Music of the ‘50s shakes up Starlight Bowl
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JOYCE RUDOLPH
Captain Cardiac and the Coronaries will be rocking and rolling
with music from the good old ‘50s and ‘60s Sunday at the Starlight
Bowl.
Their repertoire stretches from Graceland to Surf City, with
classics such as “Wipe Out,” “Jailhouse Rock” and “Respect,” to name
just a few. But this year, the group’s got a few surprise songs
they’ve been practicing, like the famous Monkees’ song “I’m a
Believer.” The song’s popularity was renewed after an updated version
was featured in the animated film “Shrek.”
Band member Tommy Sillen of Glendale said it’s great because when
they perform the song, children and adults sing along.
“We do about 50 performances a year,” he said, adding that the
group’s second annual appearance at Chase Palm Park in Santa Barbara
drew about 4,000 people.
But the Starlight Bowl is the highlight of their year, Sillen
said.
“This is our ninth year at the Starlight Bowl,” he said. “It’s one
of the most fun jobs we have and really look forward to all year. The
setting is perfect and the people, Gail Stewart and the parks and
recreation department, are great to work with. And, the fans are top
notch.”
Something else has been added to this year’s show, he said. The
all-girl, a cappella group, Grace, will perform with the band and get
a solo spot of their own.
Members of Captain Cardiac include Sillen on drums and vocals,
Steve “Captain” Ogg as lead vocalist, Ralph “Woody” Riganti on guitar
and vocals, Joe “Lumpy” DeWitt on bass guitar and vocals, Pat
“Squally” Losurdo on keyboard and vocals and Scotty “Boom Boom”
Mitchell on saxophone and vocals.
Ogg started the band in 1972 at Monroe High School in the Valley.
Sillen first saw the band perform back in 1975, when he was a
student at Hoover High School.
“While watching them, I thought I would love to be in that band,
it just looked like so much fun,” he said.
Two years later he got the call that they needed a drummer.
“Woody had heard me play before and asked me to join the group,”
Sillen said. “And it’s still a lot of fun, and it’s been 25 years for
me.”
All the musicians in the group have kept their day jobs. Sillen
owns Break Thru Glass in Glendale, a supplier of glass for the
entertainment industry. Sometimes, the band has three gigs tagged
onto its regular work week. But performing is so much fun, it’s not a
chore.
“We’re going to do it as long as it continues to be fun,” Sillen
said. “We don’t see any end in sight.”
In honor of the 10th anniversary of the reopening of the Starlight
Bowl, city employees will be serving slices of anniversary cake.
There will be fun games and contests during the intermission and a
drawing to win two airline tickets to anywhere Southwest Airlines
flies donated by the airline.
The concert begins at 6:30 p.m. and gates open at 5:30 p.m. for
picnicking. Tickets are $5, $3 children 4 to 12 and seniors 60 and
older. Parking is $2. The Starlight Bowl is at 1249 Lockheed View
Drive, Burbank. For more information, call 525-3721.
DUO PERFORMING PIANO CONCERT SUNDAY
Internationally renowned pianist Steve Hall will perform with Mary
Beth Carlson in a two-piano concert at 3 p.m. Sunday at Burbank First
United Methodist Church, 700 N. Glenoaks Blvd. in Burbank. Proceeds
from this concert will benefit the Chancel Choir at the church.
Hall has recorded a variety of music styles, including popular
show tunes, standards, classical, romantic, inspirational, Celtic,
Christmas and patriotic. He has performed solo and with his ensemble
in many venues throughout the United States and Canada.
His current release, “Hearts in Harmony”, performed with Carlson,
features two pianos playing romantic music such as “If I Loved You,”
“Night and Day” and others.
Carlson began classical training at 10. This led to improvising,
composing and arranging songs. It wasn’t until she married her
husband, Kent, and began raising a family that she became serious
about writing music with messages of hope, healing enduring love,
compassion and peace.
Ticket prices are $8 and $6 for students and seniors. For more
information, call 845-1531.
DANCER FROM ‘BYE BYE BIRDIE’ ATTENDS SCREENINGS
William Mead has fond memories as one of the youngest performers
on the set during the filming of George Signey’s “Bye Bye Birdie”
(Columbia 1963). He will share his impressions of early Hollywood
when he appears at the Alex Film Society’s screenings at 2 and 8 p.m.
today at The Alex Theatre.
He danced in two numbers in the film “The Telephone Hour” and “You
Gotta Be Sincere.”
“I was 16 years old and it was my first movie to appear as a
dancer,” he said.
At age 11, he had won a local talent contest in his hometown of
Houston with an acrobatic dance number and was flown to New York for
a TV talent show. The producer of the Radio City Music Hall saw him
on the show and booked him there. He later returned to Houston and
continued dance lessons. His dance teacher knew the dance director
for MGM Studios, Nico Charisse, and arranged for Charisse to see Mead
dance on a trip to Houston. Charisse later wrote the dance teacher
and suggested Mead come out to audition.
Mead flew out to California with his mother, Laverne, and soon
after he returned home, he heard he had gotten the part.
“It was very exciting,” he said. “We flew back out and we shot on
the back lot of Universal Studios. We have home movies of Alfred
Hitchcock shooting ‘The Birds’ and Gregory Peck came to the set one
day from his shoot on ‘To Kill a Mockingbird.’ ”
He remembered walking around the back lot, and once ran into Fred
Astaire.
“It was wonderful. I got his autograph,” he said. “Every time you
turned a corner, there were big stars making a movie.”
The stars were very approachable in those days, Mead said.
“If you were inside the studio, you were one of them, it felt that
way anyway,” he said.
He will narrate the home movies his mother made during the filming
of “Bye Bye Birdie.”
Today, Mead is a director and choreographer for live theater and
is on the board of directors at Theatre West in Hollywood. When
interviewed, Mead was attending the Lincoln Center Directors Lab in
New York, a conference for all the directors in American theater.
He directed a one-act play for the conference.
His recent musical, “Glad to Be Unhappy” received an Ovation Award
in 2001.
An added attraction to the two screenings of “Bye Bye Birdie” is
the appearance by The Stepping Stone Players.
The film society has asked the local performing arts group to
provide atmosphere in the forecourt prior to the screenings.
Members will try to turn the front of The Alex into Sweet Apple,
Ohio in 1963 with simulated news crews, screaming fans, paparazzi and
everything that goes along with the arrival of a rock star, publicity
representative Elyse Briggs said.
“Bye Bye Birdie” is a comedy about a rock ‘n’ roll idol who visits
a small town to meet a fan before he leaves for the Army. The film
launched Ann-Margret’s career and also stars Dick Van Dyke, Janet
Leigh and Ed Sullivan.
The evening program will also include a tribute to Hollywood’s
unsung heroes, “Gypsy Dancers” who appeared in many of the classic
musicals.
Tickets are $8.50 for the evening show and $7 for the matinee.
To order tickets by phone, call 243-2539. The Alex is at 216 N.
Brand Blvd., Glendale.
MUSIC PLAYED UNDER THE OAKS AT DESCANSO
The final event in the Descanso Gardens’ free Under the Oaks
concert series, titled “Six Continent World Music Tour,” will feature
Stephen Day’s East Indian music, representing Asia, and begins at 2
p.m. Sunday. The audience can savor the sounds in the tree-shaded
comfort of the newly renovated Under the Oaks Theater.
Descanso Gardens is at 1418 Descanso Drive, La Canada Flintridge.
The gardens are open from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily except Christmas
Day. Parking is free. Admission fees are $5 for adults; $3 for
seniors and students; $1 for children 5 to 12, and free for members
and children 5 and younger. For information, call 949-4200 or visit
www.DescansoGardens.org.
HORTICULTURAL SPOTLIGHT ON JAPANESE MAPLES
An hourlong, guided walking tour of Descanso Gardens’ collection
of Japanese and other flowering maples will begin at 10 a.m. today at the Gardens’ Center Circle.
Descanso curator Tim Thibault will explain their characteristics
and place in the landscape.
The program is part of Horticultural Spotlight, a series of
monthly tours and talks at Descanso. All are free with garden
admission.
Descanso Gardens is at 1418 Descanso Drive, La Canada Flintridge.
The gardens are open from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily except Christmas
Day. Parking is free. Admission fees are $5 for adults; $3 for
seniors and students; $1 for children 5 to 12, and free for members
and children 5 and younger. For information call 949-4200 or visit
www.DescansoGardens.org.
SUMMER CHAMBER MUSIC CONCERT SCHEDULED
The Southern California Conservatory of Music will present “The
Summer Chamber Music Workshop Concert,” under the direction of Linda
Rose, at 4 p.m. Sunday at 245 Berkshire Ave. in La Canada Flintridge.
The donation is $10, and for reservations, call 767-6554.
COMPOSER RICHARD RODGERS SALUTED IN SING ALONG EVENT
The audience is invited to sing along in a special salute to
America’s beloved musical theater composer, Richard Rodgers, at 7:30
p.m. Sunday at The Falcon Theatre in Burbank.
In honor of Rodgers’ centennial celebration, The Falcon is
presenting the performance group SING! SING! SING!, directed by Judy
Wolman. They will perform music of “Oklahoma!” “South Pacific” and
“The Sound of Music.” And, lyrics will be provided. It’s touted as an
evening for the entire family.
Tickets are $15 for adults and $7.50 for children 16 and under.
The Falcon is at 4252 Riverside Drive in Burbank.
For more information, call 955-8101.
ART EXHIBITS
WATERCOLOR AND OIL PAINTNG EXHIBITS AT DESCANSO
An exhibit of works by Patricia A. Wiley of La Crescenta and
Kendra Page of Glendale continues this weekend at Descanso Gardens
Boddy House Art Gallery.
Wiley’s “Expression From the Heart in Watercolor” features
watercolor paintings by the artist who has shown at La Canada
Flintridge Library, San Gabriel Fine Arts Gallery, Whites Gallery and
whose art hangs in numerous homes and establishments throughout Los
Angeles.
She has studied the art of porcelain painting and has worked on
fabric like silk. But for the most part, she has studied florals,
landscape and still life in the mediums of oil and watercolor.
“First Impressions” showcases recent oil paintings by Page, a
30-year Glendale resident, who returned to art a few years ago after
a career in business. She focuses on California landscapes, exploring
all areas of her adopted state, from the golden summer hills along
the coast to the foothills in our local mountains to Catalina Island.
The displays continue through Thursday.
Descanso Gardens is at 1418 Descanso Drive, La Canada Flintridge.
The gardens are open from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily except
Christmas Day. Parking is free.
Admission fees are $5 for adults, $3 for seniors and youths 13 to
18, $1 for children 5 to 12 and free for members and children 5 and
younger.
For more information, call 949-4200.
EXHIBIT IS ON ‘SUMMER EXCURSIONS’
Five painters are featured in the new exhibit, “Summer
Excursions,” continuing through Aug. 10 at Whites Gallery in
Montrose.
The exhibit features the international landscape paintings in oil
of Elisabeth and Bill Johns, the regional and state landscape oil
paintings of California Art Club member Catherine Hill of Glendale,
the soft pastel paintings of the California coast by Bruce Trentham
and the photo-surrealistic acrylics of Romy Muirhead.
The gallery is at 2414 Hono- lulu Ave., Montrose.
CLAY AND WOOD EXHIBIT CONTINUES AT ARTS CENTER
An art exhibit on clay and wood, curated by Ricky Maldonado, is
continuing through Thursday at the Creative Arts Center, 1100 W.
Clark Ave.
Some of the ceramic artists showing works are Ralph Bacerra, Susan
Beiner, Patrick Shia Crabb and Otto Heino. A few of the wood artists
are Paul H. Breskin, Christopher Cantwell and Bob Crutcher.
Gallery hours are 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 9
a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday.
EXHIBIT OF SHONA SCULPTURE BENEFITS OUTREACH PROGRAM
A benefit exhibition and sale of Shona sculpture from Africa
continues from noon to 8 p.m. today and Sunday at the Neighborhood
Church Chapel Gallery, 301 N. Orange Grove Blvd., in Pasadena.
Proceeds from the show, “Spirits in Stone,” go to the Neighborhood
Church Outreach program and the Shona Fund.
Curator Laura Ponter will introduce the “Experience Africa
Adorned,” through jewelry and a curatorial slide presentation, at 2
p.m. today. A closing party will be from 4 to 6 p.m. Sunday.
Carol Ross of Glendale is the chairwoman of the fund-raiser.
THEATER ARTS
‘THE WEIR’ OPENS AT GENE BUA THEATRE
Theatre Banshee’s “The Weir,” by Conor McPherson, opens this
weekend at The Gene Bua Acting for Life Theatre in Burbank.
On an eerie night in a wee pub in west Ireland, the local men
gather to ease their loneliness, chatting over pints. Their world is
shaken with the arrival of an outsider from Dublin, a young woman.
While they try to make their visitor feel at home, swapping true
tales of ghosts and fairies, they discover their supernatural
encounters echo the pain, fear and heartfelt loss they share.
Theatre Banshee specializes in plays and playwrights of Ireland.
Their productions of “Eclipsed” and “A Man for All Seasons” were
selected as Best of the Weekend and Critic’s Choice by the Los
Angeles Times. The company has also received Drama-logue and ADA
awards for its productions.
Show times are 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays
through Sept. 1. Tickets are $15 and $12 for students, seniors and
groups. The theater is at 3435 W. Magnolia Blvd. In Burbank. For more
information, call 628-0688.
‘ONE TOE IN THE GRAVE’ AT GLENDALE CENTRE THEATRE
“One Toe in the Grave,” a comedy by Jack Sharkey, is continuing at
Glendale Centre Theatre.
The play is about an executive who, in order to save his job,
fakes a marriage claiming his “wife” is seriously ill. But things get
out of hand when his boss arrives with a cure.
Tickets range from $14 to $16 and student and senior rates are
available. Performances are at 8 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays
with a 3 p.m. matinee on Saturdays, through Aug. 24. There is a
special Thursday matinee on Aug. 8. For reservations, call 244-8481
from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday. The theater is at 324
N. Orange St. in Glendale.
‘PINOCCHIO’ STARS IN MUSICAL
A new musical version of the classic children’s fairy tale,
“Pinocchio,” continues today at Glendale Centre Theatre.
Show time is 11 a.m. Saturdays through Nov. 16. For tickets, $8 to
$10, call 244-8481 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
The theater is at 324 N. Orange St. in Glendale.
FALCON THEATRE PRODUCING ‘CINDERELLA!’
“Cinderella!,” a new musical for families written and directed by
Dimitri Toscas, is continuing at The Falcon Theatre in Burbank.
Adapted from composer Gioacchino Antonio Rossini’s classic opera
“La Cenerentola,” the Falcon production will bring to life the
classic tale through music, song and audience participation.
The cast features Roberta Wahl, who portrayed Mrs. Potts in the
first national tour of “Beauty and the Beast,” Eric Meyersfield, who
recently starred as The Boy in the off-Broadway production “The
Fantastiks” and Peter Allen Vogt now appearing on “First of May” seen
on the HBO Family Channel. Show times are 1 and 3 p.m. Saturdays and
1 p.m. Sundays through Sept. 1. Tickets are $10.
The theater is at 4252 Riverside Drive in Burbank.
For reservations, call 955-8101.
‘WORLD I NEVER MADE’ AT THIRD STAGE
The Occasional Theatre company is presenting the West Coast
premiere of “A World I Never Made” at the Third Stage in Burbank.
Michael Hunter Lilly is the director.
Show time is 8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays continuing until
Aug. 17. Tickets are $15. For reservations, call 842-4755. The
theater is at 2811 W. Magnolia Blvd. In Burbank.
IMPROV COMPANY SUPPLIES LAUGHS WITH ONE-ACT PLAYS
The Really Spontaneous Theatre Company, an improvisational theater
ensemble, ends its run Sunday of improvising one-act plays in the
styles of many playwrights -- David Mamet and Tennessee Williams --
at the Third Stage theater in Burbank.
Show time is 7 p.m. The show will resume on Sept. 8. Tickets are
$15. For tickets, call (323) 969-4991.
The Third Stage is at 2811 W. Magnolia Blvd., Burbank.
MUSEUMS
HOWARD MUSEUM OFFERS HISTORY OF BURBANK
The Gordon R. Howard Museum Complex features exhibits of early
Burbank. Hours are from 1 to 4 p.m. each Sunday.
Admission is free, but donations are accepted. The complex is at
1015 W. Olive Ave., Burbank.
Parking is available at the George Izay Park lot off Clark Avenue.
For more information, call 841-6333.
THE DOCTORS’ HOUSE FEATURES GLENDALE HISTORY
The Doctors’ House, tucked inside Brand Park in Glendale, is a
Victorian home in Queen Anne Eastlake-style open to the public from 2
to 4 p.m. Sundays. Built in the 1880s by real-estate entrepreneur
E.T. Byram, the house has been restored. Brand Park is at 1601 W.
Mountain St., Glendale.
BOLTON HALL FEATURES EARLY SUNLAND, TUJUNGA
Bolton Hall Museum in Tujunga, run by the Little Landers
Historical Society, features historical displays relating to the
Sunland and Tujunga areas.
It is open to the public at 1 p.m. Tuesdays and Sundays. Admission
is free.
The museum is at 10110 Commerce Ave., Tujunga.
For more information, call 352-3420.
LOOKING BACK AT THE FOOTHILLS AT THE LANTERMAN HOUSE
The Lanterman House, owned by the city of La Canada Flintridge, is
operated by the Lanterman Historical Museum Foundation and is open to
the public from 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays and the first and
third Sundays of the month.
The house was built in 1914 by the founding family of La Canada
Flintridge. The city took ownership in 1987, and public tours have
been offered since 1995.
For more information, call 790-1421.
* If you have press releases for the 48 Hours column, please call
JOYCE RUDOLPH at 637-3241 or e-mail joyce.rudolph@latimes.com or fax
them to 241-1975.