Pasadena Playhouse Fall Productions Tickets on Sale

Academy Award Nominee Bruce Davison joins the casting list for “Native Gardens” as Frank. – Courtesy photo/ Red Carpet Report on Mingle Media TV (CC BY-SA 2.0)

“Native Gardens” and “The Woman in Black”

Tickets are on sale for two plays new to Los Angeles at the Pasadena Playhouse, the State Theater of California. “Native Gardens,” a new comedy by Karen Zacarías and directed by Jason Alexander will be staged from Sept. 5 through 30. The production of the West End’s reining hit, “The Woman in Black,” by Susan Hill will be staged Oct. 17 through Nov. 11.

In addition, the cast of “Native Gardens” is announced and will feature acclaimed actors of both screen and stage: Academy Award Nominee Bruce Davison (“Willard,” “Longtime Companion,” “A Song at Twilight” at Pasadena Playhouse), Francis Fisher (“Titanic,” “The Edge of Night,” “Resurrection”), Christian Barillas (Ronaldo on “Modern Family”), and Jessica Meraz (TNT’s “Major Crimes”).

Tickets start at $25 for “Native Gardens” and Susan Hill’s “The Woman in Black” and are available at pasadenaplayhouse.org, by phone at (626) 356-7529, and at the box office at 39 S. El Molino Ave.

For the full Halloween experience, a limited amount of premium packages will be available on Oct. 30 and 31 for Susan Hill’s “The Woman in Black.” This package will include best seating, a free drink before the show, and a haunted tour of the Playhouse following the show. Packages start at $125 and are only available by contacting the Box Office at (626) 356-7529.

“Native Gardens”

“Native Gardens” tells the story of Pablo (Barillas), a rising attorney, and Tania (Meraz), his very pregnant wife who is also a doctoral candidate.  They have just purchased a home next to Frank (Davison) and Virginia (Fisher), a well-established D.C. couple with a prize-worthy English garden. But an impending barbeque for Pablo’s colleagues and a delicate disagreement over a long-standing fence line soon spirals into an all-out comedic border dispute.  Horticultures clash; well-intentioned neighbors become feuding enemies in a war of the hoses.  Good fences don’t always make good neighbors, but they do make for a lot of laughs in this new play that was co-commissioned by the Guthrie Theatre and Arena Stage.  Additional casting is to be announced.

Ben Demers in DC Theatre Scene.com said, “A laugh-a-minute comedy that has arrived at exactly the right time — true breath of fresh comic air. Beyond snappy one-liners and garden hose fights, the play challenges audiences to look beyond petty differences and rediscover our shared decency.” Rohan Preston in the Minneapolis Star Tribune said, “Zacarías’ smart comedy [is] seeded with so many jokes and insights that it’s easily this summer’s comedy winner.”

“The Woman in Black”

One of the most popular theatres pieces every produced, Susan Hill’s acclaimed ghost novella “The Woman in Black” has kept London’s West End on the edge of its seat for the past 28 years in an ingenious stage adaptation by the late playwright Stephen Mallatratt. Seen by an audience of over 7 million, director Robin Herford created a brilliant production of the story in which a man obsessed, believing his family has been cursed by a ghostly woman in black, tells his terrifying story to exorcise the fear that grips his soul. It all begins innocently enough, but as he reaches further into his darkest memories, he quickly finds that there is no turning back. “The Woman in Black” arrives at the Playhouse just in time for Halloween.

The gripping production is a brilliantly successful study in atmosphere, illusion and controlled horror. The Daily Telegraph said, “A real treat. Entertainment at its very best.” The Guardian has called it “A masterpiece.” Time Out London said, “The chills are irresistibly effective… a delicious spell of malevolence and menace.” If it sounds familiar, there was a film version of the story starring Daniel Radcliffe released in 2012.

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