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Best things to do this week in Los Angeles and Southern California: September 8-11
SANTA BARBARA, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 08: Singer Glen Phillips of Toad the Wet Sprocket performs onstage during the One805 Rock for First Responders concert at The Granada Theatre on March 08, 2025 in Santa Barbara, California. (Photo by Scott Dudelson/Getty Images)
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Our Picks
If scoring a Shohei Ohtani bobblehead — where he’s pitching! — was on your bucket list for the summer, make sure you’re at the game on Wednesday night when the Dodgers take on the Colorado Rockies. I wasn’t aware of just how big a market the infamous bobbleheads had become, but this recent article puts them in Labubu territory for sure. Some are going for hundreds of dollars on eBay!
More from LAist: Find out why food critic Gab Chabrán calls Long Beach the most exciting food city in the area, learn how to plant milkweed to help conserve the monarch butterfly population and get your tickets for Sept. 18’s "Cookbook Live" with Kiano Moju.
Here's what's up this week…
Events
Through Sunday, September 14
Pagliacci
Pacific Opera Project
Heritage Square Museum
3510 Pasadena Ave., Glendale
COST: FROM $15; MORE INFO
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Pacific Opera Project, or POP, kicks off its 15th anniversary season with an outdoor, immersive production of Ruggero Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci, performed outside with a live orchestra, amongst the Victorian houses of the Heritage Square Museum. The show, about a clown who must keep performing despite the world crumbling around him, is in Italian with English supertitles.
September 11-12
A/VOID
Chromasonic Field
677 Imperial St., Arts District
COST: FROM $50; MORE INFO
Dance, light and sound come together in A/VOID, from Emmy-winning dancer and choreographer Comfort Fedoke (So You Think You Can Dance) and director Zoe Rappaport. The performance is at the unique Chromasonic Field space downtown, where you can “see sound and hear color.” Bringing together 16 dancers, the experience uses light and vibration to build a conversation between the audience and the performers.
Thursday, September 11, 8 p.m.
Toad the Wet Sprocket, KT Tunstall and Vertical Horizon
Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts
18000 Park Plaza Drive, Cerritos
COST: FROM $49; MORE INFO
SANTA BARBARA, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 08: Singer Glen Phillips of Toad the Wet Sprocket performs onstage during the One805 Rock for First Responders concert at The Granada Theatre on March 08, 2025 in Santa Barbara, California. (Photo by Scott Dudelson/Getty Images)
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Scott Dudelson/Getty Images
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Getty Images North America
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'90s alt-rock is alive and well as Toad the Wet Sprocket, KT Tunstall and Vertical Horizon take the stage in Cerritos. Walk on the ocean and suddenly you’ll see everything you want.
Tuesday, September 9, 7:30 p.m.
Not Dead Yet! John Cleese and The Holy Grail at 50
The Grove of Anaheim
2200 East Katella Ave., Anaheim
COST: FROM $77; MORE INFO
Clop clop to Anaheim on your trusty coconut to see Monty Python founder and Mr. Fawlty himself. British comedy force John Cleese hosts this 4K screening of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. The event includes a Q&A with Cleese, where he will share behind-the-scenes stories about the beloved troupe.
Wednesday, September 10, 7 a.m.
Porto Bakery’s Beatriz Porto at L.A. Breakfast Club
Friendship Auditorium
3201 Riverside Drive, Los Feliz
COST: $35; MORE INFO
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L.A. Breakfast Club
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Want to know how the delicious empanadas, guava pastries and cubano sandwiches get made? Interested in learning and how to run one of L.A.’s most enduring, beloved and successful food enterprises? Get up early for an L.A. Breakfast Club talk with Porto’s Beatriz Porto.
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Tuesday, September 9, 6:30 p.m.
Literary Wonders Figure Drawing
The Last Bookstore
4437 Lankershim Blvd., Studio City
COST: $20; MORE INFO
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Lisa Dosson and Emily Little
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Art model Kia will be your muse, dressed as Medusa for a literary-themed figure drawing night at The Last Bookstore’s Studio City location. The monthly event is a chance to combine your artistic skills with your love of reading and be inspired by literary characters and the human form.
Viewing Pick
Wednesday, September 10, 7 p.m.
Classic Cinema Nights: Casablanca
Hollywood Roosevelt
700 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood
COST: $22; MORE INFO
Humphrey Bogart and Peter Lorre starred alongside each other in <em>Casablanca</em>.
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Donaldson Collection
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Is there a more cliché date night than this? Then again, sometimes cliches are great. Catch the most classic of all the classics, Casablanca, at the historic Hollywood Roosevelt for a night with Bogart and Bergman. Here’s looking at you, kid.
Dine & Drink Deals
Tuesday, September 9, 6:30 to 9:30 p.m.
End of Summer BBQ
The Restaurant at Hotel Bel-Air
701 Stone Canyon Road, Bel-Air
COST: $350; MORE INFO
Splash out for the end of summer at this collaborative event where you’ll dine in the Hotel Bel-Air’s gardens and meet new friends at a communal table. The dinner includes the BBQ, wine selections and spirit stations.
Thursday, September 11, 7 p.m.
Yasmin Khan in conversation with Khushbu Shah for Sabzi
Now Serving
727 N. Broadway, #133, Chinatown
COST: FROM $13.59; MORE INFO
Author and activist Yasmin Khan’s latest book focuses on more than 80 accessible plant-forward recipes, inspired by Mediterranean, Middle Eastern and South Asian flavors. Sabzi, which means “herbs” in Persian, includes all kinds of dishes just begging for California farmers market produce, including soups, salads, mezzes and more. Khan is in conversation with journalist Khushbu Shah at Now Serving.
Wednesday, September 10, 7 p.m.
The Nikaido Experience: L.A. Izakaya Night
Prank Bar
1100 S. Hope St., Downtown L.A.
COST: $35; MORE INFO
Nikaido Shochu
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Watch the Dodgers, drink a highball from Nikaido Shochu and enjoy bites from five favorite local Japanese izakayas at this fun tasting event.
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