Artistic Director

Middleton -- Kettebekov Natasha Middleton, artistic director of Burbank's Media City Ballet, married her company's principal male dancer, Askar Kettebekov, after leaving port in Newport Beach aboard a private chartered yacht named Dream On. The bride wore a silk satin beaded Jean Harlow-style gown, designed by the bride and executed by Nancy Slyke of Van Herr Bridals. The fingertip veil was accented by a handmade Austrian crystallized seashell- beaded hairpiece.

Joyce Rudolph Ask any entrepreneur what it takes to make a business venture successful and high atop the list will be good communication between all parties involved. With this theory in mind, Thorin Alexander hopes to increase the popularity of local theater by bringing together playhouse owners and audiences to exchange ideas at the free Valley Theatre Symposium on Aug. 3 at Barnes & Noble Booksellers in Burbank. "I would love to get a dialogue going between theater goers and the people who make the decisions at the theaters," he said.

Actress presents poetry evening Zhenya Avetissian, a well-known stage actress in Armenia, performed an evening of Armenian poetry and talked about her career Tuesday night at the Luna Playhouse in Glendale. The appearance was coordinated by Aramazd Stepanian, artistic director of the Luna Playhouse, after he had seen her in the all-Armenian language play "Let's Save Our Souls" at the Star's Theatre in Glendale. Stepanian heard the actress hadn't left town on Sunday and decided to call and invite her to present an evening of poetry and reminisce about her life, he said.

The Burbank Masonic Lodge presents the second annual charity Car Show from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the lodge, 406 Irving Drive, Burbank. There will be live music, barbecued food and automobiles including hot rods, customs, motorcycles and race cars. For more information, call (818) 232-2362. ? Burbank?s Media City Ballet, Natasha Middleton, artistic director, will present ?An Evening of Khachaturian: The Composer and His Ballets? featuring ?Gayaneh,? ?Spartacus? and ?

Face painting, cookie decorating and seasonal songs and dance are part of Media City Ballet's Clara's Holiday Tea Party to be from 1 to 4 p.m. Nov. 13 at Pickwick Gardens, 1001 Riverside Drive, Burbank. The event is being held in anticipation of the ballet company's annual performance of "The Nutcracker" in December at the Alex Theatre in Glendale, said Natasha Middleton-Kettebekov, artistic director. Party attendees are encouraged to dress up for high tea and will have a chance to win Clara's crown or a Nutcracker doll.

JOYCE RUDOLPH Media City Ballet's "The Nutcracker" showcased the marvelous talents of the Burbank company's principals as well as punched up the humor during Sunday's matinee performance at The Alex Theatre in Glendale. Ellen Rosa was an exuberant Sugar Plum Fairy while Askar Alimbetov made a gallant showing as her Prince Koklash in the Grand Pas de Deux, which was rewarded with a standing ovation. Jennifer Wilson's portrayals of the Snow Queen and Dew Drop were impeccable with her partner Askar Kettebekov, who exhibited great precision as her Snow King and Cavalier.

From the dawn of time, people have expressed themselves through various forms of movement, and this past week, from the majestic artistry of dance to the fuel-injected fast pace of classic cars, Burbankers reveled in the tradition of expressive movement. The Media City Ballet kicked off its seventh season Sunday by presenting “Ballet Russe Remembered” on the stage of Glendale’s historic Alex Theatre. The company kicked off the week leading up to its season opener with a reception and open rehearsal at its studio.

"Climbing Everest," at Burbank's Colony Theatre, is the fictional modern-day story of a young woman driven to bring some peace into her shattered life by retrieving her dead brother's body from the slopes of Mt. Everest. First, the good news. The concept is solid and intriguing. The performers are uniformly professional, as always. Katie A. Keane as our heroine, the plucky Mallory Falconer, is to be commended for simply memorizing her lines, all two hours and 15 minutes worth.

Actress Mariette Hartley has been through drama before, with decades of experience in film, television and on local stages, beginning with a Los Angeles production of “A Midsummer Night's Dream” with Bert Lahr. But she experienced suspense unlike any other during rehearsals for “The Morini Strad” at the Colony Theatre in Burbank, where an ongoing budget crisis threatened to shut down the play before opening night. A weak economy finally caught up with the nonprofit theater, a Burbank institution for the last 12 years after thriving for a quarter-century in Silver Lake.

While some had no choice but to stand due to a sell-out, standing-room-only house, even those with seats at the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre took to their feet in a standing ovation following the Pacific Ballet Dance Theatre's “Dance in the USA” performance Friday evening. The show, created and directed by PBDT's Founder, Artistic Director and Choreographer Natasha Middleton, with the assistance of Edward Arno, saw the Burbank-born dance company, formerly known as the Media City Ballet, offer up a mid-summer-night salute to the songwriters, composers and recording artists who have influenced American dance over the past century.

While any visit to the Colony Theatre is guaranteed to offer an evening of exceptional entertainment, theatergoers who made their way to the Downtown Burbank venue Saturday evening encountered a visit that also proved to be humorous, complicated, thought-provoking and poignant. To raise the curtain on the second production of their 35th season, the Colony Theatre Company presented author Jeff Baron’s provocative play “Visiting Mr. Green.” As Colony staff, longtime supporters and first-time visitors engaged in pre-show mingling in the theater’s lobby, actors Antonie Knoppers and Jack Axelrod were squirreled away in their upstairs dressing rooms doing last-minute preparations for their respective roles as 20-something Ross Gardiner and the octogenarian Mr. Green.

Actor Jeff Leatherwood is getting a good workout — physically and vocally — in his latest role as the title character in “Bat Boy: The Musical” about a boy raised by bats in a cave. He is scantily clad, locked in a cage and jumping around for much of the show, which causes a few cuts and bruises, Leatherwood said. “It’s a physically demanding and vocally demanding role, but exciting because it’s a part I’ve wanted to play since I heard about the play three or four years ago,” he said.

The Burbank Masonic Lodge presents the second annual charity Car Show from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the lodge, 406 Irving Drive, Burbank. There will be live music, barbecued food and automobiles including hot rods, customs, motorcycles and race cars. For more information, call (818) 232-2362. ? Burbank?s Media City Ballet, Natasha Middleton, artistic director, will present ?An Evening of Khachaturian: The Composer and His Ballets? featuring ?Gayaneh,? ?Spartacus? and ?

Actress presents poetry evening Zhenya Avetissian, a well-known stage actress in Armenia, performed an evening of Armenian poetry and talked about her career Tuesday night at the Luna Playhouse in Glendale. The appearance was coordinated by Aramazd Stepanian, artistic director of the Luna Playhouse, after he had seen her in the all-Armenian language play "Let's Save Our Souls" at the Star's Theatre in Glendale. Stepanian heard the actress hadn't left town on Sunday and decided to call and invite her to present an evening of poetry and reminisce about her life, he said.

Face painting, cookie decorating and seasonal songs and dance are part of Media City Ballet's Clara's Holiday Tea Party to be from 1 to 4 p.m. Nov. 13 at Pickwick Gardens, 1001 Riverside Drive, Burbank. The event is being held in anticipation of the ballet company's annual performance of "The Nutcracker" in December at the Alex Theatre in Glendale, said Natasha Middleton-Kettebekov, artistic director. Party attendees are encouraged to dress up for high tea and will have a chance to win Clara's crown or a Nutcracker doll.

"Climbing Everest," at Burbank's Colony Theatre, is the fictional modern-day story of a young woman driven to bring some peace into her shattered life by retrieving her dead brother's body from the slopes of Mt. Everest. First, the good news. The concept is solid and intriguing. The performers are uniformly professional, as always. Katie A. Keane as our heroine, the plucky Mallory Falconer, is to be commended for simply memorizing her lines, all two hours and 15 minutes worth.