Also see Atlanta (click here), Charlotte (click here), Denver (click here), Los Angeles (click here) or San Francisco (click here).
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Please submit tips for Blitz Theatre-Going in your favorite city. Email the tips to info@playsondvd.com. PlaysOnDVD will be pleased to credit your submissions with a byline.
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Step 1: Pick A Play In Los Angeles
Go to www.laweekly.com/theater. Since there are a lot of show people in LA, there are literally hundreds of plays happening on any week. (Buy a copy of “One Acts from LA” and watch the extra on “Theatre in LA” for more on the LA Theatre Scene.) Knowing what the local Arts Newspaper, The LA Weekly, has picked will help you narrow your search a lot. You can also search the selections for the weekday you hope to be free. Print out a couple of choices and make sure to pick up the addresses of the Theatres as well as the Curtain Times.
Step 2: Book Your Return For The Next Day
You will leave the Theatre at around 10:30PM or so. This is probably too late even for a red-eye flight. (At least it should be!) If you need 8 hours sleep, select a flight the next day that lets you get up around 7AM. If your work ethic requires a good business reason for returning the next day, see Step 5. :-)
Step 3: Getting To The Theatre
Your play will probably be in a Theatre somewhere in or near Hollywood. Use www.mapquest.com/directions/ or maps.yahoo.com/dd to get driving directions from your last meeting place to the Theatre’s address that you picked up from The LA Weekly. You most probably need to go directly from your last meeting to the Theatre to guarantee that you make an 8PM or earlier curtain due to LA traffic. Figure you will pick up a Salad or Sandwich for dinner near the Theatre. Fortunately, unlike New York, LA almost always holds the curtain 10 or 15 minutes or so. (Theory: In LA, The curtain is held in the hope that an important agent who is supposed to show up will arrive only a few minutes late.)
Traffic Tips: DO NOT TAKE THE 405 FREEWAY ANYTIME REMOTELY NEAR RUSH HOUR! When coming from North of Hollywood, take the Vine or Cahuenga Exit from the Hollywood Freeway (101). (If you take the Barham or Highland Exit, you may miss curtain.) Vine or Cahuenga are worthwhile even if you have to double-back a bit. From the South, exit the 10 Freeway North on LaBrea into Hollywood.
Step 4: Print Out All Of Your Theatre-Related Information
When your last meeting ends, your time to actually hit the show will probably be tight. There will be no time to diddle with a computer. Have every thing you need to Blitz the Theatre on paper.
Step 5: Buy The Tickets At The Box Office Just Before The Show
Let us face it; you are seldom certain that you are going to make the show at all. Your last meeting could run late or an important business contact could ask you to dinner at the last minute. So, if you wait to buy your ticket until you make it to the Theatre, you can bail out of your Theatre Blitz anytime with no waste of money. Even Shows that are “sold out” frequently have a single seat available just before the show begins, especially midweek. So, your likelihood of getting a seat just before curtain is high. If you like, have an alternative play picked out in the same neighborhood as a backup plan.
Enjoy The Show!
