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.
Historic Properties & Charming Neighborhoods | Tracy Macrum – A Local Realtor with an...
If you live in South Pasadena, you no doubt have heard of Tracy Macrum. If you haven’t, well, let us take this opportunity to...
“A Soldier’s Play” Resonates Still
Charles Fuller’s Pulitzer Prize winning “A Soldier’s Play” gets a powerful revival production that is now on stage at the Ahmanson Theater through June...
Danny Feldman Talks Tony Award | Artists put Pasadena Playhouse in the Spotlight
“It’s an extraordinary moment. It’s incredibly meaningful because of the ups and downs of this theater for so many years and so many people...
The Urgency of “The Book of Will” at A Noise Within
A few years have passed since the death of William Shakespeare, and we find ourselves in a tavern with three of the King’s Men,...
Keeran Murray and Mia Holden Place 4th and 6th at STATE Championships
South Pasadena High School athletes Keeran Murray and Mia Holden placed 6th and 4th at the CIF Track and Field State Championships held at...
Dinosaur Farm Temporarily Closes
South Pasadena’s popular and beloved toy store, The Dinosaur Farm, has been closed since May 4th and will remain so until late June or...
SPHS Runners Burn Up the Track and Field Season Qualifying for CIF Masters and...
South Pasadena High School had a tremendous track season this year with several Tigers qualifying for CIF-SS Finals in Division 3 (of 105 schools),...
Local Singer-songwriter Z Quibilan to perform Tagalog songs at Eagle Rock Library June 8
ZOS!MO is the singer-songwriter moniker of Los Angeles-based - specifically South Pasadena - Filipino American artist Zosimo Quibilan Jr. who plays original Tagalog indiepop...
“On This Side of the World” – Immigrant Stories Told in Song
On a sunny morning, a young Filipino woman is boarding a plane bound for New York City – it’s a one-way ticket and as...
Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Celebration held at Garfield Park
On one of the first truly warm, beautiful days of Spring, the City of South Pasadena and the South Pasadena Chinese-American Club held the...
Largest “Taste of South Pasadena” on Record | Rotary Club of South Pasadena’s Signature...
The South Pasadena Rotary Club hosted their largest, most successful “Taste of South Pasadena – Eats on the Streets” event ever Tuesday May 9...
Wine & Song debuts at Lost Parrot Cafe
Wednesday, May 17. Doors 6pm, Showtime 7pm. Full bar and tapas will be available at Lost Parrot located at 1929 Huntington Drive, South Pasadena....
The Little Mermaid Makes a Splash at Young Stars Theatre
For the first time in their storied history, Young Stars Theatre brings South Pasadena a splashy, delightful, full scale production of The Little Mermaid...
WE’RE BACK! South Pasadena Residents Pack The Streets for Eclectic Music Festival 2023!
Judging by the joyful faces of South Pasadenans and visitors from all across the LA metro area, the 13th Eclectic Music Festival was a...
A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC Simply Enchants at Pasadena Playhouse
Pasadena Playhouse continues its Sondheim Celebration season with a deliciously sumptuous and bold new production of “A Little Night Music”. This Tony-award winning musical...
South Pasadena Celebrates 135 Years at THE ECLECTIC Music Festival and Arts Crawl April...
South Pasadena’s 13th Annual Eclectic Music Festival and Arts Crawl is Saturday April 29, 2023 from 3pm – 10pm with some venues having early...
The Radical Compassion of “Freaky Friday”
Is it ever possible to truly have empathy and understanding of what it’s like to be in someone else’s shoes? Especially if those shoes...
Elizabeth McGovern Lights Up The Stage as Ava Gardner
Imagine being a fly on the wall as an aging, boozy and forever glamorous Ava Gardner regales her ghost writer with stories, thoughts and...
SPHS Drama Ready to Open FREAKY FRIDAY
This is not your typical “Disney” musical. Is it fun? Are there big, splashy musical numbers? Is there a loopy, suspend your disbelief premise?...
Kiss of the Spider Woman at A Noise Within
Manuel Puig’s 1976 seminal novel, “Kiss of the Spider Woman”, was first adapted by the author into a play and subsequently became an Oscar...
Eclectic Preview Party Sets the Stage for the Big Event
It was a night for friends and neighbors, old and new, to gather at a nostalgic spot in town to raise funds for the...
OSCAR WINNERS | Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan and Everything, Everywhere, All At Once
Sunday evening saw the first Asian woman to ever win an acting Oscar with Michelle Yeoh’s long-awaited Academy Award for Best Actress. Leading up...
“Matilda Jr.” Enchants at Young Stars Theatre
Based on the Roald Dahl book, the Dennis Kelly and Tim Minchin musical tells the tale of a special girl named Matilda who uses...
The Immersive Odyssey of “Matter of Time” at Lineage
Anyone remember progressive dinners? I don’t know where it started, but in the eighties there was a time when it was a trendy thing...
Acclaimed Singer/Songwriter Dana Cooper to play in South Pasadena
Acclaimed Nashville singer/songwriter Dana Cooper will be bringing his unique sound to South Pasadena first at Jeweled Universe on March 5 at 2pm with...
Local Band “Slow Coda” Releases New Video “Mall Walker”
Slow Coda is the indie rock duo of Tavis Balkin and Nicholas Morford. Formed in 2012, when the two were living together in Hollywood,...
The Magic of “The Secret Garden”
The lush and whimsical score of Marsha Norman and Lucy Simon’s “The Secret Garden” is given a beautiful, new production at the Ahmanson Theatre....
The Harmony We Need – Sunday in the Park with George at Pasadena Playhouse
“White. A blank page or canvas. His favorite. So many possibilities.” Stephen Sondheim’s groundbreaking 1984 musical “Sunday in the Park with George”, a meditation...
Swimming Upstream | Student Production at South Pasadena High School
"Swimming Upstream" is the newest play being put on at South Pasadena High School. The play is written by SPHS junior, Charlotte Dekle. This...
In Conversation with J. Elijah Cho
J. Elijah Cho was living and working as an actor in Florida when the artistic director from a prominent theater was quoted making a...
