Performances Magazine | Pasadena Playhouse, October 2025
contents
P1 Program
Cast, performances, who’s who, director’s notes and donors
6 In the Wings
The new Glorya Kaufman Community Center at the Wende Museum; UnRavelled at the Walllis in Beverly Hills; Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles new season.
12 Immigrant Stories are American Stories
Plays about immigrant experiences by lauded playwrights come to Mark Taper Forum, Geffen Playhouse and South Coast Repertory.
20 A Palette of Possibilities
Christine Markatos Lowe specializes in thoughtfully tailored interiors with colorful sensibilities.
28 Georgia on My Mind
One of greater L.A.’s rare Georgian restaurants debuts in Pasadena, showcasing an underappreciated European cuisine.
40 Parting Thought
Performances’ program platform for shows and concerts can be accessed from any digital device.
Passion Meets Purpose
Community Gift
MADE POSSIBLE BY its namesake late philanthropist, the new Glorya Kaufman Community Center transforms a dormant building adjacent to the Wende Museum into a vibrant mixed-use cultural and educational facility including a theater, classrooms, “learning garden” and community gathering spaces. Diverse programs, all free, include courses on illustrating children’s books and smartphone film-making and Wellness Wednesdays. Additional support for the center came from nearly a dozen benefactors including the city of Culver City and the Ahmanson Foundation. The Wende is an art museum, cultural center and archive “dedicated to bringing history to life.” Two exhibitions launch this month: Enrique Martinez Celaya: The Sextant, about cultural, architectural and emotional responses to the Cold War in the Caribbean, and Intersections: The Architecture of Victor Adegbite and Charles Polónyi in Ghana, focusing on socialist-era designs in that country. 10808 Culver Blvd., Culver City, 310.216.1600, wendemuseum.org
MUSEUM
Glorya Kaufman Community Center at the Wende Museum and, opposite, its theater
THEATER
MindBoggling Brilliance
Q. WHAT DO American actor Bruce Willis, French composer Maurice Ravel and Canadian biologist Anne Adams have in common? A. All were diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia, the most common type of dementia in people under age 60. Ravel and Adams created crowning artistic achievements while in the throes of FTD; they are the subject of a new play by award-winning playwright Jake Broder. UnRavelled, Oct. 17-19 at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, is based on the true story of a painting inexorably linked to a musical masterwork—Ravel’s Bolero. Stars include Lucy Davenport, Andrew Borba, Larry Poindexter, Leo Marks and Tracey A. Leigh. Dr. Adams and Ravel lived with the same brain disease a half century apart. Boléro was among the last works Ravel completed before dementia stripped him of his ability to compose. 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills, 310.246.3800, thewallis.org
Clockwise from above: music ensemble with projections of artworks by Anne Adams; Adams’ Unravelling Bolero, Figure 1 and pi; Lucy Davenport as Adams
The connection to the Michele of many, many years ago is still very important. The innocence, the joy, the freedom, the laughter, all of those things still resonate with me as an adult. I came here with some stuff, and I left without the baggage. I find myself at peace, centered in my life, and ready to take on the world.
See Michele’s story and others at
Michele, age 57 Strategic Joy Executive
The Iconic Retreat
MUCH TO CELEBRATE
“A SEASON OF Celebration” has been announced by the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles: it includes three concerts in Los Angeles followed by the ensemble’s Amsterdam World Pride and London tour. Local concerts, at the historic Saban Theatre, include “Holiday Legends”
MUSIC
Dec. 13-14; “And the Beat Goes On,” featuring R&B, Motown and gospel, Mar. 21-22; and the finale and gala, “Declarations of Independence,” celebrating freedom, Pride and the 250th birthday of our country, June 27-28. Music director and conductor Ernest H. Harrison leads nearly 200 chorus members in those concerts and on the European
tour in late July and early August. The Chorus is one of five ensembles invited to perform at World Pride, hosted for the first time in Amsterdam and including a concert at the Concertgebouw. London performances take place at the Actors’ Church in historic Covent Garden. 8440 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, 888.645.5006, gmcla.org
Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles at Walt Disney Concert Hall in 2023
KEEP ON BEING THE INSPIRATION
Our history is rich with firsts. Like being the first to identify the AIDS virus and performing the world’s first human bladder transplant. Every step forward is more than a milestone. It’s proof that when we rise, we lift others too.
JAJA’S PHOTOS
T. CHARLES ERICKSON. OPPOSITE: AARON RUMLEY, TOP, AND COREY
OLSEN,
BOTTOM
Above: Melanie Brezill in Jaja’s African Hair Braiding at Mark Taper Forum. Opposite from top: Marielle Young and Jin Park in North Coast Rep’s recent production of The Heart Sellers, now at South Coast Repertory; Bisserat Tseggai and Mia Ellis in Jaja’s African Hair Braiding; and playwright Rudi Globen, whose littleboy/littleman is at Geffen Playhouse.
IMMIGRANT
ARE AMERICAN STORIES STORIES
Plays about distinctive immigrant experiences by three lauded playwrights come to major theaters. by SHERRY STERN
WHEN LIN-MANUEL MIRANDA
wrote the memorable line
“Immigrants: We get the job done” more than a decade ago, the lyric amused him.
He had no idea it would go on to stir Hamilton audiences performance after performance, year in and year out.
“Why does it get such a delighted response? Because it’s true,” Miranda writes in Hamilton: The Revolution.
Let’s consider these immigrants: Hair braiders
“I’ve been getting my hair braided since I was four or five years old, so I have spent a ton of time in hair-braiding shops.... I had a lot of stories.”
—Jocelyn Bioh
transplanted from West Africa. Nicaraguan brothers striving to make a life in Miami. Young Asian women navigating a new country in the 1970s.
Their stories will play out on major Southern California stages this fall—not to mention the ongoing touring of Hamilton, about our Founding Father from Nevis, which played at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa last spring.
Each set of characters seeks their interpretation of the American Dream,
making the stories both specific and universal.
Jocelyn Bioh crafted Jaja’s African Hair Braiding, at the Mark Taper Forum through Nov. 9, about an essential community in her life: a Manhattan salon and its spirted cast of characters.
“I’ve been getting my hair braided since I was about four or five years old,” Bioh says. “So I have spent a ton of time in hair-braiding shops of all different varieties. I had a lot of stories.”
It was only natural that some of the women
inhabiting Jaja’s African Hair Braiding would be immigrants. Bioh’s parents came to the United States from Ghana in 1968. “African” is right there in the shop’s name.
As she began the initial draft in 2019, deportation was a brewing flashpoint. Everyone had an opinion.
“There was a lot of conversation about immigrants and who was coming to the country, what they were doing here,” she recalls.
Being a first-generation child herself, she says, “I wanted to humanize
T. CHARLES ERICKSON. BIOH PORTRAIT, JD BARNES
From left, Awa Sal Secka, Jordan Rice and Tiffany Renee Johnson in Jocelyn Bioh’s Jaja’s African Hair Braiding
WESTSIDE BALLET OF SANTA MONICA PRESENTS
ROMAN MEJIA, NEW YORK CITY BALLET NOV. 29 & 30
NOVEMBER 29 — DECEMBER 7, 2025 1PM & 5PM ACCOMPANIED BY THE SANTA MONICA COLLEGE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
SPECIAL GUEST STARS TILER PECK AND FOR TICKETS
ONE DAY WITH THE SUGARPLUM FAIRY, TILER PECK
NOVEMBER 30, 2025
the people behind these policies.”
What Bioh couldn’t have known was how her Tony-nominated play would hit differently as the country changed.
“When I wrote the play, we were in a different administration,”
she recalls. “We were in the first leg of the current administration.
“When the play ended up on Broadway, we had a different president—and in many ways the play felt like just the teeniest bit of a relic.
Like, ‘Oh, wow, thank
God we’re past that.’
“Now, a year later, the play goes on tour and the administration that existed when I wrote it is back in power. Ultimately, it has made the play feel pretty timely and timeless at the same time.”
Rudi Goblen’s new play littleboy/littleman, at Geffen Playhouse through Nov. 2, explores the lives of Nicaraguan brothers who have colliding visions of pursuing the American dream.
Says Goblen, “I wanted to explore two brothers trying to hold onto each other while growing in opposite directions—one reaching to escape, the
other trying to protect what’s already here.”
As with many of Goblen’s works, littleboy/ littleman uses poetry and music, which he says are not embellishments.
“They’re the language I think in,” he says. “I come from dance, spoken word, hip-hop and ritual, where rhythm isn’t just heard but lived. Cadence, breath and lyricism shape how I build scenes, worlds and the characters that live in them.”
Goblen is a much lauded artist: a 2025 USA Fellow, Colman Domingo Award recipient, three-time winner of Kennedy
AARON RUMLEY, TOP, AND JEFF LORCH
Marielle Young and Jin Park in North Coast Rep’s The Heart Sellers. Below, littleboy/ littleman’s Marlon Alexander Vargas and Alex Hernandez.
“THE IMPACT OF A DONOR’S GIFT IS AMPLIFIED BY ITS ABILITY TO CHANGE THE CITY”
The Music Center Foundation was established in 1973 by Dorothy Bu um Chandler to provide endowment support to The Music Center, its educational activities, dance programs, and its four Resident Company campus partners: Center Theatre Group, LA Master Chorale, LA Opera, and LA Philharmonic.
Lifting up the performing arts in Los Angeles is a unique opportunity that we can take on together. By making a gift through the Foundation, you can be a part of supporting inspirational new work that threads our community together through a vibrant, emotional connection to the performing arts.
In the spirit of Mrs. Chandler, the impact of a donor’s gift is amplified by its ability to change Los Angeles.
To learn more about how to leave a lasting legacy with the Music Center Foundation, contact Joanna Calabrese: 213-972-8047, jcalabrese@musiccenterfoundation.org
For more information on the Music Center Foundation musiccenterfoundation.org
THE FOUNTAIN OF you
“The
—Lloyd Suh
Center awards, plus many other accolades.
He finds meaning in the arrival of these plays in Southern California at this time.
“Whether by design or intuition, it’s a beautiful alignment,” Goblen says.
“There is a real hunger from theatergoers, artists and institutions for stories that reflect the nuanced makeup of this country.
“Immigrant stories are American stories. They deserve to be inside any major theater.”
Yet all three playwrights set out to write plays about characters, not issues.
“These plays speak not
Celebrating our Past, Present, and Future: 20 Years of Los Angeles Ballet
Rubies
Frank Bridge Variations
World Premiere by Melissa Barak
January 29-31, 2026
The Wallis
2025/2026 Season
Giselle April 30-May 3, 2026
Ahmanson Theatre
The Nutcracker December 12-28, 2025
Royce Hall at UCLA
Dolby Theatre
Learn more losangelesballet.org
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WELCOME
You are about to embark on a theatrical adventure! ha ha ha ha ha ha ha is unlike any other show we've presented on our stage in our 100+ year history. It is deeply of the moment because, well, it is invented IN the moment every night with you, our audience, in the starring role.
Since our founding, we have been at the leading edge of the theater world with innovations in new work, community engagement, and the creation of our building itself. This show continues that important mission, while also embracing something more pure and fundamental to our purpose here.
At our core, Pasadena Playhouse is about bringing people together. We do this nightly in our theater, in our classrooms for kids and adults, and throughout our community. We create connections among people with different backgrounds, viewpoints, and experiences in one common space. As our society grows more polarized, coming together with others has become more rare and more essential than ever.
Julia Masli understands the power of people connecting. Her show is truly unique so we had to bring her here for you to experience it. On the surface, her antics are zany and fun. But don’t be mistaken! Through the absurd, she reveals how the world could be despite the way it is.
We're glad that you are here,
DANNY FELDMAN Producing Artistic Director
DANNY FELDMAN
Producing Artistic Director Presents
OCT 15 – NOV 9, 2025
A Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company Touring Production
HA HA HA HA HA ha ha
Lighting Design LILY WOODFORD
Created and Performed by
JULIA MASLI
Costume Design
Sound Design ALESSIO FESTUCCIA DAVID CURTIS-RING ANNIKA THIEMS ALICE WEDGE
Associate Producer, Production Manager & Stage Manager Improvised Lighting Score
SARAH CHAPIN
Technical Director/ Production Supervisor BRAD ENLOW
Improvised Sound Score SEBÁSTIÁN HERNÁNDEZ
Consulting Producers MARIA MANUELA GOYANES, DAVID C. FREDERICK & SOPHIA LYNN
Press Representative DAVIDSON & CHOY PUBLICITY
General Manager BONNIE MCHEFFEY
Directed by
KIM NOBLE
Associate Artistic Director JENNY SLATTERY
ha ha ha ha ha ha ha is presented with generous philanthropic support from Honorary Producers Tammi and Lenny Steren.
Generous support for ha ha ha ha ha ha ha is provided by David C. Frederick & Sophia Lynn.
The U.S. premiere was produced by Wagner Johnson Productions, Seaview, Wessex Grove, and Impatient Productions at the Soho Playhouse in New York City, May 2024.
Pasadena Playhouse sits on the land of the Gabrielino-Tongva and Kizh people, who historically inhabited the area around present-day Pasadena. We honor their contribution to this region and give thanks for the opportunity to live, work, and perform on their unceded ancestral lands.
CAST
CREATOR/PERFORMER
Julia Masli
WHO’S WHO
PASADENA PLAYHOUSE
Pasadena Playhouse, the official State Theater of California and recipient of the 2023 Regional Theatre Tony Award, is internationally recognized for its significant role in the development of American theater. One of the most prolific theaters in the country, the Playhouse has staged thousands of original productions since its founding in 1917, including premieres of works by Tennessee Williams, Eugene O’Neill, SuzanLori Parks, Gloria Calderón Kellett, and hundreds more. For decades, its pioneering School for Theater Arts was a training ground for actors and theatermakers who went on to make significant contributions to the entertainment industry. Under the leadership of Producing Artistic Director Danny Feldman since 2016, Pasadena Playhouse’s productions and community programs are centered on its founding idea of being a living force in its community, making theater for everyone. Today, the Playhouse continues to advance the American theater and serves as a hub for the top theatermakers of our time.
WOOLLY MAMMOTH THEATRE COMPANY
The Tony Award®-winning WOOLLY MAMMOTH THEATRE COMPANY creates badass theatre that highlights the stunning, challenging, and tremendous complexity of our world. For over 40 years, Woolly has maintained a high standard of artistic rigor while simultaneously daring to take risks, innovate, and push beyond perceived boundaries. One of the few remaining theatres in the country to maintain a company of artists, Woolly serves an essential research and development role within the American theatre. Plays premiered here have gone on to productions at hundreds of theatres all over the world and have had lasting impacts on the field. Currently co-led by Artistic Director Maria Manuela Goyanes and Managing Director Kimberly E. Douglas, Woolly is located in Washington, DC, equidistant from the Capitol and the White House. This unique location influences Woolly’s investment in actively working towards an equitable, participatory, and creative democracy.
JULIA MASLI Creator & Performer
JULIA MASLI (she/her) is an award-winning clown from Estonia, based in London. All she wants to do is solve people’s problems and eventually win the Nobel Prize, presented to those who have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind. But this plan keeps going wrong as she continually wins prizes for comedy. It was bad enough when she was the winner of the Malcolm Hardee Award
for Comic Originality in 2019 and her debut show ‘CHOOSH’ – about a migrant’s struggles in the USA – was one of the most acclaimed comedy shows of the Edinburgh Fringe in 2022. But in 2023, things spiraled when she set out to help audience members in ‘ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.’ Despite the seriousness of Julia’s intentions, the show was once more shortlisted for Most Outstanding Show at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, nominated for Edinburgh's top prize of Best Comedy Show and the SKY Arts Best Comedy Award, nominated for two Helen Hayes Awards for Outstanding Performer and Outstanding Production after a sold-out run at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, and declared number one comedy show of the year by The Guardian. This serious, important event has played sold-out runs around the world, including at The Public in NYC, Soho Theatre in London, and many more. She and her leg are currently on tour.
KIM NOBLE Director
KIM NOBLE (he/him) was a critically acclaimed artist and performer from London. He used to be quite good at stuff like theatre. He got an award. And he does some directing. The New York Times described him as “Annoying.” He is re-writing a book and recently had to move back into his mum’s flat due to financial difficulties. www.mrkimnoble.com
SARAH CHAPIN
Associate Producer, Production Manager, & Stage Manager, Improvised Lighting Score
SARAH CHAPIN (she/her) fuses her technical expertise, performance training, and passion for systems and organization with an expansive can-do attitude to support artists making a more just and joyful world. She works as a stage manager, producer, production manager, educator, electrician, carpenter, and all-around technician for performance artists and arts organizations, including extensive work in contemporary dance and movement-based performance art. An avid social dancer, she runs a swing dance organization in her home city of DC.
SEBÁSTIÁN HERNÁNDEZ
Improvised Sound Score
SEBASTIÁN HERNÁNDEZ (they/them) is a Brooklynbased comedian and technician. They have worked at UCB, BCC, The Second City New York, The Elysian, The Bell House, Littlefield, and their house. They have worked on shows such as Stamptown, Jack Tucker Comedy Standup Hour, That Show with Chris Gethard, and many more. They are hardworking and their biggest weakness is that they’re too much of a perfectionist. They’re so excited to be working on ha ha ha ha ha ha ha again.
ALICE WEDGE
Costume Designer
ALICE WEDGE (she/her) is a Womenswear Fashion Designer specialising in creative drape. She takes a lot of her inspiration from art history, tribal robes and knots, diving into research to create a rich storytelling within her designs. Alice graduated from Nottingham Trent University with first-class honours and was featured in Vogue Magazine as a graduate to watch. With nine years of industry experience, she has designed for brands like Vivienne Westwood and Tommy Hilfiger. Coming from a creative family, Alice’s parents both successful artists and her sister an art director, the artistic environment always influenced her. It was also a musical household which led to her love for Opera which continues to inspire her. Based in London, she is now focused on starting her own fashion venture under her name ‘Alice Wedge’, transforming existing fabrics into elegantly draped, limited edition pieces.
DAVID CURTIS-RING
Costume Designer
DAVID CURTIS-RING (he/him) is a queer British artist based in London and working internationally. He specialises in spatial design and costume for performance, photography and installation. His practice is centred around the storytelling possibilities of contemporary sculpture; whether that be in a gallery, worn on the body or installed into a store. No matter the medium, his otherworldly interpretations of nature are characterised by a playful approach and mythic strangeness, with handmade craftsmanship being key. He is best known for his production design for Pink Floyd’s The Endless River, for his collaborations with fashion designer Craig Green and for his theatrical designs for writer/performer Bryony Kimmings. He has art directed music videos for Arctic Monkeys, Sinead O’ Connor and created numerous multi sensory installations for Italian brand C.P. Company. Follow him @davidcurtisring.
ANNIKA THIEMS
Costume Designer
ANNIKA THIEMS (she/her) is a German multidisciplinary artist based in London. By fusing functional clothing with psychoanalysis, she creates wearable sculptures that reveal the fragility of the human mind and body. She applies couture tailoring to perishable and discarded materials like dried herbs, reclaimed fabric and single-use packaging in a process that mirrors free association. Thiems regularly creates custom garments and installations across the visual and performing arts, including Damsel Elysium’s EP launch (2024), Madelon Vriesendorp’s exhibition at the Cosmic House (2023-24), Shirin Fathi’s
performance at the Victoria & Albert Museum (2024), and Paulina Lenoir’s cabaret and solo show at Soho Theatre (2022-24). Thiems holds degrees in Psychology and Curating and was the recipient of the 2019 NEON Curatorial Award hosted by the Whitechapel Gallery. She previously worked at the design office Zak Group and arts organisation Forma.
ALESSIO FESTUCCIA
Sound Designer
ALESSIO FESTUCCIA (he/ him) is an Italian Sound Designer based in London, his special skillset combines technical aptitude with creative intuition. In the course of his professional experience, he has worked as sound designer, music producer (Mr Everett, Alèfe, Tersø), and re-recording mixer for adverts, short films, documentaries, and immersive audiovisual projects. He has recently featured as Sound Mixer for Netflix’s Bad Dinosaurs (2024), and his credits include editorial work for Armani and Vogue. His work was showcased at Dolby headquarters in London as a result of a workshop in composition for Dolby Atmos at Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios in 2023. IG: @ alefesounds.
LILY WOODFORD
Lighting Designer
LILY WOODFORD (they/them) is a technical designer who specialises in lighting design and multimedia work. They live in London, U.K. on a boat that they refurbished themself and studied at Goldsmiths, University of London where their love of all things beautifully strange was solidified. They thrive on creating work that pushes the boundaries of conventional design and building powerful, thought provoking spaces. They have worked as a multidisciplinary designer for productions such as Julia Masli (‘ha ha ha ha ha ha ha’), Frankie Thompson (‘CAttS’, ‘Body Show’), Liv Ello (‘SWARM’, ‘Jack the Mack’, ‘Body Show’), Adrian Bliss (‘Inside Everyone’), Eloina (‘HIGH STEAKS’), Stamptown Comedy (‘STAMPTOWN’).
ERICA AMMERMAN
Associate Lighting Designer
ERICA AMMERMAN is an LA-based lighting designer, production manager, and tap dancer. Recent associate credits: Cyrano de Bergerac, La Cage Aux Folles, A Doll’s House Part 2 (Pasadena Playhouse), Noises Off, POTUS (Geffen Playhouse), The Staircase, Galilee, 34 (South Coast Repertory). Other recent projects include Universal Studios’ Halloween Horror Nights (Master Electrician) and Pretty Perfect Lives Off-Broadway (Production Manager). ammermanerica.com.
CREDITS: AMADEUS by PETER SHAFFER, directed by DARKO TRESNJAK; Lerner & Loewe’s BRIGADOON a new adaptation by ALEXANDRA SILBER, inspired by the original
BRIGADOON EVERYONE MEXODUS
original book by ALAN JAY LERNER, lyrics by ALAN JAY LERNER, music by FREDERICK LOEWE; MEXODUS by and featuring BRIAN QUIJADA and NYGEL D. ROBINSON.
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Vice Chair
Julie A. Gutierrez
Y-Vonne Hutchinson
Treasurer
Bonnie Wongtrakool
Secretary
Leigh T. Olivar
TRUSTEES
Erin Baker
Sheri Ball
MaryLou Boone
Dennis Cornell
Brandon Dickerson
Peggy Ebright
Danny Feldman
Beth Fernandez
Julie A. Gutierrez
Cristina Hernandez
Melanie Holden
CHAIR EMERITI
David M. Davis
David DiCristofaro
Michele Dedeaux Engemann
Sheila Grether-Marion
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
THANK YOU
We gratefully acknowledge the following contributions received over the past year through September 16, 2025. For questions or corrections, please contact Matt Tornero at mtornero@pasadenaplayhouse.org.
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$480 - $999
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PARTNERS
INSTITUTIONAL PARTNERS
The Ahmanson Foundation
Clarence E. Heller Charitable Foundation
The David Lee Foundation
Dwight Stuart Youth Fund
Fairbairn Family Foundation
Fitzberg Foundation
The Helen & Will Webster Foundation
CORPORATE SPONSORS
MEDIA SPONSORS
Jess & Palma Morgan Foundation
Michael J. Connell Foundation
Milo W. Bekins Foundation
Perenchio Foundation
The Rose Hills Foundation
The Sahan Daywi Foundation
Shekels Charitable Foundation
Weingart Foundation
Contributions received after September 16, 2025 will be acknowledged in the next program.
GILMOR BROWN SOCIETY
Named for the legendary founder of Pasadena Playhouse, the Gilmor Brown Society recognizes the generous members of our community who have included the Playhouse in their own will or trust. We gratefully acknowledge the following individuals for their enduring commitment to live theater and its essential role in strengthening our community.
SOCIETY MEMBERS
Anonymous
Lenore Almanzar
Carol M. & Barrett P. Bingaman
Darrell Brooke
Marjorie Cates
Ross Clark
Gary Dahle & Derek Whitefield
Peggy Ebright
Linda & Jay Griffey
Sheila Grether-Marion & Mark
Marion
Doug Jones & John Sanger
Annelies Kischkel
The Joanie Marx Trust
Adele Morse & William Nevins
A. Jerald Saladana
Lyn Spector
Tammi & Lenny Steren
IN GRATEFUL MEMORY
Ellen Bailey
Judie Bartell
Evelyn Bray
Agnes Duncan
Harriet L. Freeman
Ada Gory
Virginia Hawkins
Sue Haynie-Horn & John Horn
Pauline Ledeen
Shirli Nielson
Charles Pierce
Shirley Reed
Frederick Ricci
Constance Ropolo
Margaret H. Sedenquist
Sandra Shaw
Lilah & Roger Stangeland
Bill Watters
Jim Watterson
Barbara Jean Wolpert
ADA compliant devices donated by Monte Cedro.
LEADERSHIP
Danny Feldman
Producing Artistic Director
Justin Glasson
Chief Development Officer
Jacque Myers
Chief Financial Officer
Jenny Slattery
Associate Artistic Director
Rachyl Spacca
Chief Marketing & Communications Officer
ADMINISTRATION & FINANCE
Victoria Casanova
Executive Assistant & Board Liaison
Kristen Hammack-Eaton
Payroll & Finance Administrator
Scott Savoie
Controller
DEVELOPMENT
Zindzi Hammond-Hanson
Development & Special Events Assistant
Michael McKee
Director of Corporate & Foundation Relations
Sam Palmer
Director of Events
Matt Tornero
Senior Manager of Donor Relations and Prospect Development
Associate Producer, Production Manager, & Stage Manager
Improvised Lighting Score
Alessio Festuccia
Sound Designer
Sebástián Hernández
Improvised Sound Score
Lily Woodford
Lighting Designer
Erica Ammerman
Associate Lighting Designer
Mac McDermott
Assistant Lighting Designer
David Curtis-Ring, Annika Thiems, Alice Wedge
Costume Designers
Maria Manuela Goyanes,
David C. Frederick & Sophia Lynn
Consulting Producers
PASADENA PLAYHOUSE
PRODUCTION STAFF
Matt Petosa
Deck Chief
Fiona Jessup
Head Electrician
Paul Tran
Assistant Head Electrician
Joe Court
Lead Audio
On Shiu, Marie Growden
Wardrobe Head
Marylou Hernandez
WHAM Supervisor
Douglas Puskas
Props Head
Johnny LeBlanc
Lead Scenic Painter
Anthony Arevalo
Head Carpenter
Jake Nava
Assistant Carpenter
Kenny Arrincon, Alexis Garduno, Matt Pettis, Maui Sumeo, Cameron Wall
Carpenters
Amahl Chekh Khalil, Adriana De La Parra, Steven Garcia, Vsev
Krawczeniuk, Matt Pettis, Armon
Rivera, Jordan White
The staff page is up to date as of September 16, 2025. Please visit our digital program for any additional changes.
Electricians
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
President
Beth Fernandez
1st Vice President
Barbara Cruse
2nd Vice President
Nancy Ashcraft
Treasurer
William Ferry
Recording Secretary
Karie Henley
Archives
Ross Clark
Corresponding Secretary
Karie Henley
Hospitality
Karen Stattler, Alisa Yingling
Dining Out
Barbara Jacoby
Historian
Florence Lang
Membership
Fran Olson
Merchandise Table
Deborah Kelly, Betty Parnell
Newsletter
Sienna Salce
Office Help
Farryl Weitzman
Tour Directors
Raquel Burgess, Karie Henley
Ushers
Emily Minnotte, Tammi Steren
Publicity
Marianne Carter
Volunteer Hours
Natalya Pashkova
Website
Patti La Marr
IN THE THEATER
FOR EVERYONE’S ENJOYMENT
As a courtesy to the artists and patrons, we ask you to please turn off cell phones, all electronic devices and anything that may light up the area around you prior to the performance. Please refrain from talking and any disruptive noise-making during the performance. Neither photography nor the use of electronic recording devices is allowed during performances.
RESTROOMS
Restrooms, including accessible facilities, are available in the lobby 45 minutes before each performance. We invite you to use whichever restroom you are comfortable using. We offer all-gender restrooms upstairs in the Carrie Hamilton lobby. Please see House Management if you would like to be directed to these restrooms at any time during your visit.
LATE ARRIVALS
In consideration of our artists and patrons, late seating will take place during the first appropriate break in the performance at the discretion of Management. House Management may need to direct late arrivals to alternate seats.
AGE RESTRICTIONS
Children under age 6 will not be admitted into the theater. We ask that everyone in your party, regardless of age, be able to sit quietly through a performance without disrupting other patrons or the artists. Patrons of all ages must have a ticket to enter the theater and must sit in the seat indicated on the ticket.
ACCESSIBILITY
We are committed to making theater accessible to all patrons. Assisted-listening devices can be checked out in the lobby before the performance using a photo ID. The third Sunday matinee performance for every Mainstage production offers Open Captioning with Audio Description. For more information regarding accommodations and services, please contact Patron Services or ask the House Manager.
Immediate Past President
Carolyn Di Pane
Members-At-Large
Doris Arima, Lillias Krezel, Beverly Meissner, Shirley Miller
Endowment Committee
Lenore Bond Almanzar, Nancy Ashcraft, Carolyn Di Pane, Beth Fernandez
Advisory Committee (Past Presidents)
Lenore Bond Almanzar, Nancy Ashcraft, Carolyn Di Pane Ad Hoc Members
Beth Fernandez, William Ferry
The technical employees of the Pasadena Playhouse are represented by the INTERNATIONAL ALLIANCE OF THEATRICAL STAGE EMPLOYEES, MOVING PICTURE TECHNICIANS, ARTISTS AND ALLIED CRAFTS, OF THE UNITED STATES, ITS TERRITORIES AND CANADA, AFL-CIO,CLC: Local 33 Stagehands, Local 706 Make-up Artists and Hair Stylists Guild Local 768 Theatrical Wardrobe Local 800 Art Director’s Guild. The scenic, costume, lighting, and sound designers in LORT Theatres are represented by United Scenic Artists, Local USA-829 of the IATSE.
Lighting Rentals furnished by Kinetic Lighting
CODE OF CONDUCT
Pasadena Playhouse is committed to a safe and mutually respectful environment for all patrons, staff, volunteers, and artists. By purchasing a ticket and entering any of our venues you agree to maintain reasonable and appropriate behavior at all times. To help ensure all patrons have a positive experience, we ask that you Respect Others, Behave Appropriately, Follow Instructions, Respect the Space, Be Considerate of Others, and Report Concerns . Scan here for our full Code of Conduct:
We reserve the right to refuse service and cease relationships with anyone who engages in disorderly conduct or harassment without refund or compensation for loss.
On performance days, the Box Office windows will remain open 15 minutes after the show begins.
Please note hours are subject to change due to observed holidays.
A Palette of Possibilities
Christine Markatos Lowe specializes in thoughtfully tailored interiors with color ful sensibilities. by
ROGER GRODY
AS A FORMER SCULPTOR, it is natural for interior designer Christine Markatos Lowe to infuse residential living spaces with sumptuous finishes and textures. But with her particular affinity for color, she also introduces rich, emotive palettes that express her adopted city’s lively, creative spirit. After working with idiosyncratic architect Peter Marino in New York
JOHN MERKL
Hector Finch pendant and de Gournay art in Santa Monica
Join us for fearless and transformative theater, dance and music that unites and inspires.
Featuring:
> Arturo O’Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Ensemble
> Joy Guidry > David Roussève/REALITY > Jlin
> Tiago Rodrigues > Wild Up > d. Sabela grimes
> Third Coast Percussion and Salar Nader > Lucìa
Don’t just watch— come and complete the experience.
TIAGO RODRIGUES
Photo by Christophe Raynaud de Lage
and iconic Los Angeles designer Michael S. Smith, Markatos founded Christine Markatos Design in 2005.
“I don’t have a signature style, but I do have a point of view,” Markatos says. “We work with such diverse architectural backdrops—having a particular ‘look’ wouldn’t allow each project to speak for itself.”
Markatos describes her approach: “It’s very layered, incorporates lots of color, has a strong sense of form, and is elegant.” She adds that her work leans more feminine than masculine. Her highly organized design process reduces the inherent stress of renovation or redecorating, something appreciated by busy entertainment industry producers, entrepreneurs and corporate executives.
A native of suburban New York, Markatos appreciates the Southern California environment and attitude.
“The light is so special here, and
I’m able to explore and play with vibrant, saturated colors that would be more difficult to sell in New York,” she says. She also values the region’s indoor-outdoor lifestyle, the practice of expanding living spaces through landscaping and the emphasis placed on capturing views, even in modest residences.
“There’s a lack of rigidity here that promotes a sense of freedom as a designer, without anybody telling you, ‘That isn’t how we do it here,’ as they might back east,” Markatos says.
Influenced by the cinematic qualities of designer and mentor Michael S. Smith, Markatos believes
JOHN MERKL
Clockwise from left: dramatic lighting, bold modern furniture, and outdoor living space at Santa Monica home
that Hollywood’s storytelling legacy offers designers greater latitude, even encouraging environments that incorporate a sense of fantasy.
In a 1920s Georgian-style home in Brentwood, Markatos infused traditional spaces with a luscious contemporary color palette, previewed by a rich sapphire entry door with subtle violet undertones. This project was a turning point for her unapologetic use of color, Markatos recounts. “The client was not only comfortable with color, but encouraged me to create a really vibrant aesthetic,” she recalls.
Markatos worked closely with the client to acquire a significant collection of art—including works by Andy Warhol, James Welling and photographer Melvin Sokolsky—that further contributed to pops of color throughout a living environment designed to express joy.
For an Italianate Santa Monica residence, Markatos was challenged to completely reimagine the living spaces for a client moving back into the home after a 20-year absence and anxious to build new memories.
“I loved the fact that I wasn’t
Here
just creating designs but helping someone transform her life,” says Markatos. The elegantly whimsical dining room features helleboresinspired wallpaper by Farrow & Ball, art from painter Donald Sultan’s poppy series and a customized chandelier by Arteriors.
For that project, the veteran designer used abundant color and contemporary wallpaper from designers Rebecca Atwood, de Gournay and Holland & Sherry to create intriguing moods. Elaborate outdoor cooking, dining and living spaces, and a soaring freestanding fireplace, reinforced the connection to the natural environment.
Christine Markatos Design 1211 Montana Ave., Suite 203 Santa Monica, 310.576.0908 markatosdesign.com
and below, three views of Brentwood residence enlivened with color and curated art
GEORGIA ON MY MIND
Showcasing an underappreciated European cuisine, one of greater L.A.’s rare Georgian restaurants debuts in Pasadena. by ROGER GRODY
GEORGIAN CUISINE—NOT fried green tomatoes or peach cobbler but khachapuri and mtsvadi from the European republic of Georgia—is well worth discovering. Pasadena’s recently opened Deda (“mother” in Georgian), just a short walk from Pasadena Playhouse, provides a proper introduction.
The restaurant is ensconced in an attractive South Lake Avenue space that previously housed Del Frisco’s Grille and short-lived Le Grand. At Deda, guests settle into roomy, comfortable booths illuminated by contemporary lighting fixtures; distinctive Georgian movie posters line the walls. A
ALL PHOTOS
KELL
LORENZ
Pkhali mezze and, above, the Deda patio
Nove mber
6 NOV
8PM THU
PMariza
ortugal’s foremost cultural ambassador, Mariza brings the soulful magic of fado—Portugal’s traditional music—to life with her captivating voice. With over 30 platinum recordings and worldwide acclaim, she transports audiences to Lisbon’s late-night cafés with every performance, inviting you to immerse yourself in its rich, emotional spirit.
Ballet BC BOLERO X
Ravel’s Bolero nears its 100th year, still pulsing with the familiar energy heard from parades to commercials. Israeli choreographer Shahar Binyamini brings a bold new vision to Ballet BC, tripling the company’s size by teaming with dancers from USC’s Glorya Kaufman School. Hailed as “breathtaking” and “a triumph,” this sweeping, vibrant work radiates pure joy and ushers in an exciting new chapter for a timeless classic.
MOMIX Alice
MOMIX founder Moses Pendleton reimagines Alice in Wonderland in a dazzling adventure for all ages. Eight “dancer illusionists” morph into familiar characters with surreal costumes, colorful projections, and mind-bending feats—set to a wildly eclectic soundtrack from Bollywood to Danny Elfman to Jefferson Airplane. A visual feast and a sensory thrill for the whole family!
A new work by Sofia Nappi SWAY by Medhi Walerski
BOLERO X by Shahar Binyamini
square bar, a fine spot for an afterhours tarragoninfused libation, is on one side of the restaurant, while additional tables occupy a covered sidewalk patio, buffered from strolling pedestrians.
For those who appreciate the cuisines of Armenia, Russia or Ukraine, Georgian food will be vaguely familiar, although it tends to
feature more robust and herb-forward seasoning than those regional neighbors. Pkhali mezze is Georgia’s answer to a hummus selection, a trio of walnut-laced spreads made from roasted bell peppers, beets and spinach, respectively, which pair well with the housebaked puri (baguette-like bread). A quartet of spherical, crispy corn
croquettes is filled with sulguni cheese and plated with mint-inflected yogurt sauce.
One of Georgia’s signature dishes—and one that has developed a bit of a cult following in L.A.—is khachapuri. The more iconic adjaruli khachapuri, a good way to warm up at Deda, is a boat-shaped crusty bread used as a vessel for molten cheese,
Clockwise from upper left: the dining room; Georgian food and wine; khinkali dumplings
topped with a seductive runny egg yolk. Another version of khachapuri offered here closely resembles an Italian pizza, sans tomato.
Among entrées are seared Atlantic salmon with a pomegranate glaze, accompanied by cheesy mashed potatoes, and wild boar sausage presented on a pedestal of lobio, a traditional Georgian bean
stew. Among the best dishes is the tarragonand paprika-scented shkmeruli, a generous serving of tender, juicy chicken (or tiger shrimps if preferred) bathed in a creamy garlic sauce well worth mopping up with the house bread. Khinkali—soft, oversized dumplings typically filled with spiced meat and steaming broth, not too
unlike Chinese xiao long bao—are elevated here with minced Wagyu beef. The bar dispenses cocktails consistent with the cuisine but dressed up enough for a trendy nightspot. In addition to a decent selection of California wines, the reasonably priced list celebrates Georgia’s 8,000year tradition of winemaking. A couple dozen labels
Clockwise from upper left: bar seating; khachapuri; and eggplant rolls
La Sings!
What a Beautiful City
A mega sing-along that transforms the audience into one big choir at Walt Disney Concert Hall. Come celebrate the tapestry of voices that makes our treasured city so beautiful.
GRANT GERSHON & RACHAEL WORBY CONDUCTORS
40 singers, soloists, musicians from MUSE/IQUE
NOV 9, 2025 | 7PM
before and after nature is composer David Lang’s meditation on the natural world, both before human existence and after humans are gone. Lang addresses ways we defi ne and understand nature now that it has been forever changed by our behavior. With video projections and Bang on a Can All-Stars, the result is an immersive spectacle of sound and vision.
GRANT GERSHON CONDUCTOR 20 singers, Bang on a Can All-Stars, Video by TAL ROSNER
NOV 16, 2025 | 7:30PM
Photo by Brandon Patoc
DINING
are presented, almost all of them offered by the glass for easy exploration.
Georgia was centuries ahead of the current “orange wine” trend, white wines whose extended skin-contact results in vibrant hues. Its reds, produced from indigenous grapes along the Black Sea coast, present flavor profiles akin to some classic Old World varietals.
Desserts include fluffy, sweet cream-filled Georgian doughnuts called ponchiki as well as more familiar items like pavlova with mango mousse and a very respectable Frenchstyle napoleon.
Interestingly, the restaurant reveals parallels between the cuisines of the European nation of Georgia and America’s
Los Angeles Jewish
Peach State. Both are proudly grounded in tradition, steeped in soul.
Deda 55 S. Lake Ave. Pasadena, 626.995.3332 dedarestaurant.com
Deda has already been discovered by adventurous local diners and L.A.’s Georgian and Ukrainian communities.
Exotic cocktail and, left, Georgian wines at Deda
FEATURE
/ CONTINUED FROM PAGE 18
just of arrival but of what it costs to stay. What it means to dream here. To raise children here. To feel both gratitude and grief at the same time. That will always be timely,” Goblen says.
Lloyd Suh’s The Heart Sellers, at South Coast Repertory through Nov. 16, explores Asian immigrants of the 1970s through the warm and funny interplay of two women—a Filipino and a Korean who meet by chance in a supermarket and later bond over a bottle of wine and a frozen turkey.
Suh was a Pulitzer
Prize finalist for his 2023 play The Far Country
Earlier this year, The Heart Sellers had its San Diego premiere with a different production at North Coast Repertory in Solana Beach.
While researching the 2023 play, Suh learned about the Hart-Celler Act, legislation that became a 1964 law repealing immigration quotas. For a time, Europeans were given preference over people from other countries including his characters’ Asian homelands.
Suh saw meaning in the act’s name and called his work The Heart Sellers.
“That became a powerful metaphor for the
feelings I’d already been navigating,” he says.
“The women were lonely, they were scared, they were impossibly young, and they were desperately seeking moments of joy.”
The play was a bookend to an earlier work of Suh’s, The Chinese Lady, about a period in the 1880s when the United States banned the immigration of Chinese laborers. The Chance Theatre in Anaheim presented the play in spring.
The Chinese Lady and other works by Suh address issues head on.
What would become The Heart Sellers began as a conversation with a
friend about their mothers; each had come to the United States in their 20s, his from Korea and hers from the Philippines.
“The impulse for this play started from charac-
“These plays speak not just of arrival but of what it costs to stay. What it means to dream here. To raise children here. To feel both gratitude and grief at the same time.”
—Rudi Goblen
ter,” Suh says. “The backdrop revealed itself accidentally and surprisingly.
“During the 90 minutes that we get to spend with them, it always felt like I don’t need to think about the politics or the grander themes or how this fits into immigration. Because the women don’t want to think about that. They know it’s there. It’s part of the subtext.”
Bioh’s approach was to tell her story about a community of women with humor, a tone not usually taken on this serious topic.
“We haven’t many stories about African people and comedy being super synonymous,” she says. “Aside from one of my favorite films, Coming to America, for the most part these stories have this singular narrative of sadness and some sort of struggle or strife or disease or famine.
“I’m trying to add to the conversation of how the diaspora is reflected.
SEASON 25 26 6
AT AMBASSADOR AUDITORIUM
SYMPHONIE FANTASTIQUE!
NOVEMBER 8, 2025
ORION WEISS, piano
JIM SELF Tour de Force
RAVEL Piano Concerto in G Major BERLIOZ Symphonie Fantastique
MENDELSSOHN & MEYER
JANUARY 24, 2026
TCHAIKOVSKY PATHÉTIQUE
FEBRUARY 21, 2026
MICHELLE CANN, piano
JEFFREY NYTCH Beacon
MOZART Piano Concerto No. 23
TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 6 “Pathétique”
TESSA LARK, violin
BEETHOVEN EROICA
APRIL 25, 2026
JULIAN SCHWARZ, cello
QUINN MASON Heroic Overture
JENNIFER HIGDON Cello Concerto † BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 3, “Eroica”
MENDELSSOHN The Hebrides Overture
EDGAR MEYER Violin Concerto
MENDELSSOHN Symphony No. 3, “Scottish”
FROM THE NEW WORLD
MARCH 21, 2026
JUAN PABLO CONTRERAS, composer & special guest
BERNSTEIN Three Variations from Fancy Free CONTRERAS Symphony No. 1*
DVOR ÁK Symphony No. 9, “From the New World”
AMERICA @ 250
MAY 30, 2026
JOYCE YANG, piano
JOHN WILLIAMS Selections from American Journey
JONATHAN LESHNOFF Rhapsody on “America” * †
COPLAND Appalachian Spring Suite
COPLAND Lincoln Portrait
* co-commission † west coast premiere
YOU’RE HERE.
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INSIDER SCOOPS FROM THEATER AND MUSIC PROFESSIONALS
It’s the new way to read the program, it’s
I think comedy is a very powerful way to do that.”
Jaja’s was on Broadway for a limited run in the fall of 2023, receiving five Tony Award nominations including one for best play.
Dede Ayite won for her costume design and Nikiya Mathis received a special Tony for her spectacular wigs. The wigs and the rest of the Broadway staging come to Los Angeles as part of a multi-city tour.
“It’s exciting that an original production of a Broadway play ends up touring around the country,” Bioh says. “We see that quite often with musicals but it’s pretty rare with plays.”
The playwrights say their representation of immigrants on American stages is vital.
For Suh, “The Heart Sellers came at the end of a decade-long period of my life where I was
writing a lot about pivotal and forgotten moments in Asian American history.
“I wrote littleboy/ littleman because I didn’t see Nicaraguan stories in American theater,” Goblen says.
“I wanted to put two Nicaraguan American brothers at the center of a story and explore things not often talked about in our communities— colorism, the pressure to assimilate, the complexities of masculinity passed down through survival.”
Goblen offers insight when asked if he might write more plays about immigrants.
“While I value my immigrant background, it’s only one part of the broader tapestry I work from,” he says.
“I’m a writer interested in many themes across many forms. I will continue to live in that multiplicity.”
MARTÍN + HAMELIN + BRAHMS
Oct 25 | 7:30 | ZIPPER HALL
Oct 26 | 4 | THE WALLIS
Jaime Martín Music Director
Marc-André Hamelin Piano
L. Farrenc, Symphony No. 2 in D major
J. Brahms, Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor
A BRAHMSIAN AFFAIR
Nov 22 | 7:30 | ZIPPER HALL
Nov 23 | 4 | THE WALLIS
Margaret Batjer Director of Chamber Music
J. Brahms, String Sextet No. 2 in G major
Julia Moss, WORLD PREMIERE
J. Brahms, String Sextet No. 1 in B-flat major
RICHARD GOODE PLAYS MOZART
Dec 14 | 4 | THE WALLIS
Dec 16 | 7:30 | ZIPPER HALL
Margaret Batjer Director of Chamber Music
Richard Goode Piano
R. Schumann, Violin Sonata No. 1 in A minor
W. Mozart, Piano Quartet in E-flat major
L. Beethoven, Septet in E-flat major
Chance Theater in Anaheim presented Lloyd Suh’s The Chinese Lady
REPROGRAMMED!
Performances Magazine unveils a digital program platform for shows and concerts
DROP DOWN MENU Table of app contents.
REGISTER
Stay arts-engaged, access past programs.
THE ESSENTIALS
Acts, scenes, synopses, repertory and notes.
CONTRIBUTORS
Donors and sponsors who make it all possible—you!
NO RUSTLING PAGES, no killing trees . . . the digital Performances program platform has proved to be one of the more enduring recent theater innovations.
The touchless platform provides the programs for 20 Southern California performing-arts organizations, from the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Ahmanson Theatre to San Diego Opera, where the app made its debut.
Among a variety of features, it provides cast and player bios, donor and season updates, and numerous
other arts-centric features.
Audiences receive a link and a code word that instantly activate the app; QR codes are posted, too.
Screens go dark when curtains go up and return when house lights come back on.
Updates—such as repertory changes, understudy substitutions and significant new donations —can be made right up to showtime, no inserts necessary.
Other plusses include video and audio streams, translations and expanded biographies.
SEARCH
Find whatever it is you want to know—easily.
SIGN IN
Link to your performing-arts companies and venues.
THE PLAYERS
Bios and background for cast, crew and creators.
WHAT’S ON
What’s coming at a glance and ticket information.
For those who consider printed programs to be keepsakes, a limited number, as well as commemorative issues for special events, continue to be produced. Collectibles!
Meanwhile, there is less deforestation, consumption of petroleum inks and programs headed for landfills.
For the ecologically minded, the platform gets a standing ovation.
The digital Performances is but one more reason for audience excitement. Activate your link and enjoy the shows. CALEB
