Legendary choreographer Twyla Tharp's latest endeavor "Come Fly Away" is a "musical" take on the songs of Frank Sinatra, and the result is a sexy, high-energy dance romp that serves as enthralling nostalgic escapism. more ›

The Hollywood Palladium opened its doors for the first time on September 23, 1940 with today's video lunch featured performer, the then not-so-well-known Frank Sinatra singing with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra. You know the rest of that story. He became an idol of the 40s, an Academy Award winner in the 50s, signed with Capitol, left Capitol, founded Reprise Records, toured the planet, turned to... more ›

Wanna see a video about food stamps? Thought so. The Huffington Post sniffed out a time-lapse map (set to an unsettling soundtrack of Frank Sinatra's "I've Got The World On A String") that illustrates the steep rise in food stamps across the country. We're now at a broiling 43 million people, an increase of nearly 60 percent since 2007 according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. more ›

When you start writing for LAist, you sign a pact in soy chorizo to promote the sacred order of the food truck whenever possible. But so many theaters prohibit bringing in outside food! What to do? If you're the Outdoor Cinema Food Fest, you bring the film outside to the food! LAist's own Farley Elliot posted an overview of the fest a few weeks back, and here's this week's delectable details: in celebration of International Dance Day, Moulin Rouge! screens downtown at Grand Hope Park, accompanied by local piano-rock quartet The Quiet, free coffee from Don Francisco's and The Buttermilk Truck, Calbi BBQ, Lake Street Creamery and Uncle Lau's BBQ! Follow Outdoor Cinema Food Fest on Twitter for late breaking updates! more ›

Celebrate the holidays Vegas style without the long drive. The show A Vegas Holiday is at the El Porta Theatre in North Hollywood featuring the stars and songs from Louis & Keely: Live at the Sahara with Jake Broder as Louis Prima, Vanessa Claire Smith as Keely Smith with Luca Ellis as Frank Sinatra. The vocalists are backed by a seven-piece orchestra. The show begins at 8 pm tonight and tickets are $45-60. more ›

With the Golden Globes just days away, now's your last chance to catch up. Best Picture contenders duke it out with directors in tow and--in the red corner--Best Supporting Actress nominee Marisa Tomeiiiii! The Best Foreign Language noms continue their rounds of the American Cinematheque; the films at the Aero and the filmmakers at the Egyptian. Swedish director Jan Troell is particularly vigilant, blazing a one-man invasion through these events and LACMA. After the awards, feed your jingoism with all-American auteurs Dennis Hopper, Stan Brakhage and Clint Eastwood. more ›

Toby Huss, as Rudy Casoni, belts one for the Republicans. more ›

The LA Times has a write-up on the demise of local public Channel 36. Somehow the City of LA can't/won't come up with a measly $500k to keep local broadcast of "school sport events, public policy talks, and long-distance for-credit college classes". While it's true that there is another city-funded public channel (#35) that one seems to be a megaphone for whichever politicians are in office. Surely the megalopolis of LA is big enough to support two public channels. more ›

Old Blue Eyes is the most expensive cocktail at Mediterranean restaurant/lounge NeoMeze in Pasadena. A $21 concoction standing apart from a list of $12 drinks, this one is made of 2 parts Bombay Sapphire Gin and 1 part Johnnie Walker Blue Label and it is some potent stuff. more ›

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The Cocoanut Grove at the Ambassador Hotel was the place to go for live entertainment in Los Angeles. Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Judy Garland, Sammy Davis Jr., and Merv Griffin were among the many legends to perform there. This weekend Pink Martini will recreate the nightclub's magic at The Hollywood Bowl. Merv Griffin was to have performed at these concerts. Now the evening will include a tribute to him. The one and only Carol... more ›

We love good books. We even love some bad books. What we don't normally go in for, however, are memoir-type books, especially those of Hollywood legends. They hardly ever write the books on their own (this is Hollywood after all) and the gossipy asides from yesteryear never intrigue as much as promised. more ›

LAist gets and listens to a Lot of music. You can see the bands we like in the concerts that we review, the Tonight in Rock listings that we compile, and in the cds that we review. But we realize that we listen to way more music than we review so we figured we make a list once a week letting you know what we're into. week ending 4/13/07 Rodrigo Y Gabriela - Self-Titled... more ›

Tonight on American Idol, octogenarian crooner Tony Bennett coached the remaining nine contestants. While we were semi-excited to hear the Idols take on the standards, LAist was really anticipating what form Sanjaya’s shape-shifting hair would take on this week? Maybe a salt and pepper gray in honor of Mr. Bennet? No such luck. This week, Sanjaya wore a ’do that was much tamer than the faux-hawk: just the simple slicked-back crooner look. But we... more ›

Bowling for Soup - The Great Burrito Extortion Case (Jive) J.J. Cale & Eric Clapton - The Road to Escondido (Reprise) The Chelsea Smiles - Thirty Six Hours Later (Acetate) El Goodo - El Goodo (Empyrean) Europe - Secret Society (Sanctuary) The Evens - Get Evens (Dischord) Foo Fighters - Skin and Bones (RCA) Josh Groban - Awake (Reprise) Jim Jones - Hustler's P.O.M.E. (Product of My Environment) (Koch) Librarians - Alright Easy Candy... more ›

Reflections on Vegoose 2006 more ›

Last night we were invited to see Emily Haines of Metric play her solo album for the first time in Los Angeles at the Viper Room. We weren’t familiar with Metric’s catalog and had only been to one Metric show before that resulted in a Metric fan strong-arming us out of the way of the stage resulting in our subsequent departure. That being said we went in not really knowing what to expect. We... more ›

In between an Angie Dickinson double feature last night, the woman herself made an appearance and answered questions from a hoarde of enthusiastic male fans. At 75, the woman still has it; heck, she doesn't look a day over 50. (she may have had work done, but it's exceptionally good work). more ›

So Jon Stewart will host the Oscars this year. Hosting the Oscars solo is a little like climbing Everest: the idea of doing it is always there, taunting America's elite comedians and raconteurs. Some, like Bob Hope, can beat it — 12 times he hosted alone, and more times with helpers tagging along. Others end up like Beck Weathers and David Letterman, beaten and barely alive, knowing they'll never do it again. But the challenge to climb it remains, irresistable, until the opportunity is seized. Many who've tried have passed into that good night. Stewart, we love ya: please bring a sherpa. more ›

Don't miss the "Hey Doll" show, a collaboration of 13 women artists that's been more than a year in the making. Each artist constructed a doll-like art object and gave it a diary, then released it into the hands of the next artist, and so on, until each woman had added her touch to each doll. As the changes were documented in the diaries, the dolls evolved into strange and beautiful creatures. See what happens when a razor scooter doll meets a glassblower at the opening Saturday night. more ›

Janet Leigh, famous for her screaming battle with a knife-wielding madman in Psycho, passed away yesterday in Beverly Hills. She was 77. more ›

LAist once saw someone do a karaoke rendition of Cheap Trick's "Surrender" that involved a blow-up guitar; particularly considering that the act took place in a coffee house, it was an impressive show. LAist is willing to concede, however, that tonight's actual Cheap Trick show at the Canyon Club will probably top it. Doors open at 6:00 PM for dinner reservations; the show starts at 8:00 PM. Tickets are $42.50. more ›

Oilman Marvin Davis died Saturday at his Beverly Hills home. He was 79. The Los Angeles Times pubished his obit in Sunday's edition. more ›