Cheap Thrills

Los Angeles offers some of the best arts, film and music venues in the world, but it can come at a cost.

After paying for gas, parking and concessions, the thought of paying full price for a ticket can be daunting to the most impecunious. But there are options to enjoy a night on the town without spending a small fortune.

Here are a few of the deals around Los Angeles.

The Odyssey Theatre Ensemble

2055 South Sepulveda Blvd.

The Odyssey Theatre Ensemble began using the concept of pay-what-you-can performances long before Radiohead did.

The theater usually runs two or three performances of each show where patrons contribute what they can to attend. While this program is not an excuse to get in for free to every show, it is a nice way to alleviate the pain of the continually rising cost of entertainment in Los Angeles.

The theater also hosts student-discount performances every Thursday for $10 a seat.

The Odyssey Theatre Ensemble specializes in both modern and classic plays, and it has three separate theaters within the venue. The ensemble’s building has an unconventional look, and from the outside, it appears to be a bright blue warehouse.

With its affordable seating, the ensemble allows students to easily appreciate culturally diverse and experimental theater.

Los Angeles County Museum of Art

5905 Wilshire Blvd.

Living in Los Angeles has perks besides frequent celebrity sightings. The Los Angeles County Museum of Art has the solution for broke college students too thrifty to spend $10 on the latest homogenized blockbuster.

Just a short bus ride down Wilshire Boulevard on the Metro 20, LACMA offers students an afternoon filled with culture and relaxation.

Every Tuesday afternoon, LACMA hosts afternoon matinee screenings at 1 p.m. at the low cost of $2. While the films may not be very recent, most are genuine classics rarely seen on the big screen, in genres ranging from horror to romance, musical to drama, and mystery to comedy.

Upcoming films include “The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle,” featuring fancy footwork from Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, and “Best Foot Forward” with Lucille Ball.

The Echo and Echoplex

1822 Sunset Blvd. and

1154 Glendale Blvd.

The indie compound comprised of The Echo and Echoplex is an odd instance of concert humility in the middle of the city full of paparazzi and plastic surgery. Well, maybe not the middle.

Regardless, the Echo, located somewhere in Sunset’s stratosphere in an unlabeled and decaying building that appears to double as a front for some unspecified shadiness, provides reliably kick-ass concerts for under $20. From the baile funk of Bonde do Role and the stage-destroying psychedelia of the Black Lips to the electronica of Simian Mobile Disco and the smoked-out, reverb-saturated Wednesday reggae classic Dub Club, The Echo keeps it random ““ and cheap.

Center Theatre Group’s Hot Tix

135 N. Grand Ave. (Mark Taper Form and Ahmanson Theatre) and

9820 Washington Blvd. (Kirk Douglas Theatre)

To see big-name shows on the cheap, The Center Theatre Group offers a program called Hot Tix that allows patrons to visit the box office on the day a performance opens and select from a limited number of $20 seats that could be anywhere in the theater, including the front row.

It’s like student rush, but for everyone.

This program includes all of Center Theatre Group’s three venues: the Ahmanson Theatre, the Mark Taper Forum, and the Kirk Douglas Theatre. The Ahmanson Theatre features musicals such as “Avenue Q,” which just closed there, and The Mark Taper Forum features productions such as shows by Cirque du Soleil.

Meanwhile, the Kirk Douglas Theater features more eccentric plays in a modern theater environment. Located in the heart of Los Angeles, the Center Theater Group provides a New York-like theater environment, without Broadway prices.

Literati Café

12081 Wilshire Blvd.

Rarely does one find a place in Los Angeles that provides reasonably priced food, a great environment and convenient parking.

Literati Café provides all three. Located just down Wilshire from campus, the eatery is the perfect spot to chill with friends, study for that upcoming midterm or simply enjoy some really good food, all for less than $10 dollars.

The cafe serves three meals a day and specializes in organic and vegan items. Organic food is generally considered to be more expensive because of its different manufacturing process, but Literati Café offers it at prices comparable to non-organic food.

Some of the best items are the breakfast options. A short stack of chocolate chip pancakes runs only $4.95.

There is also abundant seating, both inside and outside, and while Literati Café claims to have a 45-minute table limit, it’s rare that one will be asked to leave the establishment for staying too long.

There is no wireless Internet, but due to its location on Wilshire, it’s not hard to pick up a connection from the surrounding area.

Written and compiled by Suzy Evans, Laura Picklesimer, Kate Stanhope and Alex LaRue. E-mail Evans at sevans@media.ucla.edu, Picklesimer at lpicklesimer@media.ucla.edu, Stanhope at kstanhope@media.ucla.edu, and LaRue at alarue@media.ucla.edu

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *