PASADENA, Calif. — Little Red Riding Hood may have strayed into unfamiliar territory but high school students across Pasadena are no strangers to Into the Woods or the words of musical theatre giant Stephen Sondheim.
The inaugural Pasadena All Star Musical features student performers from Marshall Fundamental High School, John Muir High School Early College Magnet, Blair High School, and Pasadena High School.
Students created everything on stage.
Scenery, costumes and props were all designed and constructed by the students and below the stage at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, young musicians provide the orchestration.
There are plenty of professionals involve too, mentoring the students along the way.
Actress Jane Kaczmarek plays the Narrator at one of the performances. She remembers first hand what the students are learning from this experience, which has been a joy for her as well.
“What I got from being in choir in high school and in musicals has stayed with me longer than any experience in my life,” Kaczmarek said. “I say I’m a little old lady in Pasadena now and these students have just lit a real fire under me.”
Pasadena Playhouse partnered with PUSD on this production which launches the century-old theatre into their Sondheim Celebration — six months of programming, which includes major productions of “Sunday in the Park with George” and “A Little Night Music,” and a concert by the composer’s muse, Bernadette Peters.
Artistic Director Danny Feldman sees this season — the first of its kind since Sondheim’s passing — as a chance to delve more deeply in the works of a true American master.
“It’s the kind of work — like the Shakespeare of our time people said after his death — that should be studied,” Feldman explained. “And so we are honored and humbled to be sharing that with the LA community.”