There’s more to the allure of California than the west of Puccini fame. With Gustavo Dudamel at the helm of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, new Ring Cycles at both Los Angeles and San Francisco Operas, and a close collaboration between the San Francisco Symphony Chorus and San Francisco Symphony, there are plenty of opportunities for singers to strike musical gold.
In many respects, California’s two most popular cities for musicians are night and day: Los Angeles is a driver’s town while San Francisco boasts a reliable public transportation system. One city is known as a playground for Hollywood and its glitterati, the other has been a bohemian haven for the likes of Jack Kerouac and Oscar Wilde (we’ll let you guess which is which in that equation). However, both cities can be navigated on a rock-bottom budget—leaving singers stress free and ready to shine in their out-of-town auditions.
Go West, Young Man
For most New York-based singers, flying to the West Coast takes as much time (in some cases, even an extra hour or two) as flying to Europe. However, the prices are thankfully half the cost—or even cheaper. Virgin America consistently has the best priced flights from coast-to-coast, especially if you sign up for their newsletter of fare deals. Round-trips from New York to Los Angeles or San Francisco can cost as little as $250, taxes and fees included. Also on Virgin’s East Coast roster of hubs are Boston; Washington, D.C.; Fort Lauderdale; and Orlando—and the airline also has a base in San Diego. Starting next month, the airline will also feature California-bound flights from Dallas/Fort Worth. And if you’re hitting up both cities during your time in California, that’s another cheap flight.
What sets Virgin apart from other domestic budget airlines, however, is the amenities. While the company’s main airline, the posh Virgin Atlantic, does not hold a majority stake in the company, it is still a Richard Branson operation. Unlike the competition (who, in the words of budget guru Broke-Ass Stuart, haven’t “updated their fleet since the Gulf War”), the planes are clean and modern and offer a relaxing six-hour ride. There’s also fleet-wide WiFi, a sleek entertainment system, and self-serve water. Considering that most budget airlines keep their prices low by scrimping on amenities, Virgin is truly a steal.
Trains or Automobiles
Going out to Los Angeles means you need a set of wheels. However, there’s always more than one way to skin a cat—and more than one way to sit in traffic on the freeway. And chances are high that if you have a friend or a friend-of-a-friend in Los Angeles, they’re used to acting as a Sherpa for out-of-town visitors. Now’s the time to work your Facebook connections and offer to pay for gas and a few dinners in exchange for a ride to and from the airport and over to an audition or two.
Yet despite its rampant car culture, Los Angeles also has a rather solid bus system—one that can get you from Santa Monica to downtown Los Angeles without once forcing you to get behind the wheel. Get a $10 roll of quarters and shell out the extra few cents for a transfer (it’ll save you big in the end) and you should be good to get around for a weekend—and even have a few coins left over for a vending machine run or two. Metro.net has a comprehensive guide to buses and timetables along with a reliable trip planner.
Likewise, San Francisco has an impeccable public transportation system in BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit). Beyond the pay-per-ride BART Card—which charges per distance—BART has recently implemented the Clipper Card. For longer-term stays, the Clipper Card is the ideal way to get around on AC Transit, the Golden Gate Ferry and Transit, San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, BART, and commuter service Caltrain. It may not necessarily save you cash in terms of rides, but it is a centralized system that can save you from making several stops at the ticket machine each day. The prices from cheaper bordering towns Oakland and Berkeley are a cost-effective alternative to staying in San Francisco, though soprano (and Berkeley alum) Cara Consilvio recommends staying in the city proper when it comes to getting from point A to point B. “It’s still a trek,” she explains of the commute.
Hotel California
If you’re not taking advantage of a friend’s (or a Couch Surfer’s) sofa, there are still options for budget digs in the Golden State. Rooms in Hostelling International’s Santa Monica outpost (1434 2nd St. between Broadway and Santa Monica Blvd., hilosangeles.org) start at $26 a night ($29 for non-members) for an eight-person dorm with a shared bathroom. As is often the case in Tinseltown, location is everything, and HI delivers with an outpost directly off the Santa Monica Promenade.
Downtown L.A. can get a bit more dicey in terms of finding a cheap and reliable place to stay; however, the Stillwell (838 South Grand Ave. between W 8th and W 9th Sts., Stillwell-hotel.com) has rooms for about $75 a night and leaves you a short distance away from the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Likewise, the Historic Mayfair Hotel (1256 W 7th St. at Witmer St., mayfairla.com) offers similar rates and amenities. But since you’ll be a master of the Santa Monica and Los Angeles bus systems, take our advice and save your cash. Stick to the far more bucolic Santa Monica and use the beach-side location as an ideal place to study your scores.
HI’s standard and high-quality rooms are also scattered around San Francisco in the city center (685 Ellis St. at Larkin St.), downtown (312 Mason St. at O’Farrell St.) and by Fisherman’s Wharf (Fort Mason, Building 240 at Funston Rd., all locations at sfhostels.com) with rates ranging from $23 to $25 per night ($26 to $28 per night for non-members) in the three locations. If your hostelling days are over, the Hotel Beresford (635 Sutter St. between Taylor and Mason) have rates starting at $84 for clean and comfortable rooms a quick walk away from the War Memorial Opera House.
From Models to Foodies
As mentioned in a previous “$50 Week,” San Francisco’s foodie culture trickles down into cheap eats—from burritos in the Mission District to grabbing a slice in North Beach (the stands may not be as multifarious here as they are in New York, Consilvio notes, but there are some great options—including numerous kaiten sushi bars). Trader Joe’s—both in Los Angeles and San Francisco—also have some of the best options for cheap eats that don’t require a kitchen—perfect for hotel stays.
Quite possibly the best brunch option in the Bay Area, however, is the Sunday brunch at Berkeley’s Wat Mongkolratanaram (1911 Russell St. between Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Otis St.). Get in line early for tokens, which cost $1 a piece and can then be used for comestibles like papaya salad (five tokens), knom krog (four tokens), mango sticky rice (five tokens), and Thai iced tea (one token). If with a friend, 20 tokens will net you a three-item combo that also includes beef noodle soup, two Thai iced teas, and a coconut dessert. It’s enough food to get you through to next Sunday.
Los Angeles is also a haven for Asian food and remains one of the best cities to get cheap sushi, particularly in Little Tokyo and on Sawtelle Blvd. Kaiten-Sushi Daichan (11301 West Olympic Blvd. at Sawtelle, kaitensushidaichan.com) offers some of the best conveyor-belt sushi with fresh fish prepared by master sushi chefs. Color-coding dictates the price on plates, from deluxe rolls (gold plates) at $5.75 to the least expensive selections like simple rolls and seaweed salad (blue and yellow plates) for $2.50. Also on Sawtelle is Asahi Ramen (2027 Sawtelle Blvd. between La Grange and Mississippi Aves., asahiramen.com), which boasts large bowls of noodles for well under $10.
Downtown Los Angeles is also home to low-budget, high-quality rolls courtesy of Sushi Go 55 (333 South Alameda St. at E 3rd St. in the Alameda St. shopping center, sushigo55.com). Owned by the Morishita family, dubbed “the First Family of Sushi,” some incarnation of this restaurant has existed in Little Tokyo for the last six decades. With such a pedigree, you’d expect their sushi sampler, whose five pieces of nigiri sushi plus a blue crab hand roll will fuel you for the afternoon, to cost more than $11.50. That will leave you with enough money to treat yourself to a $5 Moscow Mule from Copa d’Oro (217 Broadway at 2nd St., copadoro.com), a mixology bar close to Hostelling International and a favorite of those Angeleno budget pioneers, the Hollywood Assistants. (For more recommendations on that front, visit stuffhollywoodassistantslike.com.)
