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View Winners → Parson’s Nose Announces New Home in Pasadena with “The Parson’s Nose Abbey”
Arts Sep 18, 2017
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Parson’s Nose Theater (PNT), the acclaimed classical comedic theater company, now in its 17th Season, has established a new permanent home in Pasadena in time for their upcoming 2017-2018 Season. “The Parson’s Nose Abbey” is now located at 95 N. Marengo Ave., Pasadena, CA 91101, at the corner of Holly and Marengo.
“We’ve been a part of Pasadena for long time — at the Pasadena Playhouse, Lineage and The Pacific Asia Museum — as well as at Jameson Brown and in the schools, but we have never had a real home of our own,” says Artistic Director and Co-Founder Lance Davis.
Davis continues, “Now our gypsy days are over. We’re in the heart of the city, between City Hall and the Holly Street Metro. We’ve been in touch with Pasadena Museum of History and are investigating our new home. From what we know, The Abbey was built in the 1920s, our space was the chapel for a mortuary. We’ve heard rumors that it was haunted and on the UCLA Paranormal list. That, and one time there was a speakeasy and a brothel on the premises. So we have some sleuthing to do. Thanks to the generosity of our donors and a matching grant from Dr. Mario and Therese Molina, we have a new place to rehearse and perform the classics in our unique, intimate, broad-stroke, short-form way.
“We’ll finally be a part of Arts Night, with one of our PNT Radio Drama shows. We’ll have a whole season of plays and readings and workshops for adults, seniors, and young people at our new location, and around the area. We can’t wait to take a more permanent role in the overall arts scene here.”
Parson’s Nose Theater moved from Lineage Performing Arts Center at the end of their 2015-2016 Season. After searching Pasadena for a space that met their needs for theatrical performance, while maintaining an intimate feel for their audiences, the PNT Board, aided by local developer Mike Bollenbacher, decided on a chapel space in the converted Abbey, located at 95 N. Marengo Avenue.
Their 2016-17 season was put on hold due to permitting and construction of that space, and now The Abbey officially opens this October with the launch of their 2017-18 Season. PNT hopes to entertain and inform Pasadena residents by presenting classic theatre in an on-going manner for many years to come.
Parson’s Nose Theater is a professional, critically-acclaimed, not-for-profit, 501(c)3 theater dedicated to “introducing classic theater to contemporary audiences.” Founded in April 2000 by Lance Davis and Mary Chalon, it emphasizes language, story and character in a theater/cabaret experience, preparing audiences for future, full length productions of the world’s finest classical works.
The paid, professional company of actors, directors, and designers with credits including Broadway, film and television, is among the finest in the greater Los Angeles area. They have introduced classical plays and comedies to over 70,000 Angelenos over 17 years. More info can be found at http://www.parsonsnose.com/ or call (626) 403-7667.
