| New York aside, Los Angeles is one of the hot beds of American Theatre, buzzing with nascent stars, avant garde directors and ground-breaking writers. Explore the depths of emotional intelligence through sensitive performances and smart productions in these Los Angeles theatres, tossing the movie tickets aside and going for the jugular: the Los Angeles theatre scene. |
Actor's Gang Theatre
6209 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles CA; Tel. 323.465.0566
Los Angeles' Actor's Gang Theatre, co-founded by Tim Robbins, harks back to the raw roots of theatre, renovates the classics and showcases new works, all in a newly renovated Hollywood theatre known for community involvement and important theatre. |
Ahmanson Theatre
135 N. Grand Ave., Los Angeles CA; Tel. 213.972.7211
Part of the Los Angeles Center Theatre Group, along with the Mark Taper Forum, the Ahmanson Theatre is a 2,000-seat marble complex in downtown Los Angeles that shows the big-bucks productions like the Phantom of the Opera and more. |
Audiences Unlimited
100 Universal City Plaza, Bldg. 153, Los Angeles CA; Tel. 818.753.3470
Near Universal Studio Walk in Los Angeles, Audiences Unlimited represents over 35 network comedies filmed in Los Angeles and offers free tickets to anyone wanting to be part of the illustrious "studio audience." |
Coronet Theatre
366 N. La Cienega Blvd., Los Angeles CA; Tel. 310.657.7377
Fifty years old, the Los Angeles' grandmaternal Coronet Theatre has produced over 300 plays and is a landmark of Los Angeles theatre. The Coronet's Writer's Lab offers free readings of new plays by established actors. |
El Capitan Theatre
6838 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles CA; Tel. 323.467.7674
One of three theme theatres actualized by Sid Grauman and Charles Toberman, the El Capitan Theatre was Hollywood's first home for "Spoken Drama" (opened in 1926) and the Los Angeles theatre to premier Orson Welles' Citizen Kane in 1941. Disney captured the exotic East Indian-styled theatre and now showcases mostly Disney premiers. |
Geffen Playhouse
10886 Le Conte Ave., Los Angeles CA; Tel. 310.208.5454
Palm trees and a Mediterranean feel characterize Los Angeles' Geffen Playhouse, a Los Angeles theatre (affiliated with the University of California at Los Angeles) where actors like Brendan Fraser and Annette Bening flex their stage muscles and new productions aim to leave audiences "breathless." |
Grauman's Chinese Theatre
6925 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles CA; Tel. 323.464.8111
This infamous Los Angeles theatre, opened over seventy years ago in 1927, is one of Los Angeles' most famous theatres, especially for the impressions-in-concrete left by Hollywood's brightest stars out front. Marilyn Monroe dotted the "i" in her name with a rhinestone, which, of course, did not stand the test of a tourist's zeal while Whoopi Goldberg shed a dread for immortality. Aside from all the Hollywood history, Grauman's shows first-run movies. |
The Greek Theatre
2700 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles CA; Tel. 323.665.1927
In Griffith Park, molded into a canyon, the open-air Greek Theatre shows live music under the stars and against a backdrop of desert-green trees. Performance art means music at this Los Angles theatre. |
John Anson Ford Amphitheatre
2580 Cahuenga Blvd. East, Los Angeles CA; Tel. 323.461.3673
A small Los Angeles theatre with an awe-inspiring entrance plucked from Mediterranean history books, the Ford Amphitheatre is an open-air performance art venue (one of the oldest in Los Angeles) set on 45-acres in the rustic Cahuenga Pass and showing dance, music and plays. |
Kodak Theatre
6801 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles CA; Tel. 323.308.6363
The new home of the Academy Awards, Hollywood's modern and technologically-advanced Kodak Theatre shows large-scale ballet, dance, and musical productions, including the Full Monty and Joseph & The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. |
Mark Taper Forum
135 N. Grand Ave., Los Angeles CA; Tel. 213.972.7211
A small theatre located in the Performing Arts Center in downtown Los Angeles, the Mark Taper Forum has a community-conscience, working to involve youth, and funding programs for African-American, Asian-American and Latino playwrights. A distinguished Los Angeles theatre, two of the Mark Taper's productions have received Pulitzer Prizes for Drama, an honor historical reserved for New York theatre. |
Pantages Theatre
6233 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles CA; Tel. 323.468.1770
Once home to vaudeville and Oscars, the Pantages Theatre is an Art Deco masterpiece with an eye for high-profile productions and musicals. |
