Ballet directors give workshop on creating dances
48 HOURS
Guests of the Media City Ballet Company will witness the process of
how a choreographer works with the dancers to create a finished piece
beginning at 4:30 p.m. Sunday at the Media Dance Centre in the
Burbank Village.
Artistic Director Natasha Middleton will be working on the ballet
“Rachmaninoff Sketches” to be featured in the company’s next
performance May 18 at The Alex Theatre in Glendale.
“You are seeing a work in progress,” she said. “I will explain the
‘Rachmaninoff Sketches,’ why I called it that, and I’ll talk about
the composer. People will hear the music. Dancers will be doing
dances that are rehearsal slices of major dance works.”
It will be an educational experience for the public, Middleton
said, as those watching will not only see the dancers sweat, but the
choreographers sweat as well.
“It’s like going into the classroom,” she said. “I will be doing
the correcting of the dancers, and if he is lifting her a certain
way, I’ll explain why I chose these types of movements to give them.”
The workshop will show what the ballet dancer goes through to
perfect their role and perfect the style of dance they are given, she
said.
Middleton will also introduce two Russian dancers who joined the
company as principal dancers two months ago.
Askar Alimbetov, who is originally from Russia, was trained in
Russia and danced with the Moscow Ballet.
Askar Kettebekov was also trained in Russia and danced
professionally with the Boston and San Diego ballets.
Associate Director Ruben Tonoyan will be discussing his ballet,
“Gayne,” which will be included in the May 18 performance. It
features Armenian classical/folk dancing. Jennifer Wilson, also a
principal dancer with the company, will perform it along with several
male dancers.
This is the second event in the Sunday Afternoon at the Ballet
series at the Media Dance Centre, 237 E. Palm Ave., Burbank. Tickets
are $15 and can be reserved by calling 972-9692. Funds raised will go
to the May 18 performance at The Alex Theatre.
The next event in the series is Peter and the Wolf on April 13.
Peter and the Wolf also has been selected for the company’s outreach
program to tour schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District.
SPECIAL EVENTS
NUCLEAR FAMILY EXAMINED IN COLLEGE PRODUCTION
“Keeping Up with the Joneses,” a play by Nate Eppler, is in its
opening weekend in the Glendale Community College Auditorium Studio
Theatre.
Eppler explores the inner workings of a family of geniuses, which
includes a would-be superhero, an ornithologist, a 16-year-old
biology expert and a physicist working for the Department of Defense.
He uses nuclear war as a metaphor for the nuclear family and asks why
anyone would build such a terrible weapon.
“Keeping Up with the Joneses” has been nominated for four
playwriting competitions, including the Mark Twain Award for best new
comedy.
Performances are at 8 tonight and 2 p.m. Sunday. The play
continues at 8 p.m. Thursday, Friday and April 5, 10, 11 and 12 and
at 2 p.m. April 6 and 13.
Due to limited seating, reservations are recommended. Doors open
one half-hour before each show. Tickets are $7, $5 for students and
seniors. For reservations, call 240-1000, ext. 5618. There will be no
late seating.
BURBANK PHILHARMONIC SPONSORS COMPETITION FINALS
The Burbank Philharmonic Orchestra in conjunction with the
Hennings-Fischer Foundation will present the finals in the second
annual Concerto and Aria Competition at 7:30 tonight at the Hall of
Liberty in Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills, 6300 Forest Lawn Drive, Los
Angeles. Admission is free.
First-place winners in both instrumental and opera categories will
be awarded $500 honorariums and will be announced immediately
following the competition.
The judges are Barry Brisk, Fung Ho and Patricia Shanks. Burbank
Philharmonic Maestro Steven Kerstein will preside over the evening.
Established in 2001, the Hennings-Fischer Foundation is the legacy
of violinist, conductor and teacher, Noumi Fischer and his wife,
fellow violinist and teacher, Audrey Hennings Fischer.
Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills is at 6300 Forest Lawn Drive in Los
Angeles. For more information, call 771-7888 or e-mail burbankphilharmonic@ yahoo.com.
QUILT SHOW OFFERS NEW AND ANTIQUE QUILTS
The Glendale Quilt Guild’s 24th Annual Quilt Show “Where Eagles
Soar” continues this weekend at the Burbank Airport Hilton Convention
Center.
There will be more than 200 new and antique quilts, wearable art
garments and handmade dolls. The show includes classes for all
levels, lectures, quilt appraisals, quilter’s merchant mall with more
than 50 vendors, two sewing-machine drawings, an opportunity quilt,
awards banquet, a fashion-show breakfast and boutique, and more.
Show hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. today and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Sunday at the Burbank Airport Hilton Convention Center, 2500
Hollywood Way in Burbank. Admission is $7, $2 for children. For more
information, visit the Web site at www.glen- dalequiltguild.org or
call (888) 337-8458.
GLENDALE AUTHOR SIGNS NEW BOOK ‘SALTHILL’
Glendale resident Judith Barnes will be signing her first novel,
“Salthill,” from 3 to 4 p.m. today at Bookfellows, 328 N. Brand
Blvd., Glendale.
Published by St. Martin’s Press, the book is set in British
Columbia in the post-war 1940s and ‘50s. The story centers on the St.
Oeggers, an Anglo-Irish family who emigrated from Calway to raise
thoroughbred horses on a ranch in the Canadian wilderness. They are
joined by a young black man who has a special gift with horses. He is
asked to stay on and becomes a part of the family.
“It’s a love story, and is literary fiction,” Barnes said about
her book. “I’ve tried to give them a good read.”
IRISH STEP DANCERS STRUT THEIR STUFF
The Glendale Community Concert Assn., celebrating its 50th
anniversary concert season, will feature Common Ground at 2:30 p.m.
today at the Glendale High School auditorium, 1440 E. Broadway in
Glendale.
Common Ground is an ensemble of world-champion Irish step dancers,
country cloggers and quick-footed tap dancers who click, tap and kick
their way through 25 numbers to celebrate the Irish experience in
America.
The final event of the season is Alison England on April 6.
Membership includes admission to concerts presented by affiliated
Community Concerts groups in other communities. For more information,
call 248-4080 or 248-3133.
JEWEL CITY DOLL CLUB HAS SHOW AND SALE
Jewel City Doll Club will have its 25th annual Doll Show and Sale
from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. today in the upstairs room of the Glendale
Civic Auditorium.
There will be antique and collectible dolls and accessories, paper
dolls, old toys, bears, miniatures and related books. Spectators can
have their picture taken with their favorite doll for free.
Club members will offer for free their expertise in doll
identifications. Special guest is doll-book author Patricia
Schoonmaker.
Admission is $5, free for children younger than 12. The auditorium
is at 1401 Verdugo Road in Glendale. For more information, call Dene
Alcott at 248-4862.
GAY MEN’S CHORUS OFFERS PATRIOTIC SALUTE
A patriotic theme, “Red, White and Blues, -- An American Music
Celebration,” is planned for this weekend’s performance by the Gay
Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles at The Alex Theatre in Glendale.
The concert will feature a broad sampling of American music
styles, both classical and popular, exploring what it means to be
Americans, and in particular, gay Americans.
In addition, a musical tribute will be performed honoring the late
Peter Matz, noted music arranger, accompanist, composer and
conductor. His widow, soprano Marilynn Lovell Matz, will sing a few
selections. She has had several movie roles and toured with the
international company of “Hello Dolly” with Mary Martin.
The concert will be directed by Bruce Mayhall.
Show times are 8 tonight and 3 p.m. Sunday. Tickets range from $15
to $45. The Alex is at 216 N. Brand Blvd., Glendale. Tickets are
available by calling The Alex Theatre box office at 243-2539.
ON STAGE
A NOISE WITHIN PRODUCING CLASSICS
A Noise Within’s present offerings are “O Pioneers” and “Measure
For Measure.”
Artistic co-directors and husband and wife, Geoff Elliott and
Julia Rodriguez Elliott, direct “O Pioneers,” a stage adaptation of
Willa Cather’s novel. Heroine Alexandra Bergson leads her family into
the 1880s Midwest to carve out a living from a forbidding land.
It runs in repertory through May 15 with Shakespeare’s “Measure
for Measure, which continues through May 10.
As part of his plan to arrest the moral decay plaguing his beloved
city, the Duke of Vienna abdicates power to his trusted subordinate
Angelo in order to travel incognito throughout his realm. Angelo, a
man of unblemished reputation, sentences Claudio, an unwitting
citizen, to death for “sinful indiscretions” as an example to all who
would err.
Claudio’s tenacious and pure-hearted sister, Isabella, rushes to
her brother’s aid, unleashing a deadly passion in Angelo. Thus begins
the age-old confrontation between compassion and intolerance, public
morality and private lechery, in Shakespeare’s tale of the measure of
mercy.
The former Masonic temple building is at 234 S. Brand Blvd.,
Glendale. Tickets range from $18 to $38 and can be reserved by
calling 240-0910.
‘CAMELOT’ CONTINUES AT CENTRE THEATRE
Hail back to the glorious reign of King Arthur in Lerner and
Loewe’s “Camelot,” produced by Glendale Centre Theatre.
Merlin and the knights of the Round Table are all here, as well as
the musical triumphs “The Lusty Month of May” and “If Ever I Would
Leave You.”
The play continues through April 12. Tickets range from $14 to
$17. For reservations, call 244-8481. Glendale Centre Theatre is at
324 N. Orange St., Glendale.
The children’s musical “Cinderella” runs at 11 a.m. Saturdays through June 18.
‘CINDERELLA!’ CLOSES AT FALCON THEATRE
The family musical “Cinderella!”, written by Dimitri Toscas,
closes this weekend at The Falcon Theatre in Burbank.
Adapted from composer Gioacchino Antonio Rossini’s classic opera,
“La Cenerentola,” this production combines music, song and audience
participation in telling the tale.
Cast members are Roberta Wall, who portrayed Mrs. Potts in the
first national tour of “Beauty and the Beast,” and Eric Meyersfeld,
who recently starred as The Boy in the record- breaking Off-Broadway
production of “The Fantasticks.” Rounding out the cast are Kimberly
Kurtenbach, Peter Allen Vogt and Karen Schnurr.
Performances are at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. today and 1 p.m. Sunday.
Tickets are $10. The Falcon Theatre is at 4252 Riverside Drive, in
Burbank. For reservations, call 955-8101.
‘2ND WIND THE MUSICAL’ IS BACK ON STAGE
The revival performance of the rock opera, “2nd Wind the Musical
2002,” has returned with two new songs. Show time is 8 tonight at
the Gene Bua Acting For Life Theatre in Burbank.
The story is about an acting coach, Teacher, who rallies together
three celebrity volunteers to help him with a new program at
Strawberry Fields Residential Treatment Center. They attempt to teach
three street kids how to turn their rage, fear and shame into
positive energy through acting.
Tickets are $25 with discounts available for seniors, groups and
teens. Proceeds benefit the nonprofit Here’s To Life Foundation,
reaching at-risk youth through art and entertainment. For
reservations, call (310) 680-9109. The play continues through May 3.
The playhouse is at 3435 W. Magnolia Blvd. in Burbank.
ART EXHIBITS
ARTIST HAS 33RD EXHIBIT AT DESCANSO
Ruth Basler Burr has returned to Descanso Gardens for her 33rd
annual one-woman art exhibit “Reflections.” The former La Canada
Flintridge resident, whose watercolors and prints are in collections
worldwide, will bring familiar scenes this year to Descanso’s Boddy
House Gallery.
The exhibit includes a new group of paintings of the gardens as
she remembers them during the many years she walked its pathways with
her friends. The show continues until April 10.
Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily and admission is free
with paid gardens fee. Descanso Gardens is at 1418 Descanso Drive, La
Canada Flintridge. Hours are from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily. Parking
is free. Admission is $5; $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.
ARTIST SHOWING AT OCEANVIEW BAR AND GRILL
Alyce Cox-Smith of La Crescenta is displaying her art work, mainly
landscapes in oil, throughout March at Oceanview Bar and Grill in
Montrose.
The Montrose hairstylist began her second career as an artist
taking painting classes through the parks and recreation department
in the late 1980s. After a two-year hiatus, she started taking
classes with local artist Margot Lennartz.
For her piece on Cannery Row in Monterey, Cox-Smith received a
second-place honor in the landscape category in a juried show
sponsored by the San Gabriel Fine Arts Assn.
Oceanview Bar and Grill is at 3826 Ocean View Blvd. in Montrose.
For information, call 248-2722.
FAMOUS BATTLE SCENES EXHIBITED AT LOCAL MUSEUM
Paintings of battle scenes by Toluca Lake resident John Pomeroy,
ranging from 9 by 12 feet to wall size, are on exhibit at the Forest
Lawn Museum in Glendale.
A supervising animator with Walt Disney Feature Animation, Pomeroy
has captured in oil such famous scenes as Alexander the Great at the
Battle of Granicus in this exhibit “Windows of War: Historical
Paintings by John Pomeroy.”
The exhibit continues through April 26. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5
p.m. daily. The museum is at Forest Lawn, Glendale, 1712 S. Glendale Ave., Glendale. Admission and parking are free. For more information,
call 204-3131 ext. 4545.
NATIONAL COLLAGE EXHIBIT AT BRAND
A representation of some of the finest contemporary collage works
by artists from throughout the United States are included in the
“Open ‘03,” a show sponsored by the Collage Artists of America at
Brand Library Art Galleries in Glendale.
Seventy original works were selected for the show by juror Suzanne
Muchnic, art writer for the Los Angeles Times and Los Angeles
correspondent for ARTnews magazine.
Residents showing their works are Jane Friend of Glendale and
Sandra Rooney of La Crescenta.
Friend’s entry, “Tide Pool,” was created with handmade paper and
acrylic paint. Rooney’s entry is called “Rhythm in Blues” and is a
mixed-media piece.
Admission and parking are free. The show continues through April
18. Gallery hours are 1 to 9 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday, 1 to 6 p.m.
Wednesday and 1 to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Brand galleries are at
1601 W. Mountain St., Glendale. For more information, call 548-2051.
A LITTLE JAZZ WITH DINNER
RESTAURANT OFFERS MUSIC FROM ‘20s, ‘30s, ‘40s
The Oceanview Bar and Grill offers live entertainment six nights a
week for diners.
Entertainers perform a combination of piano and jazz- guitar
pieces, and some accompany with vocals. Musical selections include a
mix of music from the 1920s, ‘30s and ‘40s to opera to Celine Dion.
Some entertainers also perform their original pieces and invite
diners to sing along with them.
Jennifer Russell and Michael Gayle sing jazz while playing piano
and guitar from 7 to 10 tonight. Singing behind the piano the rest of
the week are Bill Howe on Monday; Travis Warren, Tuesday; Mary Ekler,
Wednesday; Alexandra Caselli, Thursday; and Bob Fetherolf, Friday.
The Oceanview Bar and Grill is at 3826 Ocean View Blvd. For more
information, call 248-2722.
RUSTY PELICAN COOKS WITH LIVE MUSIC
Glendale’s Rusty Pelican, 300 Harvey Drive in Glendale, serves
dinner and Sunday brunch, but really cooks with its live singing and
music.
2AZZ1 and The Body & Soul Band, featuring Burbank residents Craig
and Mary Durst, performs at 7:30 p.m. Fridays. There is no cover and
no minimum.
There’s karaoke from 7:30 to 11 p.m. Wednesdays, live jazz from
7:30 to 11 p.m. Fridays and live blues from 8:30 to 11:30 p.m.
Saturdays. For information or to make reservations, call 242-9191.
JAX OFFERS SUPPER, JAZZ EVERY NIGHT
Jax Bar and Grill is a supper club offering live jazz every night
of the week.
Show times are 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. Monday through Thursday; 9 p.m.
to 1:30 a.m. Friday and Saturday; and 8:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. Sunday.
Happy Hour Jazz is 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.
Tonight, the spotlight shines on Steve Blackwood. Burbank resident
Karen Hernandez performs Sunday. The schedule for the week is the
Elliott Cain on Monday; Hugh Turner Quartet on Tuesday; Fred Horn
Quartet on Wednesday; Jack Sheldon on Thursday; and Banda Brothers
Quartet on Friday.
Jax is at 339 N. Brand Blvd., Glendale. For more information, call
500-1604.
MUSEUMS
BURBANK HISTORICAL SOCIETY OFFERS EXHIBITS OF BURBANK
The Burbank Historical Society’s Gordon R. Howard Museum Complex
features exhibits of early Burbank. There are extensive collections
of vintage vehicles, costumes, dolls, cameras and special sections on
the history of Lockheed, Disney and Warner Bros. studios.
Hours are from 1 to 4 p.m. Sundays.
Admission is free, but donations are accepted. The complex is at
1015 W. Olive Ave., Burbank. Parking is available at George Izay Park
lot off Clark Avenue.
For more information, call 841-6333.
BURBANK MUSEUM DEDICATED TO AVIATION
Burbank Aviation Museum is dedicated to the memory of the men and
women who made aviation history in the San Fernando Valley.
Located at Pierce Brothers Valhalla Cemetery, artifacts are
displayed in the Portal of the Folded Wings-Shrine to Aviation, an
ornate domed building that is listed on the National Register of
Historic Places. Visitors can enter on Valhalla Boulevard behind
Fry’s Electronics, off of Hollywood Way or use the main entrance at
10621 Victory Blvd.
The Portal building is accessible from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily for
viewing the cenotaphs and burial stones.
The aviation displays can be viewed from noon to 4 p.m. Sundays.
Admission is free but donations are accepted. For more information,
call 845-3300.
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 information, call 352-3420.
LOOKING BACK 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 Can- ada
Flintridge. The city took ownership in 1987, and public tours have
been offered since 1995.
For information, call 790-1421.
KARAOKE
SWING DANCING, KARAOKE COMBINE AT THE MIX
The Mix, at 2612 Honolulu Ave. in Montrose, offers Top 40 music
played by a disc jockey on Tuesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. On
Wednesday, there is swing-dancing instruction from 8 to 9 p.m.
followed by swing dancing from 9:30 p.m. to 2 a.m. Karaoke is offered
at 9:30 p.m. Thursday. There are also 12 pool tables and a pool
league, dart boards and a darts league, and the occasional live music
band. Cover is $3 on the weekend, $2 on Tuesdays and $5 on
Wednesdays. Call 248-3040.
DANCING
GO TO GIGGLES FOR SALSA, LATIN HOUSE
Giggles night club, 215 N. Brand Blvd. in Glendale, is offering a
mixture of dancing and salsa lessons Fridays.
Salsa and merengue dancing are offered on the lower level Friday
and Saturday. On the main floor, Spanish rock and pop are played
Friday, while Latin house, trance and Top 40 are offered Saturday.
There is a strict dress code. The club is open 8 p.m. to 3 a.m.
Friday and Saturday. Admission is $12 both nights. Call 500-7800.
* 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.