Nightlife

The Performing Arts

What's Playing -- The primary arts season begins in the fall and ends in the spring, but in the summer you can catch traveling performers, music festivals, and live music at the nightclubs and coffeehouses. To find out what's happening, check Friday's edition of the Anchorage Daily News, which has a section called "Play" that includes reviews and listings information in grid format. The website (http://play.adn.com) includes an exhaustive event calendar. The free weekly Anchorage Press, given away in racks all over town, also offers extensive event coverage aimed at a younger audience.

Buying Tickets -- Ticketmaster (tel. 907/562-4800; www.ticketmaster.com) handles the Sullivan Arena and Egan Civic and Convention Center, and sells tickets at Fred Meyer grocery stores. The Alaska Center for Performing Arts, at 631 W. 6th Ave. (www.alaskapac.org), operates its own ticket agency, CenterTix (tel. 907/263-ARTS or www.centertix.net). The call center and box office in the center are open Monday through Friday 9am to 5pm, Saturday noon to 5pm, and evenings prior to events.

Presenters -- The Anchorage Concert Association (tel. 907/272-1471; www.anchorageconcerts.org) offers a fall-through-spring schedule of classical music, theater, dance, and other performing arts. Whistling Swan Productions (www.whistlingswan.net) promotes folk and acoustic alternative performers in intimate venues all year. The Anchorage Symphony (tel. 907/274-8668; www.anchoragesymphony.org) performs during the winter season. Anchorage also has lots of community theater and opera, and limited professional theater, including the experimental Out North Contemporary Art House (tel. 907/279-3800; www.outnorth.org), which produces local shows and imports avant-garde performers. Downtown, Cyrano's Off Center Playhouse (tel. 907/274-2599; www.cyranos.org), at 4th Avenue and D Street, is a tiny theater with its own semiprofessional repertory company.

Nightclubs & Bars

I've mentioned some fun downtown bars in the walking tour, including Humpies, Darwin's Theory, and F Street Station. The hippest downtown club is Bernie's Bungalow Lounge, 626 D St. (tel. 907/276-8808), which grew from a little bungalow into a large, artsy playground with a backyard patio enclosed by a hedge. You can sometimes find foreign films, poetry readings, and similar cultural fare here, and, more often, you can socialize with people interested in such things.

Blues Central/Chef's Inn, 825 W. Northern Lights Blvd. (tel. 907/272-1341), long a showcase of the best blues performers available now, also presents imported rock acts, with live music virtually every night. Major blues names and up-and-coming national performers come through on a regular basis. Shows start at 9:30pm. They're also known for their beef.

The most famous bar in Anchorage, with the slogan, "We cheat the other guy and pass the savings on to you," is the huge Chilkoot Charlie's, at Spenard Road and Fireweed Lane (tel. 907/272-1010; www.koots.com). It has two stages, three dance floors, and 10 bars on different themes, including a historic old dive from the Seward Highway called the Bird House that was picked up and moved into the building. The place is huge and full of entertainment, like an adult Disneyland, but I find it claustrophobic when crowded, with its low ceilings and confusing layout. It's open every day of the year from 10:30am until after 2am. If you do go there late, avoid conflict and use caution when leaving, as it can be a wild crowd and rough neighborhood.

The Movies

A movie at the Bear Tooth Theatre Pub, at 1230 W. 27th Ave. (tel. 907/276-4200; www.beartooththeatre.net), is a chance to sit back with a big glass of craft brewed beer and a plate of nachos or a full dinner -- it feels a lot like watching at home except for the big screen and the other people around you in the dark. (Well, our home is usually a bit cleaner, but our cooking isn't as good.) The films tend to be independent or second run, either campy or deep. The dining choices include gourmet tacos, pizzas, and other hand-held selections. Everything is quite good. They also put on concerts monthly: Check the website. And now the fine print. Even bad movies sell out and there's often a crush. You must arrive quite early to find parking, get your ticket and seat, order your food and beer, and finish waiting in various lines before the movie starts. The staff brings the meal to you in the theater.

There are several multiplexes in Anchorage playing all the current Hollywood output; check the sources at the beginning of this section for listings and reviews. Century 16, 301 E. 36th Ave. (tel. 907/770-2602; www.cinemark.com) is an attractive, modern multiplex a reasonable cab ride from downtown.