Halloween in Los Angeles is anything but ordinary. Across the city, artists and storytellers are conjuring eerie ballets, insolent clowns, murderous husbands, menacing phantoms, paranormal possessions and the rumble of haunting organ music.
Nor are there shortages of family festivals for both Halloween and Dia de los Muertos. Here are some of the spooky events slated in Pasadena and the Westside.
Pasadena Bluebeard’s Castle
Halloween marks the day that the medieval musical thriller “Bluebeard’s Castle” makes its American premiere at the Odyssey. It will run until Nov. 23 and is performed in English.
Playwright and director Sofia Streisand is bringing the intimate musical based on the French folktale to Los Angeles after a successful run in Russia, Serbia, Montenegro and France.
“It’s a very old fairy tale that has a lot of symbolism in it,” Streisand said. “It has a lot of allegorical elements that are profound and speak something true about human nature that has been true for millennia. These are very old stories that were passed from generation to generation when people were basically illiterate. These stories survived and evolved because they mattered.”
Bluebeard’s Castle is a retelling of the myth of an evil man who has murdered his first seven wives and has just married the eighth. When he has to travel, he gives her keys to every room in the mansion but warns her not to open one.
“I was looking for material for a story that would be an opportunity for me to talk about violence,” Streisand said “I try to work with stories that are urgent to me, that I can relate to, that touch me on a personal level. Bluebeard is a good opportunity to explore all aspects of violence.”
Streisand said she was surprised to learn that people in Los Angeles were unfamiliar with the story of Bluebeard, a fairy tale that is well-known in Europe. She subverted aspects of the traditional tale to tell a story that was filled with surprises and focuses on the psychological side of the story.
“In this interpretation, there are deep feelings between the husband and the wife,” Streisand said. “It’s an interesting psychological phenomenon when people go from passion and love for each other to abuse and violence. Why does that happen? What mechanisms work for that paradox?”
Another theme is the perception and understanding of women’s freedom and their sense of equality. Streisand said she didn’t write the musical for an American audience, but it ended up addressing urgent topics being discussed in the United States.
“That’s how theater works,” Streisand said. “It evolves depending on the environment where it’s being formed.”
While the show is not for young kids, Streisand believes it will appeal to people from high school and older. It’s an opportunity, she said, for that demographic to fall in love with theater and to realize it is as much for their generation as other media.
The Bunker Experience
The Bunker Experience at 20 N. Raymond will be open from 2 to 9 p.m. on Oct. 31, inviting participants to accept a post-apocalyptic mission.
Ticketholders will enter a historic haunted basement and test their courage while navigating a maze and fighting to escape haunted horrors. The experience takes place on three levels and teams can play either individual levels or complete all of them as a whole story. Live-action role players will interact with players as they race against the clock to escape the puzzle before being attacked by intruders. Tickets vary depending on number of people in the group, starting at $62 per person for two participants.
Learn more at thebunkerexperience.com.
Haunted Pasadena Walking Tour
Celebrate Halloween by taking a walking tour through eerie alleys on a nighttime stroll through the Playhouse Village, Civic Center and Old Pasadena. The tour guide will share haunted secrets about catacombs, the Parsons Suicide Squad and Crazy Cazaurang.
Tours start at 6:30 p.m. and last for two hours. It starts outside The Stand at 36 S. El Molino Avenue. The ending point is Castle Green. Tickets are $28 for adults and $18 for children ages 5-12. Learn more at visitpasadena.com/directory/haunted-pasadena.
Westside LA
Considering driving west this spooky season? Here are a couple events to check out.
The Wallis
Over on the Annenberg campus on Nov. 1, The Wallis kicks off its family fest series with a day-long celebration of Dia De Los Muertos. Imani Hollingsworth, the director of education at The Wallis, said they are always focused on creating culturally responsive programming.
“Dia de los Muertos is such a beautiful moment to honor those who came before us and who have passed on since,” Hollingsworth said. “It’s a really great opportunity to speak to the communities that celebrate this beautiful tradition and to bring families together for a free, exciting Saturday.”
The event includes festive music, dance and food inspired by the holiday. Participating partners will provide performances and activities, including such groups as Self Help Graphics & Art, Pacifico Dance Company, Lil Libros and Color Me Face Painting.
“We have some wonderful artists and activations and participations for that day,” said Coy Middlebrook, the director of programming. “It’s all free for families. There will be food that will celebrate the rich, cultural traditions. We’ll have churros and tacos and Mexican corn and fruits. Self Help Graphics and Arts are going to have an altar-making activation. They will have an artist building an altar, but there will be many altars for families to take away or build out on that day.”
Middlebrook said the Pacifico Dance Company will both perform and do a demo in which attendees can learn traditional dance. Lil Libros will be doing a reading from one of their bilingual books. The City of Beverly Hills library will have an activation and Color Me Face Painting will offer free face painting inspired by Dia de los Muertos.
The Wallis will extend the family celebration with a concert the following week on Nov. 8. Sonia De Los Santos, a Latin children’s artist, will bring her playful stories, bilingual songs and Latin rhythms to a concert for all ages.
“The joy of the Family Fest will just echo the following weekend with Sonia,” Middlebrook said.