Our critics pick spring's most anticipated L.A. arts, theater, classical music, pop and comedy shows by Christopher Knight, Mark Swed, Charles McNulty, Mikael Wood, August Brown, Nate Jackson

Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar/SZA, Ali Wong, Ricky Gervais, Buddhist art, a queer photography retrospective, the Ojai and Seoul (in L.A.!) music festivals, "Life of Pi" and "Hamlet" highlight our…