Pasadena Playhouse

"Baby It's You!" -- the new jukebox musical about the rise of recording producer Florence Greenberg -- is heading to the Pasadena Playhouse. The musical, which has had two workshop runs at the Coast Playhouse in West Hollywood, represents the combined efforts of three producers and two corporate giants: Universal Music Group and Warner Bros., both of which are investing money in the show. Opening Nov. 13, "Baby It's You!" tells the story of Greenberg, who left her suburban New Jersey existence to become a hugely successful music producer in the '60s, partnering with songwriter Luther Dixon.

Into the decadent world of Pasadena we go. . . . More and more I am drawn to that little triangle of treasures near Vroman's Bookstore: the Laemmle theaters, of course, where the audiences are either amazingly reverential or fully asleep, and the little courtyard across the street, where El Portal pours more margaritas than in all of Cabo, even on school nights. This is pretty much all I need in a city - a giant bookstore, a good set of theaters, a friendly watering hole where I can slowly suck all the vodka off my ice cubes.

Ebony Repertory Theatre, a newcomer to the Los Angeles theater scene and dedicated to producing works by and for African Americans, will collaborate with Pasadena Playhouse as co-producers of the L.A. premiere of Regina Taylor's musical "Crowns," the two theaters announced Monday. Founder Wren T. Brown called the partnership between his ERT, which staged its first production in October, and the Playhouse, established in 1917, "a potential new model, certainly within this city and possibly in the nation," for collaborations between established and up-and-coming theaters in the same community.

The Pasadena Playhouse will present a revival of "Smokey Joe's Cafe" and a new play from former New York Times journalist Bernard Weinraub as part of its 2013-14 season, announced Thursday. In all, the company will present six main stage productions, including a holiday special, the same number as this season. The Pasadena Playhouse has been working toward financial stability since emerging from Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2010. That same year, the company ceased producing for several months because of financial difficulties.

Colleen Kay Hutchins 1952's Miss America Colleen Kay Hutchins, 83, an Arcadia native who was crowned Miss America of 1952, died early Wednesday at her home in Newport Beach, according to her son Kiki Vandeweghe, the interim coach and general manager of the New Jersey Nets of the NBA. Vandeweghe said his mother had been ill for about six months. He did not disclose her illness. Hutchins, who graduated from the University of Utah, competed in the national beauty pageant as Miss Utah.

Jeanne Cooper Emmy winner starred in 'The Young and the Restless' Jeanne Cooper, 84, the enduring soap opera star who played grande dame Katherine Chancellor for nearly four decades on CBS' "The Young and the Restless," died Wednesday in her sleep, according to the network. Cooper's son, actor Corbin Bernsen, said last month in Twitter messages that she had been suffering from an undisclosed illness. A Los Angeles resident, Cooper joined the daytime serial six months after its March 1973 debut, staking claim to the title of longest-tenured cast member.

Playhouse gets pledges The Pasadena Playhouse said Wednesday that it has received a number of monetary pledges since announcing last week that it would cease productions on its main stage Sunday. But it remains unclear how substantial those offers are and if they are enough to save the imperiled institution. Sheldon Epps, the theater's artistic director, said the amount of money pledged could not immediately be quantified. "We are grateful for them," he said. "The response has been very moving."

The Pasadena Playhouse announced Thursday that it has emerged from bankruptcy, having shed more than $1 million in debt, and will immediately make the intensive, sustained fundraising push needed to re-establish itself as a major theater company. A $1 million pledge from two anonymous donors has given the Playhouse the foothold it needs to mount a comeback production by October, artistic director Sheldon Epps said — the first since it closed in February, canceling the remaining five plays of its 2010 season and laying off a staff of about 30. "The most important thing is that the organization took some drastic necessary steps to get rid of this legacy of debt that has haunted us for many years," executive director Stephen Eich said.

Playhouse sets musical Having recently emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the Pasadena Playhouse on Monday announced a partial lineup for late 2010 and early 2011. "Dangerous Beauty," a new musical based on the 1998 movie of the same name, will open at the theater in January. It tells the story of Veronica Franco, a celebrated poet in 16th century Venice who is forced to become a courtesan when her family fortune is lost. The Playhouse will host two holiday shows from other companies.

Playhouse goes dark The final curtain has come down at the Pasadena Playhouse -- for now. Sunday marked not only the last performance of "Camelot," the theater's current show, but also the closing of the historic theater as its leaders search for a way out of its money woes. It was announced in late January that the theater would halt productions on its main stage because of financial difficulties. The 90-year-old landmark is strapped for cash and faces more than $500,000 in immediate bills, as well as payments on more than $1.5 million in bank loans and other debts.

The legend that was and is Janis Joplin has influenced countless female rockers, many of them epic talents in their own right. And few if any theater events have done full justice to this trailblazing force of nature's vocal impact and unflagging connection with an audience. Over the decades since Joplin's fatal overdose at age 27 in 1970, there have been numerous attempts to tell her story on film or stage, among them the greatly fictionalized “The Rose,” the epistolary “Love, Janis,” and several stalled biopics.

It looks like “batter up!” again on the theatrical boards: Mickey Mantle is the subject of a new play that writer-producer David Leaf is working on with the cooperation of Danny and David Mantle, sons of the incredibly talented but careless New York Yankees star, who died in 1995. Broadway World reports that Leaf has begun putting a team together for the show, which has Broadway ambitions. He's known for delving into the lives of pop music heroes, first gaining notice with his 1978 book, “The Beach Boys and the California Myth,” then directing or co-directing the documentary films “The Night James Brown Saved Boston” and “The U.S. Versus John Lennon.” Leaf told Broadway World that Mantle was his first hero, and promises  to "bring him to life, flaws and all" on the stage.

Shrug off that fur, have a cocktail and dish the dirt with “Fallen Angels,” Art Manke's irresistible production of a rarely seen Noel Coward comedy, now at the Pasadena Playhouse. Given the play's fascination with female pleasure, it's hard to believe this delicious 1925 romp hasn't been revived more often. Startlingly modern, the play makes the hedonism in "Fifty Shades of Grey" seem so, well, earnest.  After five years of marriage, passion is a fond memory for Londoners Julia and Fred Sterroll (Pamela J. Gray and Mike Ryan)

Pasadena Playhouse artistic director Sheldon Epps is set to direct the world premiere of "Sleepless in Seattle -- The Musical," when the show opens at the theater in May. He replaces the previously announced Lonny Price. Jeff Arch, who wrote the original story and co-wrote the screenplay for the 1993 romantic comedy that starred Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, wrote the book for the musical. Ben Toth composed the music and Sam Forman wrote the lyrics. "I am pleased that a recent change in my own schedule allows me to take on the joy and excitement of directing this musical and working even more closely with Jeff, Ben and Sam," Epps said in a statement Thursday.

If the Pasadena Playhouse had decided to adopt a theme song when a dire economy and long-standing debts forced it to cease operations for most of 2010 while it tried to claw its way back to solvency, “Stand by Me,” the 1961 pop-soul classic sung by Ben E. King, would have fit the situation precisely. It turns out that Mike Stoller, who co-wrote and co-produced “Stand By Me,” among dozens of other indelible hits of the 1950s and 1960s on which he teamed with his partner, the late Jerry Leiber, was paying attention, along with his wife, musician Corky Hale Stoller.

The revival of Cole Porter's "Can-Can" that opened at the Pasadena Playhouse more than five years ago has come back to life and is now aiming for Broadway. Producers said Thursday that they are hoping to bring the high-kicking musical to New York in the spring of 2014. Neither a theater nor a opening date has been announced. The revival is being produced by Jonathan Burrows. "Can-Can" debuted in Pasadena in the summer of 2007. The production was directed by David Lee, who is also expected to direct the show when it arrives on Broadway.

STAGE The Pasadena Playhouse presents "Jitney" by August Wilson. "Jitney" is the first play in the playwright's famous "Pittsburgh Cycle," which dramatizes life in his childhood neighborhood over the course of the 20th century. The play, which takes place in 1977 and focuses on the gentrification of the Hill District, is the winner of the New York Drama Critics Circle Award, the Outer Critics Circle Award and an Olivier Award for best new play. The Pasadena Playhouse, 39 S. El Molino Ave., Pasadena.

Shrug off that fur, have a cocktail and dish the dirt with “Fallen Angels,” Art Manke's irresistible production of a rarely seen Noel Coward comedy, now at the Pasadena Playhouse. Given the play's fascination with female pleasure, it's hard to believe this delicious 1925 romp hasn't been revived more often. Startlingly modern, the play makes the hedonism in "Fifty Shades of Grey" seem so, well, earnest.  After five years of marriage, passion is a fond memory for Londoners Julia and Fred Sterroll (Pamela J. Gray and Mike Ryan)

Lies, damn lies, and statistics all figure in “The Gambler's Daughter,” Paul North's new play about a mathematically gifted career gambler's troubled home life. Unfortunately, numbers don't tell the whole story when it comes to fully realized characters, and the piece battles long odds with limited success in a problematic debut staging at the Eclectic Company Theatre. In a small town two hours outside his Las Vegas stamping ground, professional gambler Lloyd (Edmund Wyson) faces a losing hand trying to mend fences with his estranged daughter, Mary (Laura Michl)

The title of “Abraham Lincoln in Two Miles a Penny” refers to the legendary account of the 16th president of the United States walking six miles to return a three-cent overcharge to a customer. Writer-performer Ed Trotta's acclaimed one-man show about the Great Emancipator plies its modest wares to fairly engaging effect. After an aural prologue of historical events ending with a gun shot, Trotta enters from the lobby, looking eerily like Lincoln. His jovial greeting makes it immediately clear that this particular dead president knows the score: “I never thought I'd set foot in a theater again.” It turns out that Lincoln has received a dispensation “from belonging to the ages” to address 21st century audiences, primarily to dispel his “legend,” which “is sticking in my craw.” Opening at the Lincoln Memorial, Trotta's text merges biographical overview and self-assessment with the celebrated wit. Much of the material is familiar  -- self-educated lawyer,  his courtship of Mary Todd, the Cabinet of political rivals, Gettysburg, and so forth.