Dillingham takes over Playhouse as interim director

Last month’s exit by Stephen Eich as executive director at the Pasadena Playhouse last month was greeted with a mixture of regret and gratitude in the theater community. Eich was a crucial player in rescuing the old venue from financial ruin.

Stepping in as interim executive director is Charles Dillingham, former managing director for two decades at the Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles, which includes the Mark Taper Forum, the Ahmanson Theatre and the Kirk Douglas Theatre. He is currently a vice president at the Arts Consulting Group, and brings with him four decades of executive experience at a variety of performing arts companies, from the American Ballet Theatre to the Brooklyn Academy of Music Theatre Company.

Dillingham takes over amid the theater’s first full season since emerging from myriad money problems, and will fill that role while the theater searches for a permanent replacement. Dillingham also calls the Pasadena Playhouse “my neighborhood theater.”

Currently on the Playhouse Mainstage is “The Hershey Felder Collection,” a series of performances written and performed by the actor-musician: “Monsieur Chopin,” “Maestro: The Art of Leonard Bernstein” and the premiere of “Lincoln — An American Story.” (“Lincoln” will be performed with a 45-piece orchestra.) Performances run through April 7.

Upstairs in the intimate Carrie Hamilton Theatre is “Jane Austen Unscripted,” an improvisational show in the vein of the author’s romantic comedy-dramas, produced by Dan O’Connor and Impro Theatre. It runs through April 1.

More information is available at (626) 356-7529 and pasadenaplayhouse.org.

-- Steve Appleford