A Noise Within Breaks Ground on New Home in Pasadena

33,000 square foot state-of-the-art facility at corner of Foothill Boulevard and Sierra Madre Villa anchors arts expansion in East Pasadena

From STAFF REPORTS
Published: Tuesday, July 20, 2010 | 10:11 AM

A Noise Within Founders and Artistic Directors Geoff Elliott and Julia Rodriguez-Elliott with Pasadena Mayor Bill Bogaard at the groundbreaking.

A Noise Within (ANW), the classical repertory theatre company, broke gound on its state-of-the-art, 300-seat, permanent new home in Pasadena on Tuesday. Pasadena’s artistic elite and many top government officials braved the blazing sun to celebrate the groundbreaking. About 200 people gathered under a tent to witness the ceremony.

ANW Co-Founders/Co-Artistic Directors Julia Rodriguez-Elliott and Geoff Elliott spent years of comprehensive planning and unusually successful, ongoing fundraising efforts, with $10.1 million of the $13.3 million goal raised to date.  The new 33,000-square-foot facility, which is being hailed as an anchor in East Pasadena’s arts expansion, is the centerpiece of a mixed-use development in the historic mid-century modern Stuart Pharmaceutical building at the corner of Foothill Blvd. and Sierra Madre Villa Ave. next to the Gold Line.  The company is slated to move in Fall 2011 for its 20th season.  ANW’s 2010-11 season will be staged in its long-time leased venue in Glendale.

The groundbreaking celebration, fittingly, comes complete with dramatic flourishes from A Noise Within’s troupe of resident actors, who offered an entertaining glimpse into the company’s past, present and future. The program started with dramatic readings by actors perched on ladders in front of  and sprinkled through the crowd.    Pasadena Mayor Bill Bogaard and others took part in the event.

A Noise Within’s new Pasadena home is designed to expand artistic possibilities, offer a greater scope of educational opportunities, meet ticket demand and allow the company to reach its full potential.

“We are extraordinarily excited about breaking ground and sinking deep and lasting roots in the area,” says Rodriguez-Elliott.  Adds Elliott, “It’s been an extremely complicated process to clear the way for a project of this scope and magnitude, and we are grateful to everyone involved in getting us to this point.”

A Noise Within was founded in 1992 and quickly established itself as one of the nation’s leading theatre companies.  It continues to maintain its celebrated status as the only year-round classical repertory company in Southern California, attracting fiercely loyal audiences and high praise from the media for its productions of great works of world drama and also as a leading regional force in arts education.  Since its inception, the company has presented more than 120 plays from the classics of world literature, each season producing plays from authors ranging from Shakespeare and Molière to Ibsen, O’Neill and Shaw to Miller and Williams.

A Noise Within’s new home is located at 3360 East Foothill Boulevard, Pasadena, CA, 91107.  For information on A Noise Within, call (818) 240-0910 x 1 or visit www.ANoiseWithin.org.