Classes in costume design, playwriting and Thai Chi are not a part of the average freshman’s experience. But they are part of the “freshman experience,” a term coined to define the required curriculum for UCLA undergraduate theater students. Read more...

To musical theater producers at least, nothing screams holiday cheer like the French Revolution. That’s right, everyone’s favorite three-hour sung-through musical about poor people and empty Parisian cafes, “Les Misérables,” based on the Victor Hugo novel, opened last week in the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood for a month-long run through Jan. Read more...

Nas “Street’s Disciple” Sony Urban Music/Columbia The double LP has traditionally marked the winding down of a career for hip-hop artists. “Life After Death” and “All Eyez On Me” were respectively the last albums the Notorious B.I.G. Read more...

Ditch the stupid party hats. Forget those annoying noise-makers. And save the cheap champagne for another night. New Year’s Eve doesn’t have to be all about sitting in front of television watching a three-hour-old tape delay of the ball dropping in Times Square. Read more...

Ranging from respectful choir performances to “The O.C. Chrismukkah Mix,” holiday music is often hit-and-miss. For the faithful, though, hearing genuinely religious music can be a profound experience. Read more...

Turn a corner in Los Angeles, and it is hard not to find a starving actor, struggling filmmaker or unpublished writer. But for student filmmakers Darren Guttenberg and Jared Fryer, the Hollywood struggle has just become a small burden easily overcome. Read more...

It’s normal to leave a performance of “The Nutcracker” wanting to waltz to Tchaikovsky’s Grande Pas de Deux, but most renditions of this Christmas classic do not leave audiences hungry. Read more...