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Best things to do this weekend in Los Angeles and Southern California: December 19-21
Watch Wrexham take on Swansea at Cosm Los Angeles.
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Charlotte Tattersall
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Getty Images
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Our Picks
My favorite holiday movie (oh, who are we kidding, maybe my favorite movie, period) is When Harry Met Sally… and with so much darkness already in the world this week, the shocking murder of director Rob Reiner and his wife Michele left me with a lot of grief and a lot to be thankful for. Fire up The Princess Bride and have a good cry.
If you’re also feeling a little down, there’s plenty of music to lift your spirits, including Dave Koz at the Cerritos Center For The Performing Arts, Agent Orange at the Whisky and Too $hort at the Canyon Agoura Hills on Friday. Saturday, War is at the YouTube Theater, the Vandals are at House Of Blues Anaheim, the Pharcyde play the Novo, Alice Smith is at the Peppermint Club and the Allman Betts Family Revival is at Orpheum Theatre, featuring Robert Randolph, Dweezil Zappa and more. Sunday, check out early aughts girl group Danity Kane at the El Rey. Licorice Pizza has all your show recommendations, as usual.
Elsewhere on LAist.com, mark your calendar for the 2028 Olympics ticket draw, read up on the hidden history of “White Christmas” and, if you’ve been procrastinating, find those last-minute gift ideas here.
Events
A Drunk Christmas Carol
Through Sunday, December 21
The Last Call
6025 Reseda Blvd., Tarzana
COST: $21.74; MORE INFO
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OK, OK, just one more Christmas Carol and then we’ll be done until next year, promise. Cookie Cutter Theatre Company has a new take on the story with an interactive comedy, A Drunk Christmas Carol at The Last Call in Tarzana. Cast members take shots, retell the story and are kept on track by other cast members — and the audience. No bah-humbugs here!
Guadalupe Maravilla: A Performance
Friday, December 19, 8 p.m.
REDCAT at Disney Hall
631 W. 2nd Street, Downtown L.A.
COST: FREE; MORE INFO
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Courtesy REDCAT
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It’s dance, it’s moving sculpture, it’s music, it’s performance art. Acclaimed artist Guadalupe Maravilla’s new work premieres at REDCAT, exploring survival and resilience through a collaboration with local artists using instruments handmade by Maravilla. The hour-long event coincides with the closing day of Maravilla’s solo exhibit at REDCAT, which delves into the artist’s personal history fleeing El Salvador as a child and his later experience with colon cancer. Shana Nys Dambrot at 13 Things LA says, “The performance resists narrative exposition, allowing the story to register through form, repetition, and gently percussive sensory accumulation.”
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Ellington’s Nutcracker & Tchaikovsky’s Winter Daydreams
Through Sunday, December 21
L.A. Phil
Walt Disney Concert Hall
111 S. Grand Ave., Downtown L.A.
COST: FROM $24.50; MORE INFO
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Farah Sosa
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Courtesy L.A. Philharmonic
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The perfect holiday concert is here. A mashup of jazz and classical, Duke Ellington’s 1960 take on Tchaikovsky’s Christmas classic, The Nutcracker, will be conducted by Thomas Wilkins, followed by Tchaikovsky’s own Winter Daydreams. Plus, ELLINGTON30 gets you a discount on tickets.
EFL: Swansea vs. Wrexham
Friday, December 19, 12 p.m.
Cosm
1252 District Drive, Inglewood
COST: MORE INFO
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Ollie Rathbone of Wrexham celebrates scoring his team's second goal.
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Joe Prior
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Getty Images
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Kick off a little early and get your holidays started with an immersive live stream of the Swansea vs. Wrexham match at Cosm. Feel like you’re all the way across the pond without hopping a plane and follow all the action as Ryan Reynolds’ and Rob McElhenney’s Welsh team takes on Swansea.
Missing Persons
Saturday, December 20, 8 p.m.
Stage Red
8463 Sierra Ave., Fontana
COST: FROM $24.85; MORE INFO
I’ve taken many a long walk through Los Angeles singing — and happily bucking conventional wisdom in my head — the Missing Persons anthem “Walking in L.A.” Who says nobody walks in L.A.? Not me. Head out to Fontana for a special reunion show with the MTV-era band.
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Holiday Comedy Night
Friday, December 19, 8 p.m.
The Rockefeller
1707 S. Catalina Ave., Redondo Beach
COST: $28.52; MORE INFO
Comedians and writers from The Late Show, Netflix’s Black AF, HBO and more join for an evening of holiday-themed comedy by the beach in Redondo.
Baby’s Got Bacchus
Sunday, December 21, 6 p.m.
Nico’s
3111 Glendale Blvd., Glendale
COST: FREE; MORE INFO
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Baby Battista
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Eventbrite
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Poetry on a winter Sunday evening sounds so cozy. And to the person who named this clever night of creativity “Baby’s Got Bacchus,” well, you get an official best things to do tip of the hat. Nico’s in Glendale will pair wines with poems. It's hosted by Schwarzenegger Institute Poet-in-Residence Mason Granger, and will feature special guest performances.
30th anniversary screening of Kids
Sunday, December 21, 7 p.m.
The Regent
448 S. Main, Downtown L.A.
COST: $19.50; MORE INFO
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Miramax Films
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Sure, you could choose a more holiday-themed or family-friendly movie for the Saturday before Christmas (It’s a Wonderful Life is on at the Egyptian if you MUST), but why not go edgy and head to Cinegogue’s 30th anniversary screening of Larry Clark’s groundbreaking 1995 film Kids? It doesn’t have Jimmy Stewart, but it does have a very young Chloe Sevigny and a lot of heavy drug use and sex.
PopUp Bagels
Opening Friday, December 19
11710 San Vicente Blvd., Brentwood
COST: VARIES; MORE INFO
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Courtesy PopUp Bagels
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New York’s latest bagel trend, the award-winning PopUp Bagels, comes to the West Side starting this week. Truffle schmear, anyone?
Mochitsuki demonstration
Various dates
Yama Sushi Marketplace
Little Tokyo
COST: FREE; MORE INFO
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Courtesy Havas
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Yama Sushi Marketplace is hosting a free mochitsuki demonstration (mochi pounding) at their three L.A. locations through the first week of the new year. In this Japanese New Year tradition, rice is pounded into mochi, symbolizing good fortune, long life and good health for the year ahead. Renowned Little Tokyo confectionery store Fugetsu-Do will provide mochi to guests following the demonstration — plus, there will be Taiko drumming.
The dates are:
- Saturday, December 20 (11 a.m. to 12 p.m.): San Gabriel Valley911 W Las Tunas Dr, San Gabriel, CA 91776
- Saturday, December 27 (11 a.m. to 12 p.m.): West L.A.11709 National Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90064
- Saturday, January 3 (11 a.m. to 12 p.m.): K-Town3178 W Olympic Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90006
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Right now, LAist has lost $1.7M in annual funding due to Congress clawing back money already approved. The support we receive before year-end will determine how fully our newsroom can continue informing, serving, and strengthening Southern California.
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