Theatre West presents Garden of Alla. Written and performed by Romy Nordlinger. Directed by Lorca Peress. Produced by Anne Leyden and Benjamin Scuglia (Behind the Bar Productions) in association with Theatre West and Georganne Aldrich Heller.
Considered a trailblazer, Alla Nazimova left her mark in Hollywood as a performer of humble beginnings. She rose to fame as an actress, made tons of money, and lost most of it along the way. Romy Nordlinger created this solo show to feature one of the most enigmatic figures to ever act in Hollywood. Nordlinger starts by narrating Nazimova’s difficult beginnings during the last period of the Imperial Russia. Her dad was an abusive alcoholic who once broke her arm and subjected Nazimova and her mom to constant verbal and physical abuse. After her parents divorced, her dad forbade Nazimova to ever mention her mom again, traumatizing her for life. After living for a while in foster homes, she fell upon hard times and had to resort to prostitution to survive. Fleeing antisemitism and pogroms, Nazimova left for America, where she became a successful theatre actress.
When she moved to Hollywood, she became one of the highest paid actresses, allowing her to live a flamboyant lifestyle. She purchased a piece of land that became known as the Garden of Alla, a place where the party never ended. During the Prohibition era, alcohol was readily available at Garden of Alla, not to mention all the drugs that came after. The biggest Hollywood stars of the time partied hard in the lush fields of the mansion, some of them even lived there, preceding the Chateau Marmont’s model.
Salacious stories of sexual debauchery and unrestricted consumption of drugs and alcohol sometimes overmined a characteristic of the Garden of Alla. This place was considered a safe heaven for Lavender Hollywood at a time when the LGBT communities had no public support and being outed meant the end of someone’s career. Marlene Dietrich, Greta Garbo, Rudolph Valentino, and Nazimova’s closeted husband, Charles Bryant, were all part of the Garden’s scene where they enjoyed sexual liberation, a luxury not permitted in the conservative American society of the time.
It was her marriage to Bryant that devastated Nazimova’s career. When the press published the convoluted case of their marriage, her career took a nosedive and she could not regained the stardom she once had. She went back to theatre and participated in small roles on the screen, but it was clear that her career was pretty much over. That’s the story presented by Nordlinger, who uses background video to show some of the images of the iconic Sapphic Hollywood star. A sensational performer of the characters created by Henrik Ibsen, August Strindberg, Anton Chekhov, and Pearl Buck, she also became a muse for talented playwrights such as Tennessee Williams and Eugene O’Neill. Garden of Alla is a piece of history that pays tribute to one of the most admired stage and screen actresses of the time, a genuine effort to rescue Alla Nazimova’s legacy from oblivion.
Garden of Alla
Theatre West
3333 Cahuenga Blvd. West
Los Angeles, CA 90068
(across the street from Universal CityWalk, between Barham and Lankershim)
July 7 – July 23
• Fridays at 8 p.m.: July 7, July 14, July 21
• Saturdays at 8 p.m.: July 15*, July 22
• Sundays at 2 p.m.: July 16, July 23
*Screenings of Nazimova’s “Salomé” (1923) and “Camille” (1921) follow the performances on Saturday, July 8 and Saturday, July 15 respectively (included in the ticket price; separate admission $5).
Tickets: theatrewest.org
Written and Performed by Romy Nordlinger. Directed by Lorca Peress. Video Design by Adam Jesse Burns. Score and Sound Design by Nick T. Moore. Produced by Anne Leyden and Benjamin Scuglia (Behind the Bar Productions) in association with Theatre West and Georganne Aldrich Heller. Presented by Theatre West.
