Pasadena Playhouse, Furious Theatre Company Establish Parternship

Michael J. Arvizu

The theater is dark no more for Furious Theatre Company. As a matter of fact, the lights have gotten brighter and spots have been added.

Beginning this fall, Furious Theatre Company will stage full-scale productions in the Pasadena Playhouse’s 99-seat Balcony Theatre as part of a partership with the Playhouse.

For the first time since May of 2003, Furious will have a permanent space in which to produce its shows.

Previously, the company had to stage productions on the shipping and receiving dock of Armory Northwest, a former plastics factory owned by the city of Pasadena. The space was by no means small, as it provided adequate leg room to produce shows in. The ensemble also did not want to enter into a pattern of having to rent performing space on a show to show basis. And Furious was not about to travel to Hollywood to promote its craft, either.

“We had been looking around for a place to try and sort of plant roots and grow as a company,” said Furious Theatre co-founder Brad Price. “We really wanted to find a place where we could make a difference in a community, get stability and grow and work with people in the town. Hollywood just didn’t seem like a very good fit ... we’d get lost in the shuffle.”

The space, almost 8,000 square feet, was turned into a black box theater.

“We were able to get five shows out in 12 months in that space,” said Price. “That gave us our birth.”

However, Furious Theatre Company would lose that space to the city of Pasadena. It would be another 15 months before the company knew if it would ever perform again.

At the same time, Furious was committed to staying in Pasadena.

Close to the time that Furious learned that they would lose their performing space, Lyla White, Pasadena Playhouse executive director, contacted Furious Theatre Company with news that the Playhouse would be entering into negotiations to regain control of the Balcony Theatre.

“We both started asking ‘what if?’” said Price. “The more we talked about it the more both sides got excited about it.”

As time went on, both companies began discussing how it would actually look like if Furious Theater Company were to be “in residence” at the Playhouse.

As of Sept. 1, Pasadena Playhouse once again has control over the Balcony Theatre on a leased basis, solidifying Furious Theatre Company’s existence for another four years.

“We sort of laughed at how is a company still functioning at this point, much less, how are we able to be fortunate enough to get such a great opportunity as this that is going to bring us back a little bit stronger and a little better than where we left?” said Price.

The management side of the Pasadena Playhouse and Furious Theatre Company will remain autonomous. However, from an artistic point of view, both companies have entered into an extremely valuable symbiotic relationship.

“They like our artistic mission and what we’re after,” said Price of the Playhouse. “They like the fact that we’re young and we have a diverse audience in that we will help attract a younger audience to this campus. They think it’s good to have some alternative programming here that’s a little more contemporary.”

Both companies will also share in promotional efforts to expand their audiences. Pasadena Playhouse will manage the box office for Furious productions while providing office and rehearsal space.

“Furious Theatre Company will add dynamic, exciting and youthful energy to the already vital theatericality that vibrates throughout our beautiful complex,” said Pasadena Playhouse Artistic Director Sheldon Epps. “I know that this is an association that will hold rich artisitc rewards not only for the Furious Theatre but for the Playhouse as well.”

During the time that Furious Theatre Company was dark, the ensemble kept itself cohesive by dedicating itself to staying in Pasadena and figuring out ways to strenghten the company from within.

“We started on board development, which we really desperately needed,” explained Price. “With civic connections, we got people from the community involved and not just other artists. We got our ensemble to grow a little bit and gave our artists more responsibility within the company.”

Price credits his early association with White with getting their new stage. White’s involvement as president of the Pasadena Arts Council, who at the time was also sharing space at Armony Northwest and was a neighbor of Furious Theatre Company, and her position as executive director of the Playhouse, helped in solidifying a relationship between the Playhouse and Furious.

The dialogue between the two companies sprouted over time as White would come over to watch Furious shows.

“I attended plays up there pesonally,” said white. “I was very impressed by this young and passionate ensemble.”

As to what will happen in 2008, Price has a very optimistic out look for his theater company. He hopes that by that time, Furious Theatre Company will have gained the love and respect any theater arts house hopes to acheive.

Price outlines goals for the partnersip which are to bring excitement to the Playhouse campus through extra progamming for younger audiences and to bring new work to the Playhouse campus, “which benefits us because we now have more exposure to a large audience base,” said Price. “The goal is also to help our company grow big enough that we need to move on.”

“We are very plesed to nurture this young company,” White said. “We will benefit from their energy, enthusiasm and passion for live theater.”

Furious Theater Company will stage three U.S. premieres and one Los Angeles premiere for their 2004-2005 season, beginning with the U.S. premiere of “Scenes from the Big Picture” by Owen McCafferty on Oct. 19.

Flexpass subscriptions to the 2004-2005 season are currently on sale and may be purchased online at www.furioustheatre.org, at the Pasadena Playhouse Customer Service Center (open from 10 a.m. until curtain on performance days, and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Mondays) or by calling the box office at 626-356-PLAY (7529).

Single ticket prices range from $15 to $24. The regular performance schedule is Thursdays to Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 7:30 p.m.