LOS ANGELES – Three dozen searchlights slashed the night sky. Below, multiple, bigger-than-life LCD screens on six gigantic towers flashed high-energy clips, a techno beat throbbed – and 22,000 hip, happy people buzzed with anticipation.

REED SAXON / Associated Press Nokia Plaza, at the heart of L.A. LIVE, is giving new life to Los Angeles' once dismal South Park neighborhood.

ALISON DaROSA The new 7,100-seat Nokia Theatre is the latest addition to the redevelopment puzzle that's L.A. LIVE - and the current hot spot for night life in downtown L.A.

The setting was Nokia Plaza at L.A. LIVE – the newly revived heart of this city's reborn downtown.

About 16,000 jeans-clad boomers and their younger counterparts headed into the Staples Center to rock with Van Halen. Across the street, a stylin' crowd – including Magic Johnson and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa – converged on the recently opened 7,100-seat Nokia Theatre to feel the hip-hop heat of Mary J. Blige.

“It's hard to believe it's a Tuesday night,” said Robin McClain, a 30-something Los Angeles resident. “All these people. All this fun. All in this place.” Not so many years ago, most of the 22,000 here wouldn't have dreamed of setting foot in this part of downtown at night. It was, in most minds anyway, the epitome of all things San Diegans love to hate about Los Angeles: dark, dirty and dangerous.

“Up until 10 years ago, I don't think I'd been downtown once,” said Michael Roth, a native Angeleno.

Today, Roth spends most of his life downtown. He works for AEG (Anschutz Entertainment Group), the company that started the resuscitation of this South Park neighborhood when it opened the Staples Center here in October 1999. It was the first piece in the 35-acre redevelopment puzzle that's L.A. LIVE – a scene projected to become as recognizable worldwide as Times Square in New York.

Content is king

“It's all about live entertainment,” Roth said. “It's about creating content.”

ALISON DaROSA Her highness of hip-hop, Mary J. Blige, strutted on stage at the intimate new Nokia Theatre during a recent concert. All seats in the showroom are within 220 feet of the stage. L.A. LIVE TIMELINE Open now: The 7,100-seat Nokia Theatre and 40,000-square-foot open-air Nokia Plaza. Late 2008: Restaurants open, including Katsuya, Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar, The Farm of Beverly Hills, Yard House, Rosa Mexicano, New Zealand Deli Boys, ESPN Zone and a Wolfgang Puck restaurant. Also scheduled to open then: a Grammy Museum, Club Nokia, Conga Room, Lucky Strike Lanes, ESPN West Coast studios. Early 2010: JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels, Ritz-Carlton Residences, Regal Cinemas multiplex.

Meet the latest oh-so-L.A. buzzword: Content.

“Content would be programming,” Roth explained. “It's about activity, about performances. The sky's the limit.”

Lots more “magical, in the moment” content – more than 3.5 million square feet of it – is planned at L.A. LIVE.

Just about 10 months from now, Club Nokia will open on the site. Its 2,300-seat music venue will be a stage for up-and-coming artists. “After they make it at the club, they'll move up to the Nokia Theatre, then on to the Staples arena – which accommodates up to 18,000 for concerts,” said Bill Karz, editor at LA Inc. “Then, hopefully they'll move into the Grammy Museum (set to open at L.A. LIVE in October, 2008). It's a full circle.”

Proven content pleasers Jennifer Lopez and Jimmy Smits are climbing aboard the L.A. LIVE train. They closed their Conga Room supper club in Hollywood and will reopen the celeb-hot showplace, a favorite of Latin music and salsa fans, at L.A. LIVE. The opening is planned in early fall.

If salsa's not your beat, how about bowling? Lucky Strike Lanes, an ultra-hip nouveau bowling alley – with a bar and comfort food – will join the scene in October.

Film fans will get a 14-screen Regal Cinemas multiplex – but not until late 2009 or 2010.

Wolfgang Puck says he'll open a restaurant at L.A. LIVE in fall 2008, but he hasn't yet defined the concept, er content.

Others planning to open restaurants here by fall: Rosa Mexicano, a chain of upscale gourmet Mexican restaurants; Katsuya, for the super-chic sushi set; The Farm of Beverly Hills, known for it home-style American food; Yard House, where brew fans can sample more than 250 beers on tap; Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar and New Zealand Deli Boys.

GUS RUELAS / Associated Press The Eagles headlined the first concert, in October, at L.A. LIVE's Nokia Theatre. On stage (from left, foreground) Timothy B. Schmit, Don Henley and Glenn Frey.

The way cool ESPN Zone will be “the nirvana of sports bars,” when it opens in fall 2008, Roth pledged.

ESPN is signed as a major player at L.A. LIVE. The company plans to open West Coast headquarters on the site, with major TV, radio and online broadcast studios.

“It'll be a scene,” Roth promised.

A scene that will be beamed into living rooms – and onto e-screens – around the world. And not just to ESPN fans.

“We'll have a studio above Nokia Plaza that will be avail able for rent – for programs like 'Good Morning America' the '(NBC) Nightly News,' even Leno or Oprah,” Roth said. “The L.A. LIVE backdrop will become so familiar, there will be no need to identify it. Because of the content campus, you'll know where you are. It'll become as familiar a scene across America and around the world as New York's Times Square.”

Hotels and condos

ALISON DaROSA No, it's not Casablanca. The Figueroa Hotel, a former YWCA, is among exotic places to stay in downtown Los Angeles.

Although the downtown convention center is just steps from L.A. LIVE, there are only 800 hotel rooms within walking distance of the facility, and there are no five-star hotels in the neighborhood, Roth said.

By early 2010, that'll change. That's when an 878-room JW Marriott Hotel and a 123-room Ritz-Carlton are expected to open at L.A. LIVE. The Ritz tower will be topped with 224 Ritz-Carlton Residences; the luxury condos will occupy the 27th through 54th floors.

“They'll sell for $2 million to $6 million each,” Roth said. “Owners will get full use of all hotel amenities: pool, spa, concierge, room service and parking valet.”

Roth said 70 percent of the Ritz Residences are reserved – with full deposits down on more than half.

Here and now

So much for the future. What about here and now?

“We didn't even have a supermarket until three months ago,” said Roth. “But already the food court at the Ralphs is the chain's highest grossing in California.”

When L.A. LIVE is built out, its attractions are expected to draw an additional 13.5 million people annually to downtown, said Mark Liberman, president and CEO of the Los Angeles Convention and Visitors Bureau.

“It's happening,” Roth said. “Staples was the force that started it all. Content is driving it. It's building, getting bigger, stronger. What we have right here, right now, is the perfect storm. Content is king.”

Later that night, inside the intimate new Nokia Theatre, where no seat is more than 220 feet from the stage, Mary J. Blige was queen. Her highness of hip-hop mesmerized her subjects. She electrified them. Fans got funky in the aisles: jiving, bumping, grinding with seatmates who became soul mates – for the duration of the show, anyway.

It was one crowd that was very content – with the content.

STAYING THERE

These hotels are in downtown Los Angeles, within walking distance of the new Nokia Theatre and L.A. LIVE:

Figueroa Hotel

939 S. Figueroa St.

Rates: $134-$245

The scoop: Popular 12-story, 285-room Moroccan-themed hotel. Exotic Verandah bar, pool and whirlpool spa.

Details: figueroahotel.com, (800) 421-9092.

Wilshire Grand Los Angeles

930 Wilshire Blvd.

Rates: $137-$264

The scoop: 900 rooms, 24-hour pool and fitness center, four international restaurants and the high-energy Point Moorea bar. Ask about package deals.

Details: wilshiregrand.com, (888) 773-2888.

Millennium Biltmore Hotel

506 S. Grand Ave.

Rates: $118-$425

The scoop: Landmark hotel with 683 rooms, 24-hour fitness center, five international restaurants and bars, and an array of concierge services.

Details: thebiltmore.com, (213) 624-1011.

Orchid Hotel

819 S. Flower St.

Rates: $135-$200

The scoop: Renewed and resplendent, this historic 68-room 1920s boutique hotel reopened this year after major upgrades. Spanish dining room/bar and spa with six treatment rooms.

Details: ohotelgroup.com, (213) 623-9904.

The Standard Downtown LA

550 S. Flower St.

Rates: $225-$495

The scoop: Hip and sophisticated with a sense of playfulness. Fitness center, rooftop pool, restaurant open 24/7. Very cool roof-top lounge/dance venue for after-hours.

Details: standardhotel.com, (213) 892-8080

Omni Los Angeles at California Plaza

251 S. Olive St.

Rates: $199-$289

The scoop: 453 rooms in a 17-story tower atop Bunker Hill. Fitness center, outdoor pool, European-style spa offering a range of treatments, two restaurants and bar.

Details: omnihotels.com, (213) 617-3300.

PLAYING THERE

These after-hours lounges are among the places for post-concert fun and games in downtown Los Angeles. All are within walking distance of the new Nokia Theatre and L.A. LIVE:

Elevate Lounge

811 Wilshire Blvd., 21st floor

Hours: Wednesdays through Saturdays, 9 p.m.-3 a.m.

The scoop: Opened this summer, the stylish lounge features VIP seating, a dance floor, two bars and DJs spinning nightly.

Details: elevatelounge.com, (213) 236-9600.

Seven Grand Whiskey Bar

515 W. Seventh St., second floor

Hours: Mondays through Fridays, 4 p.m.-2 a.m.; Saturdays, 8 p.m.-2 a.m.

The scoop: This high-end whiskey lounge features 120 whiskeys and several quirky elements that include plaid fabric and taxidermy.

Details: sevengrand.la/, (213) 614-0737

The Edison Lounge

108 W. Second St.

Hours: Wednesdays through Fridays, 5 p.m.-2 a.m.; Saturdays, 6 p.m.-2 a.m.

The scoop: Classic made-from-scratch cocktails with live music and stage entertainment. Housed in refined industrial architecture that reflects the nostalgia of the turn of the 20th century.

Details: edisondowntown.com, (213) 613-0000.

Library Bar

630 W. Sixth St., No. 116A

Hours: Weekdays, 3 p.m.-2 a.m.; Weekends, 7 p.m.-2 a.m.

The scoop: Upscale cocktail lounge/pub in the Financial District with an esoteric beer and wine selection. Peruse library bookshelves; listen to Jimi Hendrix and The Who on the jukebox.

Details: librarybarla.com/, (213) 614-0053

Standard Hotel Rooftop Bar

550 S. Flower St.

Hours: Daily, noon-1:30 a.m.

The scoop: Scenic rooftop bar/lounge with an infinity edge swimming pool, water-bed cabanas and a nightly DJ.

Details: standardhotel.com, (213) 892-8080

J Restaurant & Lounge

1119 S. Olive St.

Hours: Daily, 11:30 a.m.-2 a.m.

The scoop: Upscale lounge with a 30-foot-long bar with signature cocktails, bottle service, an open-air cigar lounge, patio fire pit and cabanas.

Details: jloungela.com, (213) 746-7746

NOKIA THEATRE

Here's a sampling of what's coming up on stage at Los Angeles' Nokia Theatre:

George Lopez – Dec. 31

Chinese New Year Spectacular – Jan. 18–20

Willie Nelson – Feb. 13

Aretha Franklin – Feb. 14-15

Russell Peters – Feb. 16

Teena Marie, Keith Sweat – Feb. 17

Conjunto Primavera – Feb. 22

Larry the Cable Guy – March 1

RBD – March 2

The Moody Blues – March 11

Juanes – May 7, 9

– ALISON DaROSA