FILM
Daughters of the Dust at Vidiots– 7:30 PM, April 7: Join Vidiots for Julie Dash’s rapturous masterpiece, Daughters of the Dust. As the 20th century dawns, a multi-generational Gullah family from the Sea Islands off of the South Carolina coast struggle to maintain their deep-rooted heritage and folklore while considering relocating to the mainland. The first widely released feature from a Black female director, the film was met with ecstatic critical acclaim and phenomenal audience response when it initially opened in 1991. Daughters of the Dust has cast a resounding legacy including references to the film in Beyonce’s video album “Lemonade.” Restored (in conjunction with UCLA) for the first time with proper color grading overseen by cinematographer AJ Jafa, audiences will finally see the film exactly as Julie Dash intended. Vidiots, 4884 Eagle Rock Blvd., Los Angeles.
American Cinematique presents Good Burger – 10 PM, April 7: Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell confront the ogre of faceless corporate tyranny and have fun doing it in this comedy for young people. Ed (Mitchell) is a teenager who lives for his job at Good Burger, a small but friendly neighborhood hamburger stand, while his buddy Dexter (Thompson) also works there, but lack Ed’s single-minded devotion to his job — he’s there because he accidentally destroyed the car of his teacher Mr. Wheat (Sinbad) and has to raise money to pay the damages. When Mondo Burger, a mammoth fast-foot chain, opens across the street, it looks like Good Burger is history, until Ed formulates a secret sauce that brings hundreds of new customers to their door. The film is part of American Cinematique’s “Late Night, Late ’90s” programming. Los Feliz Theatre, 1822 Vermont Ave., Los Angeles.
Los Angeles Festival of Movies Opening Night: Maddie’s Secret at Vidiots – 7 PM, April 9: The prodigiously talented comedian and actor John Early deftly balances all-out satire and tender melodrama in his feature directorial debut, with an infectious love of film artifice that owes as much to Douglas Sirk as But I’m A Cheerleader. Early embodies Maddie, a bright-eyed dishwasher at a trendy culinary company who is unexpectedly promoted as one of their content creators. But the flashy new role comes at a cost, pulling her long suppressed eating disorder back to the center of her life. Moving with the spirit of a campy made-for-TV movie, the film pairs sharp parody with genuine feeling, allowing moments of real sincerity to emerge beneath its bold, stylized surface. Vidiots, 4884 Eagle Rock Blvd., Los Angeles.
Lady Snowblood at Vidots– 7 PM, April 10: Gory revenge is raised to the level of visual poetry in Toshiya Fujita’s stunning Lady Snowblood. A major inspiration for Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill saga, this endlessly inventive film, set in late nineteenth-century Japan, charts the single-minded path of vengeance taken by a young woman (Meiko Kaji) whose parents were the unfortunate victims of a gang of brutal criminals. Fujita creates a wildly entertaining action film of remarkable craft, an effortless balancing act between beauty and violence. Vidiots, 4884 Eagle Rock Blvd., Los Angeles.
Breakin’ at Gardena Cinema – 7:30 PM, April 9 and 11: Joel Silberg’s iconic ’80s breakdancing extravaganza starring B-boy icons Shabba Doo and Boogaloo Shrimp as well as an appearance by legend Ice T comes to Gardena Cinema. The classic pic follows a struggling young jazz dancer (aka “Special K” aka Lucinda Dickey) meets up with two B-boys and they become a street dancing sensation! So bring your boombox and practice your flares because Breakin’ is about to throw down! Gardena Cinema, 14948 Crenshaw Blvd., Gardena.
MUSIC
KCRW Presents Saul Williams Meets Carlos Niño – 7 PM, April 8: The artistic collaboration from poet/vocalist Saul Williams and percussionist/producer Carlos Niño comes to Los Angeles. Their album was nominated for a 2026 Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Poetry Album. Blue Note, 6372 West Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles.
THEATRE
“Master Harold”…and the Boys – April 8 – May 10: Step into the charged atmosphere of a 1950s South African tea shop in Athol Fugard’s “Master Harold”…and the Boys, a gripping, deeply personal drama that unflinchingly confronts the realities of race, power, and betrayal. On a rainy afternoon, Hally, a white teenager, passes the time with Sam and Willie, two Black waiters who have helped raise him by filling the gaps of a broken home with warmth, wisdom, and laughter. But as the day unfolds, playful memories give way to painful truths, and a single moment threatens to shatter the fragile bond between them forever. Gil Cates Theater at Geffen Playhouse, 10886 Le Conte Ave., Los Angeles.
The Storyteller of East LA – April 9 – May 17: Evelina Fernandez’s The Storyteller of East LA explores memory loss, caregiving, family conflict, and the sustaining power of love. Developed in our Circle of Imaginistas playwriting group. This is East L.A. storytelling at its most intimate and urgent. The Storyteller of East LA underscores the sustaining power of love, compassion and storytelling, and the resilience of family, despite its conflicts and complexities.
Dragon Mama – through April 12: Broadway star Sara Porkalob returns to the Geffen Playhouse for the second installment of “The Dragon Cycle.” In this next chapter, Maria Porkalob, Jr. dreams of a bigger, gayer life beyond Bremerton, WA. But when an unexpected chance to escape arises, she faces an impossible choice—stay with her struggling family or chase freedom in the wilds of Alaska. Packed with ghosts, Filipino gangsters, and a killer ’90s R&B soundtrack, this award-winning, high-octane solo show is a raw, hilarious, and deeply moving story of resilience, queer love, and what it takes to break free and find home. Geffen Playhouse, 10886 Le Conte Ave. Los Angeles.
Kim’s Convenience by Ins Choi – through April 19: Soulpepper Theatre Company & Adam Blanshay Productions in association with American Conservatory Theater brings the award-winning comedy drama to the Ahmanson Theater. The play, which inspired the Netflix hit, follows the Kim family and their Korean family-run corner store. Mr. Kim works hard to support his wife and children with his Toronto convenience store. As he evaluates his future, he faces both a changing neighborhood landscape and the gap between his values and those of his Canadian-born children. Playwright Ins Choi, who will also star in the production as the titular character, calls Kim’s Convenience his “love letter to his parents and to all first-generation immigrants who call Canada their home.” Ahmanson Theatre at The Music Center, 135 N. Grand Ave. Los Angeles.
Fantastic Tales: Improvised Stories of the Strange & Unusual – through April 19: Inspired by the speculative imagination of H. G. Wells, Mary Shelley, and their contemporaries, Fantastic Tales transforms the stage into a world of gaslit parlors, impossible inventions, and moral reckonings unfolding without script or rehearsal. Imagine, if you will, a turn-of-the-century The Twilight Zone — performed live. Each night is entirely original, never to be repeated, and remembered only by those who dare to bear witness. The ensemble crafts a complete speculative drama in real time, where ambition collides with consequence and invention reveals both wonder and cost. OutsideIn Theatre, 5317 York Blvd, Los Angeles.
Latino Theater Co. presents Level Up! by Gabriel Rivas Gómez – through May 3: Desi, a trans tween, is afraid to come out to her family and only feels like she can be herself in her virtual world. A quest to save her dying dog pushes her to deal with challenges both in the virtual and real worlds. Level Up! is a play about gaming, family and growing up. The Los Angeles Theatre Center, 514 S. Spring St., Los Angeles.
COMEDY
Tig Notaro – 7 PM, April 9: Fresh off her Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary Feature for the critically acclaimed Sundance film Come See Me in the Good Light, actor, writer, producer, and renaissance stand-up comedian Tig Notaro is set to entertain and give some laughs with her very specific brand of dry, yet thoughtful humor. Dynasty Typewriter, 2511 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles.
The Hook – 9 PM, April 11: The Hook is a four-person improvised monoscene with Derek Jeremiah Reid, Danny Bearman, Robin Driskoll, and Andrew Hendrin set inside a recording studio where the story unfolds like a live album session. The audience suggests hook phrases, and each one becomes the basis for an original hip-hop song performed during the show. As the characters interact, the songs evolve naturally out of the scene and build into a full improvised album. By the end of the performance, the songs are run through an AI music generator and the audience receives a QR code to download the fully produced album created that night. OutsideIn Theatre, 5317 York Blvd, Los Angeles.
Show And Tell presents Nish Kumar – 7 PM, 9:30 PM, April 10: The UK’s leading political stand-up (and really nice guy) shares new material with the people of the U.S. Nish is co-host of the hugely popular Pod Save The UK podcast and one of Taskmaster’s greatest losers. Expect brand new existential angst and political disquiet from comedy’s cheekiest boy. Dynasty Typewriter 2511 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles.
MUSEUMS AND ART
A New Song: Langston Hughes in the West – through September 13: One of the world’s most famous Black poets, Langston Hughes (1902–1967) is often associated with the writers and artists of the Harlem Renaissance in New York. But starting in the 1930s, though the upheavals of the Great Depression, World War II, and McCarthyism in America, Hughes spent significant time in the West where he maintained deep connections and produced important work, including lectures, film scripts, plays, and his first book of short stories. Through recorded interviews, lyrical texts, archival photographs, and historic posters and prints, A New Song: Langston Hughes in the West reveals little-known aspects of Hughes’s work as a champion for justice and the special relationships he cultivated during his many sojourns in California, Nevada, and Mexico. California African American Museum, 600 State Dr, Los Angeles.
Photography and the Black Arts Movement, 1955–1985 – throgh June 14: Amid the turbulent decades of the mid-20th century, African American and Afro-Atlantic diaspora artists sought to celebrate Black culture and advance the struggle for civil rights. Photographic images contributed in myriad ways to the lively exchange of pan-African ideas that propelled the Black Arts Movement. See how an incredible range of artists and activists—from studio and street photographers to graphic designers and community organizers—used photography as a tool for social change. Getty Center, 1200 Getty Center Drive, Los Angeles.
