[photo credit: Pasadena Playhouse]
That story reaches Pasadena Playhouse this month. Mexodus, a two-person live-looping hip-hop musical created and performed by Brian Quijada and Nygel D. Robinson, runs July 8 through August 2, 2026, arriving fresh off four Lucille Lortel Awards, including Outstanding Musical.
The show dramatizes a chapter of history its creators say is rarely taught. Historians estimate that between 4,000 and 10,000 enslaved people fled south rather than north in the decades before the Civil War, according to accounts cited in coverage of the production; Mexico had abolished slavery in 1829. The musical follows Henry, an escaped enslaved man from Texas, and Carlos, a Mexican farmer and war veteran, whose bond carries the story.
“It immediately blew me away,” Quijada told Forbes of first learning the history. “Not only the details of the history, but also the fact that I had never been taught this in school.”
Every sound is made live. Quijada and Robinson build each number in real time, layering guitar, piano, upright bass, accordion, drums and percussion through a loop pedal — a technique called live looping. “We just love the process of the production of music,” Quijada told New York Theatre Guide. “That’s where we nerd out.”
The two have performed the piece hundreds of times. “At this point, Nygel and I have gotten telepathic with each other,” Quijada said. Robinson has put the work’s intent plainly: “If Hamilton is an Obama-era hope musical, we are a Trump-era protest musical,” he told Latino USA.
The Pasadena engagement follows a 2025 run at Audible’s Minetta Lane Theatre and a return off-Broadway run at the Daryl Roth Theatre that closed June 14, 2026. At the 41st Lucille Lortel Awards on May 3, 2026, Mexodus was the season’s most-nominated show, with nine nominations, and won four: Outstanding Musical, Outstanding Director for David Mendizábal, Outstanding Lead Performer in a Musical for Robinson, and Outstanding Sound Design for Mikhail Fiksel. The New York Times named it a Critic’s Pick. The production, choreographed by Tony Thomas, is presented by arrangement with P3 Productions and Audible.
Here is what to know, according to Pasadena Playhouse. Mexodus runs Wednesday, July 8, through Sunday, August 2, 2026, at Pasadena Playhouse, 39 South El Molino Avenue, Pasadena. Performances are Wednesdays at 8:00 p.m., Thursdays at 7:00 p.m., Fridays at 8:00 p.m., Saturdays at 2:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m., and Sundays at 2:00 p.m., with an added performance on Tuesday, July 28, and a second Sunday show at 7:00 p.m. on closing day, August 2. The show runs about 90 minutes with no intermission and is recommended for ages 12 and older. Tickets start at $40, with Pay What You Can seats for select performances starting at $10. An access performance with open captioning and audio description is set for Sunday, July 26, at 2:00 p.m. Parking is available in the Playhouse Plaza Parking Structure across from the theater, which the Playhouse does not validate. The production carries a content advisory for strong racial language, descriptions of violence and sexual abuse, strobe lighting and theatrical haze. The box office can be reached at 626-356-7529 or boxoffice@pasadenaplayhouse.org.
A history that went missing from the textbooks — built, some nights, from nothing but two performers and a loop pedal.
Mexodus at Pasadena Playhouse (Continuing Performances)
Date: Various dates, July 20–26
The live-looping hip-hop musical Mexodus recently won four Lucille Lortel Awards including Outstanding Musical and continues its acclaimed run at Pasadena Playhouse.
📍 Pasadena Playhouse, 39 S. El Molino Ave., Pasadena
🔗 https://www.pasadenaplayhouse.org/2025-2026-season/ Broadway World
