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Alisa Hayashida
Alisa Hayashida is an arts and culture columnist and critic for South Pasadenan News, covering the greater Pasadena Metro area and Los Angeles Metro area. She is a valuable arts advocate in South Pasadena, with an extensive background in theatre arts. She has been a proud South Pasadenan for over 27 years.
SPHS Dance Delivers High-Octane Entertainment with “Four Seasons”
The South Pasadena Dance Department finished out the 2018-19 season in spectacular fashion with their high-octane performance of “Four Seasons”. Under the direction of dance teacher and choreographer, Courtney Cheyne, the department has grown...
East West Players MAMMA MIA! The Unabashedly Emotional, Feel-Good Disco Dance Party We Never...
There is so much to love about Mamma Mia! at East West Players, it’s difficult to even know where to begin but one thing is sure, this show is a bona fide must-see in...
FROZEN JR. at Young Stars Theatre | A Show Worth Melting For
A talking snowman who dreams of summer, the unbreakable bonds of sisterhood, a princely suitor, a castle made of ice, magic trolls and snow! Frozen Jr. at Young Stars Theatre has it all! South...
Parson’s Nose Theater Brings A Provocative Merchant of Venice to Pasadena
For the final production of the season, Parson’s Nose Theater brings us one of Shakespeare’s more controversial and challenging plays to perform in our modern era, The Merchant of Venice. Its themes of religious...
GUYS AND DOLLS A Smash at SPMS!
It’s been 13 years since the middle school put on Guys and Dolls, so it was with great anticipation that audiences piled into the SPMS auditorium to hear favorite tunes like “Luck Be A...
FALSETTOS at The Ahmanson
UPDATE: Don't miss this stellar production of William Finn and James Lapine's Tony Award-winning musical "Falsettos". The intimate cast of an unconventional, beautiful, messy family is fantastic. You do not want to miss the...
South Pasadena High School Drama Delivers A Big-Hearted LEGALLY BLONDE
South Pasadena High School’s production of Legally Blonde is a fizzy, pink, sugar rush of a cocktail that serves up plenty of high octane singing and dancing while delivering a message of self-love with...
Broadway Star, Laura Bell Bundy, Original Elle Woods, Drops in on SPHS Legally Blonde...
Laura Bell Bundy, Broadway’s Legally Blonde original Elle Woods, was minding her own business, living her best life in Pasadena when a friend mentioned that the South Pasadena High School Drama Club was doing...
Legally Blonde Opens Friday April 25 | A Heartfelt Musical That Continues To Resonate
“Expect to see something fun!” exclaims senior Wressey Baugham, “I firmly believe that this show is going to make you laugh, you’ll be amazed, and entertained, above all. We're all excited to share the...
Outgoing SPEF President, Megan Steelman Dostal Says SPEF Changed Her Life
Megan Steelman Dostal has a familiar face for a reason. With the energy and enthusiasm of the Energizer Bunny, South Pasadenans have become accustomed to seeing Dostal all over town, at every school, speaking...
SPHS Drama and Production Design Students Head To Fullerton Theatre Festival
After a fun-filled, successful showing at last year’s event, SPHS Drama and Production Design students are headed back to Fullerton Theatre Festival on Friday and Saturday, March 22 & 23 to compete against close...
The Glass Menagerie | A Noise Within
Tennessee Williams’ breakthrough autobiographical play, The Glass Menagerie, gets a fresh, poignant production at A Noise Within. The character of Tom Wingfield, as Williams, reminds us in his opening monologue that we are about...
It’s A Big, Bright, Beautiful SHREK JR
This delightful mash-up of fairytale misfits from Pinocchio to the Three Little Pigs, the Big Bad Wolf, Peter Pan and more, who collide with a mean, little, wannabe king, a dragon, a donkey, a...
Searing and Timely “Othello” at A Noise Within
I can’t recall a more potent “Othello” than A Noise Within’s current production starring Wayne T. Carr and Michael Manuel in Shakespeare’s story of betrayal and manipulation. Breathtakingly audacious with themes of racial injustice...
Lights Out: Nat “King” Cole | A Quiet Revolution
I’m going to start by saying I could watch Dulé Hill play Nat King Cole all night long. Far more than an impression, in “Lights Out: Nat “King” Cole” at Geffen Playhouse, Hill gives...
‘Ragtime’ at Pasadena Playhouse is the revival we need right now
From the very first notes of the magnificent Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens score you will be swept up into gently-tinted photographs that explode into a vibrant, achingly relevant story that is the soaring...
Parson’s Nose Serves Up A Delicious Romp With “The Servant of Two Masters”
The Parson’s Nose experience is always a party and their latest offering of “Servant of Two Masters” is a delightful commedia dell’arte escapade! The Lance Davis adaptation of a Carlo Goldoni play has all...
CINDERELLA is Matthew Bourne’s Evocative Modern Fairy Tale
Matthew Bourne’s “Cinderella”, now on stage at The Ahmanson, is an evocative modern fairy tale told through dance. What begins as a dark story set in London in 1940 as bombs fall on the...
Willy Wonka Jr. Delivers Lots of Chocolate, Oompa-Loompas and Everlasting Gobstoppers!
It’s another bona fide hit for South Pasadena Educational Foundation’s annual 5th grade musical and a hundred or so families across all three elementary schools in town as they opened their delightful production of...
Bernadette Peters in Concert is Pure Magic
I always say that people are stars, or in this case, a legend, for a reason. There is an unmistakable charisma, stage presence and unique quality they possess that sets them apart. To say...
Willy Wonka Jr. | Get Your Golden Ticket Now!
5th graders from Arroyo Vista Elementary School, Marengo Elementary School, and Monterey Hills School are deep into final rehearsals for Willy Wonka Jr.! Everyone involved from the actors, technicians, costumers, make-up and hair designers...
And Then There Were None | Fremont Centre Theatre
Ten strangers invited to spend the summer holiday of 1939 on Soldier Island, off the coast of Dover, England. There’s a dark children’s nursery rhyme, ten toy soldiers, a violent storm, secrets and lies,...
Posse Foundation Scholar | South Pasadena High School Senior Andres Oyaga
South Pasadena High School senior, Andres Oyaga, has been selected as a 2019 Posse Foundation Scholar and will be attending Middlebury College in the fall.
The Posse Foundation annually awards full-ride scholarships to 100 exemplary...
JONES Coffee Comes To South Pasadena
It’s a rainy morning in South Pasadena and as Chuck Jones, founder of Jones Coffee Roasters, sits on an upstairs bench in the iconic “Buster’s” coffeehouse, he is feeling both nostalgic and excited. “I...
South Pasadena Middle School Students Create Hallway Murals
Student artists at South Pasadena Middle School were tasked with creating Hallway Murals based on the six "Pillars of Character" that SPMS has adopted. SPMS art teacher, Denise Tanaka, led the 7th and 8th...
It’s That Time of Year for ANW’s A CHRISTMAS CAROL
Is it really Christmas until you’ve seen A Christmas Carol at A Noise Within? I think not. Especially considering this production is, year after year, the very best in town. From the clever adaptation...
Step Back In Time with a Live Radio Play of IT’S A WONDERUL LIFE...
After last year’s holiday success of doing a live radio play of Miracle on 34th Street with Alfred Molina, Pasadena Playhouse has brought back the concept with a fresh adaptation of It’s A Wonderful...
Stella Abrera Stars in ABT’s THE NUTCRACKER
American Ballet Theatre Principal Dancer Stella Abrera is running late; her subway train is delayed and so she is stuck, underground, with hundreds of other commuters on a cold, New York winter day after...
DANCE | Winter Dance Concert “Perspective” On Stage Now
Dance is thriving in South Pasadena and it is on full display at South Pasadena High School this week. The SPHS Dance Department, under the direction of Courtney Cheyne, has become a vibrant program...
SPHS DANCE | The Winter Dance Concert
South Pasadena High School Dance Department, under the direction of Courtney Cheyne, will present their Winter Dance Concert this coming Thursday and Friday evenings at 7pm at the SPHS auditorium. Tickets may be purchased...
