PARANORMAL ACTIVITY Stage Show Coming to the Ahmanson Theatre

Center Theatre Group will present Paranormal Activity with an original story based on Paramount Pictures’ terrifying film franchise—now live on stage from November 13 to December 7 at the Ahmanson Theatre, the third attraction of the 2025-2026 season. The press opening is November 14. Tickets are available at CenterTheatreGroup.org.

Paranormal Activity, in its North American premiere production, is from Levi Holloway, who chilled Broadway audiences with his Tony Award-nominated Grey House in 2023, and Felix Barrett, pioneering founder and artistic director of the acclaimed Punchdrunk, whose immersive Sleep No More played more than 5,000 performances in a record-breaking 14-year run in New York at the McKittrick Hotel. Barrett and Punchdrunk are currently represented in New York by Viola’s Room at The Shed through October 19.

Paranormal Activity features illusions by Tony Award-winner Chris Fisher (West End and Broadway productions of Stranger Things: The First Shadow, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Back to the Future; West End and Center Theatre Group 2:22).

Paranormal Activity will have its North American premiere at Chicago Shakespeare  Theater October 8 to November 2, the North American premiere production then is presented by Center Theatre Group at the Ahmanson Theatre, followed by Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, D.C. (January 28—February 7), and American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco (February 19—March 15).

In the story, James and Lou move from Chicago to London to escape the past…but they soon discover that places aren’t haunted, people are. The cast includes Cher Álvarez, Patrick Heusinger, Shannon Cochran, and Kate Fry. 

Levi Holloway shared, “Writing Paranormal Activity for the stage, collaborating with Felix Barrett in London—working to create an actual nightmare—has been a dream. We strived to create something impossible, mixing the familiar with the uncanny, heart with horror. Chicago audiences have a nose for honesty on stage and little patience for anything else. They’ll find it here, right alongside all the mischief we’ve made to trouble their sleep.”

Playing Lou and James, a couple trying to escape a sinister force, are Cher Álvarez and Patrick Heusinger. Álvarez has appeared on television in shows such as Grey’s Anatomy and NCIS: Hawai’i, and has been seen on Chicago stages including The Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre, and Writers Theatre, along with productions at Milwaukee Repertory Theatre and American Players Theatre

Heusinger has been seen on Broadway in Next Fall and Fiddler on the Roof and starred as Lancelot in the national tour of Spamalot. He is also known for his work on the television shows Gossip Girl, Royal Pains, and Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce.

The cast also includes Shannon Cochran as James’ mother Carolanne and Kate Fry as Mrs. Cotgrave, a medium. Cochran’s credits include the West Coast premiere of Broadway’s Harry Potter and the Cursed Child in San Francisco, the national tour of Roundabout Theatre Company’s Cabaret, and the first national tour of August: Osage County. This production marks a return to the horror genre for Cochran, as she appeared in the 2002 film The Ring.  Fry performed at Chicago Shakespeare Theater after many credits, including last season’s Henry V, along with As You Like It, Henry IV Parts 1 and 2, and The Merchant of Venice. She’s also been seen recently in The Cherry Orchard at Goodman Theatre and Birthday Candles at Northlight Theatre.

Levi Holloway is an ensemble member of A Red Orchid Theatre company, which has debuted his plays Grey House (which went on to an acclaimed Broadway run) and Turret, starring Michael Shannon. He has performed as an actor with Lookingglass Theatre and Steppenwolf Theatre. Holloway is the co-founder of the Neverbird Project, a youth based deaf and hard of hearing theatre company, and specializes in working with deaf children and creating theater for deaf people. He was an elementary school teacher in Chicago in the deaf department at Bell Elementary for over a decade and teaches playwrighting at Silk Road Rising Theatre Company.

Felix Barrett is the founder and artistic director of Punchdrunk, conceiving and directing such groundbreaking theatrical productions as Sleep No More (a reimagining of Shakespeare’s Macbeth), The Burnt City, and Viola’s Room. Barrett directed last year’s critically acclaimed production of Paranormal Activity at Leeds Playhouse in the UK, which will open on the West End this winter.

The creative team for Paranormal Activity includes Fly Davis (Scenic & Costume Designer), Anna Watson (Lighting Designer), Gareth Fry (Sound Designer), Luke Halls (Video & Projections Designer), Chris Fisher (Illusions Designer), Bob Mason (Casting), Travis A. Knight (Assistant Director), Camille Etchart (UK Associate Scenic Designer), Frank McCollugh (US Associate Scenic Designer), Abby May (US Associate Lighting Designer), Will Pickens (US Associate Sound Designer), Lianne Arnold (US Associate Video & Projections Designer), Skylar Fox (Associate Illusions Designer), Daniel Weissglass (Assistant Illusions Designer), Melanie J. Lisby (Production Stage Manager), Julie Jachym (Assistant Stage Manager), and Emma W. Lipson (Production Assistant).

Paranormal Activity is presented by arrangement with Paramount Pictures and Melting Pot, in a co-production with Center Theatre Group, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, American Conservatory Theater, and Shakespeare Theatre Company. Based on the Paranormal Activity films, first written and directed by Oren Peli and brought to the screen by Blumhouse and Solana Films. TM & © 2025 Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.

Center Theatre Group, one of the nation’s preeminent arts and cultural organizations, is Los Angeles’ leading not-for-profit theatre company, which, under the leadership of the Brindell & Milton Gottlieb Artistic Director Snehal Desai, Managing Director / CEO Meghan Pressman, and Producing Director Douglas C. Baker, programs the Mark Taper Forum and the Ahmanson Theatre at The Music Center in Downtown Los Angeles, and the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City. Center Theatre Group is one of the country’s leading producers of ambitious new works through commissions and world premiere productions and a leader in interactive community engagement and education programs that reach across generations, demographics, and circumstances to serve Los Angeles. Founded in 1967,  Center Theatre Group has produced more than 700 productions across its three stages, including such iconic shows as Zoot Suit; Angels in America; The Kentucky Cycle; Biloxi Blues; Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992; Children of a Lesser God; Curtains; The Drowsy Chaperone; 9 to 5: The Musical; and Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo. CenterTheatreGroup.org 

Bank of America is Center Theatre Group’s 2025/26 “One CTG” Season Sponsor. Bank of America believes in the power of the arts to help economies thrive, to educate and enrich societies, and to create greater cultural understanding. For over 20 years, the company has supported Center Theatre Group’s innovative Education and Community Partnerships programs and world-class productions.  

American Express is the official credit card for Center Theatre Group. 

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