Marquees glow at night with "We Hope to See You Soon!" messages, and sidewalks that were formerly cluttered with lines stretching down the street remain empty. Los Angeles' live music venues are at the heart of the city's culture and entertainment, and for the first time, seats are empty.

On a Sunday evening, typically a slow business day for the movies, the Regency Theaters Drive-In, also known as The Plant, had a half-full parking lot of cars. Couples and families settled in as the lights dimmed. The screen came to life with 20th Century Studios’ newest movie, “The New Mutants.”

Showing up to the Center for Media and Design on March 12 felt unlike any other day at Santa Monica College.

Science has shown that, “Thinking positive, happy, hopeful and optimistic thoughts decreases Cortisol [the body’s stress hormone] and produces Serotonin [the body’s natural anti-depressant], which creates a sense of well-being. This helps the brain function at peak capacity.”

During a time when many Performing Arts Centers are unsure about what the next season may hold, Rob Bailis, Artistic and Executive Director of The Broad Stage, along with Santa Monica College (SMC) Superintendent Dr. Kathryn Jeffery, and The Broad Stage Board President Richard Kendall, announce The Broad Stage’s impressive 2020/21 Season.

Parks and Rec fans got a treat early into US quarantine when the sitcom returned for a special new episode that was filmed via video chat.

The already-vulnerable world of the arts is taking more hits per COVID-19. Viruses thrive from crowds, as do arts and culture.

In response to the COVID-19 Social Distancing Order, The Broad Stage in Santa Monica, SMC’s shared performance Hall, began their Broad Stage at Home initiative, which includes weekly live music performances and Poetry readings streamed on the The Broad Stage Facebook page.

The PPE shortage has inspired community innovation. CrashSpace is a collection of volunteer hackers, programmers, builders, makers, artists and people who generally like to break things and see what new things they can build with the pieces.

For the first time in 98 years, the Hollywood Bowl is cancelling its summer season.

Self-help books are typically filled with sickening positive affirmations, foggily ethereal advice, or just straight up condescension. Sarah Night, self proclaimed "anti-guru" and author of "Calm the %*@# Down", has, however, catered to the market of people who absolutely abhor being told what to do, the crowd that prefers their information blunt and pragmatic.

Current sheltering-in-place may be to blame for Los Angeles Animal Shelters quickly running out of adoptable animals. So many people are trying to adopt or foster animals right now, that shelters are actually having trouble meeting the demand.

Celebrities have come together online to sing to you again, but this time it’s for a cause.

Staten Island's funny, yet dim-witted vampires are back for season 2 to deliver some much needed humor into people's homes.

The art of writing a catchy tune in this era of grim news is a special talent. Ryan Bratton shows this talent as a songwriter and producer. Bratton started a virtual rock group named The QuaranTeens™. He wrote and produced a humorous song called "Coronavirus Song" (COVID-19). The QuaranTeens’ song was then uploaded to YouTube as an official video.

Craig Zobel’s The Hunt has had quite the bad luck with its struggle of scoring a release date. The satirical horror film has been controversial with its graphic use of violence and dark humor, making it difficult for Universal and Blumhouse to release it.

These last few weeks are creating a new normal in the U.S, from businesses, to the lives of its citizens and even how people use the bathroom. In this hectic time all people can do is toi-let things run their course.

As college campuses across the country are sending students home for the remainder of the semester, many have found themselves with a bit more time on their hands than they had originally anticipated. While there are plenty of ways to stay productive - reading a book, organizing your room, going on a social distanced walk around the neighborhood - giving the brain a break has its benefits as well.

Life’s a beach. Or, it was for Californians before social distancing- defined for the first time this month by Merriam’s Webster as “the practice of maintaining a greater than usual physical distance from other people or of avoiding direct contact with people or objects in public places during the outbreak of a contagious disease in order to minimize exposure and reduce the transmission of infection.”

In the wake of the coronavirus, the SMC Music Department was severely affected as the challenge to transition such physical classes was immense. Performances were forced to cancel, along with some music classes. Now, they only meet online as they continue to spread the power of melody but it is not the same.