center, LA Commons, Venice Arts, and Inner-City Arts—to create educational opportunities for artists throughout the city. Artist-led workshops offered, inspired by the exhibition “Dawoud Bey & Carrie Mae Weems: In Dialogue,” focused on a variety of topics: black and white photography, portraiture and capturing place. The resulting satellite exhibition, “LA: In Dialogue,” features the unique stories of over sixty teen, young-adult, and adult photographers.

WeHo Pride Street Fair

Santa Monica and San Vicente boulevards, West Hollywood, CA 90069 | June 3 | wehopride.com

A variety of LGBTQ+ community groups and allied organizations gather from noon to 10 p.m. for this free street fair. 

Alhambra & Monterey Park: 3rd Annual SGV Pride & Parade Festival

Barnes Park | 350 S. McPherrin Ave., Monterey Park, CA 91754 | June 3 | eventbrite.com

The parade begins at Mark Keppel High School (501 E. Hellman Ave., Alhambra, CA 91801) promptly at 8:30 a.m. The festival featuring music, resources and giveaways will  be from 10 a.m. to noon. 

SaMo Pride Festival

Downtown Santa Monica | June 3 | smpride.com

Third Street Promenade, Santa Monica Place and the Santa Monica Pier turn into a Pride zone featuring live musical performances, Pride-themed treats, free swag, games, photo booths, and deals.

ThriftCon LA

LA Convention Center |1201 S. Figueroa St., Los Angeles, CA 90015 | June 3 | eventbrite.com

More than 100 vendors will gather in Hall K selling vintage, retro and collectible goods. You can also drop off unused clothing to help the Los Angeles Mission.

Gallery Tour@PAM: ‘Global Asias: Contemporary Asian Art And Asian American Art’

USC Pacific Asia Museum | 46 N. Los Robles Ave., Pasadena, CA 91101 | June 3 | eventbrite.com

Join Dr. Rebecca Hall, USC Pacific Asia Museum curator, as she explores the extraordinary work of the artists featured in the exhibition. The 15 artists of Asian heritage featured in “Global Asias: draw on a rich array of motifs, techniques, and cultural motivations to construct complex identities in a modern global context. The event is free with museum admission.

“Global Asias: Contemporary Asian and Asian American Art” exhibit. | Photo courtesy of USC Pacific Asia Museum

Kickoff Summer Concert Series

Civic Center Plaza | 505 S Garey Ave., Pomona, CA 91766 | June 3 | pomonaca.gov

Pack your lawn chairs and picnic blankets for a day of family-friendly activities, food trucks and live performances from Alejando Aranda, Selenamos, Daydream Time Machine, Jordi, and Ozomatli.

Downtown Burbank Arts Festival

Downtown Burbank on San Fernando Blvd from Magnolia to Angeleno | June 3-4 | jackalopeartfair.com

More than 180 hand-selected vendors will be out there selling art and photography, original fashion and jewelry, paper goods, home decor and housewares, food, and much more.

LAWineFest

Harry Bridges Memorial Park | 1126 Queens Highway, Long Beach, CA 90802 | June 3-4 | lawinefest.com

Enjoy wine tastings, craft brews, ciders, kombucha, food, lifestyle exhibitors, live music and more on the waterfront.

Hotwater Cornbread Festival

The Beehive | 961 E. 61st, Los Angeles, CA 90001 | June 3 | eventbrite.com

Take a culinary tour of the South without leaving SoCal! There will be fried chicken, barbecued ribs, gumbo, desserts plus music and more than 100 black-owned vendors.

909 Open Market

119 W. 2nd St., Pomona, CA 91766 | June 3 | 909openmarket.com 

Head to the 909 Open Market for some food, shopping and music. 

818 Night Market

Kirk O’ the Valley Presbyterian Church | 19620 Vanowen St., Reseda, CA 91335 | June 3 | the818nightmarket.com

Stop by from 5-10 p.m. and do a little shopping from small vendors, get a bite to eat and enjoy some music.

June 4

La Puente & City of Industry: Brunch By The Bridge, Pride Resource Fair

Courtyard of La Puente Community Center | 501 Glendora Ave., La Puente, CA 91744 | June 4 | eventbrite.com

As part of San Gabriel Valley Pride Roundtable’s San Gabriel Valley Pride Tour 2023, join the City of La Puente and City of Industry for the 2nd Annual Brunch by the Bride: Pride Resource Fair.

Telemundo Fan Fest

Pico Rivera Sports Arena | 11003 Sports Arena Drive, Pico Rivera, CA 90601 | June 4 | ticketon.com

This free event (though there is a $3.50 service charge per ticket) will feature entertainment like Chiquis Rivera, Larry Hernandez, Saul El Jaguar, Carmen Aub, Paty Navidad, Jessica Carillo, and Carlos Adyan. There will also be food, drinks, games and meet-and-greets. 

WeHo Pride Parade

Santa Monica Blvd. from N. Crescent Heights Blvd. to N. Robertson Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069 | June 4 | wehopride.com

Celebrating the LGBTQ+ community, this colorful and joyful parade will honor RuPaul’s Drag Race, Laith Ashley, Niecy Nash-Betts & Jessica Betts, and Melissa McCarthy “for their work in bringing the LGBTQ community and social justice issues to the forefront, as well as expanding queer representation in mainstream pop culture.”

PCC Flea Market

Pasadena City College | 1570 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91106 | June 4 | 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.

June 5

‘Birthing Justice; Film Screening

LOOK Dine-In Cinemas Monrovia | 410 S. Myrtle Ave., Monrovia, CA 91016 | June 5 | eventbrite.com

Join San Gabriel Valley AAIMM Community Action Team Planning Committee for a free screening of “Birthing Justice,” a film depicting the ways practitioners are improving the outcomes for pregnant Black women. Free food and drinks will be provided along with a panel discussion of the film.

Country Line Dancing

The Pour House | 405 S. Myrtle Ave., Monrovia, CA 91016 | June 5 | 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.

Secret Movie Club: ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’

Secret Movie Club Theater | 1917 Bay St., Los Angeles, CA 90021 | June 5 | eventbrite.com

Don’t let life pass you by. Take the day to smell the roses and watch Ferris, Cam and Sloane make the most of a ditch day. 

June 6

Ukraine. War. Stories.

Skirball Cultural Center | 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90049 | June 6 | skirball.org

Actors Sarah Drew (“Grey’s Anatomy”), Zachary Gordon (“Diary of a Wimpy Kid”), Susan Sullivan (“The Kominsky Method”), and Steven Weber (:Wings”) read first-hand accounts about life in wartime Ukraine and share on-the-ground photography co-presented by Centropa and the Alan D. Leve Center for Jewish Studies at UCLA. The four will also share prewar stories told by elderly Ukrainian Jews, juxtaposing Germany’s invasion of Ukraine in 1941 with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine today.

June 7

LA Pride Salon Series Present: Queering The Lens

Getty Center | 1200 Getty Center Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90049 | June 7 | getty.edu

Kicking off LA Pride, the Getty hosts Rick Castro, Amina Cruz, and Texas Isaiah — LA-based photographers — who create works of art spotlighting LGBTQ+ communities. They’ll discuss their works and the subcultures and relationships explored in them. Enjoy complimentary bites, a hosted bar, and music by DJ Daisy O’Dell after the panel to kick off LA Pride festivities.

Uptown Whittier Night Market

700 Greenleaf Ave., Whittier, CA 90602 | June 7 | facebook.com/uptownwhittier 

Shop from local vendors, eat some delicious food and listen to music at the Uptown Whittier Night Market from 5-9 p.m. this summer. 

San Dimas Farmers Market

San Dimas | 245 E. Bonita Ave., San Dimas, CA 91773 | June 7 | sandimasfarmersmarket.com 

The San Dimas Farmers Market is opening up for the season. Pick up fresh produce or artisanal goods.

June 8

Pride Is Universal

Universal Studios Hollywood | 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, CA 91608 | June 8 | seetickets.us

LA Pride and Universal Studios are joining forces to host this after-hours LGBTQ+ party. Enter the park at 4 p.m. with a general admission ticket and stay until 2 a.m. After the park closes for regular guests, the party truly begins with DJs, dance areas, drag show, cash bars, 14 Universal characters, and enhanced lighting. Retail stores, select restaurants, rides and attractions will remain open for the event.

Summer Movie Fest 2023

CSUN | 18111 Nordhoff St., Northridge, CA 91330 | June 8 | csun.edu

Open to the CSUN community and surrounding areas, head to the library lawn to enjoy a free movie at dusk. “Bullet Train” (rated R) will kick off the series. 

Sunset Series

South Coast Botanic Garden | 26300 Crenshaw Blvd., Palos Verdes Peninsula, CA 90274 | June 8 | southcoastbotanicgarden.org

Roam the 87 acres of the garden, or grab a cocktail and enjoy some yard games and live music from diverse performers. Kids will have a blast with parachutes, obstacle courses, lawn bowling, bubbles and more.

Montebello Night Market

Behind parking lot of Wells Fargo Bank | 777 W. Whittier Blvd,, Montebello, CA 90640 | June 8 | montebelloca.gov

Entertainment and vendors selling farmers market items, homemade goods, arts, crafts and food will gather from 6-9 p.m. On this night, Jukeboxx Bank will perform live music ranging from oldies, disco, and top 40.

Ongoing

‘Otello’

Dorothy Chandler Pavilion | 135 N. Grand Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90012 | Through June 4 | laopera.org

Hailed as the pinnacle of the Italian operatic repertoire, Verdi’s transformation of the original Shakespeare play is a powerful drama of uncontrolled human emotion at its most extreme. Verdi’s musical portrait of Otello’s descent into a tortured heart of darkness is explicit in every chilling detail as he destroys all in life that he holds dear.

Russell Thomas in the title role of LA Opera’s 2023 production of “Otello”. | Photo by Cory Weaver / LA Opera

Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival

Hollywood | Through June 4 | laliff.org

The festival will be jam-packed with workshops, masterclasses, panels and screenings. 

‘The Book Of Will’

A Noise Within | 3352 E. Foothill Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91107 | Through June 7 | anoisewithin.org

You don’t have to love Shakespeare to enjoy “The Book of Will,” playwright Lauren Gunderson’s re-imagining of the desperate search to find, preserve and print Shakespeare’s words that otherwise might have disappeared forever. Three years after the Bard’s death, John Heminges and Henry Condell, former friends and colleagues from Shakespeare’s acting troupe, the King’s Men, contend with egotistical actors, bootleg knockoffs and a ticking clock to ensure that the First Folio gets published, and that the works of William Shakespeare don’t end up on the trash heap of history. Backstage comedy meets detective adventure as this group of aging actors race against time to reassemble their repertoire — including “Lear,” “Macbeth” and “Hamlet” — some of which may only exist only in the lines they have memorized.

‘On This Side Of The World’

David Henry Hwang Theater | 120 Judge John Aiso St., Los Angeles, CA 90012 | Extended through June 10 | eastwestplayers.org

A woman flies from the Philippines to America with a one-way ticket and a suitcase full of stories. Each story is collected from immigrants who came before her—tales of overseas workers, young lovers, and gossipy church ladies; snapshots of undocumented immigrants, millennial princesses and first-generation Americans. Suspended above the ocean, she replays these stories in her mind as she searches for the courage to embrace her future. This world premiere musical gives voices to Filipino immigrants navigating old lives and new beginnings, eight-thousand miles from home.

‘Six’

Pantages Theatre | 6233 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90028 | Through June 10 | broadwayinhollywood.com

Divorced. Beheaded. Survived. The six wives of Henry VII were so much more than the wives of a fickle king. The new musical turns their stories into ones of female empowerment. 

‘The Bottoming Process’

Los Angeles LGBT Center’s Lily Tomlin/Jane Wagner Cultural Arts Center Renberg Theatre | 1125 N. McCadden Place, Los Angeles, CA 90038 | Through June 12 | iamatheatre.com

Two writers meet at a shared co-working space and fall in love — or something like it. Milo is a fledgling writer who’s mostly funny on Twitter. John is a famed novelist. John is nearing middle age, while Milo is flailing through his twenties. John is white — and Milo is definitely not. As they mate, date and cohabitate, they grapple with issues of race, sex, power and the model minority myth, all to find out who’s really on top.

‘The Hilton Als Series: Njideka Akunyili Crosby’

The Huntington | 1151 Oxford Road, San Marino, CA 91108 | Through June 12 | huntington.org

The exhibit features a selection of works by Nigerian-born, Los Angeles–based artist Njideka Akunyili Crosby in the final exhibition curated by the Pulitzer Prize–winning author and New Yorker magazine critic Hilton Als, in collaboration with the Yale Center for British Art (YCBA) and Akynyili Crosby. The two selected five collage-based paintings from “The Beautyful Ones,” Crosby’s ongoing series of intimate portraits of Nigerian children, including members of her own family.

‘A Soldier’s Play’

Ahmanson Theatre | 135 N. Grand Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90012 | Through June 25 | centertheatregroup.org

In 1944, on a Louisiana Army base, two shots ring out. A Black sergeant is murdered. And a series of interrogations triggers a gripping barrage of questions about sacrifice, service, and identity in America in Charles Fuller’s Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece. Grammy, Tony, and SAG Award nominee Norm Lewis will star as Captain Richard Davenport.

‘A Transparent Musical’

Mark Taper Forum | 135 N. Grand Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90012 | Through June 25 | centertheatregroup.org

Audiences will follow the “Transparent” story through the Pfefferman family’s youngest child Ali Pfefferman, played by Adina Verson, as they navigate the ups and downs of self-discovery. Ali’s Los Angeles Jewish family is filled with secrets, but when their parent, Maura – played by Daya Curley – transitions to the transgender matriarch she always knew she was, the family is forced to confront their own identities and navigate their relationships with each other. Through a revelatory story of acceptance and self-expression, “A Transparent Musical” explores the intersection of Jewish and queer history while celebrating the imperfectly human and startlingly familiar aspects of a universally relatable family.

‘Symbiosis: Living Island’

Japan House | 6801 Hollywood Blvd., Level 2, Los Angeles, CA 90028 | Through July 5 | japanhousela.com

The Inujima “Art House Project” creates a unique symbiosis between art, architecture, community, and ecology that has been transforming the landscape of the Japanese island of Inujima, which now is home to just 25 homes with more than half of the inhabitants over 70 years of age. The exhibition celebrates and transports visitors to this “living art” island through the sights and sounds of everyday island life, captured through an experiential diorama of the island and its art pavilions.

Butterfly Pavilion

Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County | 900 Exposition Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90007 | Through Aug. 13 | nhm.org

The Natural History Museum’s seasonal Butterfly Pavilion featuring hundreds of butterflies of various species, native plants and natural light is finally opening. 

‘Peter Krasnow: Breathing Joy And Light’ 

Skirball Cultural Center | 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90049 | Through Sept. 3 | skirball.org

The “Peter Krasnow: Breathing Joy and Light” exhibition showcases 20 paintings and drawings from the Skirball’s collection of the artist’s work. The exhibition focuses on works made primarily during the decades after World War II and the Holocaust. To ease the despair brought on by that painful period, Krasnow created vibrant paintings teeming with exuberant, abstract forms, radiating optimism, and evoking a spiritual world of renewal. Krasnow emigrated from Ukraine to the United States at age 20 in 1907 and established himself in the Los Angeles art community in the 1920s, where he was inspired by the hope and possibility of Southern California. His paintings incorporate elements of his Jewish heritage and the organic forms and vivid hues found in the plant life of his Atwater Village home and studio.  

‘The Power Of Song: A Songwriters Hall Of Fame Exhibit’

The Grammy Museum | 800 W. Olympic Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90015 | Through Sept. 4 | grammymuseum.org

The newly expanded exhibition celebrates iconic American songwriters. Through artifact displays, an original film, and interactive experiences, the exhibit examines the songwriter’s creative process, tells the stories of great songwriters – all of whom are Songwriters Hall of Fame inductees or special award recipients – and digs deep into the celebrated compositional works that make up the American music treasury.

‘Printed In 1085: The Chinese Buddhist Canon From The Song Dynasty’

The Huntington | 1151 Oxford Road, San Marino, CA 91108 | Through  Dec. 4 | huntington.org

The Huntington will exhibit for the first time the oldest printed book in its collection, “The Scripture of the Great Flower Ornament of the Buddha.”  The exhibit will show the connection between religion and China’s printmaking, which had been practiced centuries before the first use of movable metal type in Europe.

‘Journeys Continued: LA Communities Through The Eyes Of Artists’

Los Angeles Union Station | 800 N. Alameda St., Los Angeles, CA 90012 | Through Dec. 31 | art.metro.net

In “Journeys Continued: LA Communities Through the Eyes of Artists,” 12 featured pieces focus on a specific area, neighborhood or city Metro serves within greater Los Angeles and will be on view in the Passageway Art Gallery, between Union Station East and West.

Shakira, Shakira: The Grammy Museum Experience

The Grammy Museum | 800 W Olympic Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90015 | Through Winter 2024 | grammymuseum.org

If you’ve had “Las mujeres ya no lloran, las mujeres facturan” stuck in your head the last few weeks then you’ll want to stop by this exhibit honoring the multi-Grammy Award-winning and Latin Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter, producer, dancer, philanthropist and international icon. The exhibit explores the artist’s musical evolution, from her origins as a Latin rock-loving singer-songwriter in Barranquilla, Colombia, to a global superstar whose catalog spans multiple genres, from bhangra and bachata to rock and reggaetón. The exhibit features interactives, artifacts from Shakira’s personal archive, three original films, handwritten lyrics, costumes, guitars and more.

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