Best things to do this week in Los Angeles and Southern California: September 3 - 5

Experiencing classical theater in the outdoor, almost mystical setting of the Getty Villa’s amphitheater will transport you to ancient Greece in an instant. Pair that with a show brought to the best coast by Classical Theatre of Harlem, a company that focuses on telling classics with a lens on the African diaspora, and you have the makings of a magical night. Memnon tells the overlooked but epic story of an Ethiopian king who sets out for Troy. Order your food ahead and enjoy the closest we can get to time travel.

And here I thought blue food was just something Bridget Jones served to Mark Darcy, but it turns out it’s also a technology being used to feed the population while helping to save and preserve our oceans and fresh waterways. Be among the first to learn more about the blue food revolution by getting a peek at the new PBS docuseries Hope in the Water at Dana Point’s Ocean Institute. The evening features a panel discussion and a blue food-focused reception.

Two-time National Book Award Winner Jesmyn Ward (Sing, Unburied, Sing) joins The Stacks podcast host Traci Thomas at the L.A. Central Library to talk about her latest bestseller, Let Us Descend, which follows an enslaved teenage girl’s harrowing journey in the South just before the Civil War. NPR called the book “[t]he literary equivalent of an open wound from which poetry pours.” Whoa.

Electronic music pioneers Tycho are playing a three-night residency at the Roxy to mark the release of their new album, Infinite Health (just released on August 30). Frontman Scott Hansen calls the lead single, "Phantom," his personal favorite on the album. He said he wanted the track "to feel like a blend of lights in a nightclub with some unknown entity."

What better place to experience that than the Roxy? The historic rock club only recently reopened in August after months of renovations and has a packed lineup going into the fall. Upcoming shows beyond Tycho include Lava La Rue (Sept. 30) and grouptherapy. (Oct. 25).

Break out your favorite records and nerd out with fellow vinylheads at the weekly Open Turntables event at Downtown’s Stowaway. Ol Youngster hosts this opportunity to sign up and play your LPs in the bar’s Rio Room, plus enjoy open format sets from some of L.A.'s best local selectors and turntablists. Slots are 20 minutes in length; BYO records, needles, and headphones.

1990 Denzel playing jazz trumpet in Brooklyn. Need we say more? Spike Lee’s take on jazz and relationships and questionable decisions was scored by none other than Brandon Marsalis and will ease you right back into the work week after the long weekend. It’s like a long drag on a cigarette (without all the bad stuff).

Terraza by Los Portales hosts a tequila tasting featuring six unique tequilas and one smoky mezcal at this event in Montclair. Plus, enjoy small bites, soft drinks, and music from DJ Kerfuee.

OK, it might not feel like fall outside, but Salt & Straw ice cream is ready with those fall flavors. Apple is the name of the game, with Apple Pie vs. Pumpkin Pie, an Apple Cider Donuts collab with longtime partner Sidecar Doughnuts, Finnriver’s Black Currant Apple Cider, Apple Wasabi Sorbet, and Caramel Apple Sherbet. Of course, it wouldn’t be fall without pumpkin-spiced something, so pair your apple scoop with the new pumpkin Spiced Waffle Cone, starting Sept. 6.

Two big cookbook events come to Now Serving this week and they are both virtuous and indulgent. First, Nisha Vora and Joanne Lee Molinaro talk about the benefits and delicious ways to eat vegan in their new book Big Vegan Flavor. And then Thursday, cookie queen of Minnesota Zoë Francis (one of my all-time favorite Instagram follows), talks about her new cookie bible, Zoë Bakes Cookies.