Public Eye

My friend Patti Johns Eisenberg of the Pasadena Playhouse invited me over to the South El Molino Avenue landmark this morning for a show -- even though I'd already caught "The Little Foxes" last Friday night.

She wanted me to experience it with several hundred schoolkids because, you know, everything is different when experienced with several hundred schoolkids.

I had entirely forgotten about the Playhouse's longstanding policy of bringing in young people at radically reduced rates -- not entirely free, but at a couple of bucks a seat -- for every one of its lavish productions. Because as soon as I arrived in the courtyard by the fountain in the unusual, for adults, daylight of 10 a.m., I recalled going to such a Playouse matinee long about 1965 with my class from Noyes Elementary in Altadena. All I recall about the play was that it had to do with Abraham Lincoln -- but I clearly do remember how cool it was to be out in the culture and not back in the classroom.

Before the curtain rose, with the chattering still at high volume in the full theater, Playhouse Artistic Associate Alexis Chamow came to the side of the stage and commanded attention with just a throat-clearing. She's not just an arts manager, after all -- she's an actor and director.

"This is a house that we respect," she said. "And in a play set in the early 20th century, it's not historically accurate to be on your cell phones. So turn them off." Tittering and turning offs. "Second to last thing is, respect each other. One, two, three, take a great big deep breath. Now -- are you guys ready to go back to the 1900s in the South with me?"

They were. The kids from Aveson Charter -- inhabitants of my old Noyes campus -- and Hollywood High, from McKinley Middle and John Muir and South Pas Middle and Saint Rita's, they were ready.

It's quite a program. The actor Mimi Kennedy, who performed as Ann Landers in "The Lady With All the Answers" before the young people in March, wrote to Alexis: "The depth of attention I felt from that audience of high school kids was bracing for me as an actress. And all I could think of is how well this bodes for every other aspect of their educations: they will learn what they need to progress and bloom, because they learned to be attentive. You cannot learn this without practice -- and this is what Pasadena's program gives. It is huge proof that the arts and art experiences in the community are not an indulgence, but a crucial part of a contemporary American high school education."