Author: Melanie Hooks

THEATRE REVIEW If you were lucky enough to enjoy the Star Trek spoof “Boldly Go!” along with the sold-out, pre-pandemic crowds, you’re going to be excited...

Emmy-winning actor/playwright Holland Taylor has the answer for Pasadenans and Angelenos who are asking themselves, “What was life like before...

“All’s Well That Ends Well” is not about another tragic heroine, doomed to unhappiness in a world of conniving men. At Pasadena’s A Noise Within...

Black business owners have a long, proud history in Pasadena. Still standing as a retail location today (currently without tenants), the Francisca Building was...

Loudly happy, seasonally sentimental, and an overwhelming crowd favorite, “Love Actually Live” opened December 1st at the Wallis Annenberg Center in Beverly...

The next step in local theater productions is everywhere this spring – online, filmed performances. By Melanie Hooks Pasadena’s A Noise Within Repertory...

Need a little ‘extra’ this weekend? Not quite ready to figure out personal grooming for public yet? By Melanie Hooks Enter the oh-so-welcome return of...

THEATRE REVIEW For those of us who have ever had to face the mental deterioration of a loved one suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease, Pasadena Playhouse’s...

The sales are over. The stores are emptied. Your nerves are frayed. What to do? By Melanie Hooks Laugh, of course. And let someone else do all the work! Jane...

THEATRE REVIEW East Pasadena’s best spot for modern classics opens its 2019-2020 season with two modern masters. We reviewed the remarkable (and far too...

THEATRE REVIEW Dramaturg Ryan McRee opens his notes for Stephanie Alison Walker’s The Abuelas with this chilling fact: “To this day, there are billboards in...

What could a play set in 1904 about the African-American Pittsburgh neighborhood of the Hill District have to offer modern Southern Californian audiences? A...

October. Autumn. Daylight hours fade. But in Pasadena, the footlights go up on two new plays – one world premiere, one West Coast premiere – both shining...

THEATRE REVIEW “Prove your worth.” By Melanie Hooks Deadly words. For the soul, self-esteem, love of life. And yet many of us feel we are asked to do so...

THEATRE REVIEW What’s a classic myth without goddesses in breastplates, heroes in bare chests and sandals? And of course, acrobatic women dangling from the...

Editor’s Note: This article is published in our latest print edition (Vol.2 – No. 3). Subscribe to our newspaper for $12 for the entire year and help San...