BroadStage

BroadStage sits inside the Santa Monica College Performing Arts Center at 1310 11th Street, a few blocks from the 17th Street/SMC Metro station. The main room, the Eli and Edythe Broad Stage, seats 535 and was built to give a mid-size audience the acoustics of a much bigger hall. Two smaller spaces sit alongside it: the Edye, a black box used for theatre and intimate music, and the Plaza, an indoor-outdoor area that hosts live music and community nights.

The season is curated rather than booked, so the calendar reads like a presenter's rather than a promoter's. Classical music and jazz make up much of it, alongside dance companies, theatre co-productions, opera recitals, National Geographic Live talks and family shows. If you are looking for a club night, this is the wrong building. The loudest thing here is usually an orchestra at full tilt, and the crowd sits down.

A couple of things to know before you go. Latecomers are seated at house management's discretion, and the doors may stay shut until a break in the program, so arriving on time matters more than it does at a rock show. The lot in front of the theater is free but small, and the surrounding blocks are metered, which makes the train the easier option on a busy night. Tickets are non-refundable unless a performance is cancelled, though exchanges are available for a fee.