REDCAT

REDCAT is the downtown home of CalArts, and it lives inside the Walt Disney Concert Hall complex at 631 W 2nd St. Don't climb the big Grand Avenue steps, though. The street entrance is on 2nd Street, at the northeast corner of 2nd and Hope, under a Frank Gehry marquee of curved stainless steel and neon, and it opens straight onto the lobby level with the gallery and the lounge.

The theater is a flexible black box that seats up to 250. The stage can be set as a thrust, an end stage or fully in the round, so the room changes shape from one booking to the next. The venue says the theater is built as a steel box within a box that floats on 72 rubber pads to keep street noise out, and that Yasuhisa Toyota, the acoustician for the concert hall next door, tuned the sound. The calendar runs to contemporary dance, theater, screenings and new music, and jazz series book the room too.

Seating is open and unassigned, so arrive about 30 minutes before show time. Late seating isn't guaranteed. The box office at the corner of 2nd and Hope opens two hours before each performance, tickets are non-refundable, and the lounge bar opens two hours before the show as well. The gallery is free and needs no reservation.

Parking is in the Walt Disney Concert Hall garage. Enter from 2nd Street and head down to level P3, which connects to the REDCAT lobby by elevator. Weekday rates run $20 maximum before 4:30 PM and $10 after; weekends are $10 all day. The Metro Grand Av Arts/Bunker Hill station is right across the street, which beats the garage on a sold-out night.