A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare, runs Sat., May 16 at 11 AM (single announced performance) at Sierra Madre Playhouse. Photo courtesy of Sierra Madre Playhouse.
Brigadoon by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe runs until June 14 at Pasadena Playhouse. Photo Courtesy of Pasadena Playhouse.
EXIT THE KING by Eugène Ionesco runs until May 31, 2026 at A Noise Within. Photo Courtesy of A Noise Within.
The Frankenstein Project, inspired by Mary Shelley, plays May 17, 2026, at Boston Court Pasadena. Photo Courtesy of Boston Court Pasadena.
The Labours by Luis Alfaro, with cast to be announced, plays for one night only on May 14, 2026, at Boston Court Pasadena. Photo Courtesy of Boston Court Pasadena.
For the theater-goer with a discerning eye, this week’s offerings in Pasadena promise a varied assortment of performances—from the daringly new to the comfortably familiar. Whether your tastes lean towards the weighty or the whimsical, the stages are set and the players are poised. Below, a selection of what the local theaters have in store, each worth a curtain call in its own right.
If you want your theatrical performance listed in our weekly directory, please contact David Cross, Theater Section Manager at (626) 737-8486 extension 8 and david.cross@pasadenanowmagazine.com
The Week on Stage
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM — Shakespeare’s immortal comedy of tangled desire and woodland enchantment (c. 1595–1596), here adapted by Will & Company into a lively, family-friendly romp. Young lovers flee into a moonlit forest and stumble headlong into a realm of feuding fairy royals, a gleefully meddlesome sprite named Puck, and a troupe of hapless amateur actors mangling “Pyramus and Thisbe.” With audience participation woven into the action and a visual flair tuned for all ages, this Actors’ Equity production invites everyone — Grades K–12 and beyond — to surrender to the joyous chaos of Shakespeare’s most beguiling dream. At Sierra Madre Playhouse, 87 W. Sierra Madre Blvd., Sierra Madre 91024. (626) 355-4318. Sat., May 16 at 11 AM (single announced performance). $20. Visit www.sierramadreplayhouse.org
Brigadoon — Two American travelers lose their way in the Scottish Highlands and stumble upon a mysterious village that materializes for only one day every hundred years, where romance and doubt entwine as they must choose between ordinary time and a love that defies all logic. Written by Alan Jay Lerner (book and lyrics) and Frederick Loewe (music) in 1947, this beloved musical won the 1947 Tony Award for Best Choreography (Agnes de Mille) and the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for Best Musical. Lead actors for this production have not yet been publicly announced. New adaptation by Alexandra Silber; directed by Danny Feldman (Producing Artistic Director); original choreography by Agnes de Mille. At Pasadena Playhouse, 39 S. El Molino Ave, Pasadena, 91101. (626) 689-2319. Runs from May 13 to June 14, 2026. Performances include Tues. and Wed. at 8 PM, Thurs. at 7 PM, Fri. at 8 PM, Sat. at 2 PM and 8 PM, Sun. at 2 PM (plus a 7:30 PM performance on June 14). Tickets from $105. Visit https://www.pasadenaplayhouse.org/event/brigadoon/.
THE FRANKENSTEIN PROJECT — Inspired by Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel, this world-premiere work — its playwright not yet announced — takes up the question Shelley posed at nineteen and our own moment has made urgently practical: what are the monsters we fight, the ones we engineer, and, most unsettlingly, the ones we have become? Presented as a staged reading, the production strips away walls and scenery to offer something rarer — a play still breathing, still unfinished, witnessed in the act of becoming. Cast and director to be announced. Produced by Boston Court Pasadena under Artistic Director Jessica Kubzansky and Executive Director Manny Prieto. At Boston Court Pasadena, 70 N. Mentor Ave., Pasadena 91106. (626) 683-6801. One performance only: Sunday, May 17, 2026, at 2:00 PM. Ticket pricing: contact box office or visit website. Visit bostoncourtpasadena.org
EXIT THE KING — Eugène Ionesco’s absurdist masterpiece charts the final hours of King Bérenger, a once-mighty monarch who awakens to find his palace crumbling, his kingdom disintegrating, and his mortality suddenly, inconveniently scheduled for today. Written in 1962 and now a cornerstone of the Theatre of the Absurd, the play earned Ionesco major European literary honors including the Austrian State Prize for European Literature and the Jerusalem Prize; a 2009 Broadway revival garnered four Tony nominations, with Geoffrey Rush winning Best Actor. As his acerbic first queen, doting second queen, and an entourage of doctors and functionaries spin rituals of reassurance and control, the king battles the one opponent he cannot out-decree, turning the spectacle of dying into something at once ridiculous, enraging, and unexpectedly tender. Key characters include King Bérenger (the failing monarch confronting his end), Queen Marguerite (his unsentimental, strategic first wife), Queen Marie (his romantic, clinging second wife), The Doctor (part healer, part stage-manager of death), and The Guard (loyal but limited protector of a collapsing realm); specific casting for this production not yet publicly announced. Directed by Michael Michetti; produced by A Noise Within, presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc. At A Noise Within, 3352 E Foothill Blvd, Pasadena. (626) 356-3100. Runs from May 3, 2026 to May 31, 2026 (previews May 3–8, main run May 9–31). Performance schedule includes evening and matinee shows throughout May, with select performances Thu., May 14 at 7:30 p.m., Fri., May 22 at 7:30 p.m., and Sat., May 30 at 2:00 p.m. Tickets are dynamically priced with wide variation by performance and seat location; comparable A Noise Within productions average around $160–$210. Visit https://www.anoisewithin.org/play/exit-the-king/
The Labours — Luis Alfaro, the MacArthur “Genius” Fellow whose Latinx reimaginings of Greek tragedy — Mojada and Electricidad — have been staged at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the Getty Villa, and the Goodman Theatre, now turns to Euripides’ Herakles: the great hero’s return home, the catastrophic violence awaiting him there, and the impossible burden of surviving one’s own legend. Presented as a world-premiere staged reading, the format Boston Court has long used to introduce audiences to tomorrow’s most significant new works. Cast to be announced. Directed by TBA. Produced by Boston Court Pasadena under Artistic Director Jessica Kubzansky and Executive Director Manny Prieto. At Boston Court Pasadena, 70 N. Mentor Ave., Pasadena. (626) 683-6801. One performance only: Thursday, May 14, 2026, at 7:30 PM. Ticket prices TBA; contact box office for current pricing. Visit bostoncourtpasadena.org
COMING UP ON STAGE
ALEX XANDER LUU’S THREE LIVES —Runs May 22–24, 2026; May 22 at 8 PM, May 23 at 8 PM, May 24 at 8 PM (confirm schedule, as dates may be updated closer to the run). In this critically acclaimed one-man show, Chinese-Vietnamese American artist Alex Xander Luu recounts his harrowing departure from Saigon on the day it fell in April 1975 and his family’s journey to America as war refugees. First performed in 1989 and refined over decades, the piece weaves performance art, monologue, and physical movement into a visceral exploration of identity, dislocation, family ritual, and the myth of the American Dream — all viewed through the prism of the Vietnam War and its aftermath. At once comical and heartrendingly poignant, it is a raw, kinetic portrait of diaspora and redemption. Written, directed, and performed by Alex Xander Luu, a UCLA Film/Television graduate, Lifetime Teaching Artist with the Los Angeles County Arts Ed Collective, and former Teaching Artist with the Ford Theatre and East West Players. At Sierra Madre Playhouse, 87 W. Sierra Madre Blvd., Sierra Madre 91024. (626) 355-4318. Runs May 22–24, 2026; May 22 at 8 PM, May 23 at 8 PM, May 24 at 8 PM (confirm schedule, as dates may be updated closer to the run). Tickets $12–$35. Visit www.sierramadreplayhouse.org
AT THE VERY BOTTOM OF A BODY OF WATER — Runs from October 22 to November 29, 2026. Benjamin Benne’s world première (written 2024-2025) follows Marina, a woman who returns each week to the same fish store to buy a catfish and make soup—a methodical ritual concealing profound grief. When her fishmonger disappears, her fragile routine collapses, forcing her to face the wreckage of her carefully ordered life. Romance and magic unexpectedly emerge from the chaos in this intimate drama that blends magical realism with emotional depth, exploring how we navigate loss and the surprising forms healing can take. Cast: To be announced. Directed by To be announced; Producer: Boston Court Pasadena (Jessica Kubzansky, Artistic Director). At Boston Court Pasadena, 70 N Mentor Ave., Pasadena 91106. (626) 683-6801. Runs from October 22 to November 29, 2026. Performance schedule to be announced; typically Thurs.-Mon. evenings with Sun. matinees. Student matinees Nov. 12-13. Tickets: Pricing to be announced; Boston Court members save 40%. Visit bostoncourtpasadena.org
MEXODUS — Runs from July 8, 2026 to August 2, 2026. Written and performed by Brian Quijada and Nygel D. Robinson, this pulse-pounding, live-looped hip-hop musical unearths a suppressed chapter of the Underground Railroad: the journey south to freedom in Mexico. First developed in 2020 and premiered in 2021, Mexodus won the 2025 Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Production of a Musical. Through beat, loop, and verse, the duo builds beats and harmonies in real time while weaving scholarship, satire, and testimony into an insurgent road story about Black and Brown solidarity under empire. Brian Quijada (Creator/Performer) and Nygel D. Robinson (Creator/Performer). Directed by David Mendizábal with producing by P3 Productions (Ben Holtzman, Sammy Lopez, and Fiona Howe Rudin). At Pasadena Playhouse, 39 S El Molino Ave, Pasadena. (626) 356-7529. Runs from July 8, 2026 to August 2, 2026. Performance schedule available through the theatre’s website. Tickets from $119.00. Visit https://www.pasadenaplayhouse.org/event/mexodus/.
PERICLES — Runs from August 20 to September 27, 2026. William Shakespeare’s romance of adventure, loss, and miraculous reunion, written c. 1607-1608, follows Prince Pericles through shipwrecks, tournaments, and seemingly impossible reunions as he searches for home and family across the Mediterranean. In Ellen McLaughlin’s accessible modern verse translation, this late Shakespearean tale chronicles a man separated from his wife and daughter by fate, who must traverse kingdoms and survive tragedy before achieving redemption. The cast is to be announced. Directed by Margaret Shigeko Starbuck (Boston Court Associate Artistic Director); Translator: Ellen McLaughlin; Producer: Boston Court Pasadena (Jessica Kubzansky, Artistic Director). At Boston Court Pasadena, 70 N Mentor Ave., Pasadena 91106. (626) 683-6801. Runs from August 20 to September 27, 2026. Typically Thursday-Monday evenings with Sunday matinees; select student matinees September 16-25. Boston Court members save 40%. Visit bostoncourtpasadena.org.
