By Ted Ayala When the Soviet Union’s cultural apparatchiks called upon the then 26-year-old Dmitri Shostakovich to provide an opera to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the October Revolution, they probably weren’t counting on it featuring a stark raving mad half-man/half-ape as protagonist. But together with his librettist Alexei Tolstoy, a relation of Leo Tolstoy, […]
By Charly SHELTON It’s time to play the music, it’s time to light the lights, it’s time to meet the Muppets in the newest Muppet movie, simply titled “The Muppets.” Written by and starring Jason Segel of “How I Met Your Mother” and “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” as well as Amy Adams of “Enchanted,” this film […]
By Ted AYALA In 1934, the young Dmitri Shostakovich, 27 years old at the time, was at the apex of his youthful career. His opera “Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk District” premiered to sold-out performances in Moscow and Leningrad in 1934, and by 1936 had been performed over 200 times. It was also performed abroad to […]
Glendale Community College is hosting several events in December that are open to the public. On Friday, Dec. 2, is a screening of “Race to Nowhere,” a documentary directed by Vicki Abeles and Jessica Congdon about the emphasis on testing in education and the resulting pressures on kids and parents. Screening will be followed by […]
By Charly SHELTON As the holiday season approaches, we are ready to break out our Christmas movies. But since there are so many to choose from, who knows which ones are the best? “A Christmas Carol” has been done so many ways since its first film version in 1908 that there are almost endless possibilities […]
By Ted AYALA Though chilly weather and a strong downpour met the audience at the First Baptist Church of Glendale on Sunday night, the music making inside was anything but cold. Hot and intense playing were the hallmarks of the concert with cellist Ruslan Biryukov leading the way. Biryukov, executive director of the Glendale Philharmonic […]
A review by Mary O’KEEFE There is one word to describe “Bring it On – The Musical” and that is energy. Opening last week at the Ahmanson Theatre and continuing through Dec. 10, the 2000 film starring Kirsten Dunst inspired the production. From the time the lights are brought up through curtain call, this cast […]
By Ted AYALA If there was a composer better adapted to turn your proverbial lemons into lemonade than Igor Stravinsky, I’ve yet to hear it. Though a household name and an icon in musical circles of the mid-20th Century, the composer of the “Firebird,” “Rite of Spring” and “Oedipus Rex” struggled to find his footing […]
By Cristeen MARTINEZ Scouting the Crescenta Valley, local artists discovered views that challenged them. They interpreted the dramatic light as it played across the local hills in paintings submitted to the second annual Crescenta Valley Arts Council Paint Out. The result was an exhibit of work displayed at St. Luke’s of the Mountains Episcopal Church […]
1st Place: La Crescenta Afternoon, Bill Henderson 2nd Place: Autumn’s Voice, Phil Mendez 3rd Place: Brigg’s Canyon Dam, Jacques Dupuy Theme Award – best representation of life in the Crescenta Valley: Montrose Market, Colleen Kennelly Honorable Mention: Dawn at Wilderness Park, Trish Kertes Honorable Mention: Fall Full Moon, Allison Lieskovsky Youth Award: La Crescenta: Then […]