A Noise Within (ANW), the acclaimed classic repertory theatre company, is thrilled to announce its 2020-2021 season with the theme, SPIRITS RISING. A Noise Within hosted a Facebook Live event where ANW Producing Artistic Directors Geoff Elliott and Julia Rodriguez-Elliott broadcast their season announcement from the Redmond Stage. New and returning season pass holders will have the opportunity to access priority seating beginning today. Single tickets will go on sale to the public on Tuesday, June 9.
“Through the ages and from the ashes of troubled times, the human spirit, indomitable and eternal, rises,” said Geoff Elliott and Julia Rodriguez-Elliott. “Yes, we have all been united by particularly strange and trying days of late. And across the globe, along with inevitable chaos and conflict, our better angels are on shining display. Kindness, empathy, a helping hand to a stranger; these are the human qualities A Noise Within chooses to celebrate in our season. Hence our 2020-2021 season theme, Spirits Rising!”
A Noise Within’s inspiring new season begins in early fall with a straight run of Lewis Carroll’s masterwork Alice in Wonderland (August 22 – September 13, 2020) for audiences who had to miss the production in the spring of 2020. Alice is directed by Stephanie Shroyer, who had previously directed L.A. Times Critic’s Choice The Madwoman of Chaillot in ANW’s 2017-2018 season. Following Alice, A Noise Within will produce Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (September 27 – November 15, 2020), Stephen Sondheim’s musical thriller directed by ANW Producing Artistic Director Julia Rodriguez-Elliott, who recently directed L.A. Times Critic’s Choice Buried Child.
Geoff Elliott and Julia Rodriguez-Elliott continued, “Last season, only a handful of audiences saw our delightful and moving production of Alice in Wonderland, and we’re excited to not only bring Alice back but also to give everyone a chance to see Sondheim’s preeminent musical thriller Sweeney Todd.”
Sweeney Todd will run in repertory with the Tony Award®-nominated Radio Golf (October 18 – November 22, 2020), as A Noise Within continues its exploration of Pulitzer Prize winner August Wilson’s 10-play American Century Cycle with its final installment. Radio Golf is directed by Gregg T. Daniel, who directed last season’s Ovation recommended and L.A. Times Critic’s Choice Gem of the Ocean, which has unique connections to Radio Golf. Concluding 2020, holiday favorite Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol (December 4 – 23, 2020), adapted for the stage by ANW Producing Artistic Director Geoff Elliott and directed by Geoff Elliott and Julia Rodriguez-Elliott, will return for its ninth year with all new music—composed by ANW Resident Artist Robert Oriol.
The new year will begin with a mesmerizing production of Mary Zimmerman’s Tony Award®-nominated Metamorphoses (February 7 – May 7, 2021), set in a pool of water on A Noise Within’s stage. Julia Rodriguez-Elliott revisits Zimmerman’s work after directing ANW’s Argonautika, which was nominated for seven Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards for theatrical excellence in 2019. Metamorphoses will run in rotating repertory through the spring with Lisa Peterson and Denis O’Hare’s An Iliad (February 28 – May 9, 2021), directed by Julia Rodriguez-Elliott, and William Shakespeare’s comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream (April 4 – May 16, 2021), which will share the watery world of Metamorphoses.
ANW Producing Artistic Directors Geoff Elliott and Julia Rodriguez-Elliott concluded, “A Noise Within has never been just a space to produce timeless stories. Ours is also an intimate community where together we experience both the joy and challenge of being human. We need each other more than ever. We need this community more than ever.
“We are excited to share our upcoming season, ecstatic at the certainty that soon we will all once again be together in the same space exploring the wonders of classic theatre.”
To become a season pass holder, visit http://www.anoisewithin.org/membership or email the Box Office at boxoffice@anoisewithin.org. A Noise Within’s Box Office is located at 3352 East Foothill Blvd., just north of the Madre Street exit off Interstate 210, in Pasadena, Calif.
2020-2021 Season: SPIRITS RISING
Alice in Wonderland | August 22 – September 13, 2020
By Eva Le Gallienne and Florida Friebus
Adapted from Lewis Carroll
Directed by Stephanie Shroyer
Crash through the looking glass with Alice on her zany adventure to an upside-down magical dreamland where imagination defies reality and madness makes logic. Weaving a whimsical poem of hilarious and colorful eccentrics, Lewis Carroll’s fractured fairy tale creates a prism through which we can again experience the mystery and effervescent wonder of growing up.
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street | September 27 – November 15, 2020
A Musical Thriller
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Book by Hugh Wheeler
From an adaptation by Christopher Bond
Directed by Julia Rodriguez-Elliott
With a dash of depravity and a brilliant score, this Tony Award®-winning musical thriller shocks the senses with savage comedy, stunning terror, and razor-sharp wit. Savor the macabre madness as a murderous barber, hungry for revenge for his long-lost family, strikes a partnership with a beastly baker. It’s a tasty theatrical treat that will appall and enthrall even the stoutest of heart.
Radio Golf | October 18 – November 22, 2020
By August Wilson
Directed by Gregg T. Daniel
ANW’s exploration of Pulitzer Prize winner August Wilson’s American Century Cycle jumps from its first chronological play to the last as an African American mayoral candidate must confront ambition and tradition when the breakthrough of his career threatens his integrity and his hometown’s history. This Tony Award®-nominated play challenges the price of progress as a man navigates the cultural clash between his ancestral heritage and dreams of a better life.
A Christmas Carol | December 4 – 23, 2020
By Charles Dickens
Adapted for the stage by Geoff Elliott
Directed by Julia Rodriguez-Elliott and Geoff Elliott
ANW’s delightfully festive, musically merry holiday tradition returns with all new music! Families love the inspirational story of Bob Cratchit, Tiny Tim, and Scrooge—the perfect burst of boundless good cheer for the season and beyond!
Metamorphoses | February 7 – May 7, 2021
Based on the Myths of Ovid
Written and originally directed by Mary Zimmerman
Directed by Julia Rodriguez-Elliott
Primal storytelling and modern sensibility collide in a sensual re-envisioning of Greek myths, as gods and mortals alike endure love, loss, and transformation—all while immersed in a pool of water on stage. Swirling with passion, Mary Zimmerman (author of ANW’s award-winning Argonautika) creates this Tony Award®-nominated masterpiece that mesmerizes with tales of Midas, Orpheus, Aphrodite, and more in a whimsical and heartbreaking meditation on the joys and perils of being human.
An Iliad | February 28 – May 9, 2021
By Lisa Peterson and Denis O’Hare
Based on Homer’s The Iliad, translated by Robert Fagles
Directed by Julia Rodriguez-Elliott
The lone witness of an ancient and ravaged Trojan battlefield weaves a tale of tragedy and triumph, with an enduring love for every victim of war. The Poet, an eternal being tasked with a passionate examination of deadly conflict, grapples with grief and dualities of victory and loss, power and fragility, heroism and hubris in an unforgettable modern take on Homer’s classic.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream | April 4 – May 16, 2021
By William Shakespeare
We promise—this will be a Midsummer like you have NEVER seen! Sharing the pool with Metamorphoses, the Bard’s most famous comedy makes an uproarious splash in a submerged swampland, where hapless mortals and squabbling sprites wade through mistaken identities, mayhem, and magic.
About A Noise Within
A Noise Within has been called “an oasis for those who love classic stories” by the Los Angeles Times and is a leading regional producer based in Pasadena, Calif. ANW’s award-winning resident company practices a rotating repertory model at their state-of-the-art, 324-seat performance space. This venue, established in 2011, has allowed ANW to expand its audience, surpassing its previous box office, subscription, and attendance records year after year.
In addition to producing world-class performances of classic theatre, the organization runs robust education programs committed to inspiring diverse audiences of all ages. Helmed by Producing Artistic Directors Geoff Elliott and Julia Rodriguez-Elliott, who hold MFAs from San Francisco’s renowned American Conservatory Theatre (A.C.T.), A Noise Within truly delivers CLASSIC THEATRE, MODERN MAGIC. http://www.anoisewithin.org
