Experience A Noise Within's New Stage at Last 2 Hard Hat Sundays

A Noise Within (ANW), Los Angeles' critically acclaimed classical repertory theatre company, presents the last two dates in its free "Hard Hat Sundays" series on Sunday, May 1 and Sunday, June 12, 2011, 4 to 5 pm. The exceedingly popular public tours of ANW's new Pasadena theatre's construction site, which also include refreshments, have consistently drawn large crowds since they began in November, according to ANW Founders/Artistic Directors Julia Rodriguez-Elliott and Geoff Elliott, who personally conduct the tours. "Hard Hat Sunday" guests for the May and June dates enjoy the added bonus of not only observing A Noise With Resident Artists informally rehearsing from the newly installed stage but also taking a turn on it themselves. Seating areas and sight lines can also be explored.

"Tremendous public interest in the new theatre has been gratifying, especially as we're seeing an average of 60 people attend each time, including some who return every month to see the progress," says Rodriguez-Elliott. "Our 20-year dream of a permanent home for A Noise Within is turn into reality, ensuring that the unique blend of classic theatre that we do will be here for adults and students for generations to come."

Elliott adds, "We invite everyone to join us - ANW donors, subscribers, neighbors and the community at large. It's gratifying to see the large number of community members attending who were not previously familiar with A Noise Within but who embrace the new theatre as their own and are curious to learn more about it."

A Noise Within's next chapter provides the long-awaited opportunity to sink deep and lasting roots when the project is complete and the company moves in Fall 2011 from its long-time base in Glendale to its spectacular, permanent home in a Pasadena mixed-use development at the corner of Foothill Boulevard and Sierra Madre Villa Avenue. The facility, hailed as an anchor in East Pasadena's arts growth, is designed to broaden A Noise Within's artistic possibilities, offer a greater scope of educational opportunities, meet ticket demand and allow the company to expand its role as a leader in the presentation and preservation of classical theatre.

The new state-of-the-art 33,000-square-foot facility, located next to a Gold Line station, is being built in the former Stuart Pharmaceutical headquarters, a historic, mid-century modern masterpiece designed by celebrated architect Edward Durell Stone, known for landmark buildings around the country including the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC, and Radio City Music Hall in New York. Constructed in the mid-1950s, the Stuart Pharmaceutical building was listed on the National Register in 1998.

A Noise Within (ANW) is the only year-round classical repertory company in Southern California and one of only a handful in the entire country dedicated solely to producing classical dramatic literature in the repertory tradition of rotating productions with a resident company of professional artists. The company has been hailed by critics as "adventurous," "compelling and current," "ingenuity at work," "a bona fide class act," and "what great theatre is all about." Founded 19 seasons ago, ANW quickly established itself as one of the region's key theatre companies, attracting fiercely loyal audiences and consistently high praise from the media for its productions and as a leading force in arts education.

For free "Hard Hat Sundays" reservations (required), for more information on A Noise Within or to make a donation, contact donors@anoisewithin.org or call 818-265-7959.