Wednesday, September 2, 2026

Altadena Music Theatre Closes Its Rebuilt Season With “Little Shop of Horrors” Thursday

Altadena Music Theatre opens “Little Shop of Horrors” at 8 p.m. Thursday on the outdoor stage it built at Mountain View Mausoleum, 2300 N. Marengo Ave., closing the first season the company has staged since the Eaton Fire destroyed its Farnsworth Park home.

The production runs Thursdays through Sundays through Sept. 13, eight performances in all, and it ends a summer the company spent on borrowed ground. Rather than wait for the county to rebuild the Charles S. Farnsworth Park Amphitheatre, Altadena Music Theatre put up a temporary outdoor venue with a custom-built stage and seating a little more than a mile away.

The musical, with book and lyrics by Howard Ashman and music by Alan Menken, follows a florist’s assistant whose life changes after he grows a plant that feeds on blood. Sarah Azcarate, the company’s founder and producing artistic director, directs, with Chris Wade as music director and Noel Bajandas as choreographer.

Ruby Lewis, who played Sandy in the company’s “Grease” in August, plays Audrey. James Byous plays Seymour, and Lord Kraven plays Audrey II, a 10-foot-tall puppet he voices and accompanies onstage. Robert Manion plays the dentist Orin Scrivello, and Auriaa, Avela Fongoqa, Mueen Jahan and Luz Rodriguez complete the cast, according to the company’s announcement.

Andrew Hull designed the set, Michael Mullen the costumes, Toby Tittle the sound and Rachel Gold the props, the company said. Ernest McDaniel is technical director and Olivia Riddle is production stage manager, and Bouket Fingerhut and Brian Justin Crum are associate producers.

“Audrey has horrible taste in men,” Lewis said of her character. The production looks past the comedy to poverty, addiction, abuse, trauma, ambition and loneliness.

Single tickets start at $40, the company said, and are sold through OvationTix. Street parking is available around the grounds and in the neighborhood, and parking on Marengo Avenue is permitted for the length of a performance. Patrons may bring their own food. Outside alcohol is not allowed, though beer and wine are sold on site to patrons 21 and older, along with snacks and non-alcoholic drinks at a concessions table. Only service animals are permitted inside the theatre.

If a performance is called off before an hour of playing time, the ticket becomes a rain check good for any remaining performance in the season or a refund, through Sept. 13.

Azcarate founded the company in 2020, and it has since staged “Hair,” “Cabaret,” “Guys and Dolls” and, this August, a sold-out “Grease.” It is a 501(c)(3) that also runs a summer camp and an after-school program for young performers, and it states its mission as enriching the Los Angeles community through live musical theatre, arts advocacy and developmental youth programs.

The amphitheater had been the company’s home since 2022. Many of the cast and creative team lost homes and possessions in the fire, as did Azcarate and her husband, Oliver Azcarate. The mausoleum sits across Marengo Avenue from Mountain View Cemetery, an Altadena burial ground established in 1882.

“What has emerged is more than a performance venue,” Azcarate said of the volunteer-built theater.

The company says its 2026 summer season is sponsored by Warner Bros. Discovery and that the production is presented by special arrangement with Music Theatre International.

At Farnsworth Park, two of three phases of the rebuild are fully funded, with $250,000 from the Pasadena Rotary Club and $150,000 from the Los Angeles Philharmonic directed to the amphitheater. Until that work is finished, the company plays on ground it does not own.