Alex Theatre

A company known for its annual ?Nutcracker? performance is breaking tradition and dancing only excerpts from the holiday ballet while not straying far from the story. Media City Ballet of Los Angeles will integrate five companies that feature different ethnic styles of dance into the show ?A World of Holiday Dance? on Tuesday night at the Alex Theatre. The theme mirrors Clara?s visit to the Land of the Sweets in the holiday tale, said Artistic Director Natasha Middleton. ?

It was barely contained chaos, with small children gorging themselves on a sugary bounty before the Red Chair?s annual production of ?The Nutcracker? Dec. 11 at the Alex Theatre in Glendale. Parents sipped peppermint martinis and talked shop while grandparents rested on benches with bouquets or adjusted their zoom lenses. Nearby, a thickening stream of families poured into the theater. The pre-party, titled the ?Land of Sweets? after the ballet?s divertissement suite of dances, is an apt example of the Red Chair?

At his single performance of “A Final Wave at the World,” or “The Alimony Tour, Year One,” at the Alex Theatre last weekend, veteran laugh meister of Monty Python fame John Cleese strolled onstage to a thunderous standing ovation and a bouncy English music hall march. Hard to believe that the tall comedian who has brought us such jewels as “Monty Python and the Holy Grail,” “Fawlty Towers” and “A Fish Called Wanda” is actually 70 years old. But, as he ruefully pointed out, he knows what it is to be old — everything starts dropping off. Cleese then filled the next two hours with nonstop hilarious observations on the state of marriage, his inability to find a suitable companion, mistrust, parental longevity and the joys of writing comedy sketches with certifiable maniacs — all delivered in his signature dry British delivery.

For years, audience members have felt their presence while watching films and live performances or walking around the Alex Theatre. Board member Ron Bonk has been a volunteer with the Alex Film Society for 11 years and has heard tales from residents and employees about ghostly feelings or sightings. The history is certainly there: The former vaudeville movie palace opened in 1925. In June, Michael J. Kouri, psychic-medium and parapsychological investigator, visited the theater to check its haunted pulse.

TODAY Burbank Certified Farmers Market is from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. rain or shine every week at Orange Grove Avenue and Third Street. A portion of the proceeds benefit the Providence St. Joseph Foundation. Electronic Benefit Transfer Golden State Advantage Cards are accepted. For more information, call (818) 845-6851. ? ?Feeling Fine After 55,? a weight-loss nutrition class designed specifically for older adults will be from 9:15 to 10:45 a.m. at the Joslyn Adult Center, 1301 W. Olive Ave., Burbank.

The chance to perform one’s first solo in a classical music concert is always a thrill, but with that thrill comes a lot of trepidation. Burbank resident and violinist Ashlyn Kaneshiro is feeling the pinch as she practices for Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Violin concerto No. 3 in G major, 1st Movement. The 14-year-old will play the solo in the piece during the Glendale Youth Orchestra concert Tuesday night at the Alex Theatre in Glendale. “This is my first solo with the orchestra,” Ashlyn said.

Two filmmakers are feeling euphoric that their teams not only met the challenge to create movies in seven days, but brought home the most awards Saturday night from the 168 Film Festival at the Alex Theatre. “Up in the Air” earned six awards including Best Film while “Unscripted” received four awards, including Best International Film. Films are based on randomly assigned Bible verses and completed in 168 hours, or seven days. This year’s overall theme was “Family Business.

Jamie Nichols hopes that showcasing a variety of modern dance companies framed by innovative lighting and sound pleases all the senses during the fourth annual “Celebrate Dance” at the Alex Theatre on Saturday. “I want people to have an opportunity to see different things,” she said. “I want to educate people. They may love something, maybe not. Everybody is different.” Nichols, the show’s executive producer, was born in Glendale, graduated from Glendale High School, and was artistic director and founder of the Pasadena-based contemporary dance company Fast Feet for 23 years until she retired the company in 2003.

Eight-year-old Wendi Motte, of Burbank, is gaining a resume credit, while Broadway veteran S. Marc Jordan, of Glendale, is singing a score he’s long appreciated in the 1947 classic “Finian’s Rainbow” at the Alex Theatre on Feb. 23. The story is about Finian, who has left his beloved Ireland for the town of Rainbow Valley with his daughter Sharon. He is hoping to bury a stolen pot of gold with the hopes it will grow and multiply. Wendi plays two parts in the musical, Honey Lou, who is a sharecropper’s child, and a messenger.

Glendale took home its fourth consecutive trophy at Thursday’s 120th Tournament of Roses Parade for the flower-covered float that celebrated the Alex Theatre’s long history in the city. The 35-foot-long float was created to honor an era in the 1930s when the theater, which opened in 1925, was often used for Hollywood premieres for films such as “National Velvet” and “Going My Way.” At that time, the theater was the closest movie house to Los Angeles, said Joyce Sokoloff, Glendale Rose Float Assn.