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.
Art For This Time
Suffice it to say, these are unusual times. But one thing I think we all can agree on is that we need each other...
The Art Couple | Kirk Douglas Theatre March 18 – 29, 2020
UPDATE 3/12/2020: All remaining performances of The Book of Mormon, Antipodes, and Block Party at the Ahamanson Theatre, Mark Taper Forum and the Kirk...
The Imaginary Invalid | Parson’s Nose Theater
It’s another rollicking evening of Moliere as Parson’s Nose Theater takes on The Imaginary Invalid! Lance Davis’ delightfully hysterical portrayal of Moliere’s overbearing hypochondriac...
Alfred Molina is THE FATHER at Pasadena Playhouse
The brilliant actor Alfred Molina gives an exquisite performance in The Father, which opened this week at Pasadena Playhouse. He plays the titular character...
VOLTA Invites Us To Find Our Free
It has always been a magical endeavor, eliciting oohs and ahhs, seeing a Cirque du Soleil tent going up in Los Angeles ever since...
The Last Ship | Sting’s Homage to Ordinary Folks Doing Extraordinary Things
The North American tour of “The Last Ship” has pulled into The Ahmanson theatre for a 4 week stint, starring its songwriter, Sting. The...
Sweeney Todd | A Deliciously Dark Musical Thriller
Stephen Sondheim’s musical masterpiece gets a deliciously dark, spine-tingling retelling at Fremont Centre Theatre in a new production that is beautifully spare and positively...
Meet Two New Instructors at South Pasadena Arts and Music Academy
South Pasadena Arts and Music Academy is proud to announce the addition of two new instructors. The academy formerly known as Green Brooms reminds...
SPHS “Metamorphoses” Places Top 3 High School Shows in LA County
After a sold-out, critically acclaimed run, the California Educational Theatre Association (CETA) announced that South Pasadena High School Drama Department’s production of “Metamorphoses” placed...
FROZEN Melts Hearts at Hollywood Pantages
If you’re thinking you’ve seen the movie a dozen (or a hundred?) times so you don’t really need to see it on stage, think...
SPHS DANCE | Winter Dance Concert Dazzles
The South Pasadena High School Dance Department is back with their winter dance spectacular, replete with dynamic, show stopping performances of ballet, tap, hip...
METAMORPHOSES | Ancient Myths For A Modern World
Metamorphoses at South Pasadena High School is something so thoroughly unexpected and unabashedly theatrical as to defy categorization. Based on the Roman poet, Ovid’s,...
Key Largo at Geffen Playhouse
On a slow, hot, summer day in post WWII Key Largo, Frank McCloud arrives at the D’Alcala’s hotel looking for the family of one...
Broadway Actress Anjali Bhimani Visits Cast of Metamorphoses Ahead of Opening
The South Pasadena High School cast of the upcoming production of Metamorphoses had the rare privilege of meeting one of the actors who was...
METAMORPHOSES | Director Nick Hoffa and SPHS Drama Explore How Tragedy Transforms
There is something really exciting going on at South Pasadena High School that you are not going to want to miss. Drama Department Head,...
ANNIE JR. Delivers Adorable Shenanigans at Fremont Centre Theatre
South Pasadena’s resident youth theatre company, YST, kicks off their 2019-2020 season with a darling new production of Annie Jr. If you’ve never seen...
Show Review: LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS
A fresh, pulsating and wholly re-imagined “Little Shop of Horrors” opened at Pasadena Playhouse Wednesday evening to a packed house that was brimming with...
Mj Rodriguez, George Salazar, and Amber Riley Talk About An Unexpected “Little Shop of...
Certainly one of the most buzzed about casts on a major stage right now is the decidedly different and fresh ensemble of Little Shop...
Sexy, Sardonic “Skintight” at Geffen Playhouse
Tony award winning actress, Idina Menzel, delivers a richly nuanced, tightly wound performance as Jodi Isaac, a woman seemingly on the verge of falling...
Geffen Playhouse | WITCH
A savagely devilish WITCH opened this weekend at Geffen Playhouse. Jen Silverman’s new play weaves the tale of a darkly-clad stranger named Scratch, basically...
Riveting FRANKENSTEIN at A Noise Within
The opening twenty minutes of Nick Dear’s play, Frankenstein, which opened at A Noise Within on Saturday, is a fascinating, wordless ride, watching a...
Enchanting Evening at Hollywood Bowl’s “Into The Woods”
There is something about dining at the Hollywood Bowl on a balmy, summer night while listening to music under the stars that is so...
Meet Grace Newberry | New Voice Teacher at Green Brooms Music Academy
Grace Newberry has a passion for storytelling; sharing emotional journeys with one another through music and finding freedom through artistic expression. As a new...
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...
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...
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!...
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...
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...
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...
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...
