Literature: Wickedly Entertaining
Unbound Productions doubles the terrifying fun at this fall’s Wicked Lit series at Altadena’s Mountain View Cemetery and Mausoleum
By Carl Kozlowski 08/25/2011
During an age in which traditional bookstores are being rocked by the combination of a bad economy and new technologies like Kindle, which threaten to replace paper-based literature altogether, the Pasadena area is fortunate to have several innovative stores that are bucking the trend and continuing to thrive.
Yet, while these success stories are often the result of creative scheduling and a fight for appearances by major authors, this fall’s most exciting local literary event is being presented by an entirely different kind of organization: the East Los Angeles-based theater collective known as Unbound Productions.
Unbound has been turning the local lit scene upside down since 2008, when the group began performing staged readings of classic plays in schools and libraries across Los Angeles County.
But while it’s also staged innovative productions in such classy settings as LA’s Biltmore Hotel, the group has found its true breakthrough by performing the Wicked Lit series of scary plays in several cemeteries, including Altadena’s own historic Mountain View Cemetery and Mausoleum.
While Wicked Lit shows have previously consisted of three short plays based on the works of horror writers including Edgar Allan Poe, this year’s event — running Oct. 21 through Nov. 6 — will feature two sets of three plays running concurrently at Mountain View. That means that the troupe will be able to more than double the audience capacity from 750 to 2,000 people per show, while helping ensure some repeat business, since witnessing all the shows will take two visits to the terrifying theatrical space.
“We have 28 actors in the new show, when last year we were at 15,” says Jonathan Josephson, an Unbound co-artistic director. “We have a gigantic company, and we’re going to have a very impressive looking curtain call, I’ll tell you that. There’s six short plays, with one done in the cemetery, one inside the chapel, two of them in the mausoleum, one in an office area, and the last one outdoors in a Pompeiian Court.”
With the plays divided into Group A and Group B, the first set features adaptations of Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado,” H.P. Lovecraft’s “The Unnamable” and Charles Dickens’ “The Chimes.” Group B features Robert Louis Stevenson’s “The Body Snatcher,” M.R. James’ “Casting the Runes” and Mark Twain’s “A Ghost Story.”
The tales all feature delicious themes of madness, despair, ghosts and other terrifying creatures in the most perfect settings imaginable. Just make sure to wear good walking shoes if you want to avoid the added terror of injuries.
“It’s definitely meant to be dramatic and scary, but nothing’s jumping out or touching you,” says Josephson. “There are definitely noises and monsters that you see or don’t see and undead people and things coming after these characters while you’re following them around and there’s a monster that may eat you. Order ahead, because we always sell out.”
Unbound Productions presents “Wicked Lit” from Oct. 21 to Nov. 6 at Mountain View Mausoleum & Cemetery, 2300 N. Marengo Ave., Altadena. Tickets are $39 to $60. Call (818) 242-7910 or visit wickedlit.org.
While Borders Books on South Lake Avenue shut its doors as part of a chainwide bankruptcy measure this summer, other prime bookstores in the area are still going strong. As usual, Vroman’s Bookstore leads the pack with a bevy of book signings and readings, while Glendale’s Mystery & Imagination Bookstore takes a breather after a summer packed with special events and others offer a few select events designed to lure in their loyal customers.
The fall season kicks off in earnest when popular crime novelist George Pelecanos hits Vroman’s to discuss and sign his latest novel, “The Cut.” Centering on a shady cat named Spero Lucas, who specializes in recovering stolen property for a 40 percent cut, the tale follows what happens when he is hired to see who’s stealing from a Mafia operation and the array of things that go wrong — providing what should be a rollicking evening on Sept. 7.
The tone is sure to be more somber on Sept. 11 at Vroman’s, as the store joins the literary journal “Granta” and Pen Center USA to present a group event marking the 10th anniversary of Sept. 11. Part of a series of “Granta”/PEN readings nationwide that day, the event will bring together authors Dana Goodyear and Steve Erickson with Los Angeles Times book critic David Ulin and author Dana Goodyear for readings and conversation on how that fateful day has affected our culture.
Sept. 11 also marks the first of five signings that South Pasadena’s Book’em Mysteries, which specializes in mystery books, hosts this fall. At 2 p.m. that day, Nora McFarland discusses and signs “Hot, Shot and Bothered,” while 2 p.m. Sept. 17 brings Wendy Dagger with her “I Murdered the PTA.” Meanwhile, at 4 p.m. Sept. 21, Bob Levinson talks up “Waltz in Rhumba Time” and 2 p.m. Oct. 8 brings a visit from Sally Carpenter and her “The Baffled Beatlemaniac Caper”.
But the big draw at Book ’Em has to be 2 p.m. on Sept. 25, when national bestseller and local resident Denise Hamilton appears with her latest novel, “Damage Control.” She’ll also be at Vroman’s at 7 p.m. Sept. 21, but she’ll probably be far more accessible here.
Switching gears from hot mystery novels, James A Reeves is planning to visit Vroman’s on Sept. 14 with his “The Road to Somewhere: An American Memoir.” The book follows his quest to understand the meaning of his life and the state of our nation via a nationwide road trip at a time when such defining life moments as going to war and having a single corporate job for life are not as iconic anymore.
Pasadena’s Sister Cities Committee joins with Vroman’s on Sept. 16 to present the special event “China and Me: Fifty Years of Learning and Friendship.” Featuring John E. Wills, Jr., who has written extensively on China’s history and foreign policy, the evening is part of the special event series “Learning From China.”
Following the attention-getting memoir of Cary Grant’s daughter, Jennifer Grant, “Good Stuff: A Reminiscence of My Father, Cary Grant,” actress Dyan Cannon refuses to be outdone and comes to Vroman’s Sept.
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