Alex Theatre

Review: Greatly improved sound at Glendale’s Alex Theatre
3:55 PM, April 19, 2009
Los Angeles Times
Culture Monster: All the Arts, All the Time

For all its amenities, the Alex Theatre in Glendale has never been a great place to listen to music. The sound was muddy, the reverberation time almost nonexistent. People in the balcony were less likely to complain (sound blends and gets better as it travels upward), but musicians were unhappy. They couldn’t hear themselves onstage, they said privately.

All that has changed.

The theater installed a new orchestral shell about two weeks ago, the latest step in its $6.2-million redevelopment project begun in 1992. On the basis of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra concert Saturday, one can smile. The acoustics in the 1925-built vaudeville-movie house — transformed at the end of 1993 into a performing arts center — have improved greatly.

The strings have presence and transparency. The winds and brass, now on risers at the back of the stage, remain a bit muffled and blurry. But tinkering is still possible. More important, LACO sounds more like it does in its other venue, Royce Hall at UCLA. It sounds, in short, more like its fine self.

The Saturday concert, scheduled to be repeated Sunday at Royce, was a program of firsts. The four-part bill included Schoenberg’s Chamber Symphony No. 1 and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1. But it also marked Joana Carneiro’s first LACO guest conductor appearance and David Fung’s LACO debut, playing Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G for the first time.

The Ravel concerto must be at the upper limit of the repertory for a chamber orchestra, if not beyond. The Alex stage was so packed that the Fazioli grand piano extended beyond the proscenium arch, compromising the blend although bringing Fung closer to the audience.

As the first piano graduate of the downtown Colburn Conservatory of Music, Fung, 25, also unwittingly bears the responsibility of representing the school. A former student of John Perry, Fung was up to the challenge, though there was perhaps more clarity and directness than poetry in his first encounter with Ravel’s score. Still, there is undoubted talent there, and he has already recorded for ABC Classics and Yarlung Records.

Carneiro is a familiar local figure. A native of Lisbon, she has led the Young Musicians Foundation Orchestra and served as a LACO assistant conductor in the 2003-04 season and a conducting fellow and assistant conductor at the Los Angeles Philharmonic from 2005-08. Her star is on the rise: In January, she was named successor to Berkeley Symphony music director Kent Nagano.

Carneiro opened the concert with a sparkling account of Mozart’s “Paris” Symphony and closed it with a buoyant reading of Beethoven’s First. She conducted with enthusiasm, clarity and elegant gestures. She sometimes expended more effort than she needed to, but that may be the exuberance of youth. While she was also an attentive collaborator with Fung, the high point may have been her passionate reading of Schoenberg’s impassioned score.

By Joyce Rudolph
Published: Last Updated Friday, November 28, 2008 10:22 PM PST

There will be a new ballerina wearing Clara’s crown in Media City Ballet’s production of Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker.”

After three years, Amara Baptist has passed the crown of the ballet’s lead role to Mira Nastassja for this year’s performances Dec. 6 and 7 at the Alex Theatre in Glendale.

Baptist moves into three new roles this year, Chinese dancer, Columbina and Icicle, said Natasha Middleton, company artistic director and choreographer.

“[Baptist is] 18 and grown up,” Middleton said.

A former apprentice with the company, Baptist is a full member now, Middleton said. Baptist performed the lead in the piece Gayane in August when the company presented its Aram Khachaturian Ballet.

Middleton spent six weeks searching for her replacement, placing advertisements in dance and acting magazines and online, in dance centers and dance stores.

She saw 49 people during the search, Middleton said. Most came from Northern and Southern California, with one from New York and another from Milwaukee.

Middleton had all but given up at the last scheduled audition in October. Then Nastassja showed up.

“And there she was. That was it,” Middleton said. “Amara had said she would do it again, but with a sigh. It was time for her to take on a new challenge.”

Nastassja has the perfect look for the role, Middleton said — she is 22 years old but can pass for 12, which is Clara’s age.

“I liked her whole look, her dancing body type and the way she danced,” Middleton said. “She had all the qualities of Clara that I was looking for.”

Playing a 12-year-old has been fun, Nastassja said.

“You get to let go of everything and act like a child again,” she said. “You can’t do that on a daily basis. It’s fun to work with the kids, too, and I try to interact with them and get a feel of how a 12-year-old would act or react to things.”

The Denver native has been dancing since she was 7. She received her training at the Academy of Colorado Ballet and did her apprenticeship with the academy during her senior year of high school.

She took a couple of years off from ballet, and last year she joined the David Taylor Dance Theatre in Denver, dancing the role of Clara and the Sugar Plum Fairy.

“I was excited to get it,” she said of her upcoming role with the Burbank company. “I wasn’t expecting I would, but hoping at least to get into this performance.”

Nastassja enjoys dancing both roles because each offers its own unique attributes, she said.

“The Sugar Plum Fairy is more technique and principal ability, but with Clara, there’s acting involved,” she said. “It’s a thrill and a joy to perform as the character and have the interaction with the other characters.”.

Middleton cast Aubrey Morgan, of Hollywood, as the Sugar Plum Fairy.

By Joyce Rudolph
Published: Last Updated Wednesday, November 19, 2008 2:17 PM PST

Alyssa Quiogue zeroed in on what she wanted, and her dream came true — to become concertmaster, or first violinist, of the Glendale Youth Orchestra.

The 12-year-old Burbank native will perform for the first time in the role on Dec. 2 when the orchestra opens its 20th anniversary season at the Alex Theatre in Glendale. The orchestra comprises students from grades six through 12.

While the John Muir Middle School seventh-grader doesn’t usually get nervous, she said she did become a little apprehensive before trying out for concertmaster.

“I kept telling myself a little saying I got from my English teacher, Mr. Senar,” she said. “He got it from a story to inspire him to do better at something. The saying is ‘Focus on what you want, not on what you fear.’”

Alyssa is assuming the role left vacant by Erica Richardson, said Brad Keimach, the orchestra’s conductor.

“Erica finished high school early and went on to the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia,” Keimach said. “It’s one of the world’s great music conservatories.”

Alyssa won the seat by competitive audition on Nov. 4. All the violin players in the section competed, but Alyssa scored the highest.

“Alyssa was extra-motivated,” Keimach said. “I found out after the audition from her private teacher that she had worked diligently and tirelessly on the music for the audition.”

Alyssa has been taking violin for five years and joined the youth orchestra in fifth grade. She started in the first violin section and was the youngest player.

“And I still am the youngest,” Alyssa said. “And I was assistant concertmaster last year, sitting next to Erica Richardson.”

The program for the first concert of the season will be Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Coriolan Overture” and Symphony No. 8 in F, Richard Wagner’s “Siegfried Idyll” and Aaron Copland’s Hoedown from the ballet “Rodeo.”

“I really like the Hoedown,” Alyssa said. “It’s like the first American contemporary piece we’ve done. We usually play classical.”

Alyssa has a brief solo in the Hoedown piece.

“It goes a little bit high on shifting of the fingering positions on the violin,” she said.

The whole program is an orchestral showcase of the different parts of the orchestra, Keimach said.

“The two Beethoven pieces show off the dramatic, expressive power of the orchestra, while the Wagner shows off the lyrical and passionate side,” he said. “The Hoedown gives the orchestra a chance to kick up its heels and dance.”

The musicians don’t dance, Keimach added, but they all stand while performing. That’s something rarely done by any orchestra, he said, but the sound is noticeably better.

“That’s the unique thing about this orchestra,” Keimach said. “It’s also exciting for the audience. No one can believe the amount and quality of sound coming from an orchestra of that size, but the sound is vibrant, rich, full and strong.”

Standing up while playing took some getting used to, said principal clarinet player Michelle Kim, 17, of Burbank.

“At the first concert, I felt weird,” she said. “I thought it was silly. But I got used to it and my sound got louder, so I think it’s a good point to stand up.”

The Glendale Adventist Academy 11th-grader has been with the youth orchestra for three years.

Her favorite piece for the upcoming concert is the Beethoven Coriolan Overture, she said.

“Because it’s Beethoven, and Beethoven is my favorite composer, because his music has everything in it,” Michelle said. “I can’t explain it, but when I play it, I feel it.”

By Natalie Yemenidjian
Published:  Last Updated Friday, October 24, 2008 10:52 PM PDT

GLENDALE — As about 50 women held the stem of lit candles for a vigil Friday night, a woman standing in the back of the crowd held the hand of her 5-year-old son even tighter.

After four years of abuse at the hands of her husband, she said, she escaped to Glendale’s YWCA.

“I was older,” the woman said. “You’d think that nothing like that could happen. But strange things started happening.”

First, he told her to cut off ties with friends. That’s the stage Kathie Mathis, the director of domestic violence programs for the Glendale’s YWCA, called “the walking-on-eggshells stage.” Afterward, Mathis said, abuse can manifest itself in name-calling, in a fist and sometimes in a loaded gun — as was the case in two domestic violence deaths this year in Glendale.

Mathis and three other panelists discussed the stages, causes and ways to escape domestic violence Friday night in the forecourt of the Alex Theatre, in a vigil hosted by Glendale’s Commission on the Status of Women, who partnered with Glendale Arts and the YWCA.

Karla Kerlin, chair of the Commission on the Status of Women, said the event is part of the mission to spread awareness of domestic violence to the community.

“The key is to train every first responder to a domestic abuse call,” Kerlin said.

Within the last year, the YWCA had more than 600 domestic abuse victims knock on their door.

“We’re honoring those who have been victims of domestic violence,” Kerlin said. “And those that have been survivors of it with a moment of silence at the end.”

All of the members on the panel agreed that the best way to get out of a violent relationship is to tell someone, ask for help and then secure a place to stay.

Detective Andrew Jenks, another member of the panel, said the crime is emotionally charged.

“It’s a crime of control,” said Jenks, who works with domestic violence cases on a daily basis.

“The policemen are not social workers,” Jenks said. “We are just fact-gatherers. Our job is to collect evidence in the best way that we can.”

Panel member Leslie Segala, from Peace Over Violence, goes to schools and organizations to talk about domestic violence.

The children she meets don’t always know what domestic violence is.

“A lot of them don’t know what’s going on in the home,” Segala said.

She is amazed at the number of young women who don’t know what a healthy relationship is.

“A lot of these girls say that all he has to do is hit me once and I’m gone,” Segala said. “My job is to never let it get to that point.”

By Joyce Rudolph
Published: Last Updated Tuesday, September 16, 2008 10:23 PM PDT

Some went on Glendale’s Open Studio Tour on Sunday seeking artwork for their home, while others sought to be inspired.

The tour, coordinated by the Cultural Affairs Section of the city’s parks department, included several artists’ homes and studios as well as art facilities like the Alex Theatre and Brand Library Art Studio and Galleries. Visitors could drive themselves or take the Beeline bus.

Shaaron Casey of Glendale had just stepped off the Beeline bus at Brand Library and was heading for the galleries where the 148 artists on the tour had one of their works on display.

She stopped in front of Vic Iorillo’s photograph titled “End of the Day.”

She had seen another of his photographs, “Shadow Wall,” in the downstairs studio. It was a western-themed photograph featuring a cow’s skull and dream catcher.

“I thought that my son would enjoy it,” Casey said. “He’s got American Indian in him from his dad. And he has a dream catcher in his room.”

This was the first time Casey had taken the tour, which has been going on for five years.

“I like the different artworks in the show,” Casey said. “There is a large range of ideas and feelings.”

Along the tour, Casey got to meet artist Flavia Monteiro.

“I liked her paintings,” Casey said.

“While we were at her house, she said her paintings are on the walls in the TV show ‘House.’ If I had $1,500 and a big house, I would have bought a piece of her work.”

Also enjoying the tour Saturday was Hazel Canon, of Burbank, who was waiting to board the Beeline bus with her granddaughter, Elle Willgues.

“I paint watercolor and acrylics,” Canon said. “It’s always hard to decide what to paint.”

Canon mostly paints landscapes and seascapes.

“I taught art in schools, so I had a general knowledge of different media, clay, potter’s wheel,” Canon said.

“It didn’t leave time for me to do my own work. Now I’m retired and thought the tour would inspire me to start my own work again and get an idea of where artists show their work.”

Up at the top of Chevy Chase Canyon, oil painter Dahl Delu welcomed visitors to his home, where several members of his art group, Artists of the Canyon, had set up their paintings.

The tour provided a great chance for artists to interact with the public, Delu said.

During a six-hour period, 40 to 50 people came through his home, patio and studio, he said.

“Any time artists are able to interact with appreciative patrons, we learn on both sides,” he said.

“Artists learn from the patron the kind of impact their work has on them. We are isolated. We seldom get to interact one on one with the public.”

Visitors get the chance to see things through an artist’s eyes, he added.

“An artist sees the world a little different from everybody else, and it’s that view that expands the way the patron looks at the world,” Delu said.

Most of the comments on the event have been positive, said organizer Ripsime Marashian, the Arts and Culture Commission coordinator for the city of Glendale Parks, Recreation and Community Service Department’s Cultural Affairs Section.

Marashian has mailed surveys to evaluate the event and asked for input to make improvements.

By Veronica Rocha
Published: Last Updated Friday, September 5, 2008 10:29 PM PDT

The Alex Theatre was crazy about ducks on Friday.

The Glendale Kiwanis kicked off their fundraising efforts at the theater for the fourth annual Kiwanis Incredible Duck Splash event Oct. 18 at Lake Glendale in Verdugo Park.

Participants donate $5 to the Kiwanis club to adopt a rubber duck to race at the event.

Money raised from the duck race will help pay for Glendale sports, school and hospital programs, including nonprofits and charities, Kiwanis’ event chairman Ron Baker said.

“The money goes right back into the community,” he said.

At least 100 Kiwanis and community members gathered inside the theater to celebrate the event launch.

Some people in attendance wore yellow clothing and caps.

Mayor John Drayman applauded the group’s efforts to raise funds for nonprofits and charities.

No other event in Glendale, he said, has “30,000 ducks racing for the gold.”

Nine groups were given the task to sell the ducks and raise funds, Baker said.

Participants aren’t given the ducks until the day of the race.

The first-prize winner of the race will be awarded $10,000, and second to fifth place winners will get $1,000 each.

The nine fundraising groups sang during Friday’s events in the hopes of getting people to donate to their group.

The groups were Quackdaters, Quackdutors, Moby Duck team, Lucky Duckies, Bill Me Now, the Duck Splashers, Dapper Ducks, Kiwanis Quackers and Daffy Ducks.

So far this year, the Kiwanis has raised $60,000 in sponsorships just for the duck race, Kiwanis’ sponsorship committee chairman Ron Youra said.

Disney donated $10,000 to the event, making it the first contributor in the event’s history to be a platinum sponsor, he said.

Last year, people adopted 20,000 ducks. This year, Youra said the organization is hoping to sell 30,000 ducks.

A screening of “American Graffiti” at the theater this summer raised $5,000 for the duck race, said Elissa Glickman, director of marketing and resource development at the Alex.

The money raised from the duck race will go to programs that “provide great experiences for children that probably wouldn’t have that opportunity,” Kiwanis member Anna Marie Piersol said.

Kiwanis member Jennifer Swain designed this year’s event logo of a duck wearing sunglasses and riding a wave on a surfboard.

To adopt a duck, visit local participating stores to pick up a donation form, or go to www.ducks4kids.org.

By RUTH SOWBY

George Crittenden, who worked at the theater for years, is remembered at a day dedicated to him.

By Veronica Rocha

Wednesday, July 16, 2008; Posted: 2:46 PM – by BWW News Desk

Media City Ballet, Natasha Middleton, Artistic Director, will present “An Evening of Khachaturian:  The Composer and His Ballets,” featuring Principal Dancers, Arsen Serobian, Gabrielle Palmatier, Amara Baptist, Edgar Nikolyan, Felicia Guzman, Ellen Rosa and Stephen Nelson, along with Soloists and Corps Dancers from Media City Ballet.  Jenkyns Pelaez will appear as a Guest Artist.  Actress Elmarie Wendel will produce the show.  The performance will be presented at the Alex Theatre; 216 North Brand Boulevard; Glendale, CA  91203 on Saturday, August 16, 2008 at 7:30 p.m.

Natasha Middleton, along with Ruben Tonoyan, Associate Director and Ballet Master for Media City Ballet, will co-direct the performance which will feature selections from Gayaneh, Spartacus and Masquerade, in celebration of the late much loved iconic Armenian composer, Aram Khachaturian.  This production is dedicated to philanthropist Mrs. May Hannon.

Composer Aram Khachaturian is author of the worldwide known ballets Gayane and Spartacus and of the symphonic suite, Masquerade.  The creation of these pieces not only raised Armenian national ballet to the world level, but also noticeably enriched the treasure house of the world musical-dramatic art.  Khachaturian’s music is noted for its modal, harmonic, melodic and orchestral generosity, all of which are connected with a broad gamma of thoughts and feelings in his scores.

Gayane means happiness and is a celebration of life events in which composer Aram Khachaturian wanted the folk songs and dancing melodies to be integrated and inseparable from the whole of the ballet. Gayane is the story of a young Armenian woman whose patriotic convictions are in conflict with her personal feelings upon discovering her husband has committed treason. The Gayane score includes the famous Saber Dance.  The late filmmaker Stanley Kubrick used the Adagio from Gayane for his film, 2001: A Space Odyssey. Likewise, filmmaker Joel Coen used music from Gayane in his film, The Hudsucker Proxy.

The well-known tale of Spartacus is written in modern language, with application of contemporary methods of the musical-theatre form.  The main characters in the ballet are represented with specific and repeated musical themes.  The storyline concerns the ultimately unsuccessful revolt of the slaves led by Spartacus, a Thracian slave and gladiator, against the Roman Empire in the years 73 – 71 BC.  Music from Khachaturian’s Spartacus was most recently heard in the film, Ice Age:  The Meltdown.

Masquerade was written for the 25th anniversary of the Russian Revolution.  It is a symphonic suite in the tradition of lavish classical Russian music.  Natasha Middleton will stage the piece to enhance the fantasy and put a modern face on this elaborate party, featuring eccentric costuming.  The plot concerns a missing bracelet and a woman named Nina who is falsely accused of giving the bracelet to Prince Zvezditch,  As a result, Nina’s husband, who thinks she is cheating on him, poisons her at the end of the ballet, only to realize she was innocent.  The bracelet had actually been stolen by the Baroness and given to the Prince, who later gave it back to Nina.  Natasha Middleton said:  “Theatergoers who enjoy Phantom of the Opera, will enjoy Masquerade, as there are similarities in style.”

This production is sponsored in part by the generous support of The Frank & Rigmor Peloso Trust Fund, The James A. Doolittle Foundation, Macy*s, Los Angeles County Arts Commission, Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael Antonovich, The Alex Theatre, Glendale News-Press, Burbank Leader, Mrs. May Hannon, The William H. Hannon Foundation and www.dancechanneltv.com.

Tickets are $20.00, $38.00 and $48.00 each and may be purchased online at www.itsmyseat.com  or www.alextheatre.org, or by calling www.ismyseat.com  at 818-249-1428 or the Alex Box Office at 818-243-ALEX (2539).  Discounts are available for Groups of 15 or more, Seniors, Students and Children under 12.  For information on Discounted Family Packs and Group Sales, please call the Alex Theatre at 818-243-7700, ext. 216. For further information about Media City Ballet, please visit the websites, www.mediacityballet.org  and www.myspace.com/mediacityballet .
 
Principal roles will be danced by Arsen Serobian (of North Hollywood who will dance the title role in Spartacus); Gabrielle Palmatier (of Hermosa Beach who will dance the role of Aegina in Spartacus); Amara Baptist (of Sunland who will dance the title role in Gayane); Edgar Nikolyan (of Granada Hills who will dance the role of Armen in Gayane); Felicia Guzman (of Reseda who will dance the role of Nune in Gayane); Ellen Rosa (of Los Angeles who will dance the role of Nina in Masquerade) and Stephen Nelson (of Hollywood who will dance the role of Prince Zvezditch in Masquerade).  Guest Artist, Jenkyns Pelaez, (of Oakland, CA) will appear as Crassus in Spartacus.

Other members of the cast of the show will include:  Rozanna Avetisyan (of Glendale); Mary Bankson (of Toluca Lake); Lauren Farrell (of North Hollywood); Alexander Fost (of Alhambra); Robson Tadeu dos Santos Freire (of Venice); Kristine Gregorian (of Hollywood); Philippe Leipzig (of Studio City); Moses Navarro (of Burbank); Kevin Nazarian (of Glendale); Jessica Strobel (of Granada Hills); Andee Tims (of Studio City); and Tina Yedgarian (of La Crescenta).

Natasha Middleton (Artistic Director/Choreographer, Media City Ballet) danced as a Prima Ballerina with the Pacific Ballet Theatre and was a member of the Joffrey II Ballet Company in New York City, before taking on the responsibilities of Artistic Director of Burbank-based Media City Ballet.  Her grandmother, Elena Wortova, was a Soloist in the original Ballet Russe, which included other legendary dancers like George Balanchine, and Vaslav Nijinsky. Middleton’s father, Andrei Tremaine, was a Principal Dancer with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo.  Natasha Middleton studied under the direction of her father and one of the Bolshoi Ballet’s original ballerinas, Alexandra Baldina Kozlov, as well as with David Howard, Patricia Standard in Los Angeles, Rosella Hightower in France, and Stella Mann in London.  Middleton is also the Owner/Director of the Media Dance Centre, located in the Media Village in Burbank.  She recently choreographed the upcoming motion picture, HangingOutHookingUpFallingInLove, written and directed by Barra Grant, which features numerous members of Media City Ballet Company.  Middleton is a resident of Burbank, CA.

Ruben Tonoyan (Associate Director and Ballet Master for Media City Ballet and Choreographer) was a Soloist with the Armenian National Opera Ballet for 23 years.  He began his training at the age of eight with the Armenian National Academy of Ballet.  He continued his training at the Kirov Ballet School and the Vaganova Academy in St. Petersburg, Russia.  After graduation, he returned to his native Armenia where he danced numerous ballets, including the leading role in Khachaturian’s Gayane.  He has since toured around the world performing in such ballets as Giselle, Carmen, Swan Lake, Othello and The Nutcracker.  He has also performed with the National TV Contemporary Ballet for about 10 years.  Tonoyan is a resident of Glendale, CA.

Aram Khachaturian (Composer) was a Soviet-Armenian composer whose works were often influenced by Armenian folk music.  He was born on June 6, 1903 in Tbilisi, Georgia, Imperial Russia to a poor Armenian family. Although Khachaturian had almost no musical education, he showed such great talent that he was admitted to the Gnessin Institute where he studied cello, and in 1925, he entered composition class there.  By 1929, he transferred to the Moscow Conservatory where he studied under Nikolai Myaskovsky.  In the 1930s he married the composer Nina Makarova.  By 1951, he became a professor at the Gnessin State Musical and Pedagogical Institute and the Moscow Conservatory.  Aram Khachaturian, along with composers Sergei Prokofiev and Dmitri Shostakovich, became known as the so-called “titans” of Soviet music, each enjoying worldwide reputations as some of the leading composers of the 20th century.  Aside from his ballets, Khachaturian was a prolific composer of a wide variety of music, including orchestral works, vocal scores, concertos and chamber music, to name a few.  He died on May 1, 1978 in Moscow.