Los Angeles: What to See & Do: Performing Arts: Walt Disney Concert Hall

Walt Disney Concert Hall

Many feel that this Frank Gehry wonder in the heart of downtown is “L.A.’s Bilbao”—a spectacular stainless-steel structure of multiple curving façades, on a par with the architect’s acclaimed Guggenheim Bilbao. The Douglas Fir–paneled interior is also worth seeing; unfortunately, the state-of-the-art auditorium itself is almost always in use, and is usually off-limits to tours. Audio tours of the rest of the concert hall (both self-guided and in groups), narrated by John Lithgow and featuring commentary by Gehry and, Diane Disney Miller (Walt’s daughter), are available every weekday but Tuesday between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. (Group tours are usually with a guide, but if a group wanted to include an audio tour, it can be arranged.) The concert hall is also home to the Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater, familiarly known as REDCAT (www.redcat.org), dedicated to cutting-edge music, theater, film and video. There are a number of dining options at both the Disney Hall and the Music Center’s three theaters across 1st Street. The best, and by far the most expensive in the center, restaurant is Patina (not a Gehry design), situated inside Disney Concert Hall and offering beautifully presented nouvelle cuisine for lunch through late supper. Off campus (if you will), you can walk to California Pizza Kitchen (330 S. Hope St.; www.cpk.com) for a quick bite, which even opera-goers do. Café Pinot (700 W. 5th St.; 213-239-6500; wwwcafepinot.com), with its fine bistro fare and unique location in front of the landmark Beaux Arts–style Los Angeles Central Library (also worth visiting), is a few blocks away, but free evening shuttle service is available to and from Disney Hall and the Music Center.