Following an extraordinary season, which included a Tony Award, Pasadena Playhouse Producing Artistic Director Danny Feldman has announced the five mainstage productions for the 2023/2024 season, plus a new holiday tradition for the Pasadena Playhouse.
The season includes the world premiere of a new play by Gloria Calderón Kellett, “One of The Good Ones,” and the Los Angeles premiere of Adam Rapp’s “The Sound Inside.”
The season will also include a fresh take on Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee’s classic “Inherit the Wind” and the Tony Award-winning musical “Jelly’s Last Jam,” featuring the music of jazz legend Jelly Roll Morton.
“This season has it all: a thriller, a courtroom drama for today, a one-woman show, a world premiere comedy, a classic musical and a holiday show like no other you’ve seen,” said Feldman. “We can’t wait for everyone to join us!”
“The Sound Inside” (Sept. 6 – Oct. 1)
In this play by Adam Rapp, not everything is as it seems behind Yale’s ivy-covered walls where an unlikely bond leads to an unthinkable favor.
Writing professor Bella Baird is looking for answers, but an encounter with a student could lead to consequences for both of them. Nominated for six Tony Awards, including Best Play, Pulitzer Prize finalist Adam Rapp’s haunting thriller leaves us wondering who we can trust.
“Inherit the Wind” (Nov. 1– Nov. 26)
In this classic by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee, Two of the nation’s leading lawyers go head-to-head in the ultimate battle of wit, wisdom, and will in this drama based on the famous Scopes Monkey Trial of 1925.
“KATE” (Jan. 17 – Feb. 11, 2024)
Written and performed by Kate Berlant, this one-woman show explores the events of her life that have brought her to this moment. Embodying many characters, she morphs before our eyes and reveals a hidden truth.
“One of the Good Ones” (March 13 – April 7, 2024)
By Gloria Calderón Kellett, this quintessential family showdown is on in the world premiere of a new comedy commissioned by the Playhouse.
When the “perfect” Latina daughter brings her boyfriend home to meet the parents, her family’s biases and preconceptions are put on full display. I
“Jelly’s Last Jam” (May 28 – June 23, 2024)
The classic show features book by George C. Wolfe, music by Jelly Roll Morton, lyrics by Susan Birkenhead, musical adaptation and additional nusic composed by Luther Henderson.
When Jelly Roll Morton’s soul is forced to face the music, the self-proclaimed “inventor of jazz” is left at the ultimate crossroads.
The recipient of three Tony Awards, six Drama Desk Awards and three 1992 Outer Critics Circle Awards, including Best Broadway Musical, “Jelly’s Last Jam” chronicles Morton’s journey from the back alleys of New Orleans to the stages of New York that helped ignite the 20th-century jazz revolution.
Pasadena Playhouse Holiday Variety Show (Dec. 9 – Dec. 23, 2023)
The new holiday show was created by Sam Pinkleton.
Better watch out, better not cry, because magic is coming to town this holiday season. Pinkleton, the creative mind behind 2021’s Playhouse production of “Head Over Heels,” returns with a brand-new holiday show that promises to leave you feeling merry and bright.
COMING UP
SATURDAY: Jazz to the Max, a jazz festival to aid the medical expenses for Max Mancini, son of Nick Mancini. A private shaded garden in Pasadena. 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. 626-708-3839 or email [email protected].
AUG. 26: Pasadena POPS presents the Music of Queen. L.A. County Arboretum, Arcadia. pasadenasymphony-pops.org.
AUG. 26: San Marino Motor Classic presents Symphony of Cars Gala and Automotive Fine Ars Society Art Exhibition and Sale. Lacy Park, San Marino. sanmarinomotorclassic.com.
AUG. 27: San Marino Motor Classic presents more than 450 classic cars, food trucks and vendors. Lacy Park, San Marino. 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.sanmarinomotorclassic.com.
SEPT. 2: A Noise Within opens its 2023-24 season with Toni Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye.” adapted for the stage by Lydia T. Diamond. A Noise Within Theatre, Pasadena. Performances continue through Sept. 24. anoisewithin.org.
SEPT. 9: Pasadena POPS presents Hollywood Blockbusters. L.A. County Arboretum, Arcadia. Pasadenasymphony-pops.org.
OCT. 7: USC Arcadia Hospital Foundation’s Crystal Ball honoring Dr. Heiner Vogelbach. Pasadena Convention Center, Pasadena. [email protected].
OCT. 14: The L.A. County Arboretum’s 75th Anniversary Gala. The Arboretum. Arcadia.
Patt Diroll writes a bi-weekly society column for the Pasadena Star-News. She can be reached at [email protected].
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