Amy Brenneman to Star in the LA Premiere of THE SOUND INSIDE at Pasadena Playhouse

Pasadena Playhouse will present Amy Brenneman (Judging Amy, Private Practice, HBO’s The Leftovers, The Old Man) as “Bella Lee Baird” and Anders Keith (Frasier: Revival) as “Christopher Dunn” in the Los Angeles premiere of Adam Rapp’s thrilling Tony-nominated drama  The Sound Inside, directed by acclaimed Los Angeles director Cameron Watson, from September 6 through October 1, 2023.
 
The creative team features scenic design by Tesshi Nakagawa; costume design by Danyele E. Thomas; lighting design by Jared A. Sayeg; sound design by Jeff Gardner; casting by Ryan Bernard Tymensky, CSA of RBT Casting; and stage management by Alyssa Escalante, with David S. Franklin serving as assistant stage manager.
 
Not everything is as it seems behind the ivy-covered walls of Yale, where an unlikely bond leads to an unthinkable favor. Writing professor Bella Baird is looking for answers, but a fateful encounter with a mysterious student could lead to life-changing consequences for both of them. Nominated for six Tony Awards, including Best Play, Pulitzer Prize finalist Adam Rapp’s haunting 90-minute thriller will leave you wondering who you can trust and remind you everyone has a story — the question is how it ends.
 
Director Cameron Watson says, “The Sound Inside by Adam Rapp is one of the most beautiful, thrilling, and unexpected plays I have read in a very long time. You've never seen or experienced anything like it before. We have assembled not only the best designers in Southern California, but the astounding duo of Amy Brenneman and Anders Keith to bring this gripping play to vivid life on the glorious Pasadena Playhouse stage.”
 
Tickets starting at $35 are available at pasadenaplayhouse.org by phone at 626-356-7529, and at the box office at 39 South El Molino Avenue, Pasadena, CA 91101.  
 
BIOGRAPHIES
 

Amy Brenneman 

(Bella Lee Baird) Amy is an accomplished actress, director, producer and activist. America first took notice of Amy during her time as a recurring regular on NYPD Blue where her performance earned her two Emmy Award nominations. She went on to co-create, star and produce the hit drama series Judging Amy, for which she garnered three Golden Globe Award nominations, three Emmy Award nominations, a People's Choice Award nomination, as well as a SAG Award nomination. Previous television credits include Amazon Prime’s Tell Me Your Secrets, HBO’s The Leftovers, Amazon Prime’s Goliath, and Shonda Rhimes’ Private Practice. Amy can be seen in Apple TV+’s Shining Girls with Elisabeth Moss and FX’s The Old Man opposite Jeff Bridges and John Lithgow, which was renewed for a second season.
 

Anders Keith 

(Christopher Dunn) Anders hails from South Pasadena, CA and found an early love for theater at the local Pasadena children’s theater, Theater 360. After attending South Pasadena High School, he went across the country to NY, where he studied at the prestigious Drama Program at Julliard. Shortly after graduating, he booked his first professional job as a series regular on the Paramount+ reboot of the hit sitcom, Frasier. Anders will play Frasier's nephew and the show will premiere this fall. Anders currently resides in Los Angeles.
 

Adam Rapp

(Playwright) Adam is the author of numerous plays, which include Nocturne (American Repertory Theatre, New York Theatre Workshop), Finer Noble Gases (26th Humana Festival), Stone Cold Dead Serious (American Repertory Theatre), Blackbird (Bush Theatre, London), Essential Self-Defense(Playwrights Horizons/Edge Theatre), Kindness (Playwrights Horizons), The Metal Children (Vineyard Theatre), The Hallway Trilogy (Rattlestick Theater), The Edge of Our Bodies (36th Humana Festival), Dreams of Flying Dreams of Falling (Atlantic Theater Company), Through the Yellow Hour (Rattlestick Theater), Wolf in the River (The Flea Theater), The Purple Lights of Joppa Illinois (Atlantic Theater Company), and Red Light Winter (Steppenwolf Theatre, Barrow Street Theatre), for which he won Chicago’s Jeff Award for Best New Work, an Obie Award, and was named a finalist for the 2006 Pulitzer Prize. He made his Broadway debut with The Sound Inside (Studio 54), which received a 2020 Outer Critics Circle Honor for Outstanding New Broadway Play. The Sound Inside was commissioned by Lincoln Center and received its world premiere at the Williamstown Theatre Festival.
 
His playwriting honors include Boston’s Elliot Norton Award, The Helen Merrill Prize, The 2006 Princess Grace Statue, a Lucille Lortel Playwright’s Fellowship, the PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation Award, and The Benjamin H. Danks Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
 

Cameron Watson 

(Director) Cameron, a multiple award-winning theater director and filmmaker, has carved a unique career that crosses over many genres and formats. He helmed the American premiere of Daf James’ On the Other Hand, We’re Happy at Rogue Machine Theatre, which was named “Best Theatre of 2022” by the Los Angeles Times and won the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Production. Cameron returns to Pasadena Playhouse having directed It’s a Wonderful Life and Miracle on 34th Street. At Antaeus Theatre Company, Cameron directed The Little Foxes, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Picnic, and Top Girls, and will be directing Nora there next spring. Other credits include Beloved and Stupid Kid at The Road Theatre; The City of Conversation at Ensemble Theatre Company; All My Sons at the Matrix Theatre; Trying, On Golden Pond, The Savannah Disputation, and Grace & Glorie at the Colony Theatre; I Never Sang for My Father at the New American Theatre; I Capture the Castle at the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey; and Rolling with Laughter in London’s West End. He is a recent recipient of the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for Distinguished Achievement in Directing. Cameron wrote and directed the Miramax feature film Our Very Own, starring Allison Janney in an Independent Spirit Award-nominated performance. He created, wrote and directed the hit comedy series Break a Hip, which garnered Christina Pickles a Primetime Emmy Award for Best Actress.
 

Tesshi Nakagawa 

(Scenic Design) Tesshi is excited to return to Pasadena Playhouse, where he previously designed Uncle Vanya. Hailing from Tokyo, Japan, Tesshi has been working in Theater, Film, and Commercial industry as a Scenic Designer/Art Director. His theater work has been seen at A Noise Within, Boston Court Pasadena, South Coast Repertory, Lewis Family Playhouse, Sierra Madre Playhouse, East West Players, Los Angeles Theater Center, and International City Theater. He is currently an adjunct professor at East Los Angeles College. Graduate of UCLA. www.tesshi.com
 

Danyele E. Thomas 

(Costume Design) Danyele is an Los Angeles based Costume Designer, Assistant Costume Designer, Wardrobe Stylist, and Jewelry Designer with design credits and collaborations at Pasadena Playhouse, Los Angeles Opera, Kirk Douglas Theatre, Robey Theatre Connect, and others. She is also a member of the Theatrical Wardrobe Union Local 768.
 

Jared A. Sayeg 

(Lighting Design) Jared recently designed A Little Night Music for Pasadena Playhouse. He is a recipient of the Ovation and Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Kinetic Lighting Award, and his designs for theater, opera, musicals, ballet, themed attractions, exhibits, and architectural installations have been seen throughout the world. Jared designed The Illusionists on Broadway and National Tours. Regionally, he’s designed for Center Theatre Group, South Coast Repertory, McCoy Rigby Entertainment, International City Theatre, Pasadena Playhouse, 5-Star Theatricals, Phoenix Theatre Company, Reprise Theatre Company, Ensemble Theatre Company, Laguna Playhouse, Virginia Stage Company, 5th Avenue Theatre. Notable projects include four seasons with LA Opera, lighting Pope Benedict XVI in New York City, and the USA International Ballet Competitions. Jared became the youngest member of the United Scenic Artist-Local 829 and serves as Vice Chair to the executive board. www.jaslighting.com
 
For Pasadena Playhouse: A Little Night Music; Sunday in the Park with George; Ragtime; Gather; Our Town; It’s A Wonderful Life; Shout Sista Shout; Ham!; Casa Valentina; Breaking Through; Kiss Me, Kate; Under My Skin; Art; Blues for An Alabama Sky; South Street.
 

Jeff Gardner 

(Sound Design) Jeff is an award-winning sound designer, foley artist, and actor. Pasadena Playhouse: Miracle On 34th Street, It's A Wonderful Life. Select credits include; Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992;The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in The Universe at the Mark Taper Forum; In the Upper Room at Denver Center for the Performing Arts; Paradise Blue at Geffen Playhouse. Elsewhere: Williamstown Theatre Festival, Cleveland Playhouse, Baltimore Center Stage, Shakespeare Theatre Company (Washington, DC), Arena Stage, The Kennedy Center, Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Los Angeles: Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, A Noise Within, Circle X Theatre, Echo Theater Company, Antaeus Theatre Company, IAMA Theatre Company. Los Angeles Stage Alliance Ovation Award, Stage Raw and Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award winner. Jeff can be seen at L.A. Theatre Works where he regularly performs live sound effects. jeffthomasgardner.net.
 

Alyssa Escalante 

(Stage Manager) Alyssa is thrilled to return to Pasadena Playhouse. Previous Pasadena Playhouse credits: Stew and Hold These Truths. Other credits: The Mountaintop, The First Deep Breath, A Wicked Soul in Cherry Hill (Geffen Playhouse); What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank (The Old Globe); Spamilton (Musical Theatre West); All’s Well That Ends Well (A Noise Within); Lizastrata (Troubadour Theatre Company); Hamilton (Eliza Tour at the Pantages); The Bacchae (Siti Company); Fireflies, M. Butterfly, Photograph 51, Culture Clash (Still) in America (South Coast Repertory); A Streetcar Named Desire, Mojada: A Medea in Los Angeles, Happy Days (Boston Court Pasadena). Alyssa is based in Los Angeles and a proud alumnus of Occidental College. Thanks to Mom, Dad & Minerva!
 

David S. Franklin 

(Assistant Stage Manager) David is thrilled to be returning to the Playhouse, where past productions include, The Father, Stoneface, Defiance, Showtune (The Music of Jerry Herman), and Sisterella to name a few. Over at Center Theatre Group, highlights include: An Enemy of the People, Baz Luhrmann’s La Bohème, Curtains, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, Two Unrelated Plays by David Mamet, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, The Lieutenant of Inishmore, God of Carnage, Red, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, Bent, Zoot Suit, Archduke, Linda Vista, King James, The Old Man and the Pool, The Secret Garden, and A Transparent Musical. Other Los Angeles: Los Angeles Theatre Center in its heyday from 1985–1990, The Geffen Playhouse. Regional: Seattle Rep, Intiman Theatre. New York: The Public Theater. Tours: Europe – Quotations from a Ruined City, The Law of Remains (with Reza Abdoh’s Dar a Luz company).
 

Ryan Bernard Tymensky

CSA (RBT Casting) Ryan has had the pleasure of casting over ten shows at the Playhouse in the last six years, showcasing a diverse range of productions such as Sunday In The Park With George, Little Shop of Horrors, Head Over Heels, Sanctuary City, Ragtime, and many more. In addition to theater, Ryan has also made significant casting contributions to the film and television industry. Their portfolio includes notable TV and film projects such as the Wicked movies, This Is Us, Atypical, Beauty and the Beast: A 30th Celebration, And Just Like That.., and Dear Evan Hansen. Ryan puts inclusion and diversity at the heart of everything they do. Their mission is to celebrate and actively advocate for performers who reflect the full spectrum of human diversity to help expand a multiplicity of narratives; narratives that reflect the real world we live in and challenge conventional boundaries that currently exist in the entertainment industry. @ryantymensky
 

ABOUT PASADENA PLAYHOUSE

Pasadena Playhouse, the official State Theater of California and recipient of the 2023 Regional Theatre Tony Award, is one of the most prolific theaters in the country. The Playhouse has staged thousands of original productions since its founding in 1917 including premieres of works by Tennessee Williams, Eugene O’Neill, Suzan Lori Parks and hundreds more. For decades, its pioneering School for Theater Arts was a training ground for actors and theatermakers who went on to make significant contributions to the entertainment industry. Under the leadership of Producing Artistic Director Danny Feldman since 2016,  Pasadena Playhouse’s productions and community programs are centered on its founding idea of being a living force in its community, making theater for everyone.

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