Monday, December 14, 2009

Photos From The Last Hothouse Reading - Lee Blessing's Brand New Play, MODERATION

Clockwise from top left: Daniel Kaemon, Marilyn McIntyre, Oz Scott (Director), LEE BLESSING (Playwright), Nick Cernoch, Jennifer Seifert, Granville Van Dusen as Warren Burger, Lawrence Pressman as Harry Blackmun


From left: Daniel Kaemon, Marilyn McIntyre, Lawrence Pressman as Harry Blackmun, Granville Van Dusen as Warren Burger, Jennifer Seifert, Nick Cernoch


Clockwise from top left: Daniel Kaemon, Marilyn McIntyre, Nick Cernoch, Jennifer Seifert, Granville Van Dusen as Warren Burger, Lawrence Pressman as Harry Blackmun


Clockwise from top left: Daniel Kaemon, Marilyn McIntyre, Nick Cernoch, Jennifer Seifert, Granville Van Dusen as Warren Burger, Lawrence Pressman as Harry Blackmun



Thursday, December 10, 2009

Baby It's You! Cast Member Crystal Starr Knighton Announces New CD!

Photobucket

Crystal Starr's debut album contains hits like "Coldhearted", "Cake," and "I deserve to lose you," featuring gospel artist Jesse Stevenson. "I wanted to release an album that describes everything I am as a person and what influences me as a singer" Crystal states. The album is a great combination of rock pop and soul greatly interpreted by her strong vocal capabilities. Some people who have contributed to this album are Jennifer Hudson who wrote the song "what love would do" on her record, and Jolyon Skinner who wrote major hits for r&b artist Joe. Not only is Crystal's vocal range amazing but the production is also something to talk about as well. Produced by multi-platinum record producer Veit Renn, who has made hits for Jennifer Hudson, N Sync and Backstreet boys, he knew exactly what to do with Crystal. "Crystal Starr" the Debut album, definitely a record to have in your Collection!


Tuesday, December 01, 2009

Next Hothouse Reading:
MODERATION
Written by Lee Blessing
Directed by Oz Scott

Justice Harry Blackmun redefines women’s rights with Roe v. Wade.

Starring Lawrence Pressman (American Pie, Doogie Howser M.D.) as Harry Blackmun
and Granville Van Dusen as Warren Burger
Also starring...
Daniel Kaemon
Nick Cernoch
Marilyn McIntyre
Jennifer Seifert
December 8-9, 2009, 8:00 p.m.
Carrie Hamilton Theatre
A complimentary reception to follow.

Based on Linda Greenhouse’s Becoming Justice Blackmun, Moderation examines the life and career of Harry Blackmun, a Nixon nominee to the Supreme Court who over nearly a quarter-century became that body’s most liberal member. Blackmun wrote the majority decision in Roe v. Wade and spent years working to fight off challenges to it. In doing so, he became one of the country’s most influential advocates for women’s rights. Moderation provides a peek into Blackmun’s past, tracking the ups and downs of his more than eighty-year friendship with Chief Justice Warren Burger. Blackmun’s Midwestern upbringing is also examined, providing clues to the values which guided his decisions throughout a long and controversial career on the Federal bench.

LEE BLESSING (Playwright): Lee is the author of A Walk in the Woods, nominated for Tony and Olivier Awards as well as the Pulitzer Prize. His work has twice won the Steinberg/American Theatre Critics’ Association Award, among many other honors. Recent plays include When We Go Upon the Sea, Great Falls, A Body of Water and an adaptation of Thornton Wilder’s Heaven’s My Destination, among others. He heads the graduate playwriting program at Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University. He is married to fellow playwright and TV writer Melanie Marnich.

OZ SCOTT (Director): Oz has been one of the most sought after directors for theatre, film and television for over two decades. He has worked at nearly every major regional theatre in the country including recent work at The Goodman, Arena Stage, Hartford Stage and Philadelphia Theatre Company. Oz Scott earned a Drama Desk award for his pivotal 1976 Broadway production of For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf. Television writing credits include Archie Bunker's Place, Alice and The Jeffersons. He has directed episodes of The Cosby Show, Northern Exposure, LA Law, Hill Street Blues, Fame, CSI:NY, Boston Legal and many others. Feature film credits include Bustin Loose starring Richard Pryor. Scott has participated in the Eugene O’Neill Playwrights Conference for the past dozen years. He is also the recipient of an NAACP Image Award.

Over the past several years, many new plays and musicals first seen in Hothouse at the Playhouse – our new play development program – have gone on to full productions here at the Playhouse and other prestigious theatres around the country! Don’t miss the next readings in this HOT series!

Hothouse readings are FREE, but reservations are recommended.
Call the Box Office at (626) 356-7529
Hothouse: Watch Plays Grow!

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Photos from the latest Hothouse reading!
Loretta Swit and Robert Forster
Playwright Joshua Ravetch, Loretta Swit, Nick Cernoch, Robert Forster
Loretta Swit and Robert Forster
Joshua Ravetch, Loretta Swit, Robert Forster

Hothouse readings are FREE!
Just call the box office at (626) 356-7529

Thursday, November 12, 2009

HotHouse Reading: ONE NOVEMBER YANKEE
Written and Directed by
Joshua Ravetch

An ill-fated flight ignites a series of unlikely consequences.

Starring Academy Award nominee, Robert Forster (Jackie Brown) and two-time Emmy winner, Loretta Swit (TV's M*A*S*H*)

November 17-18, 2009
8:00 p.m.
A complimentary reception to follow.

En route to Florida, in perfect weather, a single-engine airplane 
disappears. A brother and sister were flying to their father's second
 wedding
, but without the ping of an emergency-locator-beacon, an 
extensive search of the Eastern Seaboard produces no trace of the
 wreckage. That tragic event ignites a series of unlikely consequences
 that span five years, nine states, and three families. But all may not
 be exactly what it would seem, as this play travels from the White
 Mountains of New Hampshire to the White Way of New York City, and it
 all begins with a serious martini, a Hirschfeld Cartoon, a dose of 
humor, and the ill-fated flight of, "ONE NOVEMBER YANKEE".

ROBERT FORSTER:
In 1997, he received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor as Max Cherry in Quentin Tarantino's "Jackie Brown". It has turned around a career that started 40 years ago and put him suddenly in great demand. Most recently, Robert starred alongside Ed Harris in the indie, “Touching Home,” and finished filming “The Code,” with Morgan Freeman and Antonio Banderas, and “The Ghosts of Girlfriends Past” with Jennifer Garner and Matthew McConaughey. Other recent projects include “Dragon Wars,” the Harrison Ford film, "Firewall," "Lucky Number Slevin," "Wild Seven," Wes Craven's "Cursed," "Grand Theft Parsons," starring Johnny Knoxville, as well as "Confidence," "Like Mike," "Charlie's Angels 2: Full Throttle," David Mamet's "Lakeboat," directed by Joe Mantegna, and "Diamond Men," with Donnie Wahlberg.

Forster has been busy on the small screen as well -- in addition to his recent stint as Arthur Petrelli on NBC's "Heroes," he starred in the CBS TV film, "The Hunt for the BTK Killer," guest starred as Hank Azaria's father on Showtime's "Huff," Michael Madson's father on ESPN's "Tilt," and Peter Facinelli's father in McG's "Fastlane," and starred alongside Carla Gugino in the ABC series "Karen Sisco." Forster co-starred in the HBO Films production "Undefeated," directed by and starring John Leguizamo, the USA film "Murder in Greenwich," and the CBS TV film, "Like Mother, Like Son: The Strange Story of Sante and Kenny Kimes," with Mary Tyler Moore.

Independent films include "Outside Ozona," "Family Tree," "The Magic of Marciano," co-starring Nastassja Kinski and "It’s the Rage," with Joan Allen, Gary Sinise and Andre Braugher, as well as the MGM sci-fi film "Supernova," co-starring Angela Basset and James Spader, and the updated versions of Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho," directed by Gus Van Sant and a television version of "Rear Window," with Christopher Reeve. Forster went on to star in “Roads to Riches” with Rose McGowan, a modern-day film noir, and the present-day western, "Lone Hero."

Forster blazed on the scene in his debut film, in l966, in "Reflections in a Golden Eye," co-starring with Marlon Brando and Elizabeth Taylor, directed by John Huston. He followed this in l968, with the seminal film, "Medium Cool," by Haskell Wexler. TV series include "Banyon." A native of Rochester, NY, Forster made his professional debut on Broadway in "Mrs. Dally Has A Lover." Other stage credits include "A Streetcar Named Desire," "The Glass Menagerie," and productions of "Twelve Angry Men," "The Sea Horse," and "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest."

LORETTA SWIT (Maggie/Margo/Mia):

As Major Margaret Houlihan of TV’s M*A*S*H*, Loretta became an American icon. She has received ten Emmy nominations and six Golden Globe nominations, and is a recipient of the People’s Choice Award, The Genie Award, The Silver Satellite Award, The Jean Golden Halo Award, the Pacific Broadcasters Award, and two Emmy Awards. She made her Broadway debut in Same Time, Next Year. After M*A*S*H* wrapped, she replaced Cleo Laine in The Mystery Of Edwin Drood. She has toured with national companies of Any Wednesday, and with two companies of Mame, having played both Agnes Gooch and the title role. She has appeared in over 1,000 performances of Shirley Valentine, a role for which she won the Sarah Siddons Award. Swit appeared in touring companies of the musical spoof, Song of Singapore, while performing select dates of Love Letters. She appeared in The Vagina Monologues in New York, Chicago and the West End in London. Film credits include Chris Cagney in the original Cagney and Lacey, Games Mother Never Taught You, Hell Hath No Fury, The Execution, Dreams of Gold, A Killer Among Friends, Stand Up and Be Counted, Freebie and the Bean, Race with the Devil, Beer, S.O.B., Whoops Apocalypse, The Lords of Tanglewood and Boardheads. TV musical specials include The Muppet Show and the Broadway musical It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane, It’s Superman. Every year she can be seen in the annual specials The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, Miracle At Moreaux, and A Christmas Calendar, aired worldwide during the holidays. She has just completed a tour of 42nd Street as Dorothy Brock, and most recently ended the season as Sister Aloysius in Doubt. Swit’s wildlife series, Those Incredible Animals, was shown twice weekly on the Discovery Channel for a five–year run, and was aired in over 30 countries. She is 1st Vice President of Actors and Others For Animals, and is actively involved in a number of other animal rights organizations.

Over the past several years, many new plays and musicals first seen in Hothouse at the Playhouse – our new play development program – have gone on to full productions here at the Playhouse and other prestigious theatres around the country! Don’t miss the next readings in this HOT series!

Hothouse readings are FREE, but reservations are required

Call the Box Office at (626) 356-7529

HotHouse: Watch Plays Grow!

Friday, October 30, 2009

Playhouse Friends Invite YOU!

Photobucket
Photobucket

Wicked Lit Play Reading Series!

Halloween night: 7:00pm
Playhouse Courtyard
FREE!

Come to a FREE play reading series on Halloween night in the Playhouse courtyard. Bring the whole family, but beware - these are spooky stories.

The performances will include:
  • THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER by Edgar Allan Poe
  • PIGEONS FROM HELL by Robert E. Howard
  • A GHOST STORY by Mark Twain
Hope to see you there!

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Pasadena Playhouse "Conversations With..." Speaker Series Hosts SERGIO MIELNICZENKO


Saturday, September 19, 2009
6:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Carrie Hamilton Theatre

PhotobucketSergio Mielniczenko is the popular writer and producer of the Brazilian Hour Radio Program and host of Global Village Fridays (KPFK, 90.7). In his precise and placid, Portuguese-accented English, Sergio presents the best of samba, bossa nova, música popular Brasileira, Brazilian jazz. He coaxes his listening audience around unexpected corners -- and through regions and rituals and artists who fall off well-trammeled paths of bossa nova or jazz samba. As these things go, he is more than a bit of a ubiquitous dignitary, floating from festivals to tucked-away clubs to living room jam sessions. (BrazilianHour.org)

The Brazilian Hour takes listeners on a musical tour of its namesake land, with music ranging from jazz to samba, Brazilian pop, choro, and much more. Produced as a public service of The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Brazil, the program began in 1978 to promote Brazilian music and culture in the United States. In 1981 the Brazilian Hour started a national distribution via satellite to all public radio stations in the United States. Currently The Brazilian Hour is produced in Portuguese, Spanish, English and French. Streams live at KXLU Saturdays and Sundays 9-10:00am (SPT) on 90.7 KFSR.

Tickets
To reserve a seat to CONVERSATIONS WITH… email bnewport@pasadenaplayhouse.org. Tickets to The Night Is A Child can be purchased at the Pasadena Playhouse box office (39 S. El Molino Avenue), by phone 626-356-PLAY, or online www.pasadenaplayhouse.org. Mention code HHCW to receive a 20% discount on select seats to the show.

Friday, September 04, 2009

Labor Day Weekend BBQ at the Playhouse

Pictures from the BBQ Samba party are here! Keep checking the blog and our Facebook Fan Page for info on future "Real-Live Theatre for Less than a Movie" nights!

4:00 PM Sunday, Sept 6

Wear your flip flops, kick back and enjoy Brazilian BBQ before or after a performance of The Night is a Child.

2:00 PM Matinee performance
4:00 PM BBQ, live music and fun on the patio
7:00 PM Evening performance

Sponsored by Pasadena Star-News. Brazilian music provided by California College of Music. Entertainment provided by Arthur Murray Dance Studio.

Friday, August 07, 2009

Share your hat story and win!

Regina Taylor, author of Crowns, just announced an exciting new contest called, "Eyes On LA: Hat Stories" for Los Angeles residents 18 and older: The 1st place winner will get ($1,000.00), 2nd place ($400.00), and 3rd place will receive ($100.00).

Crowns, a story about African American women and their Sunday hats, must close August 16th, but before it's gone, Taylor would like to hear from you!

Who is your favorite hat queen? What stories did your mother, grandmother, aunt, sister, mentor or neighbor pass on to you through stories about their hats?

To tell your story, Taylor is asking for submissions of "cell phone shorts" These are films shot entirely on cell phones lasting between 5 and 10 minutes in length. Your films will be viewed and voted on by your peers and the Cell Short Takes online community.

For submission details, click here. Winners will be notified by email on Friday, August 14th.

Monday, July 27, 2009

Real Live Theatre for Less Than a Movie!

$10 Tickets to Crowns @ Pasadena Playhouse
Wednesday, July 29 @ 8pm ONLY

Photobucket

Receive $10 Tickets with proof of residency or employment in Pasadena. Available at the Pasadena Playhouse Box Office on 7/29/09.
39 South El Molino Ave., Pasadena, CA 91101 (626) 356-7529