Parson’s Nose Breathes New Life Into Classics

“Here’s where they would push the bodies down,” says Mary Chalon, brushing aside a long curtain.

She’s referring to the steep limestone ramp where the deceased were sent to be prepared for their coffins back when the building now housing Parson’s Nose Theater was the Turner-Stevens Mortuary Chapel, a gracious Marston Van Pelt design circa 1922.

view of Parson's Nose with Pasadena City Hall in background — The whimsical building housing Parson’s Nose is even older than Pasadena City Hall. Photo: Parson’s Nose

A massive stained-glass window of Jesus as The Good Shepherd is concealed behind another curtain at the opposite end of the sanctuary.

Parson’s Nose has made its home in this remarkable building, shared with offices and a quirky vegan eatery, since 2015. The house is intimate, seating only 50 audience members, and the company likes it that way.

Chalon is an actress, of course, who co-founded the Parson’s Nose troupe as Associate Artistic Director with her husband Lance Davis, Producing Artistic Director, in 2000. She now directs the company’s chick-centric series called “The Women’s Project.”

But first, about that name. Add the term “pygostyle” to your cocktail party conversation as Thanksgiving approaches. As everyone should know, the pygostyle is the main component of the uropygium, the wedge of bone and literal schmaltz (in this case, preen oil) that forms a point over the open cavity of a plucked, gutted fowl.

Put simply, the pygostyle is the part of the chicken that goes over the fence last. Depending upon locale, the fatty flap is also called the Pope’s nose or Sultan’s nose.

Theatre masks and illustrations — *Commedia dell’arte* archetypes inform and inspire the Parson’s Nose. Photo: V. Thomas

Some accounts maintain that the nasal analogy, often a seasonal expression, dates back to around 1390 CE at St. Mary’s in Nantwich when a local carpenter carved new choir stalls for his village church. The parish was slow to pay, and in response, the artisan carved a portrait of the Vicar onto the backside of a retreating avian.

Chalon and Davis, South Pasadena residents who are approaching their 40^th wedding anniversary, maintain that it’s the only name they could agree upon, perhaps alluding to Shakespeare’s line from “Romeo and Juliet” where Mercurio tells Romeo the story of Queen Mab, known as “the fairies’ midwife,” saying “Sometimes she tickles a parson’s nose, and then dreams he of another benefice.”

Next up for Parson’s Nose series “The Women’s Project” is a retelling of “I Remember Mama,” that sturdy, deeply wholesome standard about a hearty Norsk immigrant woman, her secret bank account, and her love for family.

“Family is the key to what makes so many great stories great,” says Chalon, who herself immigrated with her parents to the US from England when she was 14.

“Theater in the form of spoken dialogue heard aloud makes language powerful in ways that reading it silently on the page cannot,” she says. She describes the experience of “feeling like an outsider” as the key to the appeal of the play, which John Van Druten adapted from the 1943 novel “Mama’s Bank Account” by Kathryn Anderson McLean.

backstage at theater — In the dressing room with actor Barry Gordon (in red vest) and Parson’s Nose troupers. Photo: Parson’s Nose

During COVID, the company pivoted to the airwaves, producing 50 or so podcasts under the moniker “Parson’s Nose Radio Theater,” which is now available via the troupe’s Web site and wherever you get your podcasts.

What makes this company’s offering unique: Davis’ original adaptations of the classics, all timed to be under 90 minutes. The company’s unpretentious approach to the works of Shakespeare, Moliere, Boucicault, Goldoni, Belasco, Shaw, Benet, O.Henry, Chekov and Gogol, among others, makes sumptuous language digestible to even casual theatergoers.

When material is presented as part of the company’s Readers’ Theatre Series, the cast dresses in civvies versus costumes.

A cappella singers, including the Harvard Yardbirds and OcTech (eight post-graduate warblers from Caltech), often unleash their pipes here to take advantage of the excellent acoustics.

onstage small theatre — Productions are up-close and personal, with only 50 seats in the house. Photo: Parson’s Nose

And sometimes, with veteran actor Barry Gordon on guitar and Davis on banjo, the crowd bursts into spontaneous sing-alongs. Cookies baked by longtime-friend of the theater, Judy Graunke, are a staple at the theater’s coffee bar.

“People think of this as their ‘third place,’” says Chalon, referencing sociologist Ray Oldenburg’s 1989 bestseller “The Great Good Place.”

Also on the schedule: the company’s much-anticipated annual presentation of “A Christmas Carol” and Davis’ forthcoming adaptations of Grimm and Anderson’s fairy tales, which he promises to “keep light and humorous” — no easy task.