6 best things to do in L.A., including two Día de los Muertos festivals
Two free Día de los Muertos celebrations and the return of the Grand Ave Arts: All Access festival lead our recommendations of things to do in and around L.A. Also: The Pacific Symphony salutes Stephen Sondheim and Andrew Lloyd Webber, and two classic silent-era films are screened with live musical accompaniment.
Doubling down on the Day of the Dead
The 24th Street Theatre’s supersize 13th Día de los Muertos community celebration features the cumbia band La Sonora Dinamita and the Aztec dance troupe Huitzilopochtli, among others. Make an altar, get a face painted, feast on tamales or ride a 75-foot Ferris wheel. The event gets underway at 5:45 p.m. Saturday with a short ceremonial procession from Magnolia Avenue and West Adams Boulevard to 24th Street Theatre, 1117 W. 24th St., L.A., where the celebration runs from 6 to 10:30 p.m. Free. (213) 745-6516. 24thstreet.org
In Orange County, the Muckenthaler Cultural Center hosts its own celebration of Mexico’s Day of the Dead. The Muck’s event will have live music and dance, altar making, arts and crafts, and food. 1201 W. Malvern Ave., Fullerton. Noon to 4 p.m. Sunday. Free. TheMuck.org
That name rings a bell
Spend Halloween night with “The Hunchback of Notre Dame.” Lon Chaney is Quasimodo in the 1923 silent film adaptation of Victor Hugo’s classic novel, presented with live accompaniment courtesy of organist Clark Wilson. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. 8 p.m. Thursday. $36-$67. (323) 850-2000. laphil.com
They wrote the songs
Pacific Symphony kicks off its pops season with a salute to legendary Broadway composers Stephen Sondheim and Andrew Lloyd Webber. Guest vocalists join the orchestra for selections from Webber’s “Cats” and “The Phantom of the Opera,” Sondheim’s “Gypsy” and “Sweeney Todd” and more. Segerstrom Center for the Arts, Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday. $40 and up. (714) 755-5799. PacificSymphony.org
Up, up and away
A young hero on a flying horse encounters a good witch, an evil wizard, a beautiful queen and even Aladdin in “The Adventures of Prince Achmed.” Local ensemble Gamelan Merdu Kumala supplies a live score for a screening of pioneering filmmaker Lotte Reiniger’s fantastical 1926 fable that mixes shadow puppets and stop-motion animation. Union Station, Ticketing Hall, 800 N. Alameda St., downtown L.A. 8 p.m. Friday. Free. unionstationla.com
A Grand affair
“Grand Ave Arts: All Access” is back for a fifth year. The Broad, the Center Theatre Group, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, L.A. Opera, the Museum of Contemporary, REDCAT, Grand Park and the Los Angeles Public Library are among the institutions taking part in this festival that includes live performances, film screenings, arts and crafts workshops and behind-the-scenes tours. Grand Avenue between Temple and 6th streets, downtown L.A. 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. Free. grandavearts.org
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