Sherlock Holmes
Daniel Chaney: A Tenor’s Path from Montana to Los Angeles
By Ted AYALA If you conducted a survey of people from out of state on why they moved to Los Angeles, among the top five answers you’re likely to hear is the lure of the region’s weather. Southern California has long been an attractive destination for people from colder regions eager to enjoy the area’s […]
Strong Acting Can’t Save “Young Adult”
By Charly SHELTON After the success of “Up in the Air,” director Jason Reitman once again hits the screen with an Oscar contender in the Diablo Cody penned drama, “Young Adult.” This movie follows 30-something, young adult fiction ghostwriter Mavis Gary (an admittedly autobiographical character based on Cody played by Charlize Theron) and her […]
No Monkey Business with LAPO’s World Premiere of Shostakovich’s ‘Orango’
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, […]
The Muppets
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 […]
LAPO to Give World Premiere of Long-Lost Shostakovich Opera
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 Hosts December Events
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 […]
Christmas Movies We Love
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 […]
Eclectic Mix of Bon-Bons and Contemporary Music at Positive Motions Concert
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 […]