Trepany House at the Steve Allen Theater

Description

Tucked into Los Feliz's Center for Inquiry-West, the Trepany House at the Steve Allen Theater is an intimate performing venue that presents a wide array of concerts, plays, vaudeville and comedy. When the theater first began putting on shows, it focused on comedians like Dana Gould, Emo Philips, Mary Lynn Rajskub and Kids in the Hall, as well as theatrical productions and esoteric philosophical and metaphysical explorations by everyone from NASA scientists to members of the Church of Satan. Before long, the theater also brought in live musicians, including the daft ragtime diva Janet Klein, Lavender Diamond and the charming pop duo the Ditty Bops mingling with harder-edged sounds from Rancid and Dethklok. Added to the mix is the center's ongoing fascination with horror and film culture, with presentations and screenings by the likes of Toby Hooper, Joe Dante, David Cronenberg, Miranda July and James Franco. In homage to its namesake inspiration, the late comedian Steve Allen, the theater is an unusual nexus point of scientific curiosity and vaudevillian variety.