Entertainment

Thousands of people visit Christmas Tree Lane. How do volunteers keep the tradition alive? If Santa were skinny and endlessly energetic, he’d be a dead ringer for Scott Wardlaw, president and chief cheerleader of Altadena’s 104-year holiday tradition known as Christmas Tree Lane. But Wardlaw’s domain is nowhere near the North Pole. Since late September, … Read more

“A Musical Christmas with Mariachi Alegría de Disneyland & Miguel” is a new evening performance at Disneyland inspired by the Latin American tradition of Las Posadas. (Joshua Sudock / Disneyland Resort) One of the Disneyland Resort’s new holiday offerings is a show featuring the young guitar-slinging character of Miguel from “Coco.” But it’s ultimately rooted … Read more

The Last Bookstore, the mecca for readers in downtown L.A., will open in Studio City in part of what had been a garden and home decor store on Lankershim Boulevard. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) “I’ve started to have trouble sleeping the last few nights,” says Josh Spencer, creator of the Last Bookstore in … Read more

Amar Lalvani is taking a risk by breaking the conventions of hotel aesthetics. The Manner, which opened in Soho this fall, eschews predictable hotel room art — in fact, it has no art on the walls. There’s no time wasted checking in at a front desk. And, perhaps most controversially, there are no TVs in any … Read more

Jennifer Lopez and Jharrel Jerome on the ‘healing’ experience of making ‘Unstoppable’ In the latest episode of The Envelope video podcast, Jennifer Lopez and Jharrel Jerome discuss their inspirational sports movie, “Unstoppable,” and exiled Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof recounts the harrowing experience making “The Seed of the Sacred Fig.” Kelvin Washington: Hello and welcome to … Read more

Commentary: How youth orchestras delivered the three most powerful performances of 2024 Out of hundreds of symphony concerts I attended or listened to online this year, performances of three symphonies meant the most. Shostakovich’s Fifth, Schubert’s Ninth and Sibelius’ Second may be old chestnuts but not for players who were mostly under 25 and as young … Read more

Packing stadiums across the country on the ‘Y’all Know What It Is’ tour, Martin Lawrence finally hits his adopted hometown for a show at Crypto.com Arena on Friday. (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times) Long before he ever picked up the mic to do comedy, Martin Lawrence knew how to do one thing — pick … Read more

Since “Bend It Like Beckham” instantly made her a teenage superstar 22 years ago, Keira Knightley has done virtually everything an actor can do. She has appeared in World War II dramas and apocalypticcomedies. She has sung and played the guitar. She has even — gasp — performed in an American accent. But unlike other … Read more

OC surfer and punk vocalist Steve “Crabby” Cabler, who barely survived the 2002 Bali bombing that claimed the lives of more than 200 people, photographed at his home in Costa Mesa. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) Steve Cabler was living it up in Bali: surfing all day and partying all night. He’d traveled … Read more

Jentry Chau’s supernatural powers make her the target of demon attacks in “Jentry Chau vs. the Underworld.” (Netflix) Echo Wu was around 5 or 6 years old when she told her parents she wanted to be a cartoonist. At the time, she’d meant it in the more classical sense of cartooning, like those in magazines … Read more