Love Actually in Concert

December in Los Angeles has no shortage of things to do, but few LA concerts combine a full live orchestra with one of the most re-watched films of the past two decades. Love Actually in Concert lands at Peacock Theater on December 18, placing the Richard Curtis classic on a massive screen while a live ensemble performs the score from the floor below.

The format has become a holiday staple for good reason. Alan Rickman's restrained devastation, Emma Thompson's kitchen crying scene, the cue cards, the school nativity disaster: every moment lands differently when Joby Talbot's music swells around you from real instruments rather than your television's speakers. The orchestral arrangement includes the full sweep of the soundtrack, from the dreamy title theme to the chaotic airport sprint finale.

Peacock Theater sits at 777 Chick Hearn Court, next to Crypto.com Arena in the South Park section of downtown. It holds around 7,000 seats and has clear sightlines from most of the house, which matters when you're splitting attention between screen and stage. If you're coming from outside downtown, the Metro Blue and Expo lines stop at Pico Station about a five-minute walk away, and there's structured parking in the LA Live complex attached to the venue.

This is the kind of live music Los Angeles does well: spectacle with substance. The film-in-concert format rewards rewatchers more than first-timers, since you can let the music wash over you without tracking the plot. Bring someone who already knows every scene by heart.

Tickets are on sale through Ticketmaster. The show starts at 8 p.m. and runs roughly two hours with the film's 135-minute runtime. Treat it as concerts in Los Angeles go during the holidays: book early if you want decent seats, because the combination of a beloved IP and a reliable venue tends to sell faster than it looks.

More concerts and upcoming events in Los Angeles are on the site if you want to plan the rest of your December.