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Turn a corner in Los Angeles, and it is hard not to find a starving actor, struggling filmmaker or unpublished writer.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...

Operetta, the long-neglected cousin of opera and musical theater, is finally getting some much-deserved recognition thanks to operetta expert Dr. Michael D. Miller, a professor of advanced mathematics at UCLA Extension. Read more...

When Janelle Dote graduated from the theater department in 2003, her interest in acting was just emerging from backstage to front and center. In the Geffen Playhouse’s revival of Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe’s “Paint Your Wagon,” Dote will get to hone in on all aspects of the stage skills she learned at UCLA. Read more...

U2 “How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb” Interscope Records In theory, U2’s new album should be its best in years. “How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb” has everything a great U2 album needs: soaring choruses as only Bono can sing them, the Edge’s trademark delayed guitars, and even a song about God (“Yahweh”). Read more...