PW OPINION PW NEWS PW LIFE PW ARTS •CALENDAR• 28 PASADENA WEEKLY | <strong>10.18.18</strong> Ghost Story PASADENA PLAYHOUSE SCARES UP A GOOD TIME WITH THE BRITISH HIT THRILLER ‘THE WOMAN IN BLACK’ When is the last time you really unleashed a good scream in a theater — and not in a movie theatre, but an actual live-performance one? The Pasadena Playhouse will give audiences the chance to do just that when it presents the horror thriller “The Woman in Black” through Nov. 11, continuing an eclectic and unusually fun array of shows amid its 100th anniversary season. The second longest-running play in the history of London’s vaunted West End Theatre District, “Woman” has been keeping audience members on the edge of their seats and shrieking their lungs out for 30 years. Yet despite that success and a hit movie based on the play in 2012, the current production is part of the play’s first-ever American tour. The play is a two-man tour de force in which Adam Wesley Brown plays a young lawyer tormented by horrific visions in his isolated, windswept mansion on England’s forbidding North Coast, and Bradley Armacost plays seven other characters in the tale as well as the lawyer as an older man. The lawyer believes that his family has been cursed by a ghostly woman in black, and tells his terrifying story to exorcise the fear that grips his soul. It all begins BY CARL KOZLOWSKI innocently enough, but as he reaches further into his darkest memories, he quickly finds that there is no turning back. “I think the reason it’s running so long is that people just like a good ghost story, and we’re coming to Pasadena at the perfect time for it,” says Armacost, speaking from his Chicago home. “People enjoy a really gripping story, and it’s told by two actors on a more or less simple bare stage. “That hearkens back to the age of radio, as we take audiences from London to a remote sea village in northern England, and an island with a horse onstage and a ghost onstage, all done with your imagination,” he continues. “It really asks an audience to color and make the play their own. No two people will see the woman in black the same or the scary mansion because they’re filling the colors in themselves.” “The Woman in Black” was originally a hit novel by Susan Hill before being adapted for the stage by Stephen Mallatratt. But the key player in all of the show’s productions is director Robin Herford, who commissioned Mallatratt’s adaptation and has overseen not only the 30-year run in the West End, but also its overseas tours including in Asia and the current North American run. That kind of hands-on perfectionism has paid off richly, not only at the box offices worldwide but with its rave reviews. London’s The Independent raved “The atmosphere is so chargedup that on more than one occasion the entire audience screamed in terror,” while fellow British newspaper Daily Mail called it “A nerve-shredding experience.” “The challenge as an actor from my standpoint is to serve the story well, and to honor that as an actor is a delight,” says Armacost. “It’s basically two actors with chairs and boxes and a lot of imagination. The book is taught as part of literature classes in Britain, so we have lots of student matinees scheduled from junior high through high school on the American tour and they just love it. They call out “Don’t go in there!” and scream, but in a very controlled and respectful manner. It’s fun to see grown up audiences do the same. You can almost set your watches as everyone screams. It’s a release, and then they laugh at themselves.” n “The Woman in Black” runs through Nov. 11 at the Pasadena Playhouse, 39 S. El Molino Ave., Pasadena. Tickets start at $25. Call (626) 356- 7529 or visit pasadenaplayhouse.org. Thursday Oct. 18 through Wednesday Oct. 24 PLEASE NOTE: Deadline for Calendar submissions is noon Wednesday of the week before the issue publishes. Send to johns@ pasadenaweekly.com THURSDAY The Blue Guitar Arroyo Seco Golf Course 1055 Lohman Lane, South Pasadena blueguitar.club The club at Arroyo Seco Golf Course presents Mark Goldenberg, Adam Levy and Frank Potenza at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 general admission, $15 for table seating, available on the website. Cancer Support Community 76 E. Del Mar Blvd., Ste. 76, Pasadena (626) 796-1083 cscpasadena.org Dr. Robert Chu offers information on complementary cancer therapies, including acupuncture, nutrition and exercise, from 5:30 to 6:45 p.m. tonight, Nov. 15 and Dec. 20. Free, but call for reservations. Pasadena Public Library, Central Branch 285 E. Walnut St., Pasadena (626) 744-4066 pasadenapubliclibrary.net The Huntington Hospital Community Outreach Department offers free flu shots from 3 to 5 p.m. In honor of National Disabilities Awareness Month, author Romy Wylie discusses the birth of a child with Down syndrome and the death of another baby to cancer in her book, “Loving Andrew: A Fifty-Two Year Story of Down Syndrome,” at 7 p.m. Pasadena Senior Center 85 E. Holly St., Pasadena (626) 795-4331 pasadenaseniorcenter.org Dr. Greg Sanchez of Home Instead Senior Care discusses roles of various medical and non-medical professions and organizations that work together to support patient care starting at 10 a.m. San Gabriel Valley Orchid Hobbyists Meeting Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden 301 N. Baldwin Ave., Arcadia sgvoh.org The club’s meeting features an American Orchid Society webinar, “Green with Envy,” an exploration of green-colored species and ways to introduce the green spectrum into hybrids, starting at 7 p.m., free and open to the public. Vroman’s Bookstore 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena (626) 449-5320 vromansbookstore.com Marie Miranda Cruz discusses and signs “Everlasting Nora” at 7 p.m. FRIDAY Barbara La Marr Celebration Shakespeare Club 171 S. Grand Ave., Pasadena (800) 838-3006 barbaralamarr.brownpapertickets.com A speakeasy-themed cocktail party, “Putting on the Ritz with the Girl Who Was Too Beautiful for Hollywood,” presented by the Pasadena Museum of History and celebrating the late actress Barbara La Marr (1896-1926), features jazz by the John Reynolds Trio, adult beverages and appetizers starting at 6 p.m. Tickets are $25 general public, $20 for Museum members. Tickets must be purchased in advance by phone or on the website. Norton Simon Museum 411 W. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena (626) 449-6840 nortonsimon.org A film, “The Browning Version” (1951), is the story of a middle-aged schoolmaster in failing health (Michael Redgrave) re-examines his life when a young student offers an unexpected gesture of kindness. It runs from 5:30 to 7 p.m., included in regular museum admission of $15 for adults, $12 for seniors, free for members, students and those 18 and younger. Parson’s Nose Theater 95 N. Marengo Ave., Pasadena (626) 403-7667 parsonsnose.com The company presents “Mark Twain and Friends: A River Journey” by LA playwright and actor Greg White, a story where Twain returns from the dead and introduces some of the characters he met in his legendary travels. A preview starts at 8 p.m. Friday and regular performances start at 8 p.m. Saturday, continuing at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays through Nov. 18. Admission is a “pay what you will” basis for the preview, then $35 thereafter for adults, $25 for seniors and $20 for students. Pasadena Senior Center 85 E. Holly St., Pasadena (626) 795-4331 pasadenaseniorcenter.org A free health fair offers screenings for glucose, blood pressure and hearing, plus counseling and health and community resources, from 9 to 11 a.m. Call (626) 685-6732 for information. Free films screen at 1 p.m. Fridays. Friday’s film is “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” (2018). SATURDAY First United Methodist Church of Pasadena 500 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena fumcpasadena.org The church’s new season of free, monthly concerts begins with “Beethoven and His Mentors,” featuring works by Beethoven, Mozart and Haydn. Performers include Lisa Eden, soprano, David Garrett, cellist, Junko Ueno Garrett, pianist and a chamber orchestra directed by Minister of Music Gregory Norton. It starts at 4 p.m. Leigh Purtill Ballet Company Production Lanterman Auditorium 4491 Cornishon Ave., La Cañada Flintridge leighpurtillballet.com The company celebrates Halloween with “Sweet Sorrow, A Zombie Ballet” (zombieballet.com), an original ballet choreographed by artistic director Leigh Purtill, with performances at 7 p.m. Saturday and 4 p.m. Sunday. An “afterlife” party follows the Sunday performance. Tickets are $5 to $20. Visit the website for tickets and information. Norton Simon Museum 411 W. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena (626) 449-6840 nortonsimon.org A guided tour visits works portraying narrative in South Asian art from 1 to 2 p.m., included in regular museum admission of $15 for adults, $12 for seniors, free for members, students and those 18 and younger. Pasadena Public Library, Central Branch 285 E. Walnut St., Pasadena (626) 744-4066 pasadenapubliclibrary.net The Teen Anime Club meets to enjoy Japanese snacks, view classic anime and the newest manga in the library collection from 2 to 4 p.m. Pasadena Symphony Ambassador Auditorium 131 S. St. John Ave., Pasadena (626) 793-7172 pasadenasymphony-pops.org The Symphony’s Classics season opens with a performance of Mozart’s “Requiem,” plus works by Elgar, Mendelssohm and Robert Levin, with performances at 2 and 8 p.m. Guest performers are Amanda Keenan, soprano, Tracy Van Fleet, mezzo-soprano, James Onstad, tenor, Lee Poulis, baritone, the Donald Brinegar Singers and the JPL Chorus. David Lockington conducts. Tickets are $25 and up. Reduced Shakespeare Company Caltech’s Beckman Auditorium 332 S. Michigan Ave., Pasadena –CONTINUED ON PAGE 31
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