FILM
Queen of the Damned – 7 PM, October 31: After years of slumber, the legendary vampire has awakened and found acceptance in a tattooed, pierced and black-clad world. He’s a rock star. And his awesome goth-riffed sound has echoed around the globe…and stirred to life the fearsome Mother of All Vampires (Aaliyah, in her final film role). Los Feliz Theatre, 1822 North Vermont Ave., Los Angeles.
Audition – 9:45 PM, October 30: Steering away from jump scares and cheap gore and into avenues of absolute torture and terror, Takashi Miike’s breakthrough nightmare is the kind of rare horror film that affects you viscerally and haunts you in your psyche. Juxtaposing the banality of daily life for a widower and his son with an intense level of brutality and nauseating imagery, Miike weaves an unforgettable masterpiece of the macabre. Not for the faint of heart, but simply a must-experience for any horror-phile, Audition is the kind of movie you never really recover from. Vidiots, 4884 Eagle Rock Blvd., Los Angeles.
The Lost Boys – 5:30 PM, October 30; 3 PM, 5:30 PM, 8 PM, October 31: After moving to a new town, two brothers discover that the area is a haven for vampires. Gardena Cinema, 14948 Crenshaw Blvd., Gardena.
The Nightmare Before Christmas – 7 PM, October 31: What’s this? What’s THIS? A Halloween entertainment option for those who prefer their frights served seated and air-conditioned, and their candy served on a bed of popcorn. Spend Halloween at Dynasty with a screening of The Nightmare Before Christmas, a tale of holiday confusion, skeletal ambition, and why you should probably leave Santa’s job to Santa. Join Jack Skellington, Sally, and a town full of wonderfully peculiar creatures featuring the voices of Catherine O’Hara, Paul Reubens, and more beloved talents. Come costumed, come cozy, come as a vaguely ominous version of yourself. All are welcome in Halloween Town. Dynasty Typewriter, 2511 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles.
Halloween 7 PM, October 31: It wouldn’t be Halloween without a visit from Michael Myers – the monster that made the holiday – stalking our big screen with terror! The original horror classic still startles over 45 years after its release. The small town of Haddonfield is under attack from an escaped murderer stalking the alleys and sidewalks of the idyllic burg. Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) is just a studious teenager, planning on spending her All Hallow’s Eve carving pumpkins with her babysitting charge. When the killer begins to hound her and her friends, she’s got to discover the family secrets that led to this bloody rampage and escape his evil wrath. Also starring Donald Pleasance as Dr. Loomis, P.J. Soles, and Real Housewife of Beverly Hills Kyle Richards. Spend your Samhain with Vidiots and John Carpenter with the slasher that started it all! Vidiots, 4884 Eagle Rock Blvd., Los Angeles.
MUSIC
Goapele – 7 and 9:30 PM, October 29-30: Oakland native and songstress brings her neo-soul vibes to Los Angeles. With songs like “Closer”, her captivating sound—a beautiful blend of soul, jazz, pop, and moody basslines—Goapele’s music transcends genres and resonates with universal truths. Her voice, ethereal yet commanding, continues to echo the complexities of life, love, and the human experience in ways that are both deeply personal and universally relatable. Blue Note LA, 6372 W Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles.
MUSEUMS AND ART
CAAM Cinema: A Huey P. Newton Story – 7 PM, October 28: Born in Louisiana before relocating to Oakland, California, as an infant, Huey P. Newton co-founded and led the Black Panther Party for more than twenty years. Director Spike Lee and performer Roger Guenveur Smith teamed up for their seventh cinematic collaboration to bring Newton’s ideas, life, and spirit to the screen in A Huey P. Newton Story (2001). Adapted from Smith’s Obie Award–winning solo theatrical production, the film was recorded in front of an audience, combining live performance with historical newsreels and archival media to capture the essence of the visionary activist. California African American Museum, 600 State Dr, Los Angeles.
Reggie Burrows Hodges: A Theater of Passions – through February 28, 2027: A deep admirer of historic European painting, Los Angeles-born artist Reggie Burrows Hodges created a new series of paintings inspired by the art of father-and-daughter painters Orazio and Artemisia Gentileschi in the Getty’s collection. Building on the formal and thematic aspects of the 17th-century Italian works while incorporating his own artistic vision, Hodges explores and highlights the underlying components of violence, drama, and theatricality embedded in their biblical and mythological narratives. Getty Center, 1200 Getty Center Drive, Los Angeles.
The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art – NOW OPEN! The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art opens on September 22! It’ll be crowded for a while, but I’m sure it’s amazing! The new museum in L.A. celebrates the power of visual storytelling. Founded by George Lucas and Mellody Hobson, the museum explores how images move us and shape our collective memory. From Frida Kahlo’s self-portrait to Norman Rockwell’s scenes of everyday life to Charles White’s portraits of dignity. Each invites reflection. Each tells a story. One Lucas Plaza, 3800 S Vermont Ave., Los Angeles.
Free and Queer: Black Californian Roots of Gay Liberation – through February 28, 2027: Free and Queer: Black Californian Roots of Gay Liberation presents California as a pioneering site of sustained, Black-led struggles for LGBTQ equality, civil rights, and recognition. The exhibition recovers histories largely excluded from existing narratives and exposes powerful ways that print culture, artistic practice, and performance styles shaped, advanced, and interpreted Black queer social movements alongside political and legal activism. California African American Museum, 600 State Dr, Los Angeles.
Marilyn Monroe: Hollywood Icon – through February 28, 2027: Marilyn Monroe: Hollywood Icon celebrates Marilyn Monroe—born Norma Jeane Mortenson on June 1, 1926—as a visionary actor and image-maker, examining how she created and shaped her public image in the context of the classical Hollywood studio system. Presenting hundreds of original objects, including posters, portraits, photographs, production documents, letters,… and rarely seen personal materials—many on display for the first time—the exhibition offers unique insight into her agency in becoming a Hollywood icon. The exhibition also features an extensive array of Monroe’s screen-worn costumes, ranging from a dress featured in Love Happy (1949) to items from her final and unfinished film, Something’s Got to Give (1962). Major highlights include two costumes by Orry-Kelly from Some Like it Hot (1959), as well as the rarely exhibited famous pink dress by William Travilla from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953). Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, 6067 Wilshire Blvd. Los Angeles.
Academy Museum of Motion Pictures ASL Interpreted Tours: American Sign Language (ASL) tours of select galleries are always offered at noon on the same day as the museum’s monthly Calm Morning program and accommodative Family Matinee film screening. Join a museum educator and ASL interpreter to experience cinema’s wide-ranging contributions to the world. Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, 6067 Wilshire Boulevard Los Angeles.
THEATRE
The Music Man – October 27 – November 8: There’s trouble in River City when a fast-talking salesman gets his heart stolen by the town librarian. Meredith Willson’s six-time, Tony Award-winning musical comedy The Music Man follows fast-talking traveling salesman, Harold Hill, as he cons the people of River City, Iowa, into buying instruments and uniforms for a boys’ band that he vows to organize—this, despite the fact that he doesn’t know a trombone from a treble clef. His plans to skip town with the cash are foiled when he falls for Marian, the librarian, who transforms him into a respectable citizen by curtain’s fall. Featuring songs such as “Seventy-Six Trombones,” “Trouble,” “‘Til There Was You,” “Pickalittle” and “Gary, Indiana,” The Music Man is a family-friendly story to be shared with every generation. Ahmanson Theatre is 135 N Grand Ave, Los Angeles.
Ghost Play – 7:30 PM, October 30: A staged reading of Matthew Scott Montgomery’s new Halloween play, GHOST PLAY. Hilarious, heartbreaking and full of shocking twists, GHOST PLAY takes place on a fateful Halloween night, when a group of friends – some alive and some not – get a second chance to say all the things they wish they never had. Join us for a night of incredible theater that’s light on the spookiness and big on queer, autumnal, supernatural vibes! The Village at Ed Gould Plaza (Renberg Theatre), 1125 N. McCadden Pl. Los Angeles.
Quentos, Volume II – 7:30 PM, October 30: Quentos – a portmanteau of “Queer” and “Cuentos” (stories) – create culture, rituals, and traditions. Experience a curated series of new stories written by a cohort of community members and rooted in our nostalgic JOI. Celebramos the prism of LGBT voices through these poetic and personal journeys onstage, led by lead artist Giovanni Ortega. The Village at Ed Gould Plaza (Renberg Theatre), 1125 N. McCadden Pl. Los Angeles.
Little Women Vampire Slayers – 7:30 PM, October 31: Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy- four “little women” enduring hardships and enjoying adventures in 1860s New England. But only one sister can be the chosen one. She alone shall stand against the vampires. She is the Slayer. The cast includes Keiko Agena, Carin Brito, Sean Gancayco, Amanda Gish, Alison Inconstanti, Shahla Khan, Dione Kuraoka, Rachel McDowell, and June Neely. Directed by: Emily Kugel
Outside In ArtBox, 5317 York Blvd., Los Angeles.
Coco Queens – Nov 1 and 2 (Main run through November 6-17): Coco Queens is set in a small Alabama town during the 1970s and follows four Black women whose lives have been shaped by love, loss, ambition, betrayal, and sisterhood. Each year, the women gather inside Gloria’s neighborhood beauty shop for Coco Queens Weekend, a tradition filled with food, music, laughter, reflection, and healing. When long-buried secrets begin to surface, they are forced to confront the wounds that have divided them and decide whether truth can help guide them back to one another. Outside In, 5317 York Blvd., Los Angeles.
Yamel Cucuy – through November 1: Yamel Cucuy is the story of a girl on the precipice of adulthood, contending with the physical and metaphysical violence of borders. Yamel is hunted by immigration agents while haunted by specters from Mexican folklore. On the shadowy frontier between life and death, she forges her own spirit of courage and wisdom. Set to an original score of indigenous percussion, Yamel Cucuy blends sophisticated puppetry with live actors and draws upon frightening folk tales and modern horror movies to create a terrifying psychological landscape of pitfalls both legal and spiritual. The Los Angeles Theatre Center, 514 S. Spring St., Los Angeles.
The Dance and the Railroad – through November 1: On the railroad that helped build America, two immigrant Chinese laborers navigate survival, identity, and what it means to chase the American Dream.
Set on a California mountain during the 1867 Chinese Railroad Workers Strike, The Dance and the Railroad explores the lives of two laborers: Ma, an optimistic and idealistic recent immigrant to California hoping to make his fortune; and Lone, the pragmatic and independent former Chinese opera actor who was forced to leave the opera school by his parents to work in America. While taking refuge away from the labor camp, Lone reluctantly teaches Ma how to perform Chinese opera. As their friendship grows, Lone and Ma reminisce about the homes they left behind, the lives they hope to build and what it means to chase the American Dream. Through the beauty and athleticism of Chinese opera, The Dance and the Railroad tells an intimate story of friendship and the ways art and personal history intersect with the larger story of America. The Los Angeles Theatre Center, 514 S. Spring St., Los Angeles.
COMEDY
Free Donut New Material Wednesdays with Maria Bamford and Jenny Yang Wednesdays – through October 28: Join Maria Bamford and Jenny Yang for Free Donut New Material Wednesdays—a live stand-up show where they try out brand-new jokes, ideas, and material in front of an audience. Come have a free donut, bring some coffee, and watch two acclaimed comedians work things out in real time. Maria takes the stage at 9:00 AM, followed by Jenny at 9:45 AM. $25 suggested donation — all proceeds go directly to supporting the space. No one will be turned away for lack of funds. Outside In, 5317 York Blvd., Los Angeles.
Jay Jurden – 7 PM, October 30: Jay Jurden is the star of the new Hulu comedy special Yes Ma’am, a breakout hour that solidifies him as one of the sharpest and most original comedic voices working today. Based in New York and originally from Mississippi, Jay has become a national standout thanks to his precise writing, magnetic presence, and a point of view that is both deeply personal and universally funny. Dynasty Typewriter, 2511 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles.
Pilot Season: Fundraiser for Palestine 8 pm, November 1: Veteran comedy TV writers take the audience’s suggestion of a show title, and, on the spot, develop a pilot for a brand new show. In UCB’s Pilot Season, veteran comedy TV writers take the audience’s suggestion of a show title, and, on the spot, develop a pilot for a brand new show. It could be a sitcom, a prestige drama, or any number of different genres. Talented improvisers then take that pitch and bring it to life on stage.
In solidarity with ongoing efforts to improve diversity and representation in the industry, all proceeds from the show will go to the Entertainment Community Fund, which provides emergency financial assistance and supports underrepresented writers and actors. Writers: John Aboud (Home Economics), Saba Saghafi (Sex Criminals), Mahtub Zare Mochanloo (Nobody Wants This) Performers: Andy Assaf, Ruha Taslimi, Anna Salinas, Saleh Karaman, Lyndsey Frank, Waleed Mansour Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre 5919 Franklin Ave., Los Angeles.
Maximum Funny – 7 PM, November 20, December 18: Five comedians. One night. Maximum Fun. One night a month, the Maximum Fun Podcast Network brings together five knockout comedians, featuring some of the network’s most hilarious hosts and funniest friends for an unforgettable evening of laughs, gaffes, and wisecracks at Outside In Theatre. Outside In, 5317 York Blvd., Los Angeles.
Improvised Monster Movie – 10:30 PM, Fridays, through November 20: Inspired by the golden age of late-night horror hosts, drive-in creature features, and classic B-movies, Improvised Monster Movie invites audiences to create the night’s film before the cameras (sort of) roll. From the name of the town and the body count to outrageous product placements, monster weaknesses, and unforgettable plot twists, audience suggestions become the ingredients for a completely original creature feature.
Packed with suspense, laughs, outrageous monsters, and a healthy dose of drive-in nostalgia, every performance is a love letter to the creature features that kept generations of horror Outside In, 5317 York Blvd., Los Angeles.
BOOKS
“Joyride: A Memoir” by Susan Orlean: In conversation with Patton Oswalt – 7 PM, October 26: “Joyride” is a magic carpet ride through Orlean’s life and career, where every day is an opportunity for discovery and every moment holds the potential for wonder. Throughout her storied career, her curiosity has drawn her to explore the most ordinary and extraordinary of places, from going deep inside the head of a regular ten-year-old boy for a legendary profile (“The American Man Age Ten”) to reporting on a woman who owns twenty-seven tigers, from capturing the routine magic of Saturday night to climbing Mt. Fuji. Book Soup, 8818 W Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood.
“Needlemouth” by K-Minhg Chang: In conversation with Carribean Fragoza – 7 PM, October 29: From the award-winning author of Bestiary, three cousins are forced to complete an impossible and violent task set by a vengeful demon. Cousins Cindy, Yangyang, and Mandy’s hot, tedious summer unfolds in their grandmother’s hauntingly familiar house. Mandy, the eldest, seeks connection online and exchanges emails with a stranger. Yangyang, the youngest, retreats into her own imagination in search of meaning. But every morning Cindy wakes with strange objects in her mouth: a button, a berry, a coin.One night, a starved figure with a mouth the size of a needle-tip appears at Cindy’s bedside. She is hunger-afflicted, a demon with no descendants to feed from: she is Needlemouth. Part vampire, part hungry ghost, Needlemouth forces the girls into a grim task to end a man’s life. Skylight Books, 1818 N Vermont Ave., Los Angeles.
