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.
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...
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,...
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...
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...
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,...
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...
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...
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...
‘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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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....
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
The Laramie Project | A Bold Cry For Hope
The Laramie Project at South Pasadena High School is an audacious cry for hope that is a remarkable piece of theatre. Set in the...
The Laramie Project at SPHS | Say It Right
“I will speak to you, I will trust you people that if you write a play of this, that you say it right, you...
Judy Bernal | A Professional with a Passion
Judy Bernal has a passion for houses, a passion for architecture and she loves people. “Put that together and you have a career in...
Parson’s Nose Takes an Enthralling Journey Down The Mississippi in MARK TWAIN AND FRIENDS
Pasadena has the good fortune to be the landing spot for Parson’s Nose Theater, specifically in the beautiful Marston and Van Pelt 1911 building...
Audaciously Brilliant VIETGONE at East West Players
Impossible to categorize, the time-bending, pop-culture wielding, psychedelic, hip hop romantic comedy that is Qui Nguyen’s VIETGONE is a raw, funny, mesmerizing ride. Bouncing...
ART! MUSIC! OKTOBERFEST!
It was a balmy and beautiful fall evening as multiple generations of South Pasadenans descended on our downtown area for the 2018 Fall Arts...
Irresistible BEAUTY AND THE BEAST at Young Stars Theatre
From the moment Belle walks into her light clutching a book and sings, “Little town, it’s a quiet village, every day, like the one...
