Playhouse Village Association

Boston Court: NT Live: All My Sons
2026-04-16 19:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Boston Court Pasadena, 70 N. Mentor Ave., Pasadena, CA, 91206, United States
Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad) and Marianne Jean-Baptiste (Hard Truths) feature in a five-star, triumphantly acclaimed new production of Arthur Miller’s classic play, from visionary director Ivo Van Hove (A View from the Bridge).
One family, the heart of the American dream. When wartime delivers profits for Joe, it comes at a price when his partner is charged with criminal manufacturing deals, and his eldest son goes missing in action. Will peacetime bring peace of mind, or will he be confronted by the consequence of his actions?
Filmed live from the West End, Paapa Essiedu (I May Destroy You), Tom Glynn-Carney (House of the Dragon), and Hayley Squires (I, Daniel Blake) also feature in this disturbingly prescient play.

Boston Court: Colburn Concerts: Trio Aeris
2026-04-16 20:00 | Boston Court Pasadena, 70 N. Mentor Ave., Pasadena, CA, 91206, United States
Up-and-coming Colburn School artists Martha Chan, Andrea Caputo, and Chi-Jo Lee come together for a stunning evening of flute, clarinet, and piano. Featuring Debussy’s Première rhapsodie, Weber’s Grand duo in Concertant, Shostakovich’s Four Waltzes, and more!

PROGRAM
EMMANUEL Sonata for Flute, Clarinet and Piano (1907)
CHAMINADE Flute Concertino, Op. 107 (1902)
DEBUSSY Première rhapsodie (1909)
GIANOPOULOS Water Music for Flute, Clarinet and Piano (2023-26)
-intermission-
HERBERT L’Encore for Flute, Clarinet and Piano (1910)
MOZART Rondo in D Major, K.382 (1782)
WEBER Grand duo Concertant, Op.48 (1815-16)
SHOSTAKOVICH Four Waltzes (1955)

Vroman's at The Los Angeles Times Festival of Books @ USC Campus April 18-19, 2026
2026-04-18 10:00 | Vroman’s Bookstore, 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA, 91101, United States
Vroman’s will be at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at USC campus this year!
Visit us April 18-19, 2026 at the following booths:
Vroman’s Main Booth: 117 | Vroman’s Young Readers: 990 | Book Soup: 088

Pasadena Heritage: The Museum of Me: Learning to Talk About Ourselves for Posterity
2026-04-18 15:00 - 18:00 | Pasadena Heritage, The Blinn House 160 N Oakland Ave, Pasadena, 91101, United States
Joshua Goode is a Professor of History who has also managed a museum studies program and has worked internationally with museums to contemplate how they tell their stories and to whom. He will lead an exercise in all of us becoming the Curator and Director of the Museum of Me, putting on a show about us.
Museums generally rely on objects to convey stories, ideas, knowledge, a sense of culture and belonging, and meaning. Museums can tell collective stories of a people, a nation, a small group, a family, a time, and a place. Museums are also meant to hold collections and tell their stories in perpetuity, to stand the test of time. But they also have to think about the audience. What do they know? How might they react? Who is walking in the front door? Who isn’t visiting? So, in this hands-on activity driven evening, we are going to wear a lot of museum hats to talk about ourselves. We are going to be curators, thinking about how we present ourselves through objects. We are going to be museum directors who want to make sure their audiences are served by the exhibition. And, we will be collections managers who want to know what objects are going to be used and make sure they don’t break!

Third@First: Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles
2026-04-18 16:00 - 17:00 | First United Methodist Church, 500 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA, 91101, United States
One of LA’s favorite choral groups returns to Third@First.

Boston Court: Delirium Musicum: MusiKaravan
2026-04-18 20:00 | Boston Court Pasadena, 70 N. Mentor Ave., Pasadena, CA, 91206, United States
This intimate musical adventure brings the intrepid quest of Etienne Gara and YuEun Kim’s six-month road trip through snowstorms, tsunamis, and unexpected human interactions to vivid life. The ensemble transforms the delirious energy of Delirium Musicum into more personal musical moments. Performing gorgeously eclectic music for all ages, Etienne Gara (violin), YuEun Kim (violin), and Stella Cho (cello) play pieces from French chansons to Monti’s Czardas, Brahms’ Hungarian Dances to Brazilian and Korean pop tunes, from Vivaldi to Charlie Chaplin.

FUMC: Earth Day
2026-04-19 11:30 - 13:30 | First United Methodist Church, 500 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA, 91101, United States
Pasadena, CA, April 19 at 11:30 a.m. on the Colorado Patio of FUMC Pasadena (500 E. Colorado Blvd.) First United Methodist Church invites the community to join us on Sunday, April 19, as we celebrate Earth Day! This year’s theme, “The Canopy of Creation,” celebrates the many diverse ways we can be good stewards of the planet. This fun event includes information on sustainability practices, children’s activities, plant–based bites, and exhibitors, including My Zero Waste Store, Sierra Club, LA County Youth Climate Commission, Pasadena 100, Altadena Green, and more! They will also have our popular Blessing of the Animals. Bring your well–behaved pet to receive a blessing and a certificate. Photos can also be blessed for pets who can’t join in person. The event will be on our Colorado Patio after worship.
There is free parking in our parking lot on 499 E. Green Street.

Boston Court: NT Live: Mrs. Warren’s Profession
2026-04-19 14:00 | Boston Court Pasadena, 70 N. Mentor Ave., Pasadena, CA, 91206, United States
Five-time Olivier Award winner Imelda Staunton (The Crown) joins forces with her real-life daughter Bessie Carter (Bridgerton) for the very first time, playing mother and daughter in Bernard Shaw’s incendiary moral classic. Vivie Warren is a woman ahead of her time. Her mother, however, is a product of that old patriarchal order. Exploiting it has earned Mrs. Warren a fortune – but at what cost?
Filmed live from the West End, this new production reunites Staunton with director Dominic Cooke (Follies, Good), exploring the clash between morality and independence, traditions and progress.
The run time is approximately 2 hours.

Vroman's Bookstore: Paul Fischer, in conversation with Drew McWeeny, discusses & signs The Last Kings of Hollywood
2026-04-20 19:00 | Vroman’s Bookstore, 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA, 91101, United States
The untold, intimate story of how three young visionaries–Francis Ford Coppola, George Lucas, and Steven Spielberg–revolutionized American cinema, creating the most iconic films in history while risking everything, redefining friendship, and shaping Hollywood as we know it.
In the summer of 1967, as the old Hollywood studio system was dying, an intense, uncompromising young film school graduate named George Lucas walked onto the Warner Bros backlot for his first day working as an assistant to another up-and-coming, largely-unknown filmmaker, a boisterous father of two called Francis Ford Coppola. At the exact same time, across town on the Universal Studios lot, a film-obsessed twenty-year-old from a peripatetic Jewish family, Steven Spielberg, longed to break free from his apprenticeship for the struggling studio and become a film director in his own right.
Within a year, the three men would become friends. Spielberg, prioritizing security, got his seven-year contract directing television. Lucas and Coppola, hungry for independence, left Hollywood for San Francisco to found an alternative studio, American Zoetrope, and make films without answering to corporate capitalism.
Based on extensive research and hundreds of original interviews with the inner circle of these Hollywood icons, The Last Kings of Hollywood tells the thrilling, dramatic inside story of how, over the next fifteen years, the three filmmakers rivalled and supported each other, fell out and reconciled, and struggled to reinvent popular American cinema. Along the way, Coppola directed The Godfather, then the highest-grossing film of all-time, until Spielberg surpassed it with Jaws — whose record Lucas broke with Star Wars, which Spielberg surpassed again with E.T. By the early 1980s, they were the richest, best-known filmmakers in the world, each with an empire of their own. The Last Kings of Hollywood is an unprecedented chronicle of their rise, their dreams and demons, their triumphs and their failures — intimate, extraordinary, and supremely entertaining.

Vroman's Bookstore: Fiction Reading Group
2026-04-22 19:00 | Vroman’s Bookstore, 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA, 91101, United States
The Vroman’s Fiction Reading Group explores contemporary fiction -long and short -from a diverse selection of writers. Enjoy lively discussions at our one-hour meetings. Our Fiction Reading Group is free and inclusive – there are no requirements or criteria to join. We announce upcoming titles 3-6 months in advance and choose titles that are available in paperback. Drop by our next meeting!
April’s pick is The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride.

Wollhaus: LA Yarn Crawl
2026-04-23 10:00 - 18:00 | Wollhaus Artisan Yarn & Tools, 696 E. Colorado Blvd. Suite 2, Pasadena, CA, 91101, United States
The LA Yarn Crawl is making its way through Playhouse Village, with Wollhaus Pasadena as its third stop on the passport. 🎉 Yarn shops across Los Angeles County are joining the celebration, and it’s not to be missed. Fiber lovers are invited to gather their crew and get ready for the ultimate yarn crawl adventure. Hop from shop to shop, discover new yarns, collect exclusive buttons and tote bags, enjoy free patterns, and enter to win prizes that are sure to delight. 🧶✨

Pasadena Heritage: The Living Spirit of the Arts & Crafts Movement
2026-04-23 17:30 - 18:30 | Blinn House, 160 N. Oakland Ave., Pasadena, CA, 91101, United States
Pasadena Heritage presents an exploration of the Arts & Crafts movement through the work of Julie Leidel, a Roycroft Master Artisan and founder of The Bungalow Craft. This talk considers the movement not only as a historical moment, but as a living philosophy still unfolding today. Beginning with the legacy of Roycroft and Elbert Hubbard—tracing its ideals, influence, and enduring spirit—Leidel reflects on her own path as a Roycroft Artisan within this lineage.
The presentation also delves into a quieter dimension of the Arts & Crafts movement: the often-unspoken thread of symbolism and inner resonance found in historical works. Through her own body of work, Leidel illustrates how these principles continue to evolve, offering a contemporary harmony within the Arts & Crafts tradition and inviting audiences to experience art not just as something seen, but something felt and remembered.

Vroman's Bookstore: Rhae Lynn Barnes & David M. Henkin discuss & sign, Darkology: Blackface and the American Way of Entertainment & Out of the Ballpark: How to Think about Baseball
2026-04-23 19:00 | Vroman’s Bookstore, 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA, 91101, United States
Never before has the disturbing story of blackface and its piercing reflection of American society been so comprehensively told. With Darkology, Princeton historian Rhae Lynn Barnes meticulously unravels the complex, subterranean, and all-too-often expunged history of “Darkology”–the insidious study, commodification, and dehumanization of Black life, through which performers caricatured the enslaved and formerly enslaved for their supposed subservience and happy demeanor.

Given the extraordinary research reflected in Darkology, it’s not surprising that Barnes spent twenty years tracking down “fading photographs, old movies, bureaucratic detritus, moldy scripts, and living witnesses, assembling an impressive archive that allowed her to demonstrate the astonishingly broad reach of blackface minstrelsy” (Laurel Thatcher Ulrich). Painstakingly piecing together these scattered shards of evidence, Barnes reveals the shocking extent to which blackface took center stage in every era of American history.

This was not a fringe activity. By 1830, as political resistance to slavery grew, blackface exploded from a niche performance into a venomous national export. Within a decade, hardly a theater in the country didn’t put on minstrel shows. Following the Civil War, this grotesque entertainment soared, seeping from professional theaters into everyday amateur shows, print, and advertisements. It was everywhere: Elks Clubs, religious institutions, battlefields, universities, and schools. It wasn’t just in the Jim Crow era; it defined it. The very name “Jim Crow” derives from minstrelsy’s founding character.

Darkology dismantles the myth that blackface was a fleeting, post-Civil War phenomenon. Even in eras known for liberal progressivism, it flourished. Barnes unearths the startling fact that four-term president Franklin D. Roosevelt was a devotee who died hours before a blackface show he had commissioned at Warm Springs. It permeated U.S. military bases and was even used in World War II Japanese American concentration camps and German POW camps as a bizarre tool of “Americanization.”

After WWII, the tide began to turn as Black veterans and mothers in places like suburban California protested the practice in schools. Still, blackface performances proved resilient, surfacing as late as 1969 at the University of Vermont. Even as the Civil Rights movement fought for equality, blackface remained present in American politics and white supremacist organizing through the Nixon and Ford administrations, its legacy still percolating in variable forms today.

Vroman's Bookstore: Dave Baker & Nicole Goux discuss & sign Punk'n Heads
2026-04-24 19:00 | Vroman’s Bookstore
This band plays together, lives together…and unfortunately, two of them are sleeping together. Whatever, I’m sure it’s fine. Now put on your punk’n mask and let’s rock!
Hannah Lipsky isn’t sure what’s happening. She dreamed of becoming a fine art painter, but after breaking up with her girlfriend, she suddenly dropped out of art school, moved into a flophouse, and gotten roped into singing in a campy horror-punk band. With costumes. To make things even more complicated, she might be hooking up with her housemate/bandmate/high school crush, Jerry. Wherever this is leading, it’s going to be messy.
Critically acclaimed, Eisner-nominated creators Nicole Goux ( Forest Hills Bootleg Society, Pet Peeves) and Dave Baker ( Everyone Is Tulip, Mary Tyler MooreHawk) join forces for a raucous and revealing new graphic novel about making music, making mistakes, facing your past, and choosing your future.
About the Creators
Dave Baker is a writer and illustrator living in Los Angeles. His previous works include Forest Hills Bootleg Society (Simon & Schuster), Everyone Is Tulip (Dark Horse), and Mary Tyler MooreHawk (Top Shelf), among many others. He’s also written for Cartoon Network’s Ben 10 and the live-action feature film Alien Warfare. When he’s not working, he’s at home practicing his Bela Lugosi impersonation.
Nicole Goux (she/her) is an Eisner Award-nominated illustrator and cartoonist from Los Angeles. She’s the artist of DC’s Shadow of the Batgirl and co-creator of Fuck Off Squad at Silver Sprocket Bicycle Club, Forest Hills Bootleg Society at Simon and Schuster: Atheneaum. She has been published by DC, Dark Horse, IDW, Oni, and Avery Hill. Her most recent comic, This Place Kills Me in collaboration with Mariko Tamaki, is published by Abrams Fanfare.

USC PAM: Yoga@PAM
2026-04-25 10:00 - 12:00 | USC Pacific Asia Museum, 46 North Los Robles Avenue, Pasadena, CA, 91101, United States
USC Pacific Asia Museum invites the community to experience Yoga in the USC PAM Courtyard, a one-hour, community-based session designed for all bodies and levels. Led by Amber Kiwan and inspired by Mythical Creatures: The Stories We Carry, the class brings imaginative mythical creature and animal poses to life through movement, breath, and flow.
Tickets include museum admission and free parking.
Amber Kiwan began practicing yoga in 2010, initially seeking a fun workout but discovering a lifelong, healing practice. She has been teaching since 2020, offering classes that are sweaty, grounding, and flowing—encouraging students to challenge themselves while cultivating deeper self-awareness. After living and teaching in New York City and Austin, Amber returned home to Los Angeles, where she currently resides and continues to guide students toward clarity, strength, and inner peace.

Ahiah: Wellness Faire
2026-04-25 10:00 - 17:00 | Ahiah Center For Spiritual Living Pasadena, 150 N El Molino Ave, Pasadena, CA, 91101
Ahiah Center invites the community to enjoy a day of health and wellness faire on April 25. Enjoy a day of rejuvenation and practical wellness practices. All are welcome.

Boston Court: Helix Collective’s Dooby Dooby Moo
2026-04-25 11:00 | Boston Court Pasadena, 70 N. Mentor Ave., Pasadena, CA, 91206, United States
Helix Collective’s delightful live musical story time event for ages 3-7 features Dooby Dooby Moo (the third book in the Click Clack Moo series by Doreen Cronin with illustrations by Betsy Lewin). The book is set to original music by Helix Collective resident composer, Phil Popham, and narrated by Broadway and T.V. actress Rena Strober.
Dooby Dooby Moo continues the story of Farmer Brown’s animals from Click, Clack, Moo, who enter a talent show in an attempt to win a trampoline. Duck leads the rehearsals including the cows’ “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,” the sheeps’ “Home on the Range,” the pigs’ interpretive dance, and Duck’s own version of Duck in the Wild.
Come meet musicians, explore instruments, and hear Dooby, Dooby, Moo come to life!

Vroman's Bookstore: Luke Goebel, in conversation with Caroline Kepnes, discusses & signs Kill Dick
2026-04-25 15:00 | Vroman’s Bookstore, 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA, 91101, United States
ACCLAIMED AUTHOR OF FOURTEEN STORIES, NONE OF THEM ARE YOURS, CO-WRITER OF the films CAUSEWAY and EILEEN
RECIPIENT OF PRESTIGIOUS RONALD SUKENICK INNOVATIVE FICTION PRIZE AND JOAN SCOTT MEMORIAL FICTION AWARD
“Kill Dick” is a love letter to LA’s darkness and light.”–USA Today
A fever dream, Kill Dick is a literary thriller that plunges into the chaos of Los Angeles, where addiction, privilege, and corruption combust.
At nineteen, Susie Vogelman should be coasting: she’s an NYU dropout with no responsibilities, endless prescription pills, and a Brentwood estate to waste away in. But Los Angeles has other plans. A string of brutal murders targeting addicts spreads through the city, and Susie’s ivory tower begins to crumble. The headlines point too close to home: her father’s ties to an opioid empire, a sinister secret society, and her own complicity in the systems holding it all together.
Then there’s Peter Holiday, a disgraced professor running a rehab scam so audacious it’s almost admirable. When their lives collide, Susie and Peter are dragged into a web of privilege, corruption, and violence, where every escape leads deeper into the rot.
Dark, satirical, and razor-sharp, Kill Dick is a modern literary thriller that unflinchingly dissects wealth, exploitation, and the perilous line between survival and self-destruction.

Pasadena Heritage: Historic Preservation: Then & Now
2026-04-25 17:00 - 18:30 | Blinn House, 160 N. Oakland Ave., Pasadena, CA, 91101, United States
Founded in 1977, Pasadena Heritage emerged at a pivotal moment for the city. Efforts to revive a struggling local economy brought sweeping redevelopment plans that threatened historic buildings, neighborhoods, and the character of the original downtown. In response, residents organized at the grassroots level, advocating for a more thoughtful approach and ultimately helping to redefine Pasadena’s future.
Today, similar questions around growth, density, and identity have reemerged, carrying even greater urgency. As Pasadena Heritage approaches its 50th anniversary, this moment offers an opportunity to reflect on how past advocacy shaped the city as it exists today—and what those lessons reveal about the path forward. Preservation extends beyond protecting structures; it centers on continuity, collective memory, and ensuring that the stories carried forward reflect the full breadth of the community, including those historically underrepresented.
These themes—what unfolded in the 1970s, how a new vision took hold, and what preservation means for Pasadena today—will be explored in a talk led by Executive Director Dr. Bridget Lawlor on Monday, May 4.

Vroman's Bookstore: TICKETED - Jane Smiley discusses & signs Lidie: The Further Travels and Adventures of Lidie Newton: A Novel
2026-04-26 14:00 | Vroman’s Bookstore, 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA, 91101, United States
From the bestselling, Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, a rousing novel that follows two young women fleeing a divided America: one running toward a dazzling future and the other running from a troubled past
Christmas, 1857. America’s future is precarious; civil war looms on the horizon. After her abolitionist husband is murdered in the lawless Kansas Territory, Lidie Newton returns, in mourning, to her hometown of Quincy, Illinois. But her sisters have little comfort to offer, and Lidie is haunted by the memories of her failures–until she takes an interest in her niece, Annie. Beautiful, self-assured, and mischievous, Annie sticks out in Quincy. She becomes an actress at the local theater, and when she is offered the opportunity to perform abroad, she decides to run away. But travel is dangerous for a young unmarried woman, so Lidie, armed with her pistol and her wit, goes with her.
The two women embark on a perilous journey across the Atlantic, rushing toward an unknown future in England. Once they arrive in Liverpool, they vanish into new roles in the household of Annie’s benefactor, Mr. Mallory Cunningham. Annie takes a stage name and finds her way to a career, while Lidie becomes her lady’s maid. But will either of them be content with her new lot in life?
Exuberant and riveting, a sly commentary on truth and beauty and fulfillment that resonates with our times, Lidie delivers a panoramic portrait of a volatile era and the headstrong women trying to live an honest life in it.

Vroman's Bookstore: TICKETED - Maria Semple, in conversation with Jennette McCurdy, discusses & signs Go Gentle
2026-04-27 19:00 | Vroman’s Bookstore, 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA, 91101, United States
“Maria Semple is a treasure.” –Los Angeles Times
The New York Times bestselling author of Where’d You Go, Bernadette returns to form in her most exuberant and life-affirming novel yet with the story of one woman’s cheerful determination to live a life of the mind only to have the heart force its way in.
Adora Hazzard has it all figured out. A Stoic philosopher and divorcée, she lives a contented life on New York City’s Upper West Side. Having discovered that the secret to happiness is to desire only what you have, she’s applied this insight to blissful effect: relishing her teenage daughter, the freedom of being solo, and her job as a moral tutor for the twin boys of an old-money family. She’s even assembled a “coven”–like-minded women who live on the same floor in the legendary Ansonia–and is making active efforts to grow its membership. Adora’s carefully curated life is humming along brilliantly until a chance meeting with a handsome stranger.
Soon, her ordered world is upended by black-market art deals, secret rendezvous, and international intrigue . . . and her past–which she has worked so hard to bury–lands like a bomb in her present. Inflamed by unquenchable desire, Adora finds herself a woman wanting more: and she’ll risk everything to get it.
Adora Hazzard’s journey of self-discovery will grip you from the start. Romantic, hilarious, intelligent, and bursting with the stuff of life, Go Gentle is a thrilling story of one woman’s mid-life transformation, cementing Maria Semple in the pantheon of our most exciting and important contemporary writers.

Vroman's Bookstore: Scott Kurashige, in conversation with Dr. Margo Okazawa-Rey, discusses & signs American Peril
2026-04-28 19:00 | Vroman’s Bookstore, 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA, 91101, United States
This probing account shines a new light on the problem of anti-Asian violence and inspires us to build lasting solidarity.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, racist demagoguery fomented a campaign of terror against Asian Americans. But these attacks were part of a much longer pattern that made anti-Asian racism integral to the outbreak of white supremacist, misogynist, and colonial violence across 175 years of U.S. history. Written in the radical spirit of Howard Zinn, American Peril represents the culmination of thirty-five years of study and activism by award-winning scholar Scott Kurashige.
From the lynching of Asian immigrants during the exclusion era to the U.S. military’s slaughter of Asian civilians, the book connects domestic and global events that have been erased from the official record. Going beyond victimhood, it traces the rise of Asian American community protest and activism in response to the 1982 murder of Vincent Chin and other overlooked tragedies. While many have worked to legislate and prosecute hate crimes, Kurashige argues that hope lies in grassroots activism for multiracial solidarity.

Vroman's Bookstore: TICKETED - Jordan Harper, in conversation with S.A. Cosby, discusses & signs A Violent Masterpiece
2026-04-30 19:00 | Vroman’s Bookstore, 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA, 91101, United States
The next epic crime novel from Jordan Harper, a story of Los Angeles power brokers and those at the edge, and a single shattering incident that threatens to bring it all crashing down.
Los Angeles, right now. America with its back up against the wall. This Frankenstein’s monster of crimes and lurid dreams sewn together into something like a city.
A city ready to explode: A Hollywood pedophile is arrested, and is ready to tear down the city to get his freedom. A young woman goes missing — and men in black rubber gloves who look like cops clean out her apartment in the middle of the night. And the serial killer known as the LA Ripper is on the loose, leaving tragic/graphic/brutal crime scenes in his wake. Three people trying to keep their heads above the dirty water will find themselves coming together to unite these strands into one enormous, unspeakable crime …
Jake Deal is a gonzo live-streaming nightcrawler, beaming the city’s chaos straight to his audience of blood-hungry subscribers, giving them the view from the top of the mushroom cloud — until a job he can’t refuse drags him back into his old life of Hollywood glamour, drugs, sex and sleaze. Armed with cameras and hidden mics, he’ll infiltrate private clubs, gather high-class dirt — and stumble onto a conspiracy woven into the center of LA’s most powerful men, who call themselves “The Kids in the Candy Store.”
Doug Gibson is a street lawyer, who fights for his clients against the army of cops, prosecutors and judges – he is the knife they bring to the gunfight. But when he’s hired by a Hollywood pedophile ready to sell out his friends for a chance for freedom, he’ll take on a fight bigger than he could have imagined. And when his client “commits suicide” in prison, Gibson will have to stop being a weapon – and become a warrior.
Kara Delgado works for an underground private concierge company – a make-a-wish foundation for the terminally rich. She scores drugs, makes connections, and plans multi-million dollar sex parties.She has learned the secret truth of this world: there are no rules, only prices. Her best friend Phoebe has gone missing, and Kara’s the only person who knows that Phoebe’s place was wiped clean of evidence by men in black rubber gloves. But when she begins to unravel the mystery of what happened to Phoebe, and its connection to the killer known as the LA Ripper, it will drag her into the dark heart of the city.
As Jake, Doug and Kara all investigate these crimes, they’ll encounter ketamine-addled sitcom stars, bloody riots, homeless gangsters, a killer cop on death row, secret vaults in Beverly Hills, tech-bro orgies, medical cannibals, true crime junkies, private security wet-work teams, reality shows, street takeovers, car chases, coyotes, a sadistic Tarzan, and a three day, fifty million dollar wedding, before everything is revealed and they must each make their choice about how to fight back in this violent world before the bloody, blazing conclusion.

This is a ticketed program and will take place at Vroman’s Bookstore, located at 695 E. Colorado Blvd, Pasadena, CA 91101.
Your Eventbrite ticket will include a copy of A Violent Masterpiece, to be handed out at check-in on the night of the program.

Litfest In the Dena
2026-05-01 06:00 - 21:30 | Pasadena Presbyterian Church, 585 East Colorado Boulevard, Pasadena , CA, 91101, United States
Founded in 2012, LitFest in the Dena connects the Pasadena, Altadena, and greater Los Angeles communities with literature and local authors through this free, community literary festival for lovers of the written word. LitFest events include panel discussions, readings, author guest talks, workshops, and literary performances that engage, challenge, and inspire. Southern California’s most diverse literary festival, LitFest in the Dena is writer-driven and deeply representative of Los Angeles County’s communities, celebrating our diversity, and featuring programming for all literary interests.

Vroman's Bookstore: Pasadena Conservatory of Music presents Musical Storytime: If I Built a Car by Chris Van Dusen
2026-05-02 11:30 | Vroman’s Bookstore, 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA, 91101, United States
The Pasadena Conservatory of Music will be putting on a special musical storytime with featured book: If I Built a Car by Chris Van Dusen. Caregivers and children aged 3-9 will enjoy story, craft activities, creative movement, and a mini-concert!

Robbins Bros: Baubles, Bubbles, and Blooms
2026-05-02 13:00 - 17:00 | CA
Celebrate Mother’s Day at Robbins Brothers Pasadena. 20% off everything in store, live music, floral takeaways, a champagne bar, live art, and custom jewellery boxes.

Pasadena Heritge: Historic Preservation: Then & Now
2026-05-04 17:00 - 19:00 | Pasadena Heritage, The Blinn House 160 N Oakland Ave, Pasadena, 91101, United States
Pasadena Heritage invites the community to mark the start of National Historic Preservation Month with a reflection on the role preservation continues to play in shaping Pasadena.
Established in 1977, Pasadena Heritage was born during a critical turning point for the city. Ambitious redevelopment plans sought to revive the local economy, but often at the expense of historic buildings, established neighborhoods, and the character of the original downtown. In response, residents organized at the grassroots level, advocating for preservation and ultimately helping to reshape Pasadena’s trajectory.
Today, those same tensions around growth, density, and identity are resurfacing with renewed urgency. As Pasadena Heritage approaches its 50th year, this moment offers an opportunity to examine how past advocacy efforts shaped the city as it exists today—and what those lessons reveal about the challenges ahead. Preservation is not only about protecting buildings; it is about continuity, collective memory, and ensuring that the stories carried forward reflect the full diversity of the community, including those that have historically been overlooked.
The events of the 1970s, the emergence of a new vision for Pasadena, and the evolving role of preservation today will be explored in a talk by Executive Director Dr. Bridget Lawlor on Monday, May 4.

Vroman's Bookstore: Davin Malasarn discusses & signs The Outer Country
2026-05-06 19:00 | Vroman’s Bookstore, 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA, 91101, United States
This tender, elegant debut examines the struggle of holding a family together when secrets threaten to unravel it.
“Both a book of demons and a book of uncommon grace; an instant classic in the queer canon. Davin Malasarn is an exquisite writer of the heart.”–Justin Torres, author of Blackouts
Sisters Manda and Siripon have been divided by continents for years, estranged since their parents decided to send just one of their daughters from Phet Buri to America–the foreign land they call “the Outer Country.” As the eldest, Manda assumed she would be the first to go. When their parents chose Siripon, the more obedient second daughter, the decision sparked a lifetime of rivalry.
The birth of Siripon’s son brings the sisters back together. Despite the disorientation of Los Angeles and the difficulty of sharing her sister’s home, Manda becomes a second mother to Ben, a precocious only child who fills her with fierce joy. But as Ben grows increasingly effeminate, her joy transforms to fear. Believing that the spirit of a dead girl has possessed her beloved nephew–and that her sister won’t do anything to fix matters–Manda and Ben’s father, Kamron, secretly arranges a Buddhist exorcism. The ceremony sets off a decade of anxiety-induced illness and bullying, even as the ritual burrows beyond Ben’s memory.
For Ben to grow into his authentic self, he must accept his queerness and confront the scars of his past. He attempts to navigate his family’s tense relationships and live amidst the damage. But how long can they all go on before the truths are uncovered?
From the mangrove forests of Thailand to a modest stucco house in Los Angeles to the sandstone quadrangles of Stanford, The Outer Country is at once epic and intimate in scope, a breathtaking journey across cultures and generations.

Vroman's Bookstore: Nicole Maggi, discusses & signs Lost in Yellowstone: A National Park Mystery Volume 2
2026-05-07 19:00 | Vroman’s Bookstore, 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA, 91101, United States
A foot in a geyser. A school in the wild. A truth no one saw coming.
When a human foot is ejected from a geyser in Yellowstone National Park, Special Agent Emme Helliwell of the National Park Service is assigned the chilling case.
Tasked with identifying the victim and uncovering what led to such a grisly end, Emme is drawn into the park’s vast, unforgiving wilderness–and into the orbit of a private school for at-risk teens where extreme backcountry excursions are part of the curriculum. As disturbing truths begin to surface, Emme must also confront personal fault lines, including the unresolved tension with an ex-boyfriend who’s suddenly back in her life and assigned to the same case.
In a place where danger hides behind natural beauty and good intentions can mask darker motives, Emme must navigate both treacherous terrain and emotional landmines to solve a mystery that could cost her everything.

Vroman's Bookstore: Mario Garcia discusses & signs Rupert García: The Making of an American Artist, a Testimonio
2026-05-08 19:00 | Vroman’s Bookstore, 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA, 91101, United States
This is the first biography of the renowned American Chicano visual artist and activist Rupert García, drawing on fifty hours of interviews conducted over thirty years and accompanied by eighty images. This in-depth oral history gives an unparalleled look at García’s life and work, tracing his evolution as an artist and the political upheavals that shaped his life and worldview.
Mario T. García’s testimonio places Rupert García’s art in historical perspective, from his beginnings as a working-class Mexican American from California’s Central Valley, his coming of age in the U.S. Air Force during the Vietnam War, his involvement in the antiwar movement during the San Francisco State student strike in 1968-69, and his participation in the Chicano Movement and beyond. Influenced by history and politics, García’s vital works of art represent a changing world through the eyes of an artist, speaking to issues of poverty, racism, capitalism, war, and the role of the artist in society.
His art–from revolutionary silkscreen posters to monumental pastels to portraits of political icons like Frida Kahlo, Che Guevara, and Dolores Huerta–serves to critique history and reassess it. It is work that will endure for generations to come.
