Pasadena Playhouse caps 2009 season with 'Laughing Matters'
A world-premiere musical comedy about three generations of Jewish women living together in 1970s New York City will close out the Pasadena Playhouse's 2009 season.
"Laughing Matters," featuring a book by Iris Rainer Dart and music by Mike Stoller, left, and Artie Butler, is set to officially open Nov. 13. The musical will be directed by Leonard Foglia, who recently staged the Broadway production of "Thurgood" starring Laurence Fishburne.
The new musical tells the story of Raisel, a former Yiddish theater actress, and her daughter, a TV comedy writer who wishes to learn more about her mother's upbringing in pre-World War II Poland. Meanwhile, Raisel's granddaughter experiences her own drama dealing with the inherited burdens from the two older generations.
Dart, who also wrote the lyrics for the show, is an author who is perhaps best known for her 1985 novel "Beaches," which was adapted into a hit movie in 1988.
"Laughing Matters" is the final production of the Pasadena Playhouse's current season, which is titled "Women: The Heart and Soul of the Theatre."
-- David Ng
Photo: Mike Stoller. Credit: Jim Wright / For the Los Angeles Times
