[photo credit: LA County Department of Arts and Culture]

Pasadena groups have drawn on the county’s Department of Arts and Culture before: in an earlier two-year round, 14 Pasadena arts organizations shared $307,000.

The Organizational Grant Program gives Los Angeles County nonprofit arts organizations two-year grants to address priority needs, and this round’s grants cover July 1, 2027, through June 30, 2029. Applicants may seek money to sustain existing work, build organizational or artistic capacity, or expand public access, and large-budget organizations must request accessibility projects. New applicants and organizations that were not funded the last time they applied must attend or review a program workshop.

The Community Impact Arts Grant is aimed at groups whose main work is actually not the arts but that operate arts programming. Recipients may include social service and social justice nonprofits, city departments, tribal governments and fiscally sponsored projects that operate arts programming.

Nonprofit applicants need 501(c)(3) status, a budget of at least $25,000, principal offices in the county and two years of offering at least four arts workshops, classes, performances or presentations a year.

Arts-focused nonprofits and current Organizational Grant Program recipients are not eligible.

The one-year grants run July 1, 2027, to June 30, 2028, and the department recommends applying at least five days before the deadline.

On July 14, the department announced $5.6 million in grants to 353 nonprofits through the current cycles of both programs, including Organizational Grant Program awards to 266 groups, 44 of them first-time applicants.

“Behind every organization are artists and cultural workers creating new ways to reach and empower the people they serve, and we’re proud to help make that possible,” department Director Kristin Sakoda said.

The Bloomberg Arts Internship, launched by Bloomberg Philanthropies in 2012, places rising public high school seniors in eight-week paid summer internships, and host applications close at 11:59 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 7. Hosts will learn of decisions by Dec. 2, and the internships run June 14 through Aug. 6, 2027.

The county’s Arts Internship Program, created by the Board of Supervisors in 2000, funds nonprofit performing, presenting, literary and municipal arts organizations to host college students in paid internships. Host applications are due at 11:59 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 8, and students apply directly to host organizations once positions are posted starting April 1, 2027. For the 2026 program, the department planned to invest more than $800,000 to fund 128 intern positions.

All applications are submitted through the department’s online grant system. Grant applications go to peer panels in early 2027, and the Board of Supervisors is scheduled to approve awards in July 2027.

NEED TO KNOW

Event: Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture Organizational Grant Program and Community Impact Arts Grant application deadline. When: Monday, Oct. 5. Time: 11:59 p.m. Where: Online at https://apply-lacdac.smapply.io. For more, call (213) 202-5858 or visit https://www.lacountyarts.org/funding.

[photo credit: Pasadena Unified School District]

The Pasadena Educational Foundation is sponsoring the All-Star Year, the district said in an Oct. 1, 2026, press release. The district said the two programs together involve more than 350 students from its high schools, including Blair High School, John Muir High School Early College Magnet, Thurgood Marshall Secondary and Pasadena High School. The district serves students in Pasadena, Altadena and Sierra Madre.

“Our All-Star Year shows that, when a community invests in its students, they rise to meet the moment,” Superintendent Elizabeth Blanco said in the release.

The All-Star Band is among the 21 bands the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association announced March 4, 2026, for the 138th Rose Parade. The Tournament says a committee of its volunteer members selects bands based on musicianship, marching ability and entertainment or special interest value. Students learned of the band’s selection at a surprise assembly in the Pasadena High School auditorium on Sept. 3, 2025.

The district says a PUSD band last appeared in the parade in 2022, as a special entry invited by the Tournament of Roses president. This time, the district says, the band won its place through an audition, competing against marching bands from around the world.

According to the district, the band was formed in 2020 and now includes four drum majors, one from each of Blair, Marshall, Muir and Pasadena high schools, along with 121 band members, 20 color guard performers and 12 dancers. Before New Year’s Day, it is scheduled to perform in the Hollywood Christmas Parade on Sunday, Nov. 29, and at Band Fest at Pasadena City College in December.

“Wearing the colors of all four of our high schools reminds me that we are one Pasadena, and I am so proud to represent it,” Santiago Smith Ruiz, a senior and the band’s head drum major, said in the release.

The district also tied the season to recovery from the Eaton Fire, noting that students and staff produced the band’s Rose Parade audition video in March 2025, months after the fire.

“Les Misérables” will be the third biennial All-Star Musical, following “Into the Woods” in 2023 and “Hadestown: Teen Edition” in 2025. The district’s Visual and Performing Arts Department produces the show in association with Pasadena Playhouse. Students fill every role on stage, in the orchestra and on the crew, and design and build the sets, props and costumes, with PUSD teachers and teaching artists guiding them.

PUSD and the Playhouse announced the title in May 2026 and said auditions for student actors, pit orchestra members and technical crew in grades 9 through 12 would take place in October.

The district plans five performances in the Gladiss Edwards Auditorium at Pasadena High School. All sixth- and seventh-graders are to attend a Feb. 17 matinee, and high school performing arts and history classes are invited to a Feb. 18 matinee. The district expects the two matinees to reach more than 3,000 students and the full run to draw roughly 6,000 student and community audience members.

According to the district, grade-level lessons developed by student assistant directors and classroom teachers are meant to support preparation before the show and classroom reflection afterward. Cast and crew members are scheduled to visit sixth-grade classrooms on Friday, Feb. 19, to answer questions.

The district said program and performance information will be posted at pusd.us/Arts.

In Pasadena, the Legacy Land Project closes its Ashes to Anthems weekend with a concert at 6 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 27, in Sexson Auditorium at Pasadena City College.

The nonprofit, a Black-led organization formed in response to the Eaton Fire, says it works to help families return to and rebuild in Altadena and Pasadena.

Admission is free, but guests must reserve tickets in advance at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ashes-to-anthems-rb-concert-tickets-2000539739213. Sexson Auditorium is in Building C of the Pasadena City College campus at 1570 E. Colorado Blvd.

Performers named by the organizers include BJ the Chicago Kid and Ogi.

“This is our second year doing Ashes to Anthems, and what we saw was collectively a need for us to continue to create joy,” William Syms said in a May interview with Pasadena Now, speaking as the Legacy Land Project’s executive director and board chair. “When you lose your home and your community is devastated, it can’t be forgotten,” he said.

In the same May interview, Syms said the resources offered through the festival are open to every fire-affected resident, regardless of background. The organization operates a resource hub it calls HOLD Dena, which it says connects Altadena and Pasadena residents to support during Eaton Fire recovery.

The concert follows a free Sunday morning service from 10 a.m. to noon, which organizers list as part of the same weekend program.

Organizers are also taking vendor applications for a Greenwood Market that they say supports Black-owned businesses, and they list a resource village meant to connect people with support.

Ashes to Anthems is executive produced by the Legacy Land Project and Pastor Jon DeCuir, whom the organizers describe as a Pasadena faith leader.

Ashes to Anthems was first held on April 26, 2025, as a free concert and resource fair at Memorial Park in Pasadena. That event ran from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. and was presented by the Hold Dena Coalition, the SoLa Foundation, the Shared Harvest Foundation and the Legacy Land Project. Grammy Award winners Andra Day, Lecrae and Erica Campbell headlined the 2025 concert.

The 2025 resource fair offered housing support, financial assistance, health screenings, legal aid and mental health services for families rebuilding after the fire.

Sunday, Sept. 27, 6 p.m. Sexson Auditorium, Pasadena City College, Building C, 1570 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena. For more call (626) 585-7123 or visit https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ashes-to-anthems-rb-concert-tickets-2000539739213. Tickets: Free; advance reservation required.

The Legacy Land Project’s Eaton Fire benefit also includes a Saturday gospel program, but the event website gives no date or venue for it

The Legacy Land Project, an Altadena nonprofit formed in response to the Eaton Fire, will close its Ashes to Anthems weekend with a free R&B concert Sunday, Sept. 27, at 6 p.m. at Pasadena City College’s Sexson Auditorium, according to the event’s Eventbrite listing.

Admission is free, but an RSVP is required, the listing states. The listing names BJ the Chicago Kid and Ogi among the performers as of Sept. 24. The listing describes the concert as the culminating celebration of a weekend of programming.

The event’s website lists a free Saturday gospel program, This is Us: Gospel Celebration, from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m., which it says will feature gospel artists, food vendors and community resources. The website does not give a date, venue or performer names for the Saturday program as of Sept. 24.

The website also lists a free Friday screening of “Beneath the Ashes,” a documentary about neighbors whose lives were changed by the fire, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., and a free Sunday morning service with Victory from 10 a.m. to noon. It does not list venues for those events as of Sept. 24.

The Legacy Land Project describes itself on its Ticket Tailor page as a community-centered nonprofit committed to long-term recovery and rebuilding for families affected by the fires in Altadena and Pasadena. The event website says Ashes to Anthems is executive produced by the Legacy Land Project and Pasadena faith leader Pastor Jon DeCuir. The website says proceeds fund care management, financial relief and long-term rebuilding support for families disproportionately affected by the fires.

The first Ashes to Anthems was held last year at Memorial Park in Pasadena, with Andra Day as headliner, Pasadena Now reported.

Sunday, Sept. 27, 6 p.m. Sexson Auditorium (Building C), Pasadena City College, 1570 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena. For more call (626) 585-7123 or visit https://www.ashestoanthems.com. Tickets: Free; RSVP required at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ashes-to-anthems-rb-concert-tickets-2000539739213.

Free Family Concert at the Los Angeles County Arboretum on October 4

What happens when the deep rumble of a double bass becomes an elephant, shimmering piano notes turn into an underwater world, and a cello melody makes a three-year-old declare that the music is “too sad”?

That is the magic Melodia Mariposa hopes to create when it presents Camille Saint-Saëns’ beloved Carnival of the Animals in a free family concert on Sunday, October 4, at 4 p.m. at Ayres Hall at the Los Angeles County Arboretum.

Described as a “Magical Introduction to the Orchestra,” the approximately 25-minute Carnival of the Animals brings an entire musical zoo to life, with lions, kangaroos, elephants, birds, tortoises and other creatures portrayed through sound. The program will also include Franz Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 and other chamber music works.

The concert will feature the Melodia Mariposa Chamber Orchestra, two pianos and conductor David Cubek, with narration by acclaimed actor, singer and musician Dorian Harewood.

Harewood, whose career spans Broadway, film and television, played Older Noah in the Broadway production of The Notebook and received a Tony Award nomination for his performance. An accomplished singer as well, Harewood has recently performed a concert tribute to Nat King Cole in Los Angeles.

The concert also has a special family connection. Cellist Tina Soule, one of the founders of Melodia Mariposa, will perform the famous cello solo in The Swan. Her grandson, three-year-old Sky, has grown up hearing his grandmother play and has already formed his own opinions about music — including deciding that The Swan is “too sad.”

For Melodia Mariposa founder and director Irina Voloshina, those kinds of reactions are exactly why introducing children to music matters.

“Music moves, soothes, and excites at the same time and, for just a while, the audience unplugs, deleting the stress of the day,” Voloshina says. “It is our goal to create appealing and accessible music for those who enjoy being closer to the musicians.”

Conductor David Cubek shares that vision.

“Music is a wonderful thing, in and of itself,” Cubek says, “but what is incredible is its ability to bring communities together. It is a language that can express emotions and become a vehicle to bond people. It can be truly magical.”

That philosophy is at the heart of Melodia Mariposa’s mission: to create intimate, accessible classical music experiences that engage diverse audiences and foster appreciation and education among all ages.

The organization continues that mission despite the devastating impact of the Eaton Fire. Voloshina, Soule and members of the Melodia Mariposa family were among those who lost their homes. Yet the organization has continued to bring musicians and audiences together — and to make its concerts free and accessible to the community.

Admission to the October 4 concert is free, although reservations are required. Donations are welcome. Those wishing to support Melodia Mariposa can become members for $100 a year, with membership offering access to special members-only events and other benefits.

For reservations, membership, donations and more information, visit melodiamariposa.org.

An Altadena nonprofit born out of the January 2025 Eaton Fire will have a place on the stage Sunday, Sept. 20, as the 18th annual Pasadena ARTWalk closes its two-day run on Green Street.

Kevin Sandbloom performs from noon to 2 p.m. under the banner of Altadena Musicians, the group Brandon Jay founded after his family lost their home and recording studio in the fire. He is one of three ARTWalk acts booked through the nonprofit, and the fair’s roster also includes Altadena makers who lost homes and studios and have since found their way back to their work.

The free fair runs 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 19 and 20, on Green Street between Los Robles and El Molino avenues in Pasadena’s Playhouse Village, with more than 180 hand-selected artisans. Organizers suggest 561 E. Green St. as a midpoint. Sunday’s music runs from Felipe Saray at 11 a.m. through Sandbloom at noon, Rusty Perez from 2 to 4 p.m. and Ricky England from 4 to 6 p.m.

Altadena Musicians says it has returned more than 1,500 instruments and more than 1,300 albums to people who lost theirs in the Eaton and Palisades fires. The group runs Instrumental Giving, a registry that matches donated gear with musicians, and operates the Altadena Music Center.

Gloria Baghdassarian, event coordinator at Jackalope Arts, which produces the fair with the Playhouse Village Association, said the company found the nonprofit online. “They’re a really cool nonprofit organization that raises money for musicians who lost their instruments and equipment in Eaton Fire,” she said. “And I feel really lucky that we get to play a part in giving them a platform for people to meet them.”

Two artisans came to the fair by way of the fire. Heather C. Morrow lost her Altadena home of 17 years and her ceramic studio when the Eaton Fire swept through on Jan. 7, 2025, and has turned to photography, building a portrait project on fellow survivors. René Amy, who lost his home, runs the native-wildflower business Altadena Maid Products at booth 132. He created the Great Altadena Poppy Project, which set out to sow some 250 million California poppy seeds across roughly 700 fire-affected properties at no cost to owners.

Baghdassarian, who grew up in Altadena and Pasadena, called producing the fair in the second year after the fire “really surreal.” “Even after something so devastating, you can still see that our little community here is still filled with so much connection and creativity,” she said.

The ARTWalk is open to all ages and handicap accessible, and leashed pets are welcome.

Pasadena ARTWalk, Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 19 and 20, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Green Street between Los Robles and El Molino avenues, Pasadena; use 561 E. Green St. for a midpoint. For more, call (323) 989-2278 or visit https://www.jackalopeartfair.com/pasadena-artwalk. Admission: Free.

Three of the six musicians booked for this weekend’s Pasadena ARTWalk will perform under the banner of Altadena Musicians, the nonprofit Brandon Jay started after his family lost their home and recording studio in the Eaton fire.

The 18th annual ARTWalk takes over Green Street between Los Robles and El Molino avenues on Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 19 and 20, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Admission is free, more than 180 hand-selected artisans are booked, and the roster includes Altadena makers who lost homes and studios in the January 2025 fire.

Céleigh Chapman opens Saturday at 11 a.m., followed by Ryan Vosika from noon to 2 p.m. Kevin Sandbloom plays Sunday from noon to 2 p.m. All three are listed under Altadena Musicians on the organizer’s schedule. Rusty Perez performs both days from 2 to 4 p.m., Ricky England both days from 4 to 6 p.m., and Felipe Saray opens Sunday at 11 a.m.

Gloria Baghdassarian, event coordinator at Jackalope Arts, which produces the fair in partnership with the Playhouse Village Association, said the company found the nonprofit online. “They’re a really cool nonprofit organization that raises money for musicians who lost their instruments and equipment in Eaton Fire,” she said. “And I feel really lucky that we get to play a part in giving them a platform for people to meet them.”

Altadena Musicians says it has gotten more than 1,500 instruments and more than 1,300 albums back into the hands of people who lost theirs in the Eaton and Palisades fires. The organization runs Instrumental Giving, a registry where musicians list gear lost in the fires and donors help replace it, and operates the Altadena Music Center, which it describes as an outgrowth of the instrument replacement program offering free and low-cost entertainment, workshops and all-ages live music.

Baghdassarian grew up in Altadena and Pasadena. Asked what it means to produce the fair in the second year after the Eaton Fire, she said: “It is honestly, it’s really surreal.” She added: “Having grown up in Altadena and Pasadena, it feels really special to be part of an event that is so focused on just bringing communities together.”

“And in regards to the Eaton Fire, it’s also just a really cool thing to see that even after something so devastating, you can still see that our little community here is still filled with so much connection and creativity,” she said.

Two of this year’s artisans came to the fair by way of the fire. Heather C. Morrow, listed among the ARTWalk’s artisan highlights, lost her Altadena home of 17 years and her ceramic studio when the Eaton Fire swept through on Jan. 7, 2025. She turned to photography, premiered an exhibit titled “Bearing Witness: Fragments of Humanity” at a San Gabriel gallery, and has since been building a portrait project on fire survivors titled “Identity Lost: Eaton Fire Survivors Rising from the Ashes.”

“I absolutely love her work and love seeing her get back into it following the devastating fire,” Baghdassarian said.

Altadena Maid Products, the native wildflower seed business run by René Amy, holds booth 132. Amy, who lost his home in the Eaton Fire, created the Great Altadena Poppy Project, which set out to sow some 250 million California poppy seeds across roughly 700 fire-impacted properties at no cost to the owners.

“He is probably one of the most active activists in Altadena. He’s the creator of the Great Altadena Poppy Project,” Baghdassarian said, adding that “he’s one of our artisans and he is just doing really cool work and is an inspiration to us all for sure.”

Applications opened in March and every artisan was booked by the end of June, Baghdassarian said. Selection runs through a panel: “we have a jury that looks at each and every application individually, and we try to create a really diverse mix across the fair of entirely handmade work,” she said. The ARTWalk, she added, “leans more towards having fine art along with handmade art work of all kinds.”

The fair predates Jackalope’s involvement. Brian Wallace, president of the Playhouse Village Association, said in written responses that the event “was launched in 2006 as a way to expand the already successful ArtNight Pasadena, and created the inaugural Pasadena ART Weekend of community events in Pasadena in partnership with City of Pasadena.” He said the edition count leaves out the years the event was paused but includes the 2020 edition, which was canceled after it had been marketed and after artists had applied.

The association was formed in 1996 as the Playhouse District Association. In 2001 its members, property owners and business owners formed a property-based business improvement district, which pools private dollars for the 32-block Playhouse Village under an 11-member board representing property owners, businesses and institutions.

Wallace said the fair “draws over 5,000 visitors to Playhouse Village over one weekend, increasing foot traffic, exposing businesses to potential new customers, and reinforcing Playhouse Village as the arts district of Pasadena,” and called it “the PVA’s largest single event from a size and attendance perspective.”

On the mechanics of closing the street, Wallace said: “Since Pasadena ARTWalk is our longest running signature event, PVA and the businesses and properties in that area have many years of experience with the street closures, plus we also have the additional event experience from our partners Jackalope Arts.” Jackalope, he said, “has grown the event in size and scope in recent years, which has allowed the PVA to produce many other smaller events, particularly at Playhouse Village Park.”

Away from the booths, Jackalope Gives, the company’s nonprofit arm, hosts free fan coloring and decoration at the information booth. Drawn2Art runs a children’s drawing workshop both days from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at booth Oakland-2, and First United Methodist of Pasadena leads a free collaborative community art project using upcycled materials at the same booth on Saturday only, from 3 to 6 p.m.

Other stations include tarot readings from Fox & The Empress at Oakland-4, handmade watercolor testing with Water and Whimsy at Oakland-5, DIY bath and body kits from Wunderkits at Oakland-6, wildflower planters and coloring pages with Brella at Oakland-7, hair sparklers from Lucky Locks at booth I, and caricature portraits from Chubby Beagle Productions at booth 81. Fifteen food and drink vendors are listed on the event map.

Jackalope’s next Pasadena fair, at Central Park in Old Pasadena, is set for Nov. 14 and 15.

Pasadena ARTWalk runs Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 19 and 20, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Admission is free. The fair is on Green Street between Los Robles and El Molino avenues in Playhouse Village; use 561 E. Green St., Pasadena, to navigate to a midpoint. Organizers recommend ride sharing and public transportation and note one-hour street parking nearby, with additional parking areas north and south of Colorado Boulevard. The site is outdoors, open to all ages and handicap accessible, and leashed pets are welcome. For more, call 323-989-2278 or visit jackalopeartfair.com/pasadena-artwalk.

[photo credit; Eventbrite]

It is the first time the festival has been held at the park, after a May relocation that moved it off Father’s Day weekend. Admission is free.

The 200 murals will span animation, masterpiece renderings, fantasy, humorous and inspirational art, icons of popular culture and three-dimensional illusionary art — work that has earned the festival the nickname “A Museum without Walls,” Light Bringer Project said in a news release. The Pasadena nonprofit expects thousands of visitors.

Artist Simón Estrada will bring his monster art and an interactive mural to the children’s chalking zone, the organizer said. Altadena Girls, the nonprofit formed after the Eaton Fire, will share resources for teen girls, and the Reid Gorecki Foundation will sell art and clothing to benefit youth mental health.

DJ Cadillac G will play, and food trucks including Dina’s Dumpling, Majano’s Coffee, Pie ‘n Burger and Ice Princess will be on site. Visitors can picnic on the tree-lined park’s shaded lawns and vote for a favorite mural Sunday. A silent auction of participants’ art benefits Light Bringer Project’s arts programs for public school youth.

Kidspace will be open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days, free to members, with a free chalk activation for children in front of the museum.

The 33rd annual Pasadena Chalk Festival runs Saturday, Sept. 26, 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., and Sunday, Sept. 27, 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., at Brookside Park, 480 N. Arroyo Blvd. Admission and parking, in Lot I, are free. Free tickets are on Eventbrite. For more, call (626) 590-1134 or visit pasadenachalkfestival.org.

Red Hen Press, the Pasadena nonprofit literary publisher, released Michelle Sacks’ “Dancing at the End of the World,” a book of linked stories that follows Berlin from 1933 to the present, on Sept. 15.

Advance reviews have split: Kirkus Reviews found the book ambitious but its characters drawn too simply, while Booklist praised the stories’ complexity, according to the two reviews.

The book opens as fascism rises and the Weimar Republic collapses, and it introduces Klara von Arnsberg, the aristocratic daughter of a prominent industrialist, according to the publisher. Her life runs through the Holocaust, the postwar years, the Cold War and the fall of the Berlin Wall, and later stories take in Turkish guest workers in the 1960s and Syrian refugees in this century, all linked to Klara, the press said.

Kirkus, in a review posted Aug. 3, said Klara’s role as a stand-in for the past and the author’s tendency toward simple binaries in her characters weaken the book. Booklist said the stories would stay with readers after they finish, according to the review as posted by Red Hen.

Authors blurbing the book were warmer. Pam Jenoff, the New York Times bestselling author of “Last Twilight in Paris,” ended her endorsement with “Brava!” Peter Mann, author of “The Torqued Man,” called it “A masterful portrait of a frayed, protean city held together by loss and hope.”

Sacks is the author of the novels “You Were Made for This” (Little, Brown and Company, 2018) and “All the Lost Things” (Little, Brown and Company, 2019) and the story collection “Stone Baby” (Northwestern University Press, 2017), and her work has been translated into eight languages. She lives in Cape Town, South Africa, according to the press’s newsletter.

Red Hen Press was founded in 1994 by Kate Gale and Mark E. Cull and describes itself as Los Angeles’ oldest nonprofit literary publisher.

“Dancing at the End of the World,” 280 pages, is available in tradepaper for $19.95, ISBN 9781636285092, through Bookshop, IndiePubs and Barnes & Noble, the publisher said.

Ten winners will perform on the Redmond Stage in Pasadena November 3 at 6 p.m. Getting there starts with picking a play written before 2010

A Noise Within has opened submissions for its annual Teen Monologue Festival, a competitive acting program that asks high school students to research the classic theater canon and perform a monologue drawn from it, according to information the Pasadena theater company posted on its website.

The festival is open to students in grades 9-12 in Los Angeles County and surrounding areas, a range that includes Pasadena and Altadena, the company said in its festival flyer. From all submissions, 10 winners will be chosen to perform live on the A Noise Within Redmond Stage on Tuesday, November 3 at 6 p.m. There is no fee to enter, according to the flyer.

Applications follow a three-step calendar. Actors submit their proposed monologue playwright and play title by Monday, October 5. Upon approval, they submit a self-tape audition by Thursday, October 8. The 10 winners are announced Tuesday, October 20.

The monologue criteria are specific. The monologue must come from a full-length play written before 2010, and monologues from musicals or standalone monologue books will not be accepted. It must run two to three minutes, and it must come from a play the company describes as widely recognized as a classic or part of the classic theater canon. Participants must read the entire play and be prepared to speak on the importance of the play and why they selected it.

The company has also posted a recommended list of playwrights it considers essential members of the classic theater canon.

Winners attend a Monologue Festival Masterclass at the theater with an A Noise Within resident artist on Sunday, November 1 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., then perform in front of a panel of theater professionals and a live audience. Attendance at the masterclass is mandatory, the company said.

Questions may be directed to education@anoisewithin.org.

Teen Monologue Festival, Tuesday, November 3 at 6 p.m. A Noise Within, 3352 E. Foothill Blvd., Pasadena. For more information, call (626) 356-3100 or visit https://www.anoisewithin.org/education/youth-teen-programming/teen-monologue-festival/. Tickets: There is no fee to compete; admission information for the showcase was not available from the theater.