Pasadena Playhouse Announces 2021/22 Season
Pasadena Playhouse announces a season of four Los Angeles Premieres - an experiential reimagining of the Broadway musical Head Over Heels with songs by The Go-Go's, directed, choreographed, and conceived by Jenny Koons and Sam Pinkleton (the Tony-nominated choreographer of Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812); Mike Lew's Teenage Dick, a modern take on Shakespeare's Richard III, directed by Tony Award nominee Moritz von Stuelpnagel; Ann written by and starring Emmy Award winner and Tony Award nominee Holland Taylor and directed by Benjamin Endsley Klein; and direct from Broadway, Special Tony Award recipient freestyle love supreme, conceived by Anthony Veneziale and created by Thomas Kail, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Anthony Veneziale. A fifth production will be announced at a later date.
The Playhouse will require all patrons to be vaccinated and wear masks while inside the theater. Details on our policy are below.
Head Over Heels
November 9 - December 12, 2021
Originally produced on Broadway in 2018, Head Over Heels has been reimagined for the Playhouse by Jenny Koons and Sam Pinkleton in an all new experiential production. The Playhouse will be transformed to accommodate the new vision for the show, putting the audience in the center of the action. This musical comedy adaptation of The Arcadiaby Sir Philip Sidney is set to the music of the iconic 1980s all-female rock band The Go-Go's and features the hit songs, We Got the Beat, Our Lips Are Sealed, Vacation, Belinda Carlisle's Heaven is a Place on Earth and Mad About You. The audience will join in the journey as a royal family searches to save their kingdom and discovers the joy of each other along the way.
Teenage Dick
February 1 - 27, 2022
Originally produced at the Public Theater in 2018, Teenage Dick reimagines the most famous disabled character of all time, Richard III, as a modern day, 16-year-old outsider in his junior year of high school. Bullied because of his cerebral palsy, Richard is determined to have his revenge and make his name by becoming president of the senior class. This innovative, bold play by Mike Lew, directed by Tony Award nominee Moritz von Stuelpnagel, sparks new life into the classic work and reframes the story for today. It continues the Playhouse's purpose, as the State Theater of California, of using our historic stage to bring stories as diverse as our state. A co-production with Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company and Huntington Theatre Company.
Ann
March 23 - April 24, 2022
Written and performed by Emmy Award winner Holland Taylor, Ann is pure entertainment - an uplifting tribute to this courageous leader, dedicated mother, loving grandmother, and legendary personality. Texas Governor Ann Richards had a heart as big as the state from which she hailed, a wit to rival the greats, and an enduring passion for fair play. Neither partisan nor political, this richly imagined play reveals a complex, colorful, and captivating character whose capacity to inspire us all burns even brighter today. After successful runs on Broadway and across Texas, Washington D.C., and many cities across the country, Taylor finally brings this critically acclaimed, Tony-nominated performance to Los Angeles
freestyle love supreme
July 12 - August 7, 2022
From the creators of Hamilton and In the Heights, and direct from Broadway comes a show unlike anything else that has been on our stage before, freestyle love supreme. This Special Tony Award recipient defies definition as the audience joins in the creative process for each performance. Audiences are led by a troupe of the best freestyle rappers in the business and backed by an onstage band. Thomas Kail, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Anthony Veneziale have created a show that comes to life each night in new ways as the audience suggests ideas that are turned into rhythm and rhyme, right before their eyes. freestyle love supreme redefines "live theater" and explores the boundaries of what theater can be now, and into the future.