Photos: New Beach Hotel Unveiled With IAMA Theatre Company Immersive Experience

Marc & Rose Hospitality joined forces for the third time with Shonda Rhimes-backed IAMA Theatre Company to host an unforgettable weekend celebration at the newly unveiled Casa Loma Beach Hotel. 

The Grand opening weekend party guests included Shonda Rhimes, Evan Ross Katz, Scott Foley, Adam Shapiro, Katie Lowes, and Jason George (full list below). On Saturday, VIP guests were greeted with an immersive theatre experience created by IAMA Theatre Company, followed by a raucous party with bar sponsored by Madre Mezcal, Scribe Winery, and Calidad Beer and Pressed Juicery in collaboration with Los Angeles-based Bespoke Bar.

A small theatre company that does big things, IAMA Theatre Company was founded in 2007 by a group of friends including actor Katie Lowes (“Scandal,” “Inventing Anna,” “This Is Us”) and her husband actor Adam Shapiro (“The Bear,” “Never Have I Ever,” “The Continental”). In 2016, Shonda Rhimes came on board as IAMA’s Patron of the Arts. This past weekend set the stage perfectly for a celebratory reunion: Rhimes attended with Lowes and Shapiro, as well as several other “Scandal” and Shondaland familiar faces, including dear friends and theatre lovers/actors Scott Foley (“Felicity,” “Scandal,” “Scrubs,” “The Unit”), Bellamy Young (“Scandal”) and Guillermo Diaz (“Scandal,” “Weeds,”). 

Designed by acclaimed design firm Electric Bowery in collaboration with lauded graphic and branding firm LAND and ORCA outdoor design, the hotel welcomed Hollywood elite for its inaugural soirée, which doubled as a toast to IAMA immersive theatre which provides opportunities for new voices and boundary-pushing work. 

Celebrities, artisans, and discerning locals stepped out of time and into the creative enclave known as Laguna Beach, whose coast first inspired turn-of-the-century plein-air painters and then sheltered the burgeoning counterculture of the 1960s. Here, in this quirky oceanfront community, Hollywood’s golden-era elite, prohibition rum-runners, anti-establishment psychedelic pioneers, and adventure-soaked wave chasers all found a home nestled within seven square miles along the Pacific.  

It’s this precise throughline of artistic pursuits that made Laguna the perfect backdrop for this spectacular convergence of hospitality and theatre. Revelers flocked to the all-new Casa Loma Beach Hotel to champion the arts, and appreciate the story of Laguna Beach, embodied both by the hotel and The Infinite Swell the one-night-only performance by IAMA Theatre Company. With the production, guests experienced a colorful memorial devoted to the hotel’s fictional muse, Cappy, featuring six immersive scenes throughout the hotel, celebrating a life well-lived. 

The select, invite-only grand opening kicked off with a cocktail reception and live entertainment. Immediately following, guests were greeted with an immersive theatre performance. Then, at evening’s end, a raucous party ensued accompanied by live music, copious libations, and late-night snacks.  

Notable guests included Shonda Rhimes (television producer and screenwriter; founder of Shondaland); Scott Foley (actor; “Felicity” “Scandal,” “Scrubs,” “The Unit); Katie Lowes (actor, “Inventing Anna,” “Scandal,” “This Is Us”); Adam Shapiro (actor, “The Bear” “Never Have I Ever,”  “The Continental”); Brandon Scott (actor and producer; “Dead to Me” “The Girls on the Bus,” “This Is Us”); Evan Ross Katz (writer, editor, and podcast host); Bellamy Young (actor, producer, and singer “Scandal”) ; Dan Bucatinsky (Emmy Award-winning actor, “The Baker and the Beauty,” “Scandal”); Guillermo Díaz (actor, “Scandal” “Weeds,” ); Marika Domińczyk (actor, “Grey’s Anatomy,” “The 40-Year-Old Virgin”); Zoe Perry (actor, “Young Sheldon” “Scandal”); Jason George (actor, “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Station 19”); Sandie Bailey (chief design & digital media officer of Shondaland); Betsy Beers (television and film producer, Shondaland creative partner); Gloria Calderón Kellett (producer and writer, “One Day at a Time,” “Jane the Virgin”); Linda Lowy (casting director of “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Friday Night Lights”); Lyn Paolo (costume designer; Shondaland); Micah Schraft (writer, producer, and director “Mrs. America,” “The Morning Show”); Marco Zamora (content creator, @want.zamora) 

Photo Credit: Mark Patrick/BFA.com

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