Author: May S Ruiz

Danny Feldman Leads the Pasadena Playhouse into its Next Hundred Years

/ May S Ruiz / Leave a comment

Originally published on 5 June 2018 in the Pasadena Independent, Arcadia Weekly, and Monrovia Weekly

Gilmore Brown and Charles Prickett (Early Playhouse) | Courtesy photo / Pasadena Playhouse Archives

The venerable Pasadena Playhouse, the State Theatre of California, is observing its centennial. It is a milestone only a handful of theatre institutions in the country have reached, which is why Producing Artistic Director Danny Feldman can’t help but speak in awe of its past as well as its place in history.

“We’re celebrating three significant events – the centennial, the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Playhouse College of Theatre Arts, and the 80th year of the Playhouse’s designation as the State Theatre of California – and that’s extraordinary when you compare it to the Center Theatre Group, for instance, which is turning 50 this year,” states Feldman. “They’re babies compared to the Playhouse! Very few, if any, professional theatres in this country can claim similar distinction of history, impact, and longevity.”

“The Playhouse has survived world wars and has weathered financial challenges to continue to bring productions that enrich the community. It has been a leading center for theatre arts in America for a century but very few people realize its importance. It’s my job to tell people about it; it’s incumbent upon us to tell our story and history. And I’m excited to be taking us back to that journey.”

Feldman continues, “Any time there’s a new artistic director, which is a very healthy and natural evolution, you get someone who’s coming in with a new lens as to what they interpret their mission to be. I stand on the very broad shoulders of Gilmore Brown and Sheldon Epps who dedicated big chunks of their career into making this place thrive.

“Gilmore Brown founded the Pasadena Playhouse in 1917 when he was only in his 30s and basically operated the theatre until his death in 1960. He defined the greatness and international acclaim of the Playhouse. It was here that world premieres of the works of Tennessee Williams and Eugene O’Neill were presented. It was the venue for women playwrights to stage their creations in those early years when it wasn’t the norm.

“He was the entrepreneurial man who galvanized this community into buying the land where the Playhouse sits now and build this theater. It belongs in the hierarchy of monumental buildings. At the time its cornerstone was laid, it was the only structure of its kind among orange groves. Variety called it a world-class facility, a true original.

“An energetic and fascinating man, Gilmore put the entire community to work in the Playhouse. They made costumes and they were part of the chorus in the shows. There was a blurring of the lines between professional and non-professional theatre artists. What resulted was a community that fell in love with this enterprise and gave themselves for many, many years in establishing it and taking great pride in making it one of the foremost theaters in the country.”

Producing Artistic Director Danny Feldman | Courtesy photo / Ben Gibbs

“The Playhouse had a lot of ups and downs after this death when the theater was dark for a period of time,” relates Feldman. “The next great chapter in its history was when Sheldon Epps came on board. He was really ahead of his time in reinterpreting the Playhouse’s role. The community wasn’t what it looked like back in 1917 and it was him who burst open the doors of who the stage is for and what kinds of stories are being told. I think he made a permanent change to the Playhouse in saying ‘we are an inclusive place.’ It’s not a place about one segment but several segments of our community. I’m so inspired by that and am building on it.

“When I took over, not only did the artistic director change after 20 years, but it was a change right at the cusp of its new century. On top of the financial challenges, we have a new artistic focus through my lens, my love and passion. And at the same time we are defining what a theater is going to be in the age of Netflix and Hulu. We can’t function as we did back in 1917, the world is different now. So the question is how are we going to make theater flourish? What are the core values and ideas that worked back then that were important to the community and how do they translate today?”

“We want to have relevance which isn’t a new idea because it’s how it has always been,” Feldman says further.  “Even when doing a classic like ‘Romeo and Juliet,’ if it doesn’t connect to your audience and it doesn’t make them see themselves, it isn’t alive. Great theatre or art is about making an audience of strangers a community. It’s sitting next to someone you’ve never met before and having that great moment when you realize everyone around you is engaged in the same personal experience. Theatre is the ultimate master class in empathy.

“That is profound and it’s why theaters have always thrived, and will continue to, even with the inventions of radio, television, movies, and the Internet. Theater unites people in a way you don’t get with any other medium. No one can contrive something that can replace that. It’s worked with the ancient Greeks and it will do so now for a reason. The desire to be around other people is innate in human beings and we crave it in a way that’s hard to articulate in words but it’s important for humanity.”

Feldman remarks, “When the Playhouse was first established there was a great level of investment particularly in Pasadena and the San Gabriel Valley that went on for a long time. People went door-to-door to raise money to build this structure because they were deeply attached to the work the theatre was doing. They were an active part of it and felt ownership of this. But over time, some of that connectivity was lost.

“Our challenge is to do a much better job of broadening the definition of what our community is and we started some initiatives to address that. We’re sending out a message loud and clear that it isn’t just those who belong to an economic class that can afford to buy tickets. So one of the things we did right away was to lower our ticket prices. You can come to any show at the Playhouse for $25 and get good seats. We have a substantial portion of our tickets for that and they sell out first.

“We also launched a program called ‘Community at play,’ which is a free ticket initiative. We identified that there are groups in the community that have barriers to coming to see a play because of cost, or transportation, and so on. To get this population to be with the rest of our audience and be a part of our community, we gave away thousands of tickets to social service groups and after-school programs.”

“Studies show that young people who had an art experience in school have a greater likelihood of them coming back as adults, which bodes well for us,” Feldman adds. “A generous donor has enabled us to bring the entire 7th grade of the Pasadena Unified School District come to watch ‘Pirates of Penzance’ and I’m excited to say they’re all coming back next season for ‘Woman in Black.’ Our goal is for everyone who attends public schools in Pasadena to be able to see a show at their theater.

“Last night, for our ‘Community at Play’ program, a group of predominantly Latino students who did a workshop beforehand, came with their teachers to watch ‘Bordertown Now.’ Their experience was so moving that it brought tears to my eyes. They heard their voices on our stage which elevated them. The State Theater of California should rightfully be the place where Latino voices are amplified in the same way that Tennessee Williams’s or William Shakespeare’s voices were. It’s one of the ways we’re enriching our community and showing our relevance to it.”

Senorita with Car (1936) | Courtesy photo / Pasadena Playhouse Archives

Feldman pronounces, “I want to think of the Playhouse’s next chapter as a transformation and I want to be careful when I talk about it. We’re firmly rooted in the past and we’ve had some real challenges that we’ve addressed head-on. I’m not someone who turns a corner and says ‘let’s forget the past’ because I want to remember it – there’s value to it. We’re a historical theater and we have to honor our past but look at it with the lens of the future.

“I think of myself as bridging those worlds and our programming demonstrates that. The first  show we put on for our centennial season was ‘Our Town,’ which is a play about community. But what does that community look like today? So we reinterpreted it to reflect our changing world.”

“In the 1920s Gilmore Brown produced new plays here and in the 1940s he put on Tennessee Williams plays,” Feldman expounds. “He championed contemporary playwrights and I’m continuing that. We have ‘Bordertown Now,’ a play refreshed and rewritten by modern-day artists from their work 20 years ago, to show the world we live in today. In a way it’s a transformation in taking core values deeply rooted in the past but aware of where we’re going in the future. We want to find the spirit that prevailed in the 1940s to the 1970s, which was the period the Playhouse had the most growth, and put our own distinctive stamp on it.

“My previous post in New York was with an artist-driven theater, established by Philip Seymour Hoffman and other exciting artists, that created space and opportunities for those who are being marginalized and being left out of the conversation. I was very much inspired by that and I’ve brought that here, particularly as we expand the scope of our work. It deeply resonates with me because my father wasn’t born here. I realize that America is a tapestry of different cultures and people.”

“California is one of the most diverse places on the planet and the Playhouse is its State Theater.  I’m responsible for ensuring that our values and programs demonstrate the core values of inclusion, diversity, and providing a space for more than just one thing. That’s inherent in who are as an institution and I want to carry on that legacy,” declares Feldman.

So how does an institution that is one of the most prolific drama-producing organizations in the history of American theatre – having commissioned over 550 new works, produced upwards of 1,200 shows, spearheaded over 500 world premieres, developed several shows that went on to Broadway, and welcomed more than one million audience members – commemorate a milestone?

Pasadena Playhouse will celebrate its centennial with a block party | Courtesy photo / Chris Molina

“There was a great deal of discussion about it and a great many ideas were thrown around, including having a black-tie dinner,” discloses Feldman. “And, quite frankly, I wrestled with it for a long time because I want to make sure that whatever we do, it has to be something that’s engaging our community the way it has in the past and building on that heritage.

“One day, when I was in a heated debate on it, someone asked ‘If money weren’t an issue, what would you want to do?’ And I said ‘We’d close all the streets around the Playhouse and invite everyone to come so we can say ‘thank you.’ And my Marketing Director said, ‘Okay, let’s do it.’

“It’s a huge undertaking to close El Molino Street, the parking lot, and the Playhouse Alley. But we decided that instead of having a self-congratulatory event, having a block party was the best way to honor everyone who has supported us. It would be an opportunity to reintroduce the Playhouse to the community, to say that this isn’t our space but your space. It has served as a gathering place for a community for a hundred years and we want to be a part of their lives for the next century.”

Brown established Pasadena Playhouse in 1917 and named it Pasadena Community Playhouse, safeguarding the entire neighborhood’s investment in it. And while it has achieved an international renown in the years hence, Danny Feldman is making it his mission to ensure that the community spirit on which it was founded lives on into its next century. Gilmore Brown would have been pleased.

Pasadena Playhouse Explores Immigration Issues in Culture Clash’s ‘Bordertown Now’

/ May S Ruiz / Leave a comment

Originally published on 1 June 2018 in the Pasadena Independent, Arcadia Weekly, and Monrovia Weekly

Courtesy photo | Pasadena Playhouse

Immigration is a hot-button topic that touches the lives of all Americans. It is a subject politicians exploit on the campaign trail as much as it is a well from which activists draw causes to fight for. And it is the theme that the comedy troupe Culture Clash explores in ‘Bordertown Now’ at The Pasadena Playhouse.

On stage from Wednesday, May 30 to Sunday, June 24,  ‘Bordertown Now’ takes an irreverent look at the people at the center of the controversial issues and the walls that divide us. Infused with their trademark satirical approach, the country’s top Chicano/Latino performance trio messes with the boundaries of theatre and comedy to break down the divisions between cultures.

Culture Clash’s Richard Montoya, Ric Salinas, and Herbert Siguenza are joined by Sabina Zuniga Varela. Varela appeared with Culture Clash in ‘Chavez Ravine: An L.A. Revival’ at the Kirk Douglas Theatre on the occasion of the troupe’s 30th anniversary in 2015.

‘Bordertown Now’ is directed by Obie Award-winning artist Diane Rodriguez. She began her career as an ensemble member in the politically conscious, El Teatro Campesino and is now Associate Artistic Director of the Tony Award-winning Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles. In 2016 President Barack Obama appointed her to the National Council on the Arts, a body that advises the Director of the National Endowment for the Arts.   

To shine a light on the various issues, there will be post-show conversations after each performance on different topics including immigration, border policy, and more, led by topic experts.

Danny Feldman, Pasadena Playhouse Producing Artistic Director, says, “For more than a year, the immigration debate has been in the news on a daily basis. It is so rare to be able to present a new work that directly responds to our ever-changing world. Who better to examine this issue than the iconic troupe Culture Clash, making their Playhouse debut. Through humor, satire, sentiment, and curiosity, they manage to bring us closer to the humanity at the center of the border issues.”

Richard Montoya explains the group’s roots, “I co-founded Culture Clash on Cinco de Mayo in 1984 in San Francisco’s Mission District at a historic Latin quarter in a small art gallery. Art is very much a part of our vibe.

We first produced ‘Bordertown’ two decades ago and while ‘Bordertown Now’ is billed as a re-imagination of that, about 70 percent of this show is new because political awareness and interest about the border have grown in intensity.

There’s so much going on around the country relative to the concerns we’re exploring so it was easy for us to harvest new material. The issues have become more powerful and polarizing but we’re also going to find the humor in the circumstances that plague immigrants. It’s a comedy that’s balanced with serious topics, a reality show that sometimes plays like satire. There’s nothing more farcical than what’s happening now.”

From left to right, Culture Clash’s Herbert Siguenza, Richard Montoya, and Ric Salinas | Photo by Eric Schwabel courtesy of Culture Clash

“During the last year or so, I’ve been busy on the border interviewing sheriffs, agents, and the people who are caring for those who are crossing the border,” continues Montoya. “I’m doing something similar to journalistic work. And then we recreate the characters for our show. It’s like an anthology production where we’re putting together the pieces, connecting all the things that happen on the border.”

“The landscape and the cast remain the same but besides that, policing around the area has changed rapidly,” Montoya explains. “Armed personnel presence on the border has increased so much that it has become a military situation. At the same time, the danger brought on by the drug cartel has also grown and so has the desperation of those caught in the middle. This scene is so different from that of my youth when there was a trolley service from San Diego to Tijuana.”

“California is such a fertile ground on which to examine this issue,” Montoya remarks. “We have borders within borders – whether it’s between Old Town Pasadena and South Pasadena, or between Los Angeles and San Francisco. I was born and raised in San Francisco and I moved to Los Angeles 25 years ago. And I can’t believe the disparity between Northern and Southern California, it’s mind blowing … which just proves the cultural richness we have in the state. But beyond the geographical borders, ‘Bordertown Now’ examines divisions between genders, cultures, and the imagination.”

Montoya says further, “This time we’re adding other cultures, like Asian, into the mix … anyone who just arrived and eager to become American. This idea of becoming American is still very fresh. You know, when you’re in France, you’re French; and when you’re in Beijing, you’re Chinese. The United States is one of the very few places where you can become an American. And it’s that notion which attracts so many to our country. And one of the questions the play asks is ‘What is the cost of being an American?’”

“While our show is a comedy, we want to show a serious aspect: that we’re all human beings – even those who are hiding in the Mexican desert, trying to cross the border illegally. What our current administration and other countries have done is dehumanize the person on the other side.”

“We’re not saying that borders don’t exist, because they do. Nor are we claiming we’re all equal, because we’re not. But we’re saying we’re all human beings – there are people caught in drug and human trafficking. We’re trying to show the human struggle, and the human-ness outside of the headline. We want to take the measurement of their lives, and not treat them simply as data. And, as artists, we want to keep alive the hope and show that we care about all these,” declares Montoya.

Culture Clash’s ‘Bordertown Now’ examines subjects that are timely and of significance. It puts a human face to the immigration issue. Would that people see it, take it to heart, and seize the opportunity to play a part in chipping away at the borders that divide us from each other.

Unpacking ‘Her Portmanteau’ at Boston Court Pasadena

/ May S Ruiz / Leave a comment

Originally published on 30 May 2018 in the Pasadena Independent, Arcadia Weekly, and Monrovia Weekly

Courtesy photo | Boston Court Pasadena

Families, and the drama that’s inherent in each, is the topic of Mfoniso Udofia’s play ‘Her Portmanteau.’ It will have its West Coast premiere at Boston Court Pasadena from May 24 through June 30, 2018.

Directed by Gregg T. Daniel, who recently directed Lorraine Hansberry’s groundbreaking play ‘A Raisin in the Sun’ at A Noise Within, ‘Her Portmanteau’ stars Joyce Guy who plays the role of Abasiama the family matriarch. Completing the cast are Omoze Idehenre as Adiaha and Dele Ogundiran as Iniabisi.

A theatre graduate of Hampton University in Virginia, Guy was a member of the DC Black Repertory Company. She has performed at the Kennedy Center, Mark Taper Forum, and L.A. Women’s Shakespeare Company. Her screen and television credits include: ‘Moneyball,’ ‘The Santa Clause,’ ‘Animal Kingdom,’ ‘Criminal Minds,’ and ‘How to Get Away With Murder.’ She got an Ovation Award nomination for her choreography for ‘Les Blancs.’

This will be Guy’s debut performance at Boston Court Pasadena and she recalls how her involvement in the project came about. “This is the third time, in the last year and a half, that I’ve worked with Gregg. I choreographed ‘Les Blancs’ at Rogue Machine and ‘Raisin in the Sun,’ both of which he directed.

When I was at the performances of ‘Les Blancs,’ Jessica Kubzansky, Boston Court Pasadena’s Co-Artistic Director, was in the audience. I’ve known her for a while; I took a class with her a long time ago and we became friends. After the play she said to me, ‘Joyce, I have this play that I want you to audition for.’ And then I got a call from the casting director.”

Guy describes the play, “Her Portmanteau is the story of Abasiama, a Nigerian American mother who has two daughters. Her first daughter is Adiaha with her first husband who she met in college. When he was deported she decided that it was best to send Adiaha, who was six years old at the time, back with him to Nigeria. She has another daughter, Iniabisi, with her second husband whom they raised in Massachusetts where her job as a biologist took them. Iniabisi, a 30-year-old aspiring writer, lives in New York.”

“Abasiama has her hands full living with a husband who has mental health issues,” Guy adds. “But her life gets more complicated when Adiaha, who’s now 36, decides to come back to the United States.”

“In Nigeria the first daughter is called ‘adiaga’,” explains Guy. “When Abasiama informed her husband that she wanted to bring Adiaha to Massachusetts, he told her ‘Don’t bring her to my house; she’s not my daughter. My daughter is the ‘adiaga.’ Then he locked himself in the bathroom and started walking backwards. To avoid further conflict, Adiaha picks up Iniabisi from the airport and takes her to New York where she lives.”

Aside from the ‘baggage’ that ‘Her Portmanteau’ explores, it also literally refers to a suitcase. Reveals Guy, “It’s the same luggage that Adiaha took with her when she left for Nigeria with her father three decades ago.”

“It’s a great story, with a character who has several layers,” Guy says.  “And as an actress it’s challenging but it’s a wonderful one. What keeps surprising me is that for someone who’s very direct in her everyday interactions with people, to the point of rude bluntness, she wasn’t forthcoming with important information about her family. She makes promises she can’t keep and it seems that she does it to make herself feel better. She’s a woman of many contradictions.

One Sunday morning, she woke up and made a pivotal decision without thinking things through. As I said to Gregg, I imagine that having lived with a second husband who has mental instability she would have developed some psychological problems. She had to build coping mechanisms which were also faulty and she couldn’t really function properly.”

Mfoniso Udofia. – Photo by Frances F. Denny / NY Times

According to Guy she doesn’t have anything in common with the character, “There really isn’t anything about Abasiama that I could relate to because I don’t have children. It’s also a challenge to learn a whole culture you’re not familiar with. The play is very specific in its culture, the people, and the language; and we have to honor that. Ibibio is tonal and learning the phrases used throughout the play proved daunting.”

“I’m African American but I studied West African dance so I’ve been to Senegal, Mali, Guinea, and Gambia,” continues Guy. “I made a film in Senegal; I have a friend who’s Nigerian so I’m familiar with the West African culture. That’s different from being involved in a culture so I have to go deeper to inhabit Abasiama’s character. Gregg lets the actors find their direction in the script, through our research, by observing how Nigerians speak, carry themselves and their bodies, and in relationship with the other actors.”

Living among people of different culture isn’t an entirely novel experience for Guy, though. She discloses, “I was an army brat. My father was in the Air Force and we moved every three years. I’ve lived in Japan, Taiwan, Texas, Kansas, and Delaware.

“When people inquire where I’m from, sometimes I say Delaware because that’s where by father retired after active duty. At other times I say Montgomery because both my parent are from Montgomery, Alabama. I was actually  born there and we stayed there until I was three years old when we moved to Texas. After Texas we lived in Taiwan; from there we went to Florida; after that we went to Japan; then to Kansas; and finally to Delaware.”

“Because we moved around a lot I’m often asked which culture I found the most appealing to me. In fact, someone asked me that two days ago, and I said Taiwan. We lived in a compound with other Americans but we had to move to a bigger house because there were five of us. We had free range, we’d walk everywhere, we’d go down to the rice paddies. My best friend was a man who had a food truck that sold bananas and he would give me some. The Taiwanese kids were very curious about us and would touch our skin and our hair. I have wonderful, memorable experiences. But the funny thing is, I couldn’t stand the smell of garlic. I was five, okay?,” Guy says defensively.

Taking on this role in ‘Her Portmanteau’ has given Guy an opportunity to grow as an actor. She says, “I’m learning that I’m more determined and resilient than I thought. I have learned to come to terms with my weaknesses and that I have to put in the work. In order for me to honor Mfoniso’s words, Gregg, and the other actors, I have to go the extra mile. As rehearsals progress, we’ll be able to get to the whole dynamic of this family.”

“There is a universal theme to this play. It’s about family dynamics and dysfunction, things we all can relate to; there’s no perfect family. For me, the biggest takeaway would be that we all have regrets; we’ve all done something that weighs on us. But you can work past that as long as you’re forthcoming and honest with yourself. The thought may not go away but you can go forward from there,” concludes Guy.

While Mfoniso Udofia’s ‘Her Portmanteau’ is semi-autobiographical, this taut and poignant drama about relatives, legacy, and connections will resonate with all of us. Some of us will recognize our particular family’s dysfunction and see ourselves in one of the characters. Because as different as every one of us is, we all share a human-ness that is imperfect.

Clairbourn School’s Robert W. Nafie Leaves a Lasting Legacy

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Originally published on 22 May 2018 in the Pasadena Independent, Arcadia Weekly, and Monrovia Weekly

Dr. Robert Nafie dedicated 39 years of his life to Clairbourn School | Courtesy photo

He’s at transportation every single day, rain or shine, opening car doors for students arriving in the morning and leaving in the afternoon. He’s the one constant for the thousands of children who have attended Clairbourn School through the decades – Dr. Robert W. Nafie, headmaster.

It was therefore with much melancholy that students and parents received his announcement that he was leaving at the end of the 2017-2018 school year. He’s such a permanent figure that it’s almost impossible to envision the school without his daily presence nor to imagine what Clairbourn was before he ever stepped foot on its campus.

The second of Edith and Marvin Nafie’s four boys, Robert William Nafie was born on September 7, 1948 in Detroit, Michigan, where he spent his earliest years. When he was nine years old, they moved to Farmington, a northwest suburb of Detroit. He remembers having a Huckleberry Finn childhood – running through the woods, building forts, swinging on ropes, and doing all manner of imaginative play.

A portrait of five-year-old Robert William Nafie | Courtesy photo / Nafie family.

When he was 12 years old his father, who worked at a firm that made parts used in different makes of cars, was offered the position of plant manager for a factory that was opening in Duluth, Minnesota.

He graduated from high school in Duluth and went to the local college affiliated with the University of Minnesota where he earned a four-year degree in History and Economics with a teaching certificate.

Directly after college he took a temporary post teaching U.S. history at the local junior high school which he once attended. After one-and-a-half years he found permanent employment at a special education school.

“Funding for special education became available in 1970 to establish community-based programs for young people who would otherwise have gone to state hospitals,” says Nafie. “It wasn’t what I had intended to do but I’ve always been humble and was taught to take advantage of opportunities that came my way.

“Within a year, the people I worked with and came in contact with felt there were much higher things in store for me and when a community-based facility needed a head, I was recommended and promptly hired.”

And so, at the age of 24, Nafie became the head of a community-based special education facility. Now he was running a school with 16 teachers all older than he in Eveleth, Minnesota, 60 miles north of Duluth.

It was there that he first demonstrated the nobility of purpose that would be the hallmark of his entire career. He states, “The facility was one that was no longer being used because the population had decreased. It was in such bad shape and looked like it was down on its luck; I didn’t want to put people who were already in dire straits in that building.”

He elaborates, “I had the audacity to write a grant for a program asking the state legislature for $500K to renovate the school. I was able to hire an architect who worked with me, from designing buildings to completion. This experience later proved useful during the construction years at Clairbourn. I earned a commendation from the governor of Minnesota for my efforts and the refurbished building opened to much fanfare attended by the governor.”

In 1974, he enrolled in a graduate program for educational administration at the University of Wisconsin at Superior, across from Duluth. Because of the distance of the drive, coupled with high gasoline prices, he rode a motorcycle 75 miles each way even in the bitter cold. He became the stuff of legend riding his little 250 Suzuki back and forth. He earned his Master’s degree in 1975; he was 27 years old.

Having gained state recognition, he came to the attention of the Developmental Learning Centers in Eveleth and became its executive director. He ultimately became the president of a statewide association of learning centers with headquarters on the eastern side of St. Paul, Minnesota. It had five locations, so he spent his time driving up and down the county overseeing building leases as well as supervising the instruction.

After being on the job for two years, Nafie decided he wanted to go back to general education and sent his resume to seven or eight schools. One of them was Clairbourn and, in August of 1979, he was invited to come to California to interview. “Who wouldn’t accept a plane ticket to California? Little did I know that it was over 100 degrees and they told me it wasn’t always like this,” he deadpans.

The 29-year-old headmaster | Courtesy photo

The school needed a Development Director but it wasn’t what he wanted so he turned them down. However, the post of headmaster became vacant after the school year had begun and he was hired to fill it. And so in 1979, at the age of 29, he became headmaster of Clairbourn School. To make himself appear older he started wearing a suit to work every day, which became his trademark.

Jim Halferty, a Clairbourn alumnus and currently a real estate developer in Pasadena, was on the board back in 1979. He pronounces, “It was my best hire as a Clairbourn trustee. We interviewed several candidates, many of whom were much older and with more years of experience. But we decided we wanted someone young who would make his mark on the school. And Bob did just that; Clairbourn is what it is today because of him.”

When Nafie arrived at Clairbourn, the school was a disjointed grouping of structures on two different parcels of land, the grounds were uneven and unpaved, and the campus had no central area. His first course of action was to make the school a beautiful learning place for children.

“When I met with the board I told them my vision for educating children and how their environment affects learning. They all thought I rode in on a white horse and they were happy to give me every bit of the school along with all the problems that needed fixing. They threw it all at me, wished me well, and said they would call me in a few weeks. At least that’s how I saw it; but I was used to multi-tasking,” he smiles in recollection.

“I wanted it to be a school I could be proud to lead,” he declares. “I made the first ten years of my headship be about creating a master plan for restructuring the buildings and reconfiguring the campus. We hired an architect who worked with us on designing the classrooms and the grounds to look like a country day school. The architecture of the Manor House became the model for a unified appearance – all the structures would have the same Georgian Colonial style, with off-white walls and grey eaves. I also spearheaded a capital campaign to raise funds for the projects.”

During his first decade, he oversaw the creation of the new library, art studio, music room; new infrastructure – sidewalks, central lighting system, irrigation system, electrical and gas lines. He linked the two parcels by creating a campus center from which the students could get to either side of the school grounds upon arrival. Where there was once broken asphalt, a grassy central quad emerged, with walkways for children to use as they went to their classrooms. “The quad overlooked my office and I guarded it like a hawk; everyone knew not to step on the grass,” he quips.

The first of many constructions that would span several years | Courtesy photo

While all this was going on he attended the Claremont Graduate School and led the charge to demonstrate a strong model for teachers to follow. In 1983 he established what was called the Education Reimbursement Program which he himself took advantage of, from 1983 to 1985, when he earned his doctorate degree and henceforth became Dr. Nafie. When the program was first put in place, Clairbourn paid half the cost of a formal education for any teacher who desired to get a degree; today it covers 100% of tuition and books.

Towards the end of Nafie’s first decade, in 1987, he began thinking about a space where children could assemble for Chapel and meetings. The funds for this came from an unexpected source – a painting hanging in the Manor House which turned out to be ‘Pandora,’ an important work by Thomas Wilmer Dewing, which was sold at auction for $525K. And so the multi-purpose building (MPB) came about. For everyone who attends Clairbourn it is the hub of all activities, the heart of the campus.

The aesthetic and physical components of Clairbourn thus established, he concentrated on building the team to implement his vision for education. A restructuring of the administration was put into place for him to hire an Assistant Head of School, a Director of Business and Finance, a Director of Development, and an Admissions Director.

The vibrant parent community is what makes Clairbourn the beloved institution to which alumni and their parents keep coming back. The Clairbourn Families Association (CFA), which Nafie initiated, has a hand in every fund-raising activity the school undertakes. He expounds, “I wanted the parents to be involved in ways that didn’t touch on instruction, and the best way to accomplish that was to have them help out in the library. We developed a very strong link between the CFA and the library which persists today, and the Book Fair is a manifestation of this.”

Nafie adds, “Around that time we had an activity that was solely run by parents – the Cougar Corner. It was literally a small room in one corner that sold spirit items like pennants and sweatshirts. When we did all the construction, we moved it to a larger space across from the MPB and now it carries everything from soda and popcorn to neckties and gym bags.

The biggest and most extravagant CFA event, though, is the Spring Benefit and auction, an idea originated by parents. All these events gave parents the opportunity to be on campus, provide service, and add to student experience. The campus was more alive than ever before.”

“In 1989 the discussion was, ‘We had all these fine buildings but what are we going to do with them?’” Nafie remarks. “We wanted to ensure that our emphasis didn’t stop on structural concerns but would expand to our enrichment programs. So we launched a five-year Campaign for Excellence from 1990 to 1994 and called it ‘Building on a Promise.’ It also marked the second decade of my headship.”

Nafie’s office overlooks the grassy quad | Courtesy photo

As his third decade approached, Nafie focused once more on infrastructure, “We came up with a Master Plan to replace the Gardner building and reconfigure the entire area with a north/west orientation.” Randall Hall opened in 2001 with state-of-the-art synthetic surface play yard.

“In 2002, Master Plan Phase 2 construction began on Andrew Hall which included the Transportation Pavilion. Completed in January of 2003, this formed a covered space for children and an orderly place for them to wait for their rides.

This was closely followed by the razing of the existing nursery building, and in its place the Seiter Center was erected and opened in 2008.”

It was also in this decade that he inaugurated a program distinct to the Clairbourn experience. Beginning in 2000, Clairbourn exchanged students with host families from the Huntingtower School in Melbourne, Australia. A highlight of the middle school experience, this not only established bonds among students but adults as well. To this day those relationships continue as former parents visit Melbourne and are hosted by Huntingtower teachers in their homes, and vice-versa.

The 2008 recession and its aftermath marked Nafie’s fourth decade. This necessitated a restructuring of jobs and consolidation of roles among the administration and staff. At the same time, the population of the area changed with the influx of Asian families and they came to Clairbourn with different education needs and expectations.

Clairbourn focused on STEM and designed a curriculum to reflect this. It was also at this time that Clairbourn’s business systems and functions moved online and the school’s print publications adopted a digital platform.

Dr. Nafie’s tenure wasn’t all about construction and structural face-lifts but also about upholding the essence that would define his 39-year stewardship – a dynamic engagement with his students and parents.

An annual tradition that he started in 1981 is singing a song for moms during Mothers’ Visiting Day’s morning assembly. He recalls, “I wanted to make myself more approachable to the students; to be more human for them to get to know me personally and, hopefully, for them to know that I care about them. So I speak with them every day at Chapel and I play the guitar and sing for them annually.”

For years, at the Spring Carnival, Nafie would gamely sit in the dunk tank and students all fought for the honor of throwing a baseball to trigger the button that would collapse the plank he was perched on, dunking him in a tank of water. This always got everyone laughing and he would join in the hilarity as he came out, dripping wet in his suit.

Nafie in the dunk tank during the Spring Carnival | Courtesy photo

“The carnival was already in place when I arrived but I wasn’t in the dunk tank yet. That was another parent idea, now that I think about it. They quickly identified me as someone who would do almost anything,” he chuckles in reminiscence.

Throughout his four decades at Clairbourn, Nafie exhibited the many dimensions that make him a uniquely fascinating man. He is as wise as he is witty, with as much affinity for badinage as for waxing philosophical. He is as charming in his self-deprecation as he is stubborn in his opinions. He is at once a student acquiring a vast wealth of information and a teacher imparting his knowledge and homespun wisdom. He is well-read and well-traveled, with a wide range of hobbies and interests. An avid ornithologist, he spouts all kinds of bird trivia. An aviator, he relates in awe the sublime feeling of soaring over the horizon and marveling at the splendor that is God’s making.

When he starts his day drinking a cup of coffee, Nafie reads the L.A. Times, The (London) Times, and the Wall Street Journal. Some bits of information he gleaned would often find their way to morning Chapel to inform students and parents of what’s happening here or abroad and how these relate to them or to that day’s teaching.

Or, he would recount that when he went to get a cheeseburger, fries, and a coke at In-N-Out the previous evening, he reached the pick-up window only to realize that he hadn’t ordered. There’s a lesson in there somewhere, but they forget. What they do remember is that they recognize themselves in his moments of humanity.

Nafie will continue to be involved with Clairbourn School as a trustee | Courtesy photo / Anne Boughton (Nafie’s daughter)

By allowing the Clairbourn community into his personal life, he inadvertently let them have some ownership of it. That’s why when he was diagnosed with cancer last year and underwent chemotherapy and stem cell transplant, they rallied as one to support him. They were there through his illness and treatment. They fought it with him and would have fought it for him, if it came down to that. Happily, he is now in full recovery for they would have rejected any other outcome.

When asked what he considers his biggest accomplishment and what he sees in the school’s future, he replies, “I’m most proud of developing the Clairbourn campus into one of the most elite school campuses in the area – with its many facilities up-to-date and all paid for. Ten years hence, it will have a consistently superior faculty with complementary facilities in a multi-culturally diverse community that loves its school and cherishes its legacy.”

Nafie transformed the Clairbourn campus into one that inspires reflective erudition and meaningful discourse. He has made it his life’s work to create a school that provides both a challenging and nurturing environment. For 39 years he led his students, parents, faculty, and staff to become educated, well-informed, caring members of society.

Clairbourn stands today as a magnificent realization of his vision – the embodiment of an excellent education based on a code of ethics of honesty, respect, responsibility, spirituality, and citizenship. It’s a school that Nafie can not only be truly honored to have led but that which its community is proud of. He leaves a beautiful legacy, which he will continue to cultivate as a trustee, to ensure that it does more than endure but flourish for decades yet to come.

Is a Four-Year Degree Worth the Investment?

/ May S Ruiz / Leave a comment

Originally published on 14 May 2018 in the Pasadena Independent, Arcadia Weekly, and Monrovia Weekly

Approximately 1.9 million colleges students their Bachelor’s degree this year | Photo by Francois Kilchoer

All across the United States college students are graduating, alive with the ideals of youth and armed with a four-year degree. They are eager to make a contribution to the world using the knowledge they acquired and the skills they have developed.

The National Center for Education Statistics estimates that colleges and universities will award 1.9 million bachelor’s degrees this month. And with graduation season in progress, it is a timely opportunity to make an assessment of how much it costs to get a four-year degree, what it means to have a college education, and what good it does for everyone.

According to the College Board, during the 2017-2018 school year, in-state students paid an average of $9,970 on tuition and fees at a public university; out-of-state students paid $25,620. Students who attended private, non-profit four-year colleges and universities paid an average of $34,740.

After factoring in transportation and living expenses, the estimated amount spent by undergraduates in the 2017-2018 school year was $20,770 for in-state students at a four-year public university; $36,420 for out-of-state students at a four-year public college; and $46,950 for a private non-profit, four-year institution.

Based on those numbers, a four-year degree at a public school costs an in-state student about $83,080 while an out-of-state student pays $145,680; and a private non-profit college sets a student back approximately $187,800 for a four-year degree. These are all averages; students at Columbia University, the most expensive in the country, pay about $280,000 for their four-year degree.

Many students have to borrow money to be able to pay for college and today over 44 million Americans hold a total of $1.4 trillion in student loan, according to the College Board. And the cost of going to college rises every year.

The runaway costs of getting an undergraduate diploma, coupled with an astounding debt students take on before they even have a viable way of repaying it, have made many people question if the investment is really worth it.

Brittanie Kilchoer beams after receiving her Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering degree from the Hajim School of Engineering at the University of Rochester | Photo by Francois Kilchoer

In September last year, NBC News and Wall Street Journal conducted a national survey of social trends among 1,200 adults. When asked if Americans agreed that a four-year degree ‘is worth the cost because people have a better chance to get a good job and earn more money over their lifetime,’ 49 percent concurred. However, 47 percent said a degree is not worth the cost ‘because people often graduate without specific job skills and with a large amount of debt to pay off.’

Those numbers varied from the findings of a CNBC survey in June 2013 when 53 percent of Americans said a four-year degree is worth the cost, while 40 percent said it is not.

Most significantly, it’s young people who brought the numbers down for those who favor a college education. Among 18-34 year-olds, only 39 percent say a four-year college degree is worth the cost; 57 percent disagree. Just four years ago the reverse was true, with 56 percent in favor of investing in a college education, compared to 38 percent who said it wasn’t worth the price tag.

As if to underline young people’s thinking, two months ago, the Wall Street Journal published an article by Douglas Belkin about a high school student in a Pittsburgh suburb who “ … earns A’s in her honors class and scored in the 88th percentile on her college boards, but instead of going to college hopes to attend a two-year technical program that will qualify her to work as a diesel mechanic.”

Belkin writes about another student whose parents are both professionals with college degrees and assumed their 14-year old daughter would follow in their footsteps. However, her heart is set on a vocational school where she wants to study cosmetology and computer science. And while they worry that decision will be looked down upon by their well-heeled neighbors in an affluent Philadelphia area, they aren’t confident that a college degree will help their daughter get a decent job and could saddle her with debt.

The article goes on to say that there is a course correction going on in high schools “which are beginning to re-emphasize vocational education, rebranded as career and technical education.”

Recently I read an excerpt in The Atlantic, of a book written by Bryan Caplan, an Economics professor at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. The author of ‘The Case Against Education,’ Caplan believes “The world might be better off without college for everyone (because) students don’t seem to be getting much out of higher education;” and “… college is a big waste of time and money.”

Caplan points out that while he embraces the ideal of transformative education and believes in the life of the mind, he is cynical about people. He’s “… cynical about ‘deciders’ –  school officials who control what students study. The vast majority think they’ve done their job as long as students comply.” He’s “… cynical about teachers; the vast majority are uninspiring,” and “ … most have little firsthand knowledge of the workplace.”

Higher education, posits Caplan, “paves the way to general prosperity or social justice. But education enriches individuals much more than it enriches nations.” He adds that “ …there’s credit inflation: as the average level of education rises, you need more education to convince employers you’re worthy of any specific job;” that “a great majority of the extra education workers received was deployed not to get better jobs, but to get jobs that had recently been held by people with less education.”

As a parent who’s passionate about education and giving our children all the tools necessary for them to succeed in life, I find all these polls, stories, and trends deeply concerning. I’m sure most parents would agree with me that we should invest in the future and our children are our best hope for tomorrow. We would like to be able to leave our country’s, indeed our planet’s, future in capable hands.

To help give perspective to the debate that’s now going on, I spoke with two Pasadena-area heads of school, the vice-president of NAIS (National Association of Independent Schools), the president of NACAC (National Association of College Admissions Counselors), and a respected Southland career coach.

Robert W. Nafie chats with students | Courtesy Photo

Dr. Robert Nafie, who has spent close to 50 years in education, is the headmaster of Clairbourn School, a pre-K to 8th grade independent school in San Gabriel. He offers this point of view, “Let me rephrase the discussion by asking the larger question – am I in favor of self-development and continuous self-improvement? The answer is yes. And what is the most efficient way to improve yourself? In the past, it was probably by being a student and being self-taught.

Another way is to be a pupil and learn from a teacher. In which case, a traditional college education or land-based college experience provides a structure and framework to help motivate someone to continue to improve.”

“To have a democratic form of government you need a citizenry that’s well-educated and well-informed,” declares Nafie. “The question then becomes ‘is a traditional college the best way of self-improvement?’ And there are two parts to this. Is a prix fixe menu of colleges and universities – one tuition fee, one location, one syllabus – practical? If you can afford it, can find financing through scholarships, grants, and financial aid then, yes, it makes perfect sense.”

“On the other hand, does it make sense for young people who leave college at the age of 22 and who may come out with a $200K debt before they really earn any kind of serious money? College education is very expensive and I, for one, don’t believe taking 15 or 20 years before getting that loan paid off is the way to offer opportunity to the next generation. With a debt at ten to twelve percent interest it would be impossible for them to retire in this environment when people make three to four percent on their investments,” Dr. Nafie says.

“When I was growing up there were more layers among the privileged and working class,” continues Nafie. “However, there’s more appreciation today for people who pursue other lines of work they don’t necessarily go to college for. There are people who have skills and talents that can be cultivated. The greater model is not where you went to college but how have you improved your life? What did you know at one time and are you moving forward in your search for knowledge and information?

There’s been a recent development that hearkens back to earlier times in artisanal work and I’m a big proponent of it. For instance, more than we might have earlier, we value people who restore historical buildings to their original luster. Today we respect excellent carpenters and other tradespeople. I think there’s an avenue for creative people who work with their hands. There are more opportunities for areas of work we didn’t consider before.”

Nafie sums up, “So to get back to the original question, if you could afford to get a college education without suffocating debt, then you should do it because all avenues are open to you. It offers the best job opportunities and advancement. The second approach is to be a student and self-study, and know the top people in every walk of life; know how thoughts cross fields instead of just having one chimney of knowledge. The third option is to be a craftsman and learn from a master in the artisan tradition.”

Peter Bachmann, head of Flintridge Preparatory School, a 7th to 12th grade institution in La Canada-Flintridge, argues that a college education is worth the investment. He states, “Firstly, we don’t know what the economy will look like over the next 50 years of the graduate’s work. This will more likely change multiple times and will probably involve a number of job changes. College teaches students adaptability, creativity, and critical thinking – all of which someone needs to prepare for what lies ahead.”

“Secondly, there’s the unexamined assumption that the only reason to go to college is to get a job,” states Bachmann. “While that is clearly a major motivation, that is a narrow and potentially impractical assumption. To live in an American democracy, we have to be collaborators both in the workplace and in the civic society. College can help you analyze political issues, cultivate civic responsibility, and participate in your community. So there is a civic purpose to college.”

“And thirdly, college helps you grow as a person, develop passions and ideas. It can help you think critically and creatively about all aspects of your life,” Bachmann adds. “I think college done well has very broad purposes, with broad pay-offs.”

“Additionally, depending on what field you want to go into, college may be extremely important,” stresses Bachmann. “Obviously, if you want to be a doctor, an engineer, or a lawyer, you need college and probably graduate degrees. I am a big ‘follow your passion’ advocate for college undergraduates.”

“You should not opt out of college because you don’t want to have student loans, but look for ways to fund your college education,” Bachmann asserts. “Find colleges offering merit scholarships; apply for financial aid and grants. There are public universities which provide excellent teaching. There are also private institutions that are not necessarily the most highly selective schools and charge less. These schools can often produce college-educated kids who are successful in the marketplace and are civic leaders, as well.”

Peter Bachmann at Prep’s Spring Reunion | Photo by Melissa Kobe

Myra McGovern, vice-president of NAIS and speaking on its behalf, voices yet another viewpoint, “What we’re seeing is that the nature of both work and school is changing and what families are looking for in K-12 instruction or in higher education is shifting.

“There are many different reasons why families seek education. For some, it’s to get into competitive colleges and universities and to succeed academically. For other families, a school is a place to learn community values or where to really nurture the talents of an individual.

“At the same time we’re seeing a lot of students who are successful academically and go to college, but don’t have the social and emotional skills, and the resiliency necessary to function. So we’re urging schools to think not only how to help students get the best SAT scores but to prepare them for lifelong success and well-being so they are able to consider different options.”

“One of the things our schools are good at is preparing them for jobs that don’t even exist yet,” McGovern explains. “If we don’t know what the jobs of the future look like, how do we prepare students so that they have the flexibility and abilities that will transmit to many different fields in the future – particularly in thinking through programs for innovation and design, in areas like coding or decoding that may, in fact, not be ‘THE’ thing needed when they become adults.

“There isn’t a definitive answer to whether a four-year degree is worth it or if isn’t; it really depends on the student’s specific goals. And that’s the one thing independent schools specialize in – finding out what students’ aspirations are and helping them get there,” McGovern concludes.

David Burge, President of NACAC is, ironically, the Vice-President for Enrollment Management at George Mason University where Caplan teaches, and he argues ardently for a college education.

“First of all, there’s good documentation and research that would suggest that if you’re someone who has low or moderate income, your lifetime earnings are more directly connected to your ability to earn a degree. And, to some extent, this noise about college not being worth it is being driven by people who already have a degree and strong earning potential. Americans from a predominantly low income background don’t have the same access to the same capital, opportunities, and networks so, for them, college is very important,” maintains Burge.

“Second of all, the research is pretty clear about lifetime earning potential,” Burge continues. “Even when you look at various disciplines, Liberal Arts majors, like their counterparts in Engineering, are getting a greater return on investment that far exceeds anything they could get, say in the stock market.”

“Generally speaking, even after students are out of college five or ten years, they find that the earnings gap between those who attended college and those who didn’t tends to widen,” adds Burge. “When you look back at the great recession, a lot of the jobs that were lost were held by those without college degrees. And a disproportionate number of jobs that have been created during the economic recovery required a college degree.”

“There’s also societal good at play,” Burge points out. “The College Board has put out a very good research that college graduates are more likely to have employer-provided pensions and healthcare insurance; they’re more likely to be physically active, less likely to smoke, more likely to volunteer and vote. That’s not to say that those who didn’t go to college are somehow deficient; there are a lot of people without a college degree who have very successful lives.

“Furthermore, it doesn’t mean that college is a golden ticket, because it’s not. People who go to college still have to have good ideas and still have to do good work. It’s certainly not a guarantee, nor is it completely necessary, but it is definitely going to be the best accelerant that people can have to get to their dreams.”

“We, at NACAC, believe that school counselors should not tell students they shouldn’t have debt but counsel them on what is the right amount of debt relative to what they can expect to earn from their degree. Additionally, there are alternative paths to degrees, like community colleges, on your way to a four-year degree that can still produce the same outcome not only in terms of earnings but also for happiness and success,” concludes Burge.

Going to college isn’t the end-all. In fact, graduation day marks the beginning of the next challenge.

Cynthia Shapiro is a Southern California career coach and employee advocate who has written two internationally bestselling books. A television expert, who has done a lot of work with ABC News – ABC World Tonight, Good Morning America, Nightline, and 20/20 – and CNN, she helps graduates find jobs.

Shapiro declares, “Universities are self-perpetuating institutions and are disseminating the idea that all you need is this degree and doors will open, you’ll be CEO in ten minutes. While a college or master’s degree does open doors, it’s something to add to your tool box to give you a leg up. You need to get out there and make it happen.

The problem is that while universities have career centers, they don’t teach students how to write a good resume, how to interact in the public world, how to behave with a boss, what are the most important things to do to find and keep a job.”

Career coach Cynthia Shapiro offers expert advice on career moves.

“There’s a lot of competition – not just for top jobs, but for any job,” Shapiro pronounces. “And, yes, the job market is shrinking for a variety of reasons, including automation, job consolidation, outsourcing, international business. But there are always jobs for people with the right approach.

“What companies hire for is actually not skills and talent; they know they can teach that. What they hire for is attitude and passion; passion gets the job every time. Employers are looking for positivity, confidence but not arrogance; a willingness to get in there, to roll up their sleeves and get the work done and learn, and be a part of the team.

“That said, there are companies who will discriminate if you don’t have a degree and that’s another reason why you should have one. Some jobs even require a Master’s degree and those doors will be closed to you if you don’t have it.”

And because of competition, employers now are looking for more components on applicants’ resumes. Shapiro discloses, “It used to be that a four-year, or six-year, or eight-year degree was enough to get you hired. Companies like to see actual work experience so you have to get an internship to show you’ve been successful in a work setting.

Applicants who’ve had internships in their chosen field are hired faster than all others. But if you can’t find an internship in your desired career, find any job. Even working at Wendy’s at night to help pay for your college education shows you’re responsible, a go-getter, and you’ve got work ethic. Make sure your manager likes you so you can ask for a good reference.”

Graduates who don’t have an internship to put on their resume could include school projects. Shapiro says, “Showcase the things you’ve done in college as work experience. For example, a marketing project where you went to an actual business; or a business plan you wrote for a dry cleaner’s; or being treasurer of your college sorority. It’s obviously collegial experience but it’s what we call transferable skills because they show what you’re capable of.”

“What you need to do is get your foot in the door. Call up the company you really want to work for and ask if you can work there for free; companies don’t usually turn down free labor. Then show them how good you are, how you can shine, that you’re better than everyone else. I can guarantee you they’re going to find a position for you,” concludes Shapiro.

As voiced by my respondents, there is much evidence that a college degree is a means to an end that is worth investing in. However, happiness and success aren’t predicated upon acquiring one. There are other ways of getting an education and making a living. And a fulfilling and satisfying life isn’t measured by one’s job title or how much wealth one has accumulated.

Our responsibility as parents and educators is to guide our children to make education choices based on their dreams and passions because it is by following those, and succeeding in them, that they can do the most good for themselves and, hopefully, for the world.

Radiantly Beautiful and Rare Prints on Exhibit at The Huntington Library

/ May S Ruiz / Leave a comment

Originally published on 7 May 2018 in Pasadena Independent, Arcadia Weekly, and Monrovia Weekly

Aurora Borealis, 1881, color lithograph | Photo courtesy of The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens

French artist and astronomer Etienne Leopold Trouvelot (1827-1895) is largely unknown to most of us but it would be such a shame if his beautiful drawings didn’t get the acknowledgment and appreciation as the works of magnificence that they truly are.

From April 28 through July 30, at the West Hall of The Huntington Library, we have the opportunity to view a rare set of lithographs depicting the pastel drawings of planets, comets, eclipses, and other celestial splendor that he created during his lifetime, in an exhibition aptly titled “Radiant Beauty: E.L. Trouvelot’s Astronomical Drawings.”

“The set of 15 chromolithographs was the crowning achievement of Trouvelot’s career,” declares Krystle Satrum, assistant curator of the Jay T. Last Collection at The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens. “He was both an extraordinarily talented artist and a scientist, producing more than 7,000 astronomical illustrations and some 50 scientific articles during his working life. The high quality of the artwork and the scientific observation demonstrate his uncanny ability to combine art and science in such a way as to make substantial contributions to both fields.”

Trouvelot worked at the Harvard College Observatory where he made highly detailed drawings of his observations, many of which were published in the Annals of the Astronomical Observatory of Harvard College. In 1875 he was invited to the U. S. Naval Observatory to use their 26-inch refracting telescope, the world’s largest at the time.

“Given what telescopes are today, can you imagine what he could have done with something that powerful?” Satrum remarks. “But for him to be able to come up with the details he did using what was available at the time makes his creations all the more astounding.”

Satrum emphasizes, “Trouvelot was very meticulous in getting accurate images. If you compare his work to what you can see through the Hubble telescope you’ll see they’re identical. He matched up perfectly the grid on the telescope to the paper he was drawing on; he represented exactly what he was seeing.”

The Great Comet of 1881, 1881, color lithograph | Photo courtesy of The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens

Shortly after that, he went public, exhibiting several astronomical pastels at the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. Because the exhibit was a big success, he decided to team up with New York publishers Charles Scribner’s Sons to publish a portfolio of his best drawings. In 1882, 15 of his drawings were made into lithographs.

While an estimated 300 of Trouvelot’s portfolios may have been published, only a handful of complete sets still exist. Initially, the collections were sold to astronomy libraries and observatories as reference tools that astronomers could use to compare with their own observations.

However, as early 20th century advances in photographic technology allowed for more accurate and detailed depictions of the stars, planets, and phenomena, these prints were discarded outright or sold to collectors.

According to Satrum, Trouvelot’s legacy is not without controversy. Born in Aisne, France, he fled to the United States in 1855 with his wife and two children following Napoleon’s coup three years earlier, settling in Medford, Massachusetts. While supporting his wife as an artist, he spent much of his free time studying insects, working to see if better silk-producing caterpillars could thrive in the United States.

During a trip back to France in the late 1860s, he collected live specimens of the gypsy moth, bringing them home to Medford. “Unfortunately, after hatching, some of them escaped his backyard, infesting the nearby woods, then quickly spreading throughout New England and Canada, destroying millions of hardwood trees,” relates Satrum.

Though large scale efforts to eradicate it were underway by 1890, they proved unsuccessful; the gypsy moth continue to be a scourge of U.S. and Canadian forests today, causing millions of dollars’ worth of damage annually. Satrum adds, “This episode also seems to have soured Trouvelot’s passion for entomology and by 1870 he had turned to astronomy.”

The Huntington’s set of Trouvelot lithographs was acquired by Jay T. Last as part of his collection of graphic arts and social history. It is but a small fraction of 200,000 objects that focuses on American lithography and graphics. And that assemblage, in itself, is noteworthy.

Partial Eclipse of the Moon, 1881, color lithography |Photo courtesy of The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.

Satrum explains, “Jay got captivated by vivid images on citrus box labels which he found in rummage and flea market sales. These crate labels weren’t meant for retail sales but were primarily for middlemen and he wondered why these stunning images weren’t used as marketing tools to the general public. That led to his fascination, in the 1970s, with commercial lithography and advertising illustration, and other major reproductions of promotional artwork.”

“Jay donated his collection to The Huntington in 2005 but because he continues to acquire various objects we’re getting them in stages, which also makes it easier for us to process,” continues Satrum. “We have everything from tiny 3 x 5 business cards to master prints three times the size of these pieces.

The Trouvelot collection is a full portfolio set which we estimate to have a print run of 300 at a $125 apiece, which was a lot, considering that at the time they might have sold for between $4 and $6. Actually having a full set is really rare; most collectors have part of a set, or only the manual to accompany the set.”

“Having the manual makes the collection quite interesting because it reveals to us the beliefs at the time,” Satrum adds. “For instance, it shows the Milky Way and explains why you can see it at certain times. Trouvelot talks about Mars which has a bluish shade that he thought were oceans. Today we know that’s incorrect, but it was a reasonable hypothesis then.

I find particularly fascinating that they capture a moment in time. This is what research in Astronomy was in the 1870s and 1880s. That’s exactly what Mars looked like to him and scientists were able to match these drawings to what they observe through the telescope.”

“It also revealed how artists used this medium as an inexpensive method to reproduce their work. It was the best way to show what the original drawing looked like. Trouvelot wasn’t a lithographer, but we knew he supervised the process. We also know that the original of these illustrations were pastel drawings although I don’t know if he used any other medium,” Satrum states.

According to Satrum she has no underlying message or theme, “It’s a very visual exhibition and it’s specific in scope. We’re showing these 15 illustrations, not presenting a broader picture of Trouvelot, the artist. I simply want to share with our public a little bit about astronomy, and that these were originally drawings that were turned into lithographs. I put little comments underneath but I don’t intend to tell them what they should be seeing. I want people to take away from it whatever they want to take away from it.”

After the exhibition the collection will go back in storage and will be available for researchers to use. But until then we can marvel at Trouvelot’s collection of rare 19th century astronomical prints. Indeed entomology’s loss was the arts’ and astronomy’s gain, for his works capture the most breathtaking moments in time.

Broadway’s Susan Egan Performs with CSArts-SGV Students at Fundraiser

/ May S Ruiz / Leave a comment

Originally published on 30 April 2018 in the Pasadena Independent, Arcadia Weekly, and Monrovia Weekly

Susan Egan, musical theatre, television and film star, will delight audiences during a night of Broadway at the California School of the Arts-San Gabriel Valley’s (CSArts-SGV) inaugural fundraising celebration, ‘Unplugged with Susan Egan.’

A cabaret-style show, ‘Unplugged’ will also feature 17 CSArts-SGV’s bright and talented students as they perform songs from popular musicals and films including ‘Little Shop of Horrors,’ ‘Wicked’ and more.  It is being held on Saturday, May 12, with two performances at 5:00 pm and 7:30 pm in the gorgeous, state-of-the-art Barrett Hall at the Pasadena Conservatory of Music. A silent auction and cocktail reception for all guests begin at 6:15 pm. To purchase tickets, visit sgv.csarts.net/boxoffice.

Egan has headlined on Broadway in the title role of ‘Thoroughly Modern Millie,’ won critical acclaim as Sally Bowles in ‘Cabaret,’ and received the Tony Award and Drama Desk nomination for Best Actress as the original Belle in Disney’s ‘Beauty and the Beast.’ A seasoned voice actress, she has starred as Megan in ‘Hercules,’ Lin in ‘Spirited Away,’ and recently, Rose Quartz in the hit Disney cartoon ‘Steven Universe.’

From left to right, Lily Annino, Jessie Ellico Franks, and Nicole Slessor | Courtesy Photo

Nicole Slessor, an 11th grader from Monrovia, will be singing the alto part in ‘Beauty and the Beast’ and ‘Little Shop of Horrors.’ Over the past few weeks, she and other student performers have been going into a practice room during office hours recording their parts. She has also been practicing at home in preparation  for the full group rehearsals with Egan.

This isn’t Slessor’s first involvement in a CSArts-SGV production. She says, “I am in FUSION, so I do shows that represent the school around the community. We recently performed at Grand Park L.A. I am also in the Commercial Dance Conservatory, and I have participated in the winter, spring and, most recently, the Student Choreography show, which I directed!”

“At first it was difficult for me to balance academics and art, but then I started to realize that the school gives us a variety of opportunities to focus on our academics,” discloses Slessor. “Teachers keep their doors open at lunch and I go in to study and do homework. I also use office hours as a time to organize as well as finish the to-do checklist I keep in my planner. Having three AP classes is a lot of work, but the school definitely helps us out.”

Being in this show is such a thrill for Slessor. She states, “A few years ago Susan came and did a similar event with the theatre program at Monrovia High School, which I attended, so I know of her. It also doesn’t hurt that my two favorite Disney movies are ‘Hercules’ and ‘Beauty and the Beast.’

“I am very interested in taking arts in college and as a future career,” continues Slessor. “I am trained in theatre jazz dance, so I am looking at programs that have a strong jazz course. My goal after college is to become a Radio City Rockette and perform on Broadway. And when my dance career is over I would like to tour with a dance company as a therapist for dancers.” Spoken like a young woman who has put a great deal of thought about her future.

Ninth grader Jessie Ellico Franks, from Sierra Madre, is in the Acting Conservatory and will be singing The Schuyler Sister with two other girls and other songs as part of the ensemble.

(Left to right) Lily Annino, Jessie Ellico Franks, and Nicole Slessor in rehearsal with director Stephen Cook | Courtesy Photo

Like Slessor, Franks isn’t new to school productions. She enumerates, “I have been in ‘The Yellow Boat,’ a tale about a young boy with an enormous imagination; in the musical ‘Pippin,’ which tells about a man trying to find purpose in life; in ‘The Elephant’s Graveyard,’ a heartfelt and sorrowful story that describes the one-and-only hanging of a circus elephant named Mary; and in ‘Performing with the Pros,’ a musical revue led by and performed alongside Broadway veteran David Burnham.”

While performing is a passion for Franks, studying is a priority, “I value my education and make a real effort to balance art with academics. I make certain all my academic work is done before I start on my conservatory homework. If I know I have performances or long rehearsals coming up, I prepare and plan ahead, making sure to know what will be covered in class.”

Franks adds, “I did some research on Susan Egan when I found out I was going to be in this production. I also watched ‘Hercules,’ which is one of my all-time favorite Disney movies; I loved her in it. And who can forget Meg? Arts performance is something I truly enjoy; I hope to attend an arts college and continue my work in the professional field. I honestly couldn’t see myself doing anything else!”

Arcadian Lily Annino, a junior attending the Musical Theatre Conservatory, will be singing in the ‘Beauty and the Beast’ medley and in the group number ‘I Won’t Say I’m in Love’ from ‘Hercules.’

“I listened to the tracks online to familiarize myself and get comfortable with the songs,” Annino states. “I’ve been involved in other productions so I pretty much have an understanding of how I should prepare for it. Last semester I was in the play ‘The Elephant’s Graveyard,’ an interactive, introspective play where everyone in the cast had a singular seven-minute monologue delivered to a small audience.

Additionally, I was an assistant in the school musical ‘Pippin.’ A few weeks ago, I had the honor of originating the role of Frances in the Mini Musical Show, where musical theatre and integrated arts students had the opportunity to audition for musicals written by creative writing students. That was such an amazing experience!”

Like Slessor and Franks, Annino has mastered balancing academics and performances. She says, “I have been utilizing office hours, by going in every day to get extra help and homework done. I almost never go home with a huge load of homework. At the moment, I am not sure what I would like to major in in college. What I know, for certain, is that musical theatre and performing will remain a part of my life.”

For these three San Gabriel Valley students, being able to pursue their passion while they are still in high school is as much a valuable opportunity as it is a treasured gift. That they are collaborating with some of the biggest names in the world of performing arts is just the icing on the cake.

The Playhouse’s ‘Belleville’ a Hit with Theatre Enthusiasts

/ May S Ruiz / Leave a comment

Originally published on 24 April 2018 in the Pasadena Independent, Arcadia Weekly, and Monrovia Weekly

“Belleville” stars Thomas Sadoski and Anna Camp on the red carpet on opening night | Photo by Nick Agro

Anna Camp and Thomas Sadoski performed to an appreciative and intent audience this past Sunday when Amy Herzog’s psychological thriller “Belleville” opened at the Pasadena Playhouse.

Directed by Jenna Worsham, Camp and Sadoski played a young American couple living in a Bohemian neighborhood in Paris called Belleville. It began as Camp’s character, Abby, came home unexpectedly one afternoon and heard her husband Zack, played by Sadoski, watching porn in their bedroom.

Thomas Sadoski and Amanda Seyfried | Photo by Nick Agro

This seemingly harmless incident quickly turned into a catastrophic event, as one revelation after another of secrets Abby and Zack had hidden from each other were exposed. Slowly their real identities were unmasked and each of them was surprised to learn they didn’t really know the person they married. The audience watched the intense interplay between the two characters with such concentration one could hear a pin drop.

With no intermission to break the intensity, we didn’t have so much as time to catch our breath. When the play finally came to an end, about a hundred minutes later, we were almost as finally relieved as we were utterly devastated.

Anna Camp and Skylar Astin | Photo by Nick Agro

“Belleville” was indeed a Hitchockian thriller of a play. Director and actors did not disappoint. Camp and Sadoski kept up the tension right up to its conclusion. And an appreciative audience showed their approval with a rousing standing ovation when the lights turned down.

Both Camp and Sadoski enjoy a loyal following and their fans must have come out to support them. Last Sunday’s performance attracted noticeably young theatergoers. It was a stroke of genius that the Playhouse’s Producing Artistic Director, Danny Feldman, chose to mount a play about millennials. And it certainly didn’t hurt that Anna Camp and Thomas Sadoski starred in it. Well done, all!

A Noise Within’s ‘Noises Off’ has Audiences in Stitches

/ May S Ruiz / Leave a comment

Originally published on 23 April 2018 in the Pasadena Independent, Arcadia Weekly, and Monrovia Weekly

“Noises Off” ensemble | Photo by Craig Schwartz

Imagine a hapless group of actors gamely putting on a production aptly titled ‘Nothing On,’ from an abysmal material as each of their personal drama gets in the way and you have one screwball of a play that is as insanely hilarious as it is eerily true to life.

This is Michel Frayn’s joyfully out-of-control British farce, ‘Noises Off,’ and will be on stage at A Noise Within (ANW) from Saturday, April 21 to Sunday, May 20, 2018. Directed by Julia Rodriguez-Elliott and Geoff Elliott, it features most of the original cast from the play’s previous productions.

“‘Noises Off’ is truly one of our signature productions, with audience members returning to see it two or more times,” says Elliott. Rodriguez-Elliott adds, “Everything about the deft physical and verbal interplay between actors is ideal for our focus on ensemble work.”

First produced by ANW in their Glendale location, it was hugely popular that they brought it back another year. When they moved to Pasadena they presented it during their first season as an add-on production on a limited run.

Continues Rodriguez-Elliott, “It’s been about six or seven years since we last did it. For our 25th year anniversary, just for fun, we asked people what shows we had done that they would like to see again and ‘Noises Off’ got the most votes.

However, ‘Noises Off’ was doing a big production in London then so we couldn’t get the rights to it to mount it in time for our anniversary season. Fortunately, we were able to last year. And since we still have the same cast and they’re playing the same characters they did in the first two productions, we didn’t have to spend as much time to prepare for it.”

Elliott also discloses, “We’ve put off remounting ‘Noises Off,’ because we didn’t have the technical ability to put it on a spinning stage. We really wanted to remount it this year so we decided to redesign the set. In the first act the audience is watching the front of the set, in the second act the action takes place at the back of the set, and the third act is again the front of the set. Because of that, it needed to be presented on its own and not as part of a repertory.”

“It is one of the funniest farce, if not the funniest, ever written,” pronounces Elliott. “It’s a love letter to the theatre because it’s essentially about all of the things that can go wrong when people are trying to put a production together. For actors it’s especially close to the heart because we’ve all gone through some version of it. Michael Frayn is so brilliant in creating comic timing and sidesplitting situations. It’s really a work of genius.”

“It’s a repertory group rehearsing a play that’s about to open the next night and they’re not ready,” explains Rodriguez-Elliott. “In the first act, we are observing the colorful characters who are part of a company – there’s one actor who isn’t terribly bright, one who has a temper, another is an alcoholic who gets lost and they can’t find him. In the second act, the set turns and you’re watching them in a performance of ‘Nothing On’ from the back stage perspective so you see them as they make their entrance.”

“This is happening as they’re in the middle of the tour,” Elliott interjects. “By the second act they’ve been together for about a month and half. Everything that could possibly go awry, as personalities clash, has gone awry. The two leads are having an affair and one of them refuses to go on stage and it gets worse from there. It’s just insane!”

Rodriguez-Elliott continues, “By the third act, when the set is turned once more to the front, it’s hell in a handbasket. They’ve been touring for six months and by then some of them aren’t talking to each other so it becomes another whole new level of disaster.”

Dotty Otley | Photo by Craig Schwartz

“When we were first rehearsing it, people who had done this production in the past were telling me ‘You’re going to have such a good time; audiences just die watching this play,” recalls Elliott. “There were so many people telling me that, that I began to get spooked that we’ll be jinxed shortly because I thought, ‘Surely our production can’t be as funny as they kept saying. The expectation was too much.’ But once we got out there, the audiences just went wild and it was infectious. You were having such a great time because the audience was as well. And it turned out to be exactly what people had been prognosticating all along. It’s probably the most fun I’d ever had on stage.”

Illustrates Elliott, “I play the role of the director and most of the time the cast doesn’t know if it’s Geoff, the director, or Lloyd, the character I play, who’s talking. Or if it’s Jeremy, the actor, who’s talking to them or the Frederick character he’s playing. Apollo Dukakis, in the role of an older actor Selsdon, calls his lines exactly as Apollo does. It’s spooky.”

“And here’s an interesting bit of trivia,” says Rodriguez-Elliott. “Michael Frayn was watching a play he had written being rehearsed. He sat backstage for a bit and he thought what was happening there was more interesting than what was going on onstage. That was the impulse for him to write ‘Noises Off.’”

“It was a Lynn Redgrave play that was being rehearsed,” Elliott elucidates. “And he thought there was more drama going on backstage. One of the endearing things about this play is that all of these actors are such survivalists they would do almost anything to make their entrance, to keep the show going. They’re taking axes at each other but they’ll drop them when they have to make an entrance. And it’s true, the show must go on. This is that to the hilt, it’s so sweet.”

“The beauty of a rep company is the familiarity you have with the rest of the cast,” Elliott begins to say. “And the play is all about that – people who have been together and have worked together for a long time. That is so relatable. We’ve all been in productions where someone misses an entrance, or something’s gone wrong and people backstage are troubleshooting,” Rodriguez-Elliott finishes for him.

“One of the reasons I think this was a very popular production is that we really concentrated on finding the honesty, the authenticity of the situations theatre people work in,” clarifies Elliott. “We didn’t approach it as a send-up. It’s not only incredibly funny but we have sympathy for all these people. We recognize all these people, all the drama and the group dynamics that we’ve all been a part of.”

“The play they’re in is terrible and they are nobly putting on a show that doesn’t even make sense. But they’re trying hard to make it work and are truly investing in it. There’s this one character who’s not the sharpest tool in the shed and even when the world is exploding she’s still doing what she has rehearsed,” chuckles Rodriguez-Elliott.

Elliott declares, “You can feel the joy in the room because the actors are having fun and the audience is in it with them. The actors themselves are laughing when they get backstage because of the wonderfully infectious audience reaction.”

ANW has just announced the theme of the 2018-2019 season, ‘Let Me in.’ Elliott describes, “It’s about the fundamental human desire to be included, to be accepted. All the plays are about people struggling for that and the things that happen to them and those around them as they strive to have a door open. It’s a very timely issue. We all want to be acknowledged, to not be ignored or be treated as something other than being a part of the human race. Whether it’s Don Quixote of ‘Man of La Mancha’, Dorian Gray, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Othello, Wingfield family of ‘Glass Menagerie,’ or Jason of ‘Argonautika.’ That’s the common vein running in all these plays.

‘Man of La Mancha’ will be another play that will run solo, not in repertory. It will play middle of August through early September. That was a big hit for us when we did it this season and this was an opportunity to bring the show back for those who didn’t get to see it or would like to see it again. It’s the same production and will have the same cast.

The show had been a tremendous experience for us. We had a number of people in the cast who had never worked with us before because they were more musical theatre people. So for them to be able to approach it as actors was something novel and extraordinary for them to do. When we reached out to them to tell them we were bringing it back and asked if they wanted to return for it, everyone answered within twelve hours.

That was pretty much how our resident artists responded to our remount of ‘Noises Off.’ Although the themes of the two plays couldn’t be any more different, audiences, nevertheless, will feel a strong reaction to each.”

It is the contagious feeling and exuberant spirit that we will experience that make ‘Noises Off’ as uproariously brilliant as it is unabashedly zany. Prepare to laugh till your sides hurt.

Psychological Thriller ‘Belleville’ Intrigues at Pasadena Playhouse

/ May S Ruiz / Leave a comment

Originally published on 16 April 2018 in the Pasadena Independent, Arcadia Weekly, and Monrovia Weekly

Thomas Sadoski and Anna Camp | Photo courtesy of Pasadena Playhouse

Amy Herzog’s exciting new thriller ‘Belleville’ debuts on the West Coast at the Pasadena Playhouse from Wednesday, April 18 to Sunday, May 13. Directed by Jenna Worsham, this Hitchcock-style drama stars Anna Camp as Abby and Thomas Sadoski as Zack.

The play centers on Zack and Abby, young Americans who look for all the world like a perfect couple experiencing the ideal expatriate life in Paris so he can fulfill his noble mission at Doctors Without Borders to fight pediatric AIDS. They live in a funky bohemian apartment in Belleville.

This image of perfection is shattered when Abby finds Zack at home one afternoon when he’s supposed to be at work. Their idyllic life turns into a nightmare and we watch in suspense as the real characters beneath the façade are slowly unmasked.

While neither Sadoski nor Camp has seen ‘Belleville’ performed they have both heard of it and its playwright.  Sadoski says, “Amy is a Pulitzer Prize nominee and an Obie Award winner and I know of her work. She’s a tremendous writer, one of the most important voices of her generation. I’m so thrilled to be working on this project!”

This marks the first time Sadoski will be on stage at this venue and he recounts how he got the role, “I love this theater and its history. Danny Feldman, the Playhouse’s Producing Artistic Director, and I have been talking for a while about finding some work for me to do in Pasadena. It so happened that he had a window and we threw around some ideas about what plays we wanted to do. When he mentioned ‘Belleville’ I just went ‘Absolutely!’ It’s really a no-brainer.

“We also realized it hadn’t been done on the West Coast so this would be the premiere and that got us all the more excited. Our director, Jenna Worsham, is a huge advocate of Amy’s work and she was thrilled with the idea. So we, as a unit, jumped at the opportunity to put it up.”

Thomas Sadoski | Photo courtesy of Pasadena Playhouse

Sadoski says further, “As rehearsal goes on we’ll continue to unwrap who these people are. The most interesting for me at the moment is delineating between the private Zack and the public Zack – the version that he presents to the world and the Zack that exists inside that only he knows.

“It’s going to be really exciting to prolong that feeling of unease, fear, suspicion, and discomfort throughout the play. The last thing we want is for it to be a caricature of a film noir. I would be interested to see how the audience reacts and that’s the beauty of live theatre.

“I’m always a bit reluctant to form an idea of what I want the audience to leave with. Early on I had a really strong opinion about what I would like the play to bring out and I worked really hard to make that happen. But what I learned in time was that I can have those wants and desires but people will come with their own experience which, in turn, will inform what they walk away with.

I’m at a point in my career when I just want to tell the story as truthfully as I possibly can, give an honest and open performance. I think that’s more generous than determining the conclusion I want the audience to have. That said, it’s also very Hitchcockian – you don’t come out of a Hitchcock movie with a song in your heart and a spring in your feet.”

A famously private person, there isn’t a lot out there about Sadoski and he likes to keep it that way. He discloses, “Firstly, it’s the way I was raised. Secondly, I am happy to share my thoughts and opinions about politics and whatnot but I am not the kind of person who has his personal life on display at all times.

“Additionally, I don’t think it serves me as an actor to give people some sense of ownership. Nor for the audience’s perception, when I go on stage or in front of the camera, be colored by what they think they know about me. I want to be able to make my performance be true to the character I play.”

Sadoski has been on television (‘The Newsroom,’ ‘Life in Pieces’) and on Broadway (‘reasons to be pretty’ and ‘Other Desert Cities,’ with a Tony Award nomination. He has, of late, been doing audiobooks.

“Theatre is my first love so I would like to keep coming back to it,” Sadoski reveals. “I enjoy doing TV and film so I will continue to do them as much as possible. I have also found a lot of joy doing audiobooks. I think the next place for me to go artistically is directing; I look forward to that opportunity.”

“Life couldn’t be better at this point. I have a beautiful daughter and wonderful wife I love hanging out with and I go to work. I’m one of the few fortunate people who can say that I get to do what I love to do for a living. My cup runneth over,” concludes Sadoski.

Anna Camp is adored by everyone who has seen her in the film Pitch Perfect (1, 2 and 3) and has built a following with her appearances on iconic TV hits ‘Mad Men’ and ‘The Good Wife.’ Like Sadoski she will be performing at The Playhouse for the first time and was very excited when she got the script for Belleville.

“I feel in love with it immediately after I read it,” recalls Camp. “I called my agent and said ‘I’m doing this.’ It was very powerful and there was some sense I had about this character. I have not been offered a role like this, certainly not a theatrical piece, and I was very glad they considered me for it.

“I’ve seen Tom on Broadway, off-Broadway, and from ‘The Newsroom.’ While he and I have worked on Broadway at about the same time, I’ve never worked with him before. I’m very happy that this will be the moment we’ll work together because he’s fantastic for the role and it’s a fantastic material to be working with him on for the first time. It was quite amazing how we had an easy relationship from the first day of rehearsal. I can’t ask for a better job.”

Anna Camp | Photo courtesy of Pasadena Playhouse

Asked if she had specific thoughts on how to approach the character, Camp answers, “Obviously when you first read a script you have an idea in your head but nothing really comes into focus until you’re working with the actors and allowing the director to ask more questions of the character to find out about the person. And I’m actually discovering that in some ways she is like other characters I’ve played before, and in other ways she’s different. And every day, as we rehearse, it gets more complex and more layered.

“I’m finding out more who Abby is, she’s becoming a fully realized person and who I want her to be. It helped that I didn’t see the play before; I always like not having an idea of what someone has already done with the role haunting me in a way. I’m curious as to how other actors have played it before but I’m glad I haven’t seen it performed onstage. That’s what makes this incredibly my own and that’s the beauty in doing a play.

“There are certain things that happen as Zack and Abby interact that I found fascinating. In the beginning Abby appeared to be in fear of her own shadow, feeling out of place living in Paris, and afraid in her own apartment. And at the same time there are so many moments when she could be cutting, and harsh, and cruel. It’s a really well drawn out character – there’s a lot of anger underneath her and it’s very biting. This is a really multi-dimensional character that Amy has created.”

“The best part about a Hitchcockian thriller is the buildup,” continues Camp. “And that’s the fun part – shaping the play into something that keeps the audience at the edge of their seat and not know whom to root for; to have them come up with their own conclusion as they watch the play. We want to truly increase the suspense before the final reveal.

“I want the audience to be moved emotionally in a way that they are not expecting, to feel what it’s like to be in love but in a wrong kind of love; to learn something about yourself; to make you a better human being during this time you have on the planet.”

Being in this play has also taught Camp something, “I’m finding out the difference between film and theatre. Last night during rehearsal Jenna said ‘theatre is like live music – you play the same notes every night but you’re playing it in a different way; and film is like a painting, it is done and it is complete and it’s over.’ I will carry her words with me forever.”

Camp discloses future plans, “I am in the middle of producing a film where I will star in and we’re trying to hire a writer. I’m looking for more female-led ventures and projects that would connect with my audience. I’ve loved acting since I was a little girl and as long as I can continue to do that then I’m living my dream. Working in theatre is something that has deepened me as an actor and I hope it leaves me a better actor than when I came in.”

Camp and Sadoski are exciting performers to watch. They have proven themselves in every medium they’ve been in. They are both at the Pasadena Playhouse to show us how live theatre can mesmerize, enthrall, and hypnotize in a play that may very well make us question if we really know the people to whom we are closest. The master of suspense himself, Alfred Hitchcock, would approve.