Best Activities To Do This Week In Los Angeles

Get ready to party like it's 1999, or 1920! It's your choice this week. With a super fly club party celebrating all things 90's, and an evening of gin and jazz at a hidden speakeasy, there's plenty to do this week. Whatever your preferred decade, be sure to start your week with National Margarita Day at one of L.A.'s best margarita spots. There are plenty of stage and screen productions in store as well, with a chamber music performance of some French favorites, a screening plus Q&A with Pulitzer Prize winning foodie Jonathan Gold, "The Mystery of Love & Sex" starring some familiar faces, and LA Opera's highly anticipated and visually stunning "The Magic Flute."

Celebrate National Margarita Day
Various Locations

Whether you prefer your margarita frozen, on the rocks, or straight up, this simple yet versatile cocktail deserves it's own day. Cleo at The Redbury is celebrating the holiday with half-off their hand-crafted margaritas. Choose from the Mediterranean, made with House-Made Fig-Almond Syrup, or the Jasmine, made with pomegranate concentrate and finished with a Sal de Gusano rim. Over at Sausal, Chef Anne Connes is whipping up a traditional Rancho Margarita, as well as a Fresh Strawberry Margarita with blood orange juice, honey, and cinnamon-infused Campari. Mixology master and owner of Hey 19 Public House Demi Stevens will be serving up her signature award winning Passion Fruit Green Tea Margarita in honor of the holiday, while Gracias Madre in WeHo will offer a classic or jalapeno spiced Purista margarita, a juniper infused mezcal margarita with sparkling wine and a ball of frozen absinthe, and a fruity margarita with strawberry basil balsamic shrub and rose wine. For more great margs, check out our list of the Best Margaritas in Los Angeles.

Chamber Music From France
Walt Disney Concert Hall
111 S. Grand Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 972-7282
www.laphil.com

The LA Phil concludes their "City of Light" festival with an intimate chamber music performance of some French favorites. Ravel's "Duo for Violin and Cello" starts the concert off with a flourish, and is followed by Saint-Saens' historically popular and influential "Septet in E-Flat Major, Op. 65." Ravel bookends the night with a performance of his Mother Goose Suite, arranged by distinguished Los Angeles violist Roland Kato, and enhanced with a newly created multi-disciplinary installation. In true Parisian style, the evening will kick off with a complimentary wine-tasting reception, courtesy of Cobblestone Wine.

Jonathan Gold's "City of Gold" Screening + Q & A
Hammer Museum
10899 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90024
(310) 443-7000
hammer.ucla.edu

As the first food critic to win the Pulitzer Prize, Jonathan Gold knows a few things about where to eat. The Los Angeles Times writer, and regular on radio programs scours this great city of ours to find the best cuisine L.A. has to offer. From San Gabriel Valley holes-in-the-wall, to strip malls, to food trucks, Gold mines culinary greatness from every corner of the city. Tonight the Hammer Museum will screen his recent documentary that tells the story of not only some of Los Angeles' best ethnic cooking, but also how the chefs and owners of these eateries are building their American Dream. See the film tonight before it hits theaters March 11th, and take part in a special Q & A after the screening.

Gin + Jazz
Guest Room Speakeasy
1519 Wilshire Blvd.
Santa Monica, CA 90403
(310) 394-7722
www.estate1519.com

The roaring 20s are alive and well at Santa Monica's swanky speakeasy, Guest Room. Located above Estate Restaurant + Bar, the hidden speakeasy will host an evening of live music tonight, accompanied by cocktails featuring Martin Miller's Gin. From 8pm - 10pm, live jazz music will be provided by the Nu Movement Trio, and the specialty gin cocktails will be just $8. Guest Rooms' full cocktail menu will be available as well, offering creative twists on classics, as well as a 'select' menu of handcrafted drinks, like the Devil's Candy, a sinfully tasty combination of rye, sherry, and sour cherry bitters. Grab a drink, sit back in the Art Deco room, and transport yourself back to a time of jazz and ignored prohibition.

TUBTHUMP 90's Party
TUBTHUMP 90's Party
V Lounge
2020 Wilshire Blvd.
Santa Monica, CA 90403
www.clubtubthump.eventbrite.com

Get ready for crop tops and flannels, and prepare to party like it's 1999. Or, to party like any of the other 9 years preceding it. Club TUBTHUMP is bringing back all the best, and maybe a little bit of the worst of the 90's, to V Lounge in Santa Monica. DJ Richie Rich will help you bust a move to the top rock, grunge, hip hop, and pop tunes from the decade that gave us "MMMBop," "Smells Like Teen Spirit," and countless other classics and one-hit-wonders. Costume contests, games, and a photo booth will get everyone into the spirit, as will 90's-themed drink specials from 8pm - 10pm. Arrive before 11pm to avoid the cover charge, and get ready to "get jiggy wit it" at this decade-inspired party.

"The Mystery of Love & Sex"
Mark Taper Forum
135 N Grand Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 628-2772
www.centertheatregroup.org

Already a hit among audiences, "The Mystery of Love & Sex" is the story of four people whose lives are inextricably intertwined. College students Charlotte (Mae Whitman) and Jonny (York Walker) have been friends since they were nine years old, and are on the brink of taking their relationship to a romantic level. With the decision to take the leap, Charlotte must explain the situation to her parents, who not only do not receive the news well, but reveal that they've been keeping intimate secrets of their own. An explosive look at romance, race, and human connection in a world full of complicated differences, the play shows the insight and compassion that can come from our uncomfortable truths. The show runs through March 20th.

"The Magic Flute"
Dorothy Chandler Pavilion
135 N. Grand Ave.
Los Angeles, CA, 90012
(213) 972-3476
www.laopera.org

The highly anticipated revival of LA Opera's production of "The Magic Flute" is an absolute must see to believe show. The interaction between film animation and live-performing actors is the result of some amazing stage wizardry by director Barrie Kosky and British theater group 1927. Live singers incorporated onto what appears to be a movie screen transport audience members into an enchanted world where good faces the forces of darkness. Mozart's singspiel, an opera that includes both spoken and singing dialogue, is presented in German with projected english translations, and holds a delightful blend of high comedy and serious drama. As operas go, this is one that is sure to enchant young and old alike.