Nina is an award-winning TYA director, playwright, and producer and a dedicated arts educator, with expertise in creativity and communication. Nina was the founder of Bay Area Children’s Theatre, which was the largest TYA company in California prior to Covid. Nina boot-strapped the organization to a $5 million annual budget with a reach of 1 million audience members. Nina’s theatrical work for young people has toured nationally and internationally. She has commissioned new musicals for young people based on the New York Times Bestselling book, Press Here by Herve Tullet, Chelsea Clinton’s book She Persisted, Grace Lin’s Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, and Sherry Duskey Rinker’s Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site, just to name a few. Nina dreamed up and spearheaded the first ever 41-theater co-commission of A Kids Play About Racism during the pandemic to produce an online show that subsequently reached 400,000 kids at no cost to the children or the schools. 

Her work as a playwright includes the world-premiere adaptation of Goodnight Gorilla by Peggy Rathman, Wheels on the Bus, Bloom Kaboom, all four award-winning K’ilu Adventures co-created with Jonathan Shmidt Chapman and, in collaboration with Dan Mertzlufft, the Kids Fight Evil Villain Audio-Choose-Your-Own-Adventures musicals produced during the Pandemic to ensure that kids at home still had access to engaging and entertaining theatrical experiences. 

Nina served as the board president of TYA/USA for five years and has had the honor of being an invited speaker for the National Endowment for the Arts in Partnership with TCG. She has been a featured speaker for the Conscious Leadership Group (guest speaker with Diana Chapman), EO (Entrepreneur Organization), at Visioni, the largest festival in the world focused on Theatre for the Very Young in Bologna, Italy, and many other organizations and podcasts. Nina has been a workshop leader and adjudicator at Junior Theatre Festivals across the USA and in Australia. She has proudly been featured as a speaker at two TedX events with a focus on the importance of creativity in everyday life.

Nina holds a BS in Theatre from Northwestern University and a Master’s in Nonprofit Administration from the University of San Francisco and is currently working on her PhD in Creativity Studies. She is also a certified yoga instructor. Her work has been spotlighted in the New York Times, LA Times, American Theatre Magazine, San Francisco Chronicle, Barron’s, Red Tricycle, ABC, NBC, and CBS.

Jennifer is excited to be back at Pasadena Playhouse after music directing Grumpy Monkey, The Musical. Other recent shows include Mystic Pizza (associate MD/conductor); Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (La Mirada Theatre with McCoy Rigby Entertainment); On This Side of the World (East West Players); Matilda (at both 5-Star Theatricals and La Mirada Theatre); The Last Five Years (After Hours Theatre); XY (NAMT Festival of New Musicals); LIZZIE (at both Cal State Fullerton and Color and Light Theatre Ensemble); and Priscilla: Queen of the Desert (Celebration Theatre – Ovation Winner for Best Intimate Theater). She currently works as a theater educator at Geffen Academy at UCLA and LACHSA. www.jenlinmusic.com

Jamie is a Los Angeles based designer. She has a degree in scenic design from Carnegie Mellon University. She has worked in the art department on television shows like Daisy Jones and the Six, Never Have I Ever, and more! She’s so happy to be working with the Playhouse at Porticos for a second time, after props fun in the jungle on Grumpy Monkey, The Musical.

Danica is happy to be back with Pasadena Playhouse after designing Grumpy Monkey, The Musical! Recent credits include: Ancestral Voices (The Skirball), Legally Blonde (Chadwick School), A Comedy of Tenors (Western Stage), A Place Where Horses Die (Film). She has her MFA from CalArts. She would like to thank the whole team at Pasadena Playhouse and Porticos for making this a wonderful experience!

Hilda is excited to be back at Pasadena Playhouse for Wheels on the Bus. Mom to two little bus drivers.

After acting in several shows from middle school to high school, Joey found his niche in music and pivoted toward audio engineering. He spent eight years at Pasadena Playhouse running audio on stage or in the booth before moving on to start mixing and designing shows elsewhere, and has been doing it ever since.

Kimberly (she/her) is the production stage manager for Wheels on the Bus. She’s very excited to be back with Pasadena Playhouse at Porticos Art Space. Her recent stage management credits include Grumpy Monkey, The Musical with Pasadena Playhouse, the Holiday Spectacular with Pasadena Playhouse, and Measure STILL for Measure with Boston Court Pasadena.

Simon (they/he/she) is a writer and director. They are the Educational Assistant for Youth & Family Programming at Pasadena Playhouse.

• The Box Office is located outside the theater entrance and will be open one hour before all scheduled performances.
• If you have questions, please contact Patron Services by calling 626 356 7529 or emailing boxoffice@pasadenaplayhouse.org.
  • ‘Contact Us’ Hours:
    Tues – Sat: 12 PM – 6 PM
    Sun: 12 PM – 4 PM
• If you are looking to purchase advance tickets in person, please visit the Pasadena Playhouse Box Office located at 39 S. El Molino Ave. Pasadena, CA 91101 during the hours listed above.

• We strive to offer barrier-free access to all performances. Accessible seating options, parking and restrooms are available. Please add a note in the ‘Order Notes’ at checkout if you or someone in your party requires accessible seating.
• Accessible parking is available in the Porticos Art Space parking lot.
• Service Animals are welcome.
• Please email us at boxoffice@pasadenaplayhouse.org if you have additional questions about accessibility.

• Concessions will be available prior to each performance and will be allowed in the theater. Outside drinks and snacks are also permitted in the theater excluding alcoholic beverages.

• If you already have your tickets, please arrive at least 15 minutes prior to your performance time. Late arrivals will be seated at the discretion of the House Manager.

• Children of all ages are welcome!
• For Wheels on the Bus, tickets are required for ages 1+. Children under the age of 1 will be admitted without charge but will be required to sit on an adult’s lap.

• Wheels on the Bus is recommended for children 1 – 4 years old and their grownups.

• The house will open 10 minutes prior to each performance.

• Wheels on the Bus is approximately 40 minutes with no intermission.

• Seating is General Admission and the theater is small so all seating is comparable.
• Restrooms, including accessible, all-gender, and family restrooms are available.
• Stroller parking is available in the Porticos Art Space lobby.