Best things to do this week in Los Angeles and Southern California: February 18 - 20

The first show is sold out, but there are still tickets left for the late show benefitting the much beloved Public Displays of Altadena, a 35-seat “micro-theater” that lost its venue (but not its spirit!) in the wildfires. Comedians, including PDA regulars Melissa Villaseñor (Saturday Night Live) and Maria Bamford, take the stage alongside a host of friends in an evening celebrating comedy and community.

Kelsey McKinney and Amanda Montell both look at language and communication through a current and clever lens. Normal Gossip podcast host McKinney joins Sounds like a Cult author and podcaster Montell for a free-flowing conversation about McKinney’s new book, You Didn’t Hear This From Me, at the Wilshire Ebell.

It’s not every day we get treated to Bernadette Peters and Lea Salonga, two grand dames of modern Broadway, on one stage. This big, showy Sondheim revue is a crowdpleaser that first opened in London’s West End and heads to Broadway next, but for now, L.A.’s Broadway babies are here for it.

Come for Salonga belting out “Everything’s Coming up Roses” (from Gypsy) and Peters’ heartfelt and sad “Send in the Clowns” (from A Little Night Music), stay for the strong supporting cast and their comic renditions of “Agony” (from Into the Woods), “The Best Pies in London” (from Sweeney Todd) and many more favorites. If you’ve been affected by the fires, free tickets are being made available to all Center Theater Group shows.

Felix Art Fair  (Feb. 19-23)
L.A. Art Show (Feb. 19-23)
Other Art Fair (Feb. 20-23)
Art Week at Neuehouse (Feb. 18-21)

Ahead of the big Frieze Art Fair, February has slowly but surely turned into art month around Los Angeles, with several big art fairs capitalizing on Frieze’s star power and becoming must-see fine art events in their own right.

Felix Art Fair hits the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel again this week, with events and walkthroughs featuring a range of artists and collaborators. The L.A. Art Show is the biggest of the events, taking over the L.A. Convention Center with dozens of galleries and artists showing their work. The Other Art Fair features more local and independent artists at the new venue in Atwater Village, including a new segment from artist Judy Baca’s mural "The Great Wall of Los Angeles." And tying it all together with evening fun is Neuehouse, whose Venice space will host three free-with-RSVP music and art events focused on the natural world and feminine leadership in the art space.

Poetry meets AI as poet Marcos de la Fuente interacts with a machine learning model — a digital twin — built by engineer Ismael Faro. The images are generated in real-time and will “investigate the distance of the algorithm with the poet and travel new paths for oral poetry and artistic creation.” The bilingual Spanish-English performance also features the electronic music of sound architect and producer Alec Ekvall.

This one is truly homegrown. See Lucha Libre from Miss Rita’s Lucha VaVOOM and a band line-up curated by Charlie Paulson that includes local favorites Juan and Juanita, Donita Sparks, Slim Jim Phantom (The Straycats), Jennie Vee (The Midnight Cowgirls) and many more. The night will feature L.A.-centric songs as well as an art auction,  including work from Shepard Fairey and many more, with proceeds benefiting fire relief through some of my personal favorite organizations, including Grief x Hope and Best Friends Animal Society.

The Surf Night series from SURFER Magazine at the Lido Theater in Newport Beach features the premiere of Shaping the Future, a film about legendary surfboard designer Lance Collins, who brought his innovation to Newport’s surf community in the 1980s. The screening will have a panel discussion ahead of the film. The Lido is also hosting other fun screenings this month, including an Oscar movie series with Braveheart and Titanic on the docket.

No wine snobs allowed! Try wines from various California regions, meet new friends, and have tasty bites with each pour at this Glassmates night at Hollywood Park.

An open wine bar with Hill Heavens Estate pours, bites from Sophisticated Spread, tunes, and flowers — what more could you want? Sounds like a fun post-Valentine’s Day night out with the Venice Beach Wine Club.

Celebrate Black History Month at this locals-only party at the Santa Monica Pier. Head to the carousel and enjoy sips curated by Black-owned wine enthusiast group Westside Winos, and Offhand Wine Bar, plus art, a car show, music, bites, and more. 21+ to drink, but everyone is welcome to the party.