It doesn’t matter if a writer turns away from his creation or allows it to be censored and have its textual heart and soul ripped from it. It doesn’t matter if those who first brought it to life are long gone, and the work itself lays forgotten beneath layers of ash.

In just six short years, the BET Experience has cemented itself as one of, if not the biggest celebrations of black media culture in Los Angeles.

Kaiju, the “strange beasts” of Japanese cinema, have inspired hit movies, toy lines and media franchises. Now there’s a day-long festival in Downtown Los Angeles to celebrate their legacy. Kaijucon runs 11 a.m.-5 p.m. on Saturday, June 15, at the Japanese American National Museum at 100 N. C…

In 2015, the Los Angeles Philharmonic announced that the acclaimed young composer and theater director Yuval Sharon would join the orchestra for three years as its “artist-collaborator.” Sharon, perhaps best known in los Angeles for creating the car opera Hopscotch with his company The Indus…

It’s raining on a morning in late May, and water runs down a series of colorful tents that are part of an exhibit by the American artist David Hammons. Inside, on a canvas mounted on a wall, is Argentine painter Guillermo Kuitca’s image of empty seats. The sense of desolation and isolation i…

Downtown Los Angeles boasts multiple free summer music series, including the concerts at Pershing Square and the Grand Performances schedule on Bunker Hill (on hiatus this year as the facility is renovated).

DTLA—As time ceaselessly marches, humans rise, find ways to fill the day, rest and do it all again. It’s a cycle that a cynic could call repetitive pointlessness that is relieved only by death.

Climate change may not seem like a natural topic for a dance company, but don’t tell that to Heidi Duckler. The dance festival she is organizing this week, Ebb & Flow: Chinatown, addresses the subject. It takes place at Los Angeles State Historic Park from 1-8:30 p.m. on Saturday, June 1.

For decades, opera in Downtown has been dominated by L.A. Opera, which makes its home at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. This week, a new player is entering the scene, with a short run of a rarely performed work.

DTLA—The caveat for the mega-successful musical Mamma Mia! is simple. If you truly can’t stand ABBA’s infectiously catchy pop hits — not the people who pretend to hate them but then secretly sing along to “Dancing Queen” in the car — then its two-and-a-half hours of toe-tapping hooks and joy…

The Play That Goes Wrong

Love them or something else, ABBA’s legacy runs deep.

In 1979, philanthropist Marcia Weisman and five other local art collectors announced that they would donate a number of their works to what would become the Museum of Contemporary Art. Thus began a sometimes rollercoaster-like existence for one of the most important cultural facilities in Do…