Arroyo oct 2014

FINE LIVING IN THE GREATER PASADENA AREA OCTOBER 2014

FALL ARTS

All the Mausoleum’s a Stage At Wicked Lit’s Halloween Theater Festival

RECONSIDERING THE CLASSICS

Tony Shalhoub and Brooke Adams At Boston Court Bringing Diversity to Cole Porter’s Kiss Me, Kate

The Tempest Goes Tropical

4 | ARROYO | 10.14

arroyo

VOLUME 10 | NUMBER 10 | OCTOBER 2014

29 43 11 FALL ARTS 11 HAPPY DAYS IS HERE AGAIN Tony Shalhoub and Brooke Adams star in Boston Court’s revival of Samuel Beckett’s darkly comic classic.

—By Bettijane Levine

29 SOMETHING WICKED LIT THIS WAY COMES The innovative theater company turns horror classics into standing-roomonly performances at an Altadena cemetery.

—By Scarlet Cheng

34 REVOLUTIONIZING THE CLASSICS

PHOTOS, TOP: Daniel Kitayama; BOTTOM LEFT: Ed Krieger

A Noise Within relocates Shakespeare’s The Tempest to 1920s Florida.

—By Katie Klapper

37 THE PASADENA PLAYHOUSE DIVERSIFIES KISS ME, KATE The production’s largely African-American cast harkens back to 1930s productions of theater classics spotlighting black actors.

—By Scarlet Cheng

DEPARTMENTS 08

FESTIVITIES The Los Angeles Opera Opening Night Gala and the Huntington Ball kick off the fall season.

18

ARROYO HOME SALES INDEX

41

KITCHEN CONFESSIONS Waste not the $165 billion worth of food Americans toss each year.

43

THE LIST The return of ArtNight and ArtWalk, Cirque Zuma Zuma, Walk for Farm Animals and more

ABOUT THE COVER: (left to right): McKenzie Eckels, Eric Keitel, and Angie Hobin in “Dracula’s Guest,” part of Wicked Lit 2014 from Unbound Productions. Photo by Daniel Kitayama.

10.14 ARROYO | 5

EDITOR’S NOTE

APART FROM THE WRITTEN WORD, REISSUES OF THE CLASSICS ARE LARGELY the province of live performance.

Works recorded on screens, both large and small, can be viewed over and over, but live performance is temporal, lodging only in our imperfect memories. And once theater is recorded, it becomes something else. It was Bob Fosse’s choreography, along with Kander and Ebb’s invigorating score, that dazzled audiences in the original 1975 stage production of Chicago. The score survived in Rob Marshall’s Oscar-winning film version in 2002, but that was a much different era, when Hollywood was already usurping roles that used to go to stage performers, even on Broadway. Renee Zellweger was brave, but she never would have earned a spot in a Fosse production. And Marshall’s use of fast cuts pioneered by MTV videos transformed the musical into a completely different experience.

So theater is ground zero for reconsidering the classics, and the fall season brings a crop of new productions to Pasadena, from Shakespeare to Beckett. Why reconsider them? So that instead of taking the less adventurous route of learning one version by rote, you discover something fresh in each production — ideally, of course. Sometimes that means playing it straight, as Brooke Adams and Tony Shalhoub do in Boston Court’s revival of Beckett’s Happy Days. Other times, it may mean setting the play in a different time, as A Noise Within does in its production of The Tempest, relocated to Florida in the ’20s. It can also mean changing a character’s gender — The Tempest again — or race, as the Pasadena Playhouse does in its new Kiss Me, Kate. Or it can mean translating stories from the page for the stage, the M.O. of our cover subject, Wicked Lit, which celebrates the Halloween season by performing classic horror tales in an Altadena cemetary.

Such tweaks pay homage to the originals by grabbing the audience’s lapels. As A Noise Within’s Timothy Douglas explained to Katie Klapper, “If the picture you see resembles so many other productions...you’re not listening.”

—Irene Lacher

EDITOR IN CHIEF Irene Lacher CREATIVE DIRECTOR Kent Bancroft ASSISTANT ART DIRECTOR Carla Cortez PRODUCTION DESIGNERS Tim Oliver, Jonathan Hernandez EDITOR-AT-LARGE Bettijane Levine COPY EDITOR John Seeley CONTRIBUTORS Leslie Bilderback, Samantha Bonar, Michael Cervin, Scarlet Cheng, Carole Dixon, Lynne Heffley, Noela Hueso, Tariq Kamal, Kathy Kelleher, Rebecca Kuzins, Elizabeth McMillian, Brenda Rees, John Sollenberger, Nancy Spiller ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Dina Stegon ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Brenda Clarke, Joseluis Correa, Leslie Lamm, Jessica Vallete ADVERTORIAL CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Bruce Haring ADVERTISING DESIGNERS Tim Oliver, Jonathan Hernandez HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGER Andrea Baker PAYROLL Linda Lam ACCOUNTING Alysia Chavez, Kacie Sturek OFFICE ASSISTANT Ann Weathersbee PUBLISHER Jon Guynn 6 | ARROYO | 10.14

arroyo FINE LIVING IN THE GREATER PASADENA AREA

SOUTHLAND PUBLISHING V.P. OF FINANCE Michael Nagami V.P. OF OPERATIONS David Comden PRESIDENT Bruce Bolkin CONTACT US ADVERTISING dinas@pasadenaweekly.com EDITORIAL editor@arroyomonthly.com PHONE (626) 584-1500 FAX (626) 795-0149 MAILING ADDRESS 50 S. De Lacey Ave., Ste. 200, Pasadena, CA 91105 ArroyoMonthly.com ©2014 Southland Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.

10.14 ARROYO | 7

FESTIVITIES

Opera ball Vice-Chair Catherine Marcus and LA Opera President and CEO Christopher Koelsch

Pat and Michael York

The cast of La Traviata (left to right): Arturo Chacon-Cruz (Alfredo), James Conlon (conductor), Nino Machaidze (Violetta), Plácido Domingo (Germont), Marta Domingo (director/designer) and Roberto Cani (concertmaster).

Emmy Rossum and Kate Walsh Chacon-Cruz and Alicia Garcia Clark

Carol and Warner Henry

Eli and Edythe Broad

The Music Center Plaza was transformed into a Gatsby-esque soirée for Los Angeles Opera’s Sept. 13 Opening Night Gala, which also included a sold-out performance of Giuseppe Verdi’s La Traviata. The production, directed by Marta Domingo and conducted by James Conlon, starred the company’s indefatigable general director, Plácido Domingo with soprano Nino Machaidze and tenor Arturo Chacón-Cruz. Before the curtain rose, Kate Walsh (Grey’s Anatomy and NBC’s upcoming Bad Judge), hosted a champagne and caviar reception for supporters. The celebration honored L.A. County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky for his commitment to the arts and raised $1.5 million for the company’s productions and outreach programs. Revelers from Arroyoland included opera board Chair and Vice Chair Carol and Warner Henry, Gordon and Adele Binder, Terry Knowles and Marshall Rutter and Paul and Catherine Tosetti...Animal lovers gathered at a private home in South Pasadena on Sept. 13 for Animazonia Wildlife Foundation’s annual fundraiser, “Wine, Tastes and Treats,” which included appearances by Shiloh the bobcat and Princess, a rescued albino Burmese python...The Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens drew some 500 supporters to the annual Huntington Ball on Sept. 6. The black-tie al fresco affair honored President Steven S. Koblik and his predecessor, Robert A. Skotheim.

Music Director Conlon with Mercedes Bass

Bill and Claire Bogaard with Sara and George Abdo

Betty and David Tsoong with Agnes Lew

Maria Royce, Animazonia Founder Sanda Thompson and U.S. Rep. Judy Chu (D-Monterey Park) 8 | ARROYO | 10.14

Steven S. and Kerstin Koblik with Nadine and Robert A. Skotheim

PHOTOS: Steve Cohn and Dan Steinberg (LA Opera), Ayleene De Monn (Animazonia), Jamie Pham ( Huntington Ball)

LA County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, Machaidze and Domingo

10.14 | ARROYO | 9

PHOTOS: Steve Cohn and Dan Steinberg (LA Opera), Ayleene De Monn (Animazonia), Jamie Pham ( Huntington Ball)

10 | ARROYO | 10.14

Happy Days is Here Again Tony Shalhoub and Brooke Adams, who star in Boston Court’s fall revival of Samuel Beckett’s darkly comic classic, talk about marriage, the apocalypse and other timeless truths.

BY BETTIJANE LEVINE • PHOTOS BY ED KRIEGER –continued on page 13

10.14 ARROYO | 11

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–continued from page 11

rooke Adams and Tony Shalhoub come to Pasadena this fall with The Theatre

B

@ Boston Court’s revival of the Samuel Beckett classic Happy Days, directed by Andrei Belgrader, which runs through Oct. 12. Adams and Shalhoub, a longtime

married couple in real life, play Beckett’s fictional married couple Winnie and Willie, who confront the obliteration of the universe and of their relationship with humor and optimism that ultimately allows them to survive.

Happy Days debuted in 1961, and most current revivals from that era are being tweaked to make them more contemporary and relevant. Have any changes been made to the staging of Happy Days, to bring it into the present?

Brooke Adams: No, not really. A few changes have been made, but these changes were originally made by Beckett himself after the original production, and the changes were in the notes that we studied. We’re doing it absolutely à la Beckett’s original intention.

In Beckett’s post-apocalyptic worldview, this is comedy. First performed in 1961 at the Cherry Lane Theatre in New York’s Greenwich Village, it is as fresh and revealing now as it was then, says Jessica Kubzansky, Boston Court’s co-artistic director. Boston Court’s production makes no changes to the text, partly because no changes were

And that’s because it’s considered timeless, a classic that’s relevant for each generation?

BA: Yes. This is a post-apocalyptic play. Beckett’s intention was always to describe a world that is post-apocalyptic and barren.

permitted by the Beckett estate, but more important, she says, “no changes were needed.” Although the nonprofit theater’s mission is to promote and nourish adventurous new work, she says, it occasionally revisits classics whose form and function “shed new light on the human experience. And Happy Days does exactly that. It speaks profoundly about the human condition. In fact, we like to say that if Beckett were a new playwright, we’d want to be doing all his world premieres.”

For Kubzansky, an award-winning director and visiting assistant professor at UCLA,

And each generation fears its own version of apocalypse. I notice the play’s promotional material mentions global warming.

Tony Shalhoub: I think people can draw their own conclusions and interpret it in different ways. When Beckett was writing it, it was possibly more about [fear of] nuclear proliferation or something like that. But even before that, certainly people were always talking about the end of time, the end of days. And it speaks to that.

bringing the team of Beckett and Belgrader to Boston Court has profound personal significance. “This whole project was generated because of Andrei Belgrader, the director,” she says. “I grew up in Boston, where [some years ago] he directed a production

BA: I see it as an allegory, and Beckett achieves a kind of visceral effect that has nothing to do with specific times or events, but more with truths that are universal and timeless.

of Waiting for Godot. I thought it was astonishing. It was hilarious, it was heartbreaking.

I went out and bought the play. I read it. I said, ‘Where does it say they gallop around on all fours?’ That’s when I realized that there’s something between the page and the stage — the director. That is the person who makes a play come to life.”

Her own passion for directing was born of that experience, she says. “And when I dis-

TS: Yes, it speaks to the spirit of survival. That’s really what the play is all about. It’s about the resilience of the human spirit. Modern audiences may or may not read in other topical things, but I don’t think it’s our intention to billboard or highlight any of those things in any kind of way that isn’t true to the original text.

covered that Andrei, who works all over the country as well as internationally, now lives in Los Angeles, my co-artistic director, Michael Michetti, and I had a meeting with him.

We asked Andrei what he had always wanted to direct, because we like to program

It sounds sort of bleak.

BA: Not really. [Director] Andrei [Belgrader] and I call it a romantic comedy.

from the artist’s passion. Andrei said, ‘I’ve always wanted to do a production of Happy Days with Brooke Adams.’ We said, ‘That sounds thrilling. Let’s do it.’”

Adams, whose career also spans film and TV, “is a beautiful theater actor,” Kubzan-

TS: Yes, it’s also a piece about marriage, and about a long relationship between a man and a woman. He was writing about all those things.

sky says. And this is a role to relish. “It’s incredibly funny because this is a woman buried in a mound of earth up to her waist, and watching her entertain herself as she moves throughout her day, tries to connect with her husband — it says so much about marriage, about aging, about limitations and the ways in which we amuse ourselves.”

Shalhoub, a veteran of film, TV and stage, is more widely known because of his suc-

BA: And one of the things about it that’s very true and very funny is that the woman talks on and on and on and on. She wants to communicate, she wants to reach out, she wants to have an important one-on one relationship with her husband. But he barely says anything. That to me is pretty universal in marriage.

cess as USA Network’s Monk, and he returns to TV for a role in Showtime’s Nurse Jackie after his stint as Willie. But Shalhoub too is classically trained in theater, a graduate of

TS: [Inaudible.]

Yale School of Drama.

Arroyo Monthly recently interviewed Shalhoub and Adams during a rehearsal break.

–continued on page 15 10.14 ARROYO | 13

14 | ARROYO | 10.14

–continued from page 13

BA: Well, I think it is universal. That’s absolutely the state of marriage. I think most men are not interested in getting all involved in talking about emotional stuff. And they’re not necessarily interested in connecting. And I mean, you know, Tony happens to be an exception.

Tony, did you disagree with your wife about the lack of communication in most marriages?

TS: No, I think that is kind of universal. I think [the play] is reflective of relationships between men and women, and how they communicate and how they talk and listen — or don’t talk and listen.

You’ve been in rehearsals now for a while. Has doing this play together caused any revelations about your own relationship and lengthy marriage?

TS: Certainly there are a lot of parallels to to our marriage in this play. But I think any couple that comes to the play will see parallels to theirs, too.

Happy Days debuted in Greenwich Village’s Cherry Lane Theatre, which had about 170 seats. The Boston Court theater has just under 100 seats. Is it a play meant only for intimate venues?

TS: [Chuckles.] I think it would be extremely challenging to do this particular play in a large venue since Winnie is buried up to her ribs in the first act, and in the second act she disappears up to her neck. I think it was written for a smaller venue. Unless you had a Jumbotron, you wouldn’t want to see it in a Broadway house, I don’t think.

Brooke, this must be one of the most challenging roles ever written. You’re onstage and speaking the entire time, while partially buried and unable to move around. You are confronting not just the vicissitudes of a lengthy marriage, but also the inevitable ravages of time. Yet you call it a romantic comedy. How is that possible?

BA: Yes, it’s about relationships and growing older, and about the disappointments in the [couple’s] life. But it’s also about all the beauty in life, and about the spirit of a woman who is so optimistic in the face of the worst possible situation. I mean, here is someone who manages to see beauty in absolutely everything. She sees an ant, and it’s the most exciting moment in the play. She has an indomitable spirit.

You’re saying it’s about the sheer beauty of just being able to exist, no matter how daunting the circumstance?

BA: Yes, I think that’s true.

–continued on page 16 10.14 ARROYO | 15

–continued from page 15

But where’s the romance in this situation?

BA: It’s there. At the end, when Willie comes out, there is a real kind of romantic, happy ending. I mean he comes out, and he calls her Win, and that just fills her with joy.

And you see that there are things in this relationship that are comforting and wonderful, things that are enough to have made all of the struggles bearable and worthwhile.

So the play is timeless because it’s about human needs that probably haven’t changed since biblical times — the need for a meaningful relationship, for someone care about you and to hear you?

BA: Absolutely. I think that’s absolutely true. It’s completely relatable to today.

How did you two decide to do this play together, and why now?

TS: Andrei Belgrader, the director, approached Brooke. He had actually been wanting Brooke to do this piece for three or four years.

And he asked you to play the irritatingly uncommunicative husband?

TS: Andrei has been a friend of ours for a long time. In fact, he was a teacher of mine when I was in drama school years ago, and I’ve worked with him in the theater numerous times, not just in New Haven but also in repertory theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where I started my professional career. And also in New York. In fact, I’ve worked with him on Beckett two different times, in two different productions of Godot, one in Cambridge and one in New York. Andrei has even directed nine or 10 episodes of Monk.

Do you have any idea why Beckett decided to write about a woman buried in a mound of parched earth?

TS: One of the things Beckett speaks of in these books that we’ve kind of been using as our guides, is the fact that he came up with this [concept] because his idea of Happy Days by Samuel absolute hell would be to be buried in Beckett, through Oct. 12 the ground, and unable to sleep.

Thursdays through Saturdays, 8 p.m.

Sundays, 2 p.m. (post-show discussion Unable to sleep? with director circa 4:15 p.m. Oct. 5) TS: Yes. It’s constant daylight [onWednesday, Oct. 8, 8 p.m. (Five stage]. And every time Winnie tries to Dollar Night, no advance sales, cash/ check only) close her eyes to sleep, a bell rings to Tickets, available through the webwake her. It’s Beckett’s idea of hell. site, cost $34, $29 for seniors and students.

BA: He felt that he, as a man, could Boston Court Performing Arts Center never survive that. But he thought is located at 70 N. Mentor Ave., that a woman might be able to.

Pasadena. Call (626) 683-6883 or That’s what gave him the impetus for visit bostoncourt.com. this play. |||| 16 | ARROYO | 10.14

10.14 ARROYO | 17

arroyo

™

~HOME SALES INDEX~

+15.77% ALTADENA Homes Sold Median Price Median Sq. Ft. ARCADIA Homes Sold Median Price Median Sq. Ft. EAGLE ROCK Homes Sold Median Price Median Sq. Ft. GLENDALE Homes Sold Median Price Median Sq. Ft. LA CAÑADA Homes Sold Median Price Median Sq. Ft. PASADENA Homes Sold Median Price Median Sq. Ft. SAN MARINO Homes Sold Median Price Median Sq. Ft. SIERRA MADRE Homes Sold Median Price Median Sq. Ft. SOUTH PASADENA Homes Sold Median Price Median Sq. Ft. TOTAL Homes Sold Avg Price/Sq. Ft.

aug ’13 44 $627,500 1567 aug ’13 51 $945,000 2026 aug ’13 19 $599,000 1441 aug ’13 155 $550,000 1510 aug ’13 26 $1,193,750 2233 aug ’13 177 $600,000 1508 aug ’13 10 $1,506,500 2008 aug ’13 6 $647,500 1541 aug ’13 17 $758,000 1526 aug ’13 505 $482

aug ’14 36 $642,000 1589 aug ’14 35 $920,000 1800 aug ’14 14 $656,000 1274 aug ’14 99 $625,000 1513 aug ’14 24 $1,262,500 2205 aug ’14 160 $649,000 1475 july ’14 17 $2,038,000 2625 aug ’14 23 $850,000 1724 aug ’14 11 $1,035,000 1638 aug ’14 419 $558

HOMES SOLD

419

AVG. PRICE/SQ. FT.

505

-17.03%

august august 2013 2014 HOMES SOLD

HOME SALES

HOME SALES ABOVE RECENT HOME CLOSINGS IN THE PASADENA WEEKLY FOOTPRINT ADDRESS CLOSE DATE ALTADENA 605 Coate Court 08/13/14 08/22/14 2155 New York Drive 3100 Rubio Canyon Road 08/28/14 620 Millard Canyon Road 08/29/14 1784 Midlothian Drive 08/25/14 3736 North Hollingsworth Road 08/19/14 ARCADIA 1020 Hampton Road 08/08/14 08/29/14 300 Whispering Pines Drive 2222 South Santa Anita Avenue 08/27/14 2119 South 5th Avenue 08/22/14 1220 North Santa Anita Avenue 08/13/14 2257 Highland Vista Drive 08/29/14 1665 Alta Oaks Drive 08/01/14 1235 South 5th Avenue 08/26/14 204 East Magna Vista Avenue 08/06/14 420 East Pamela Road 08/27/14 325 Laurel Avenue 08/08/14 1710 South 3rd Avenue 08/26/14 1838 North Santa Anita Avenue 08/13/14 620 East Camino Real Avenue 08/04/14 2301 El Capitan Avenue 08/27/14 333 East Wistaria Avenue 08/15/14 602 South 2nd Avenue #A 08/12/14 53 Genoa Street #A 08/13/14 1834 Watson Drive 08/22/14 EAGLE ROCK 5132 Ellenwood Drive 08/13/14 GLENDALE 433 Coutin Lane 08/28/14 08/01/14 1307 Rossmoyne Avenue 375 Cumberland Road 08/27/14 1325 Rossmoyne Avenue 08/26/14 180 Aspen Oak Lane 08/29/14 1015 Calle Sonrisa 08/29/14 2469 Flintridge Drive 08/26/14 937 Calle Simpatico 08/06/14 1429 Virginia Avenue 08/29/14 921 Calle Simpatico 08/12/14 1346 Daily Circle 08/13/14 1458 Virginia Avenue 08/22/14 968 Calle Del Pacifico 08/29/14 1451 Irving Avenue 08/19/14 3923 Santa Carlotta Street 08/25/14 2080 Ashington Drive 08/06/14 3251 Kirkham Drive 08/13/14 1919 Verdugo Loma Drive 08/26/14 LA CAÑADA 4335 Woodleigh Lane 08/18/14 08/18/14 855 Inverness Drive 4400 Encinas Drive 08/22/14 5158 Castle Road 08/29/14 4341 Bel Aire Drive 08/26/14 837 Greenridge Drive 08/12/14 4126 Encinas Drive 08/25/14 4730 Oakwood Avenue 08/06/14 2017 Lyans Drive 08/29/14 1026 Fairview Drive 08/21/14 5663 Bramblewood Road 08/27/14

PRICE

source: CalREsource

BDRMS.

SQ. FT.

YR. BUILT PREV. PRICE PREV. SOLD

$1,280,000 $1,137,500 $1,100,000 $1,100,000 $951,000 $950,000

5 3 4 4 5 3

4374 2356 2641 2507 3526 2149

2002 1948 2004 1998 1952 1998

$4,180,000 $3,968,000 $3,430,000 $3,200,000 $2,250,000 $2,089,000 $1,758,000 $1,528,000 $1,250,000 $1,200,000 $1,050,000 $1,050,000 $999,000 $980,000 $965,000 $943,000 $920,000 $920,000 $910,000

3 5

4459 3956

1959 1988

3 4 5 4 3 3 3 2 3 2 2 2 3 3 4 3

1714 3569 4342 2260 1860 2232 1927 1522 2050 1736 1059 1814 1029 2228 2358 1301

1954 1948 1965 1951 1959 1970 1962 1942 1958 1953 1947 1954 1950 2007 1994 1951

$1,035,000

4

2670

1911

$1,475,000 $1,365,000 $1,340,000 $1,255,000 $1,200,000 $1,180,000 $1,150,000 $1,126,000 $1,080,000 $1,050,000 $1,040,000 $1,010,000 $980,000 $975,000 $967,500 $945,000 $925,000 $900,000

4 4 4 4 3 3 5 4 3 4 3 3 4 3 4 3 4 4

3208 2781 2835 2677 4670 3074 4205 2618 2416 2618 2233 3262 2618 2408 2433 2354 2187 2841

1957 1929 1938 1931 1987 1990 1980 1990 1928 1990 1975 1951 1989 1939 1949 1967 1975 1958

$3,950,000 $2,825,000 $2,425,000 $2,100,000 $1,900,000 $1,890,000 $1,680,000 $1,675,000 $1,675,000 $1,610,000 $1,370,000

3 4 5 5 4 4 2 2 4 3 4

4597 3824 3598 3736 4046 4396 2274 2052 2872 2853 2453

1923 1952 1954 1958 2007 1987 1960 1948 1954 1949 1966

$1,150,000 $1,030,000 $562,500 $951,000 $821,000

02/28/2007 05/15/2008 07/06/2001 08/25/2014 03/04/2005

$3,120,000 $2,880,000 $880,000 $800,000 $770,000

07/01/2011 12/30/2008 05/20/2010 11/14/2012 09/02/2004

$560,000 $1,288,000 $363,000 $440,000 $405,000 $549,000

09/21/2001 06/14/2013 08/10/1988 02/28/2002 10/31/2002 09/15/2003

$775,000

03/30/2012

$870,000 $295,000

06/15/2007 06/22/1994

$240,000

06/16/1995

$450,000 $1,145,000 $1,150,500 $780,000

07/10/1998 10/19/2012 06/28/2005 08/04/1989

$907,000 $515,000 $467,000 $800,000 $670,000

07/31/2003 07/06/1990 05/23/2000 03/24/2004 02/14/2013

$1,020,000 $1,107,000 $430,000 $922,000 $710,000

11/14/2006 02/23/2006 06/16/1989 01/12/2007 12/02/2009

$875,000 $1,329,000 $1,315,010 $1,295,000 $905,000 $175,000

02/22/1985 11/12/2002 04/04/2003 05/23/2003 05/09/2006 06/24/1986

$1,397,000 $871,000 $850,000

07/31/2009 06/25/1999 11/30/2001

The Arroyo Home Sales Index is calculated from residential home sales in Pasadena and the surrounding communities of South Pasadena, San Marino, La Canada Flintridge, Eagle Rock, Glendale (including Montrose), Altadena, Sierra Madre and Arcadia. Individual home sales data provided by CalREsource. Arroyo Home Sales Index © Arroyo 2014. Complete home sales listings appear each week in Pasadena Weekly.

18 | ARROYO | 10.14

ADDRESS CLOSE DATE LA CAĂ‘ADA 4606 Alta Canyada Road 08/22/14 08/19/14 4605 Leir Drive 1225 Flanders Road 08/22/14 371 Baptiste Way 08/13/14 325 Canon De Paraiso Lane 08/01/14 5040 Westslope Lane 08/29/14 4737 Palm Drive 08/19/14 4843 Carmel Road 08/26/14 4821 Daleridge Road 08/22/14 1015 Flintridge Avenue 08/28/14 1341 Flanders Road 08/15/14 PASADENA 1055 Lagunita Road 08/15/14 08/27/14 805 Oak Knoll Circle 1600 San Pasqual Street 08/14/14 3618 San Pasqual Street 08/29/14 395 Patrician Way 08/18/14 1200 Laurel Street 08/08/14 471 South Grand Avenue 08/28/14 1505 El Mirador Drive 08/01/14 671 Bellefontaine Street 08/21/14 840 Fairfield Circle 08/15/14 749 Lakewood Place 08/18/14 701 Heatherside Road 08/22/14 2908 Lombardy Road 08/26/14 600 East California Boulevard 08/01/14 1086 Armada Drive 08/18/14 510 South Oak Knoll Avenue 08/06/14 320 San Miguel Road 08/21/14 1310 Fairlawn Way 08/05/14 607 Laguna Road 08/01/14 2125 Kinclair Drive 08/26/14 379 Bellefontaine Street 08/15/14 485 Woodward Boulevard 08/13/14 808 Old Mill Road 08/01/14 1926 Sierra Madre Villa Avenue 08/26/14 1545 Old House Road 08/08/14 521 South Orange Grove Blvd #21008/27/14 514 Bonita Avenue 08/19/14 502 California Terrace 08/01/14 390 South Allen Avenue 08/01/14 3553 Grayburn Road 08/29/14 363 West Del Mar Boulevard #101 08/29/14 1253 Sierra Madre Villa Avenue 08/28/14 3870 Landfair Road 08/15/14 2850 Thorndike Road 08/13/14 74 San Miguel Road 08/27/14 3455 East Del Mar Boulevard 08/19/14 155 Cordova Street #405 08/19/14 3087 Oneida Street 08/21/14 273 Wallis Street 08/28/14 920 Granite Drive #303 08/07/14 436 North Raymond Avenue 08/29/14 3000 East California Boulevard 08/19/14 164 Anita Drive 08/19/14 SAN MARINO 1470 Virginia Road 08/22/14 08/26/14 1338 Wembley Road 1135 Winston Avenue 08/29/14 1130 Winston Avenue 08/25/14 2793 Gainsborough Drive 08/13/14 1570 Wilson Avenue 08/21/14 565 Los Arboles Lane 08/05/14 1705 Durklyn Court 08/05/14 555 Winston Avenue 08/29/14 1965 Sycamore Drive 08/07/14 2660 Lorain Road 08/29/14 1705 Las Flores Avenue 08/21/14 2775 Lorain Road 08/19/14 1325 Winston Avenue 08/18/14 2860 Somerset Place 08/21/14 2807 Fleur Drive 08/05/14 SIERRA MADRE 625 Fairview Avenue 08/29/14 08/21/14 139 West Bonita Avenue 431 East Montecito Avenue 08/11/14 685 Edgeview Drive 08/19/14 206 Auburn Avenue 08/25/14 190 Grove Street 08/13/14 539 East Grandview Avenue 08/14/14 196 San Gabriel Court 08/12/14 145 Grove Street 08/08/14 1920 Santa Anita Avenue 08/20/14 SOUTH PASADENA 270 St. Albans Avenue 08/19/14 08/13/14 342 Camino Del Sol 1501 Santa Teresa Street 08/28/14 1973 Oak Street 08/11/14 210 Orange Grove Avenue 08/01/14 808 Adelaine Avenue 08/26/14 1728 Oak Street 08/06/14

PRICE

BDRMS.

SQ. FT.

YR. BUILT PREV. PRICE PREV. SOLD

$1,285,000 $1,240,000 $1,220,000 $1,205,000 $1,200,000 $1,155,000 $1,149,000 $1,070,000 $1,060,000 $990,000 $930,000

4 4 4 4 4 3 3 3 4 3 3

2047 2725 2182 2190 2078 1815 1992 1863 1900 2220 1593

1950 1970 1924 1938 1969 1951 1954 1934 1948 1965 1948

$5,585,000 $3,350,000 $3,250,000 $3,120,000 $2,450,000 $2,349,000 $2,332,000 $2,300,000 $2,300,000 $2,207,000 $1,980,000 $1,955,000 $1,890,000 $1,857,000 $1,801,000 $1,800,000 $1,780,000 $1,713,000 $1,700,000 $1,700,000 $1,570,000 $1,550,000 $1,520,000 $1,500,000 $1,485,000 $1,347,000 $1,325,000 $1,320,000 $1,315,000 $1,300,000 $1,239,500 $1,215,000 $1,195,000 $1,108,000 $1,100,000 $1,090,000 $1,035,000 $1,010,000 $1,000,000 $970,000 $965,000 $960,000 $940,000

5 5 7 5 6 5 4 6 3 3 5 4 3 6 4 8 3 3 4

6694 4828 5045 4727 4676 2889 3702 6838 3726 3436 3024 3001 2044 4403 3166 6091 2760 2712 2531

1998 1988 1928 1936 1928 1952 1978 1990 2003 1925 1921 1924 1941 1929 1922 1964 1951 1950 1968

3 3 4 3 4 2 3 3 3 3

1856 1942 2359 3347 2400 2448 2291 1885 2129 1924

1910 1938 1926 1949 1953 1988 1937 1950 1928 1946

3 5 3 3 2 2 2 5 3 4 3 3

2149 2329 1704 1666 1007 1710 1018 2654 1910 3224 1634 2176

1952 1951 1951 1950 1931 2010 1927 1948 2009 1902 1951 1952

$5,998,000 $3,365,000 $3,300,000 $2,785,000 $2,588,000 $2,370,000 $2,358,000 $2,300,000 $2,038,000 $1,898,000 $1,810,000 $1,720,000 $1,650,000 $1,490,000 $1,450,000 $1,376,000

4 4 4 3 3 3 3 4 3 4 4 4 3 3 3 3

3398 3560 3236 3133 3010 2843 1929 3309 2743 2625 2144 2122 1635 2187 2048 1538

1938 1948 1928 1929 1949 1962 1941 1960 1948 1939 1939 1936 1938 1931 1942 1926

$1,526,000 $1,260,000 $1,200,000 $1,188,000 $1,174,500 $999,000 $956,000 $950,000 $925,000 $910,000

4 5 3 3 3 1 2 3 4 4

2510 3442 2224 2124 2623 500 1804 2275 2072 1898

$1,609,000 $1,585,000 $1,300,000 $1,159,000 $1,100,000 $1,035,000 $930,000

4 4 4 4 2 3 3

2295 2266 2385 1716 1261 1810 1328

$495,000 $316,000 $1,180,000

11/10/1997 12/01/1995 04/30/2007

$685,000 $338,000

05/14/2002 09/08/1995

$337,000

03/25/1994

$1,175,000

08/01/1997

$84,000 $1,600,000 $900,000 $1,100,000 $1,300,000 $1,250,010 $395,000 $1,400,000 $1,375,000 $142,000 $710,000

09/22/1969 02/04/2005 08/04/1995 07/21/2011 04/08/2005 03/31/1999 11/03/1999 01/21/2000 03/31/2004 06/01/1979 01/31/2002

$595,000 $1,365,000 $685,000 $1,810,000

02/16/1990 10/05/2010 04/18/1989 12/05/2007

$800,000

02/01/2002

$430,000 $859,000 $699,000

04/20/1994 06/11/1999 01/07/2003

$650,000 $537,000 $859,000

09/04/2009 10/11/2001 11/07/2012

$965,000 $1,140,000

10/18/2011 03/15/2007

$820,000 $251,000

07/12/2006 08/17/2009

$680,000

08/10/2007

$520,000 $711,000 $977,000

03/29/2002 04/02/2010 07/20/2007

$850,000

01/21/2000

$1,144,000 $260,500 $690,000

12/12/2003 09/25/1984 09/27/2000

$592,000

03/24/2000

$260,000 $670,000 $425,000

06/22/1981 02/02/2000 03/24/1989

$925,000 $111,000

06/23/2004 03/28/1977

1950 1924 1925 1954 2006 1926 1924 1928 1895 1954

$1,100,000 $429,500 $625,000 $281,000

09/01/2006 06/27/1997 01/09/2012 03/27/1992

$365,000 $340,000

12/07/2012 07/18/1995

$800,000 $320,000

02/20/2009 05/31/1995

1948 1964 1965 1923 1956 1921 1941

$1,130,000

07/27/2011

$981,000 $624,500

03/28/2006 07/22/2003

$360,000

11/20/2000 10.14 ARROYO | 19

ARROYO

HOME & DESIGN SPECIAL ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT

ESTATE SALES BOOMING IN PASADENA AREA

From Dented Mailboxes to Civil War Ciphers, Estate Sales Have It All

BY BRUCE HARING

EVERYONE DREAMS OF FINDING A HIDDEN TREASURE AT A SALE. IT MIGHT BE A VALUABLE PAINTING, AN ANTIQUE VASE, HISTORIC JEWELRY OR SOME OTHER ARTIFACT THAT ONLY THE PURCHASER KNOWS IS VALUABLE. THAT’S WHY YOU CAN DRIVE THROUGH ANY PLACE IN AMERICA ON

Bonhams auction of Period Art and Design: including Jewelry and Luxury Accessories November 9-10 2014 Los Angeles, CA Highlights from a collection of over 200 Hermès handbags and scarves Estimates vary

THE WEEKEND AND SEE A YARD OR GARAGE SALE IN PROCESS. IT’S A WAY FOR SELLERS TO MAKE THE RENT, WITH SAVVY BUYERS HOPING TO MAKE THE

20 | ARROYO | 10.14

–continued on page 22

Photo courtesy of Bonhams

SCORE OF A LIFETIME.

Photo courtesy of John Moran Auctioneers

—ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT—

–continued from page 20

Such a notion is more than an idle dream. Some of the more notable sales stories include the tale of a man buying a weathered copy of the Declaration of Independence at a yard sale, only to later discover it was one of the 200 official copies commissioned by John Quincy Adams. It sold for $477,000 in 2007.

organize and produce an estate sale auction. The firm recently set a world record for an American pottery vase sale, ringing up $517,000.

Moran’s holds three types of specialty auctions, according to Jeff Moran. First, there are estate auctions, featuring quality antiques and decorative art. A slight up-

Or there’s the record collector who paid a dollar for a plain acetate that had

grade from that are auctions featuring California and American paintings, includ-

“Velvet Underground” carelessly scribbled on it. Turns out it was a rare demo of the

ing oil and watercolor paintings and works on paper by important regional artists.

first album the VU made. It sold for just under $25,000.

Noted Pasadena artist Guy Rose’s works will be feature in an October auction run

But what do you do if you have more than a few possessions to sell? And particularly what do you do if you have no idea of the value of some of your goods?

You can’t just lay out the entire contents of a house in your front yard or garage and hope for the best, unless you want to wind up like the unwary sellers of the frayed Declaration or the VU acetate.

by Moran’s. Finally, Moran’s also hosts jewelry and luxe auctions, which can feature anything from a 12.82 carat ladies yellow diamond ring to Louis Vuitton luggage.

The most unusual item the firm has come across? Jeff Moran sees new candidates all the time.

“Just this week, Moran’s came across an unusual relic from the Civil War, one

That’s when you need to call a professional to help you plan an estate sale.

I have never seen before,” says Jeff Moran. “It is quite rare: a circular brass cipher/

The estate sale (sometimes referred to as tag sales or estate auctions) are dif-

decoder, 2-inch diameter, with a nesting rotating dial, circa 1862. It was made

ferent than garage sales. They are run by professionals and the goal is to sell every

by Francis Labarre of Richmond, Virginia for the Confederate Army, presumably

item in a dignified and secure manner. They’re usually conducted when a family

for their Signal Corps (a version of today’s Secret Service). There are less than five

member passes and leaves a lifetime of items behind. But sometimes they can help

examples known to exist. Moran’s is collaborating with an auction house that spe-

a family clear out the clutter and get ready for a major move, or turn items into cash

cializes in Civil War objects to establish an estimate, as one has never come up for

in the wake of a divorce or bankruptcy.

auction before.”

Whatever the reason, they are big business. In the Los Angeles/Orange County

A well-prepared estate sales shopper will usually have to rely on their own

area alone, there were over 125 estate sales scheduled for a recent mid-September

knowledge to estimate the worth of an item, Jeff Moran says. But Moran’s conducts

weekend, according to the tracker on estatesales.net, a web site which provides

its own research at catalogued auctions.

national listings of such sales.

Estate sales and auctions are typically conducted by professionals for a per-

“We prepare descriptions and catalogues of the items being orffered, with high and low price ranges where we think the item will sell,” Jeff Moran says. “We

centage of revenues, with some charging fees for additional services like advertis-

also include a condition report so the buyer is aware of defects and other issues we

ing, marketing, staff, refreshments and other incidentals. Every situation is different,

find. So this information enables new buyers to follow their passions and buy based

so an appraisal of your potential sales items by the firm is the usual first order of

on informed decisions. “

business.

If you are considering hiring a firm for your own estate sale, Moran’s will provide a complimentary consultation. “We make house calls with executors and relatives

HOUSE CALL USED TO EVALUATE GOODS In the Pasadena area, John Moran Auctioneers is one of the leaders in helping 22 | ARROYO | 10.14

to examine the property first hand and give them the idea if we are the right com–continued on page 26

10.14 | ARROYO | 23

—ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT—

Bonhams auction of Period Art and Design: including Jewelry May 18-19 2014 Los Angeles, CA

Photo courtesy of Bonhams

A pair of diamond and white gold day-night earrings estimated total diamond weight: 10.70cts.; overall length: 2 3/4in.

Sold for $5,250 including of Buyer’s Premium

–continued from page 22

pany,” says Jeff Moran. “Normally, we provide estimates for the client to consider. If they wish to sell, Moran’s provides consignors a sale agreement with detailed inventory and estimates and date of sale.”

Moran’s also hosts profiles of objects online, where international bidders can compete with a live auction in the Pasadena area. The firm also will partner with others to handle objects that are not a good fit for the typical Moran’s audience – like in the case of the Civil War cipher.

And if you’re still not sure, you can attend one of the free “What’s It Worth?” days that Moran’s holds each month. You can bring up to five objects to the firm’s Altadena headquarters for an on-the-spot evaluation. “We like to think they come for the knowledge gained, but it might actually be for the fresh brownies and fun atmosphere,” says Jeff Moran. He recalls that one such walk-in arrived bearing a Navajo blanket. It was later consigned and sold for a world record price for a Navajo textile.

MAILBOXES AND METEORS Also active in the Pasadena area is Bonhams US. They work on estate sales featuring antique furniture, silver, sets of china, rugs, art work, books and “sometimes jewelry,” says Laura King Pfaff, chairman of Bonhams US. Bonhams has also seen its share of unsual items. King Pfaff recalls a Midwestern mail box that was hit by a meteorite in the 1960s. It sold for $60,000.

“The kind of buyer that does well at an estate sale are the individuals educated in the value of property,” says King Praff. “These people have spent years going to sales to know if they are looking at valuable goods or not.” But even those who are merely on hand for fun can be accommodated. “The Bonhams specialists are helpful in the education process for potential buyers,” says King Pfaff.

If you’re interested in hosting an estate sale through Bonhams, a walk-through appointment will be set. “This appointment will determine which departments need to go back to determine the value of each item in their area of interest. A complete listing will be created for the family to determine what they should keep and what they wish to sell at auction,” says King Pfaff.

Bonhams has sales rooms in Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco, and will arrange to have a shipper pack and ship items to the sales rooms. At that point, the property is then assigned to various categories, unless the estate has enough property to host a “Single Owner Sale,” which, as the name implies, includes all the property in one giant sale. Bonhams handles all paperwork and will send a Sales Status Report to the seller.

So whether you’re selling Asian Art, American Furniture, vintage cars or even Hollywood memorabilia, there’s a place at Bonhams for your goods, says King Pfaff.

Even if you have an acetate that may be gathering dust in the back of your closet. Only this time, it won’t sell for a quarter, thanks to the professional evaluation AMH&D 26 | ARROYO | 10.14

10.14 | ARROYO | 27

28 | ARROYO | 10.14

SOMETHING WICKED LIT THIS WAY COMES The theater company turns horror classics into standing-room-only performances at an Altadena cemetery.

BY SCARLET CHENG

PHOTO: Daniel Kitayama

C

ome autumn, the Mountain View Mausoleum and Cemetery in Altadena will be the setting for some frightfully good drama – courtesy of the Wicked Lit theater company. It stages adaptations of classic horror literature in a form called “immersive theater,” where the audience literally walks into and through various settings as the play unfolds.

“We really like to use every part of the place,” says Jeff G. Rack, one of Wicked Lit’s founders, as he leads a walk-through of the mausoleum and its many tomb-lined corridors. In 2009 the company launched its first production at the Greystone Mansion in –continued on page 30

Angie Hobin in “Dracula’s Guest,” part of Wicked Lit 2014 from Unbound Productions 10.14 ARROYO | 29

The Producers: Jeff G. Rack, Paul Millet and Jonathan Josephson

John T. Cogan and Eric Keitel in “Dracula’s Guest” 30 | ARROYO | 10.14

Angie Hobin and John T. Cogan in “Dracula’s Guest”

PHTOS: Inset: Ed Krieger, Left and above: Daniel Kitayama

–continued from page 29

Beverly Hills. Then Rack and his fellow Wicked Lit founders, Jonathan Josephson and Paul Millet, were introduced to Jay Brown, who runs the Mountain View facility, founded in 1882. With its stately mausoleum, extensive grounds and notable residents (including Caltech physicist Richard Feynman), it was the perfect fit for what they wanted to do, so they moved over in 2010 and have been enjoying capacity crowds ever since.

Right now it’s daytime and sunlight is pouring through stained-glass windows, many made by the famous Judson Studios, but one can imagine how different it will be in the evening, when corners will be dark and shadows long. Every show accommodates 105 attendees, who are split into three groups that will see three short plays, each about a halfhour long, in rotation, Rack explains. Also part of every play, each group will have a guide who leads them from scene to scene. “You have to stage the actors, you also have to stage the audience,” Rack says.

The mausoleum is an architectural gem, resembling a European church with its vaulted entryway and large rose window. It was created by Cecil E. Bryan, who designed some 80 mausoleums. This one was his favorite, and he was buried here in 1951. His hefty tomb sits on the balcony beneath the large rose window — look up from the central gallery when you are there. Inside the mausoleum is a maze of corridors with marble-faced tombs and floors, vaulted ceilings, balconies and function rooms where scenes are staged. Scenes also take place in the nearby Pompeii section, as well as in the cemetery itself. Sets, props, sound effects and lighting enhance the experience.

The Wicked Lit founders often write and direct the productions, although this year they opened up the scriptwriting process to outsiders. This season’s program includes Bram Stoker’s “Dracula’s Guest,” adapted by John Leslie and directed by Rack; the Mexican legend “La Llorona” (The Weeping Woman),” adapted by Josephson and directed

by Millet; and Matthew Gregory Lewis’ “The Monk,” adapted by Douglas Clayton and

directed by Debbie McMahon.

“Dracula’s Guest” is based on a prologue that was cut out of Bram Stoker’s novel by his publisher, apparently for length. In the Wicked Lit version, Englishman Jonathan Harker arrives at a town near Transylvania, where he has an appointment to meet Count Dracula. But it’s dreaded Walpurgis night, when dark spirits are out and about. The first part of the play takes place in an office, built into a function room on the second floor of the mausoleum. Two brothers, Delbruck (Richard Large) and Johann (John Cogan), urge Harker (Eric Keitel) not to venture out, but finally Johann is given the unhappy task of taking him.

As Harker rides off on an unseen coach, the audience will walk from the rear of the mausoleum, around the side to the front gate and into the cemetery across the road. There Harker stumbles upon a tomb, built for this occasion, and meets two lady vampires who see him as a tasty snack. Yes, Harker has made a terrible mistake. For, in the words of Bram Stoker, “Walpurgis Night was when, according to the belief of millions of people, the devil was abroad — when the graves were opened and the dead came forth and walked. When all evil things of earth and air and water held revel. This very place the driver had specially shunned.” With the addition of sound and visual effects, Rack says, this will be spooky indeed.

Josephson has adapted “La Llorona” (The Weeping Woman),” the legend of a desperate mother who drowns her children in a river. It is derived from several legends from Mexico and the American Southwest, including the story of La Malinche, who was an interpreter and perhaps mistress to Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés. One version says he abandoned her to marry a Spanish woman, and La Malinche was driven wild with vengeance. “The weeping woman is doomed to be this spirit that inhabits the natural world,” says Josephson. “She’s constantly looking for her own children, and sometimes kidnaps other children.”

–continued on page 32 10.14 ARROYO | 31

Tanya Mironowski and Michael Prichard in “The Unnamable” from Wicked Lit 2011

–continued from page 31

Ericka Winterrowd and Eric Keitel in “The Body Snatcher” from Wicked Lit 2011

32 | ARROYO | 10.14

In the Wicked Lit adaptation, audiences will be led by El Diablo through the darkened mausoleum, where they will listen to five versions of the story. In different settings, we’ll hear tales from long ago to the present day — one woman tells how she was driven to infanticide, based on a news story from 1990s Los Angeles. “They all feel this intense regret, that’s what so chilling,” says Josephson.

“They’re not happy about it, WICKED LIT they deal with what they did in Oct. 3–Nov. 8 a visceral and punishing way.”

Thursday, Oct. 2 (preview) So why are horror stories so Friday through Sunday, Oct. 3–5; compelling?

“It makes you feel Wednesdays through Sundays, Oct. 8–Nov. 2 alive when you get frightened,” Wednesday through Saturday, Nov. 5–8 Rack suggests.

“It taps into some All performances begin promptly at 7:30 p.m. natural response; it gives you a Tickets, available through the website, range from $35 to $70. visceral thrill.” But, he hastens to The Mountain View Mausoleum & Cemetery is loadd, “What we’re doing is stocated at 2300 N. Marengo Ave., Altadena, and has rytelling first. The fact that it’s ample free parking. Wicked Lit suggests consulting a horror or mystery story, that’s a map before driving to the mausoleum. the genre we’re working with.

Call (323) 332-2065 or visit unboundproductions.org.

We tap into stories that have Note: Wear comfortable shoes and bring a sweater good characters. It’s not a spook or jacket as it may get cool at night. And since the house, it’s theater — it happens plays have adult subject matter not for the faint of to take place at a mausoleum heart, all attendees must be 13 or older. and cemetery.” ||||

10.14 ARROYO | 33

Revolutionizing the Classics A Noise Within relocates Shakespeare’s The Tempest to 1920s Florida.

BY KATIE KLAPPER

E

Deborah Strang as Prospera 34 | ARROYO | 10.14

PHOTOS: Craig Schwartz

mbarking on its 23rd year presenting classic theater in repertory, Pasadena-based A Noise Within has adopted “Revolutionary” as the theme for its 2014–2015 season. Can an organization with such deep roots still make that claim? Or has revolution been the means by which it has sustained an audience all these years? Is it necessary to “revolutionize” the classical repertory to involve today’s theatergoers?

A Noise Within’s fall season opens with a late Shakespeare romance, The Tempest, which runs through Nov. 22. Beyond the many upsets that occur in the narrative, the production’s most revolutionary aspect lies in the casting of the lead role, Prospero, as a woman, re-dubbed Prospera. Prospera masterminds the encounters among her fellow island inhabitants and the shipwrecked Duke of Milan and his associates over the course of a single eventful day. “It’s the same emotional treasure, but coming at it from a different angle,” says director Timothy Douglas.

The decision stemmed mostly from one of the assets of a repertory company: a resident artist whom Co-Artistic Director Julia Rodriguez-Elliot describes as “at the height of her craft” — in this case, Deborah Strang. “Deborah is a wonderful actor, a staple of our organization,” Rodriguez-Elliot says. “This is a wonderful opportunity to ‘shake it up’ and see what happens with a woman in that role.” Douglas agrees.

“Whenever there’s a unique casting shift, automatically the audience’s ear perks right up,” he says. “You’re listening to the play differently, even before anything happens. So much more is satisfied by hearing this iconic text spoken through these new voices.”

This production lends the play a feminine perspective, says Rodriguez-Elliott.

Adds Douglas, “Seeing this journey through a mother and daughter, there’s a perceived extra vulnerability there.” Exemplifying one way the gender switch will transform the play, Douglas points to the impending nuptials in the penultimate scene.

Prospero sees in his daughter, Miranda, “the woman he married. While Prospera would see herself at that age.”

Kimberleigh Aarn (center) as Ariel with spirits

Brecht and Kurt Weill’s The Threepenny Opera — and a new adaptation of 18th-century A Noise Within’s revolutionary approach to The Tempest also includes the producplaywright Pierre Beaumarchais’ Le Mariage de Figaro (inspiration for the Mozart opera), tion’s visual aspects. Instead of locating the action on a mysterious Mediterranean island delineating the parameters of “classic” seems called for. “We carve a wide strike zone within with characters harking from Naples and Milan, set at an unspecified time (presumably that, because we do American modern classics,” says Rodriguez-Elliot. “Tennessee Wilrecognizable to Shakespeare’s audience), the ANW Tempest takes place on a Florida liams, Arthur Miller and Sam Shepard are often part of our repertory. The criterion is ‘true key circa 1920. Douglas was inspired partly by the 1983 fi lm Cross Creek, based on the yesterday, true today, true tomorrow.’ If it speaks to us in the here life of The Yearling writer Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. Images of and now, and we have the sense that it will be speaking to us in 100 tropical, rural Florida evoke an undiscovered island, with simple The Tempest by years, we consider a play classic.” On occasion, an older play may stagecraft suggesting shore and forest. The set’s most distincWilliam Shakespeare shed light on a more modern work. “When we revisit a play like tive feature is an imposing 21-foot-long pier, which is frequently through Nov. 22 Strindberg’s The Dance of Death [later this fall], we see how strongly moved by “spirits of the island” to demarcate various spaces.

Friday, Oct. 3, 8 p.m.: it influenced Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? ” In this setting, says Rodriguez-Elliott, “The audience is (post-show Conversations) Saturday, Oct. 4, 2 p.m.

In devising a season, ideas are solicited from company struck by the differences between the opulence of the GatsSunday, Oct. 26, 2 and 7 p.m.: members as well as directors A Noise Within hopes to work byesque gentry who land on the island vs. the natural/spirit world (Conversations after 2 p.m.) with. “We tend to select works with a common thread,” says of the people who inhabit it.” That’s another change designed to Saturday, Nov. 1, 2 and 8 p.m.

Rodriguez-Elliott. “We choose plays that highlight issues we are grab the audience’s attention, says Douglas. “If the picture you Thursday, Nov. 6, 7:30 p.m. preoccupied with in our world, in our contemporary life.” This see resembles so many other productions, you’re not on edge, Friday, Nov. 7, 8 p.m.: season, all the plays revolve around social, political or personal you’re not listening.”

(Conversations) revolution. “Even The Importance of Being Earnest, maybe the funRodriguez-Elliott is careful to point out that alterations to Sunday, Nov. 16, 2 and 7 p.m. niest play in the English language, begins with people dissatisfied tradition are never made merely for novelty. “We don’t set out to Thursday, Nov. 20, 7:30 p.m. with their status quo,” she says. stray from a period; rather, it has to do with how a play is speakSaturday, Nov. 22, 8 p.m.

ANW designed its stage with an eye toward audience involveing to us. If a particular world illuminates the text, and we think Tickets, available through the ment. The thrust stage positions the actors “up close and personal,” that’s a period where this might resonate most strongly, then we website, start at $40. making the audience “a part of it,” says Rodriguez-Elliott. “There’s embrace it. Ultimately, it is all about the storytelling. That is the A Noise Within is located at 3352 E. Foothill Blvd., Pasadena. an inherent humanity there.” And that sets the stage for the univerdriving force, rather than modernizing a play or changing the Call (626) 356-3100 or visit sality of ANW’s theatrical offerings. “These plays are not precious setting for its own sake.” anoisewithin.org. things,” she says. “They’re for all of us. Shakespeare is writing about With an upcoming slate that includes not only Shakespeare, all of us, not this particular individual but the human condition.” |||| Strindberg and Oscar Wilde, but also a 20th-century play — Bertolt 10.14 ARROYO | 35

36 | ARROYO | 10.14

The Pasadena Playhouse Diversifies Kiss Me, Kate THE PRODUCTION’S LARGELY AFRICAN-AMERICAN CAST HARKENS BACK TO 1930s PRODUCTIONS OF THEATER CLASSICS SPOTLIGHTING BLACK ACTORS.

BY SCARLET CHENG

PHOTO: Jim Cox

T

he fall season kicks off with a rollicking splash at the Pasadena Playhouse, as an allnew production of the Cole Porter classic Kiss Me, Kate debuts (Sept. 16 – Oct. 12) — with a largely African-American cast.

“It’s always good to do something very energetic, very theatrical to start off the season,” says the show’s director, Sheldon Epps, who is also the playhouse’s artistic director.

Daytime Emmy–winning talk show host, actor, singer and comedian Wayne Brady and Broadway veteran Merle Dandrige will head the cast of 17, to be accompanied by a live orchestra.

“All these great Cole Porter songs, it’s a love letter to the theater,” Epps says during an interview at the theater. “I do like shows like Noises Off and Light up the Sky about actors and theater.” He smiles, adding, “And Kiss Me, Kate is tremendously well written.”

He points out that their version, set in 1948 as was the Broadway original, would have fit in with the New York theater scene during the 1930s, because black actors were already playing leading roles. That era witnessed several all-black adaptations of classic plays. “Through some –continued on page 38 10.14 ARROYO | 37

it’s always been adjusted to whoever was playing the parts, based on the research, I became aware of existing voices they have. So we may have a material created for black performlittle more jazz, a little more soul.” ers, such as Voodoo Macbeth and Hot But, he adds, the script remains Mikado, which was basically the as is. “I want to honor this great Gilbert and Sullivan operetta,” Epps material as it’s written,” he says. says. “And I came across — this was “We’re also honoring and celebratreally fascinating to me — Swingin’ ing some of the great black actors the Dream.” Voodoo MacBeth was and actresses of that period. Fred the nickname given to the Federal could very well be Paul Robeson.

Theatre Project’s 1936 production Lilli could very could very well be of Shakespeare’s MacBeth with Lena Horne or Dorothy Dandridge, an African-American cast. That Lois could be Eartha Kitt. We’re production — directed by no less not suggesting actors impersonate than Orson Welles — switched Wayne Brady, director Sheldon Epps and Merle Dandridge those people, but I’ve suggested they the setting from Scotland to the read about them, study them, get a sense of who they were.”

Caribbean. Swingin’ the Dream was based on Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream, African-American actors are playing leading roles previously the province of white and the 1939 Broadway production featured Louis Armstrong as Bottom the Weaver actors in other current productions as well. Horton Foote’s classic The Trip to Bounti— playing a horn, naturally — and Butterfly McQueen as Puck. (Unfortunately, the ful is at the Ahmanson Theatre with Cicely Tyson reprising her Tony-winning role concept didn’t take, and it folded after 13 performances.) alongside Vanessa Williams and Blair Underwood. And Keke Palmer plays the title Kiss Me, Kate also looks to Shakespeare for inspiration, with scenes lifted from The role in Broadway’s race-blind production of Cinderella. Says Epps, “I have not seen Taming of the Shrew, but its story revolves around a theater company putting on The this revival of Trip, but I am looking forward to it. It certainly has a great cast, and Shrew, a musical update of the Bard’s version. Kiss Me, Kate debuted on Broadway in that would seem to be a terrific role for Miss Tyson. I don’t think that ‘re-thinkings’ December 1948 at the New Century Theatre, with music and lyrics by Cole Porter of existing plays using actors of color is a recent trend or fluke by any means. That has and book by the husband-and-wife team of Samuel and Bella Spewack.

The curtain rises on opening night in Baltimore, with the chorus singing and dancing gone on in the American theater for many years. I think it works best when this approach enhances rather than fights the material, which can sometime happen.” the oh-so familiar song, “Another Op’nin’, Another Show.” Fred Graham (played by Epps’ suggestion that the cast study their African-American predecessors resoBrady) is the imperious director and producer of the play-within-a-play, and he’s also cast nated with star Merle Dandridge (no relationship to Dorothy). “When he started himself in the lead role of Petruchio. Meanwhile Lilli Vanessi (Dandridge) is playing throwing out those names, the historical musical actresses of this age,” she says during opposite him as the headstrong Kate. She also happens to be his ex, and a prima donna a telephone interview, “it really spoke to me, it gave me context.” offstage as well as on. Lilli is currently engaged to someone else, while Fred has his eye Dandridge is a veteran of theater and television — she has starred in Broadway on a younger actress, Lois (Joanna A. Jones), even though she already has a boyfriend. As productions of Spamalot (Lady of the Lake), Rent (Joanne) and Aida (Aida); her if there weren’t enough trouble brewing, the boyfriend gets into hot water with the mob television credits include recurring roles on Sons of Anarchy, Newsroom, Stalker and when he runs up gambling debts, and soon two gangsters show up to collect.

Star-Crossed. While she had not seen Kiss Me, Kate before she took on the role, she “I was in the play once; I played Paul,” Epps recalls. Paul is Fred’s dresser and had studied the role of Kate for Taming of the Shrew and also recognized many of the the lead in one of the best-known numbers from the show, “Too Darn Hot.” “I was a songs. “I knew all of this music, these iconic pieces,” she says, “and I remember Lena drama student at Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh. There’s a very famous summer stock Horne’s version of ‘From This Moment On.’” (The song is on Horne’s 1957 album called Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera there, and it was my fi rst professional job. I was Lena Horne at the Waldorf Astoria.) Studying the script and songs, she feels a visceral an ensemble chorus member through the summer. So I’ve been in it and seen it but tug from the material. “I have to say I immediately fell in love with the story of these have never directed it. gypsies, that’s who we are,” she says. “The hard work, falling in and out of love, it “I thought it was wonderful to do a show that was about the high jinks that go on speaks to the kind of people we are, we’re a tribe.” She also likes the character arc of backstage,” he continues. “Even then I was a fan of Cole Porter music. I loved the muLilli. “She’s such a complicated character,” Dandridge sic, loved the story, loved the material.” In the history observes. “She has many styles and voices — drama, of musical theater, Kate marked the beginning of songs Kiss Me, Kate with music and lyrics comedy — everything is involved in a character like her. being integrated into character and plot — something

by Cole Porter, through Oct. 12 I think it a huge compliment that I’ve been chosen to the team of Rodgers and Hammerstein helped pioneer Tuesdays through Fridays, 8 p.m. play her.” Dandridge has trod the boards at the historic — rather than written and then plopped down here Saturdays, 4 and 8 p.m.

Pasadena Playhouse before, performing in Jerry Heror there. “People were really insisting on songs telling Sundays, 2 and 7 p.m. (Post-show discussion after man’s Showtune a dozen years ago. Recently, she hasn’t a story more carefully, so Cole was good at following 2 p.m. performance, Oct. 5) been doing theater as much as she used to, working those rules,” Epps says. Kiss Me, Kate has a number of Tickets, available through the website, range from instead in television and as a character in video games. numbers that will sound very familiar, in part because $47 to $125.

Still, the stage remains a passion, and she says she they were recorded by singers like Ella Fitzgerald and The Pasadena Playhouse is located at 39 S. El finds working at the playhouse an especially rewarding Frank Sinatra. Given the new African-American lens, Molino Ave., Pasadena. Call (626) 356-7529 or experience. “You can just feel the richness of history and will there be injections of jazz or soul? “Well, maybe,” visit pasadenaplayhouse.org. tradition when you walk into this theater.”|||| says Epps. “The offstage music is more personal, and 38 | ARROYO | 10.14

PHOTO: Jim Cox

–continued from page 37

10.14 ARROYO | 39

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KITCHEN CONFESSIONS

The Leftovers Waste not the $165 billion worth of food Americans toss each year.

BY LESLIE BILDERBACK

Here in Southern California, we have all become hyper-aware of waste in light of our current drought. We are well acquainted with the concept of conservation when it comes to water. That concept has slowly trickled down to other aspects of life. We have more fuel-efficient cars.

We reduce our energy use on very hot days. We are getting good at recycling and limiting our use of plastic. But the idea of conservation seems to stop short when it comes to food. That is because there are no immediate visual signifiers — like dry lakebeds, drowning polar bears or the great Pacific Garbage Patch — to shock us into action.

But it is clear that the next great conservation movement needs to be about food.

Luckily, the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is on it. They have put together some nifty, albeit horrifying, statistics. Americans waste 40 percent of the food we produce. That’s almost half! This garbage uses up 25 percent of our nation’s fresh water and 4 percent of our oil and amounts to approximately $165 billon each year put to no good use. Imagine what we could do in this country with an extra $165 billon dollars! (My mind just exploded with possibilities.)

These facts piqued my interest because in the food business we know all about food waste. We generate a ton of it, but we also know how to minimize it. In the food world, garbage = lost profit. Consequently, conservation skills are drummed into our thick heads from our first day on the job.

When I was in culinary school, instructors regularly inspected the garbage cans for waste. A burnt tray of anything was best buried far down in the trash, underneath something goopy, if you expected to get away with it. (If you couldn’t adequately hide the evidence at school, it behooved you to shove it into your backpack and take it home to throw away.)

One of the first recipes I was taught in culinary school was navarin d’agneau (springtime lamb stew), and on the first day of class I dropped the lamb on the floor.

Having just completed the food safety and sanitation portion of my education, I promptly threw the lamb in the trash and asked for another portion. What was next unleashed can only be described as an onslaught of venom from the French gates of hell. My chef was not merely exasperated. He did not express impatience with me, a –continued on page 42 10.14 | ARROYO | 41

KITCHEN CONFESSIONS

–continued from page 41

rookie — and a girl. He let loose on me what was clearly pent-up rage from a decade of living in stupid America, teaching stupid Americans to cook. It was humiliating, but memorable. I now see that I should have picked up the lamb, rinsed it off and shut up about it.

Lest you think this über-sensitivity to waste is a culinary school–based anomaly, most chefs worth their salt are just as conscious of what’s in the garbage. This is not obsessive. It is good business. Everything in the trash represents money. The more you are throwing out, the more money you are wasting. If your cans and cartons are found in the trash with any food left in them, there is hell to pay. (I still let my cream cartons sit on their side next to the stove for five minutes to loosen the last tablespoon.) If vegetable scraps end up in the trash and not the stockpot, you will be made an example of. Bowls, pots and pans should appear clean when they hit the scullery, already wellscraped of usable product with a rubber spatula.

The desire to avoid the trash can is a powerful motivator for creativity. Some of the best things I ever cooked began as attempts to use up that last half-case of figs, a leftover quart of béchamel sauce or the last hunk of cheese, liberated from a layer of mold.

As a consequence, the refrigerators in both my professional and personal kitchens have always been fi lled with small containers, bags and bundles of something left over but still usable. Cooking on a budget, be it my bosses’ budget or my own, makes it very hard to throw edible food down the drain. If it were socially acceptable (and legal) to reuse food that came back from the tables at the end of a meal, I would. (Throwing away untouched bread from a table’s breadbasket makes my heart hurt.)

Not surprisingly, my urge to avoid waste is not limited to my own kitchens. It extends to restaurant dining too. If I can’t finish a plate whilst dining out, I will always have it wrapped to go. I will make the people I am eating with do the same. These doggy bags (no one calls them that anymore) are never destined for the dog’s dish. It becomes my breakfast or lunch the next day, or it ends up in another recipe. Veggies end up in stock, starches in soups and curries, and meat — especially barbecue — becomes the secret ingredient in soups, sauces and my award-winning chili. (Truth be told, I gave myself the award.)

Sometimes when I’m traveling, because of a highly structured agenda or the lack of refrigeration in my hotel, I know restaurant leftovers won’t get used. That, however, does not stop me from taking them back to the room. It is so ingrained in me that it is impossible for me to allow half of a perfectly good tuna melt to wind up in the trash.

I’ll probably throw it away eventually, but I believe the right to take such actions is

42 | ARROYO | 10.14

mine — not the busboy’s. My waste will be on my terms. This is an act my husband finds too ridiculous to ignore. He has taken to naming my leftovers — the tuna melt was Timmy. I had it wrapped, treated it to a ride in a cab and brought it back to my room. Timmy the Tuna Melt is my version of a one-night stand.

Sure, this sounds like crazy behavior, but food waste in this country is a tragedy.

The average consumer trashes about 20 pounds of food each month. The NRDC estimates a reduction of just 15 percent in food waste could feed 25 million Americans.

And despite what you may think after watching The Biggest Loser, there are indeed hungry Americans. Not to freak you out, but food conservation is vital. The United Nations predicts that by 2050 the world will need 70 percent more food to feed the growing population. Timmy the Tuna Melt doesn’t sound so crazy now, does he?

Thankfully there are a handful of conscientious folks taking on the issue of food waste. In New York, Salvage Supperclubs are popping up in the food-o-centric neighborhoods of Brooklyn. Their meals take place in spiffed-up dumpsters and utilize only product that was destined for the trash. A mere $50 gets you a multi-course meal produced by top local chefs, with the proceeds going to City Harvest, a nonprofit that sources food for the city’s hungry residents. I am totally down for this in L.A. It is the ultimate mystery basket challenge.

Until I can whip up support for dumpster dining from the big-haired foodies of La-La Land, I will continue to encourage a more thoughtful use of food. In addition to the squirreling away of leftovers, we should be more mindful of what we make and how we make it and how we use our initial food purchases. Expiration dates are frequently over-cautious, and consumers blindly trust them. I firmly believe that in many cases the expiration dates are nothing but a money grab, intended to get shoppers back into the stores. Take a whiff before you toss, and consider your freezer before your trash can.

Food conservation is a skill that needs some nurturing, but with a little forethought, you can reduce your waste, increase your culinary creativity and help ensure there will be food for all as we roll toward the midcentury.

Next month, I will outline some creative and delicious ways you can reduce waste.

Thanks in advance for saving my planet. |||| Leslie Bilderback, a certified master baker, chef and author of Mug Cakes: 100 Speedy Microwave Treats to Satisfy your Sweet Tooth (St. Martin’s Press), lives in South Pasadena and teaches her techniques online at culinarymasterclass.com.

A SELECTIVE PREVIEW OF UPCOMING EVENTS COMPILED BY JOHN SOLLENBERGER

THE LIST

AbilityFirst Hosts Gourmet Gala

Margaret Sedenquist, accorded the

Oct. 5 — AbilityFirst,

son, accepting the Accolade Award. The

which serves children

evening includes dinner and dancing to

and adults with dis-

the live music of Rick Riso and his swing

abilities, hosts its 40th annual Gourmet

band and a performance by poet and

Festival of Fall fundraiser at a private

multimedia artist Maryrose Smyth. Single

residence in South Pasadena from 4 to

tickets cost $150. Sponsorships range

7 p.m. The event includes gourmet food,

from $1,000 to $15,000.

fine California wines and brews and live

The University Club is located at 175

and silent auctions. The gala features

N. Oakland Ave., Pasadena. Visit

host Whit Johnson (pictured above),

womenatwork.org.

Trailblazer Award; and Betty Ann Jans-

co-anchor of NBC4 morning show Today

Celebrating Pasadena’s Craftsman Heritage

in LA. Single tickets, available through the website, cost $150. VIP tickets cost $500, and patron tables for eight are $1,600.

Visit abilityfirstfestival.org.

Oct. 17 through

ArtNight Pasadena Kicks Off Weekend of Events Oct. 10 — The City of Pasadena Arts and

ALTARS HONOR THE DEAD

19 — Pasadena Heritage hosts its annual Craftsman Weekend, celebrating Craftsman architecture with a host of events — neighborhood tours, workshops, lectures and more. Times and costs

Cultural Affairs Division presents the annual

Oct. 11 — The Folk Tree in Pasadena hosts a reception from 2 to 6 p.m. in con-

vary. The opening reception runs from

ArtNight Pasadena, offering free admission

junction with its annual Day of the Dead Altars and Ephemera exhibition, which

6 to 8:30 p.m. Friday at the historic Blinn

to 19 of Pasadena’s arts institutions from 6

opened Sept. 27. Face painter Jeanine Montellano will adorn guests with Day

House. The cost is $45 ($40 for Pasadena

to 10 p.m. Events include live music, dance,

of the Dead designs and headpieces. Look for traditional altars honoring loved

Heritage members). In conjunction with

spoken word, theater, visual art exhibits

ones who have passed on, a Mexican tradition with roots nearly 4,000 years old,

the weekend’s events, the Antiques and

and storytelling.Venues include Armory

celebrated on Nov. 1 (when Montellano will return to The Folk Tree). The modern

Contemporary Furnishings and Decora-

Center for the Arts (armoryarts.org), ARC

observance combines pre-Hispanic and Catholic influences. Also on display are

tive Arts Sale runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Pasadena (arcpasadena.org), Art Center

related works of Mexican folk art in a variety of media by more than 40 area art-

Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday at

College of Design (artcenter.edu), Boston

ists. The exhibition continues through Nov. 2.

the Pasadena Convention Center. Admis-

Court Performing Arts Center (bostoncourt.

The Folk Tree is located at 217 S. Fair Oaks Ave., Pasadena. Call (626) 795-8733 or

sion is $10 or free with the purchase of

com), Lineage Performing Arts Center

visit folktree.com.

any Craftsman Weekend event ticket.

(lineagedance.org), the Norton Simon

Blinn House is located at 160 N. Oakland

Museum (nortonsimon.org), Offramp Gal-

11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Corporate Center

Ave., Pasadena. The Pasadena Conven-

Juried Works, Jazz at ArtWalk

Pasadena, guests can enjoy delectable

tion Center is located at 300 E. Green St.,

offerings from fine restaurants located on

Pasadena. Call (626) 441-6333 or visit

Project (lightbringerproject.com) and

Oct. 11 — Pasadena’s

Pasadena’s South Lake Avenue. The free

pasadenaheritage.org.

many others.

ninth annual ArtWalk

event includes live music, cooking demon-

Visit artnightpasadena.org.

runs from 11 a.m. to

strations, a beer and wine garden, prizes

lery (offrampgallery.com), Pasadena City College (pasadena.edu), the Light Bringer

5 p.m. in the Playhouse District. The juried

and showcases by local businesses.

An African Circus Comes to Caltech

Art at the Paseo

festival spotlights original works by some

Corporate Center Pasadena is located

Oct. 18 — Cirque

Oct. 10, 11 and 12

40 artists, hands-on art activities, live jazz

at 251 S. Lake Ave., Pasadena. Visit

Zuma Zuma, likened

— In conjunction

and a self-guided architectural tour in the

southlakeavenue.org.

to an African-style

with Pasadena’s Art

historic district along South El Molino Av-

Weekend, the Pasa-

enue. In addition, the Pacific Asia Museum

Cirque du Soleil, performs at Caltech’s

dena Festival of the Arts comes to Paseo

offers free admission during the event.

Colorado, bringing live music and numer-

ArtWalk takes place on South El Molino

Local Women Reaching for the Stars

ous emerging and established artists and

Avenue, Pasadena. The Pacific Asia Mu-

Oct. 11 — The

some of them veterans of TV’s America’s

craftspeople selling their wares. The festival

seum is located at 46 N. Los Robles Ave.

Women at Work

Got Talent. Artists include acrobats, jug-

runs from 5 to 10 p.m. Friday, 10 to 6 p.m.

Call (626) 744-0340 or visit playhousedis-

career and job resource center presents

glers, vocalists, contortionists, dancers and

Saturday and 11 to 6 p.m. Sunday. Admis-

trict.org/artwalk.

its annual gala at Pasadena’s University

comedians. Tickets cost $10 to $32.

Club from 5 to 10 p.m. With the theme

Beckman Auditorium is located on the Caltech campus, 1200 E. California Blvd.,

sion is free.

Beckman Auditorium at 8 p.m. The colorfully costumed troupe consists of 120 talented performers from 16 African nations,

Paseo Colorado is located at 280 E.

Tasting South Lake

“Reaching for the Stars,” the event hon-

Colorado Blvd., Pasadena. Call (909) 941-

Oct. 11 — At the 2014

ors local women who’ve had an impact

Pasadena. Call (626) 395-4652 or visit

7100, email info@laydback.com or visit

Taste of South Lake,

on the community — Peggy Phelps,

events.caltech.edu.

pasadenafota.com or laydback.com.

which runs from

who will receive the Heritage Award;

–continued on page 44 10.14 | ARROYO | 43

THE LIST Steven Isserlis

LACO CONCERT SPOTLIGHTS CELLIST Oct. 18 — Cello virtuoso Steven Isserlis joins the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra for an 8 p.m. performance at the Alex Theatre in Glendale. Isserlis will perform Haydn’s Cello Concerto No. 2, as guest conductor Douglas Boyd makes his LACO debut. The program also includes works by Mozart and George Benjamin. Ticket prices start at $25. The concert repeats at 7 p.m. Oct. 19 at UCLA’s Royce Hall.

The Alex Theatre is located at 216 N. Brand Blvd., Glendale. Call (213) 622-7001 or visit laco.org.

–continued from page 43

to 12; free for children 4 and younger.

Celebrating the Harvest at Descanso

Descanso Gardens is located at 1418 Descanso Dr., La Cañada Flintridge. Call (818) 949-4200 or visit descansogardens.org.

Oct. 18 and 19 — Fall so Gardens’ Harvest Festival, which offers

Boo at the Zoo and More

an array of Saturday and Sunday events,

Oct. 18, 19, 24, 25 and

including a hay maze, family crafting from

26 — The Los Angeles

is in the air at Descan-

10 a.m. to 1 p.m., costume parades at

Halloween-themed events this month:

time at 10:30 a.m. On Saturday, an expert

Boo at the Zoo’s family-friendly activities

gives a pumpkin-carving demonstration

include pumpkin carving, photo opportu-

from noon to 2 p.m., and Sunday, there’s a

nities, eerie crafts, a “Creepy Creature En-

visit to the Harvest Garden, where guests

counter” at the Winnick Family Children’s

can reap and keep items grown there,

Zoo and a live Halloween show. Boo at the

from noon to 2 p.m. Free with regular

Zoo runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Oct. 18, 19,

Descanso admission of $9 general, $6 for

25 and 26. Free with zoo admission of $19

seniors and students and $4 for children 5 44 | ARROYO | 10.14

Zoo presents a pair of

11 a.m. and Little Owls Reading Nest story-

–continued on page 46

10.14 | ARROYO | 45

THE LIST

–continued from page 44

for guests 13 to 61, $16 for seniors 62 and

ing at 4 p.m.Tickets are $75, which includes

older and $14 for children 2 to 12.

a reception.The Pasadena location will be

Night of the Living Zoo, from 7 to 11 p.m.

provided with ticket purchase.

Oct. 24, is a pre-Halloween costume bash

Call (626) 683-3355 or visit

for adults 21 and up, with zoo grounds

pasadenaconservatory.org.

transformed by hair-raising decorations and special effects. Visit creepy zoo enjoy Halloween-themed entertainment,

Hoopla for the Homeless

food trucks and a full bar. Tickets cost $35

Oct. 29 — Union

creatures, take part in a costume contest,

in advance on the website, $40 at the

Station Homeless

door ($30 for Greater Los Angeles Zoo As-

Services hosts An Evening for the Station

sociation members).

fundraiser from 6 to 9 p.m. at Noor in

The Los Angeles Zoo is located at 5333

Paseo Colorado. The evening includes a

Zoo Dr., in Griffith Park. Call (323) 644-6042

Beatles tribute with live music by Pasade-

or visit lazoo.org.

na orchestra Muse/Ique and a reception with hors d’oeuvres. Tickets cost $40.

Walking to Protect Animals

Noor is located in Paseo Colorado, 260 E.

Oct. 25 — The Farm

tionhs.org.

Colorado Blvd., Pasadena. Visit unionsta-

Sanctuary animalhosts a Walk for Farm Animals in Pasa-

Santa Starts Work on Halloween

dena and other cities around the country.

Oct. 31 through

The fundraising and outreach event aims

Nov. 2 — Guests can

rights organization

to help stop cruel agricultural practices,

get an early start on

such as factory farming, and promote

holiday shopping at the Contemporary

kindness to animals. Registration begins

Crafts Market, showcasing ceramics,

at 9:30 a.m., followed by the 2.3-mile walk

jewelry, furnishings, sculptural glass, shoes,

at 11 a.m., starting in Memorial Park and

leather goods and textiles from some 200

continuing through Old Pasadena. The

artisans.This is a juried show of original

family-friendly fun includes prizes, free food

American works.The market at the Pasa-

and live music after the walk by Nina and

dena Convention Center runs from 10 a.m.

Randa and FatMagic, plus tunes by DJ

to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 10 a.m.

Nametag. Guest speaker is Gene Baur,

to 5 p.m. Sunday. Admission costs $8.

president and co-founder of Farm Sanctu-

The Pasadena Convention Center is

ary. Registration is $25 on the day of the

located at 300 E. Green St., Pasadena.

event, free for those under 18.

Visit craftsource.org.

Memorial Park is located at the corner of North Raymond Avenue and Walnut Street,

A Shining Gala

Pasadena.Visit walkforfarmanimals.org.

Nov. 1 — The Pasadena Ronald McDonald

Mansions and Music

46 | ARROYO | 10.14

House hosts its 10th annual Shine benefit

Oct. 26 — The

at the Langham Huntington, Pasadena,

Pasadena Conserva-

starting at 5:30 p.m.The evening includes a

tory of Music launches

reception, dinner, live and silent auctions, a

the new Mansions and Music season of

special appearance by Ronald McDonald

concerts in private homes with “The Art

and dancing to live music by ’80s rock

of Cuisine,” inspired by Henri de Toulouse-

band Past Action Heroes.Tickets cost $200.

Lautrec’s cookbook of the same name.The

The Langham Huntington, Pasadena is lo-

concert features cellist Rebecca Merblum

cated at 1401 S. Oak Knoll Ave., Pasadena.

in an evening of music from Toulouse-

Call (626) 204-0400, email Elizabeth Dever

Lautrec’s native France, including works by

at edever@pasadenarmh.org or visit

Boulanger, Debussy, Fauré and Ravel, start-

pasadenarmh.org.

||||

10.14 | ARROYO | 47

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