Characters

Jose Ruiz Between the time Columbus landed on the Americas and the astronauts landed on the moon, there is the expedition of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark across the great land of this country. The anxiety and thundering of the heart with the excitement of the unfamiliar, and the humbling when faced with the grandeur of nature, have all been documented by these explorers, and the Colony Theatre brings author Leon Martell's vision of the Lewis and Clark Expedition depicting not so much what they found and saw, but how they felt and responded.

La Crescenta author Alice Zogg has hit her stride with her latest mystery novel. Chock full of entertaining trivia and chatty dialogue, Zogg has developed a style very similar to that of popular author Lillian Jackson Braun. ?Final Stop Albuquerque? is the sixth book in Zogg?s self-published R.A. Huber series, yet one need not read the others to enjoy this most recent title. Elena Campione appears to lead a charmed life. She lives in a South Pasadena mansion with her husband, Bruno, owner of Pasadena?

Jane DiLucchioBurbank resident and Glendale Community College professor Jane DiLucchio's first published novel is a thriller in the vein of Agatha Christie's classics. Locals reading Glendale Community College professor Jane DiLucchio's first published novel "Relationships Can Be Murder" will feel right at home. Relationships and the secrets people in them keep are the recurring themes in this murder mystery that takes place in Glendale and Burbank. Everyone in the book knows each other and are connected in some way, said DiLucchio, who lives in Burbank.

'Flawless' delves into what love is Charlie Bauman of Glendale works as a janitor at a Glendale printing firm. I liked how "Flawless" developed themes dealing with what real love is and how kindness can overcome the most difficult situations. I also liked the way the director showed the psychological complexity in the relationships of the main characters. Distracting attention from these good things were several poorly developed subplots. But the major reason I ended up not enjoying this movie was that the circumstances of the two main characters' lives were depessing.

Michael T. Giovanniello of Burbank is a freelance writer. I have heard it said that truth is stranger than fiction, however I have never heard that fiction could be more real than reality. But, honestly, that could be said of "Ladder 49." Within minutes of the opening, I was captivated by the sense of reality that unfolds in its telling. Television's evening news has made the events familiar, but the dramatization made these characters very real. All of the talents involved in bringing this story to the screen were definitely on the same page.

The play holds kids' attention Jo Ann Stupakis writes the PTA column for the News-Press. Having never been to the Falcon Theatre in Burbank, I wasn't sure what to expect. My 5-year-old son, Gregory, whined that he didn't want to go because the play was about a girl. I assured him that there would be boy characters, so he relented. "Rapunzel," written by Lori Marshall and directed by Joseph Leo Bwarie, was a masterpiece of fantasy, reality and comedy.

MUSIC AND ANIMATION ARE WELL DONE Megan A. Kelly of Glendale will be in ninth grade in September at Crescenta Valley High School. This movie was so incredibly cute! I really loved all the characters in it. I also liked the music and the animation. Most importantly, I loved the theme of the movie. Their definition of a family was extremely touching. You ended up really feeling the closeness that they all shared. What was also really nice was that so many different types of people were watching this movie and seemed to enjoy it. The people next to me were even singing one of the songs!

Matt Bellner of Burbank is a music librarian and actor. If you're older than 6, there is no logical reason to see "Looney Tunes: Back in Action," unless you have the mental capacity of a 6-year-old. If that's the case, you'll love this film. "Looney Tunes" is nothing more than a "Roger Rabbit" rip-off where cartoon characters interact with actors. The problem here is that there is no story. The plot revolves around Steve Martin's character trying to turn the entire world into monkeys.

Getting back into the dating scene "when you're 100 years old - or might as well be," isn't for shrinking violets. Neither is breast cancer, losing your beloved husband unexpectedly, watching two brothers deal with mental illness, and hoping the bikini top that you're expected to wear for a commercial audition will cover your mastectomy prosthesis. Veteran stage and screen actor Annie Abbott shares her years of hard knocks and success, love, loss and new love with high-octane spirit and a great deal of humor in her new one-woman show, “Giving Up Is Hard to Do,” at the Victory Theatre Center in Burbank.

The attorney representing the mother of an infant who died of internal injuries said his client had no knowledge of any alleged physical abuse, calling her “very loving, very caring, very soft-spoken.” The mother, 21-year-old Elizabeth Carter, was arrested shortly after her daughter, Violet Wojcik, was taken off life support. The father, 19-year-old Matthew Wojcik, was arrested nearly a month earlier on suspicion of felony child abuse - the day after their five-week-old infant was brought to the hospital with broken bones.

For the second consecutive year, Providence High was recognized by the CIF Southern Section at the Jim Staunton Champions for Character Ceremony. Soccer player Caitlin Markey was a bestowed a student-athlete champions for character honor on Monday evening in Long Beach at the Queen Mary. Markey, whose award included a $500 scholarship, spoke in her video interview about how being on the soccer team enhanced her experience in high school and, among others, thanked athletic director Andrew Bencze, staying, "without him we probably we would not even have a soccer program.

More than 150 seventh- and eighth-grade students at Jordan Middle School were given a new task this week: to write and draw a three-minute animated cartoon. A panel of teachers and parents will select the best entry this spring and Cartoon Network will produce the winning cartoon. On Wednesday, Cartoon Network animator Dave Smith shared his career path and a few tips for success in animation. “Write what you know, write what you feel. Write what interests you,” Smith said.

Students in three classes at McKinley Elementary School gave their parents and siblings a lesson in building positive traits with an after-school musical performance titled “Character Matters.” About 90 students, representing two fourth-grade classes and one third-grade class, took part in the May 22 production, said Cherie Wescott, who produced the musical along with Dennis Danielson, Angie D'Mello and Lisa Fuentez. “Every year we get together and do one of these at the end of the year,” she said.

Preservationists say that Burbank is doing just a marginal job of preserving its history. But recent efforts to change that are improving its grade, they say. A representative from the Los Angeles Conservancy this week said Burbank's efforts to preserve its architecture has been at about the C- level. But that will likely improve as the city's Heritage Commission moves closer to adopting a process for forming historic districts. Marcello Vavala, a preservation associate with the Los Angeles Conservancy, spoke to the commission last week and said the city has been doing a better job of stirring up interest in preserving Burbank's architectural legacy.

The blacktop at Washington Elementary School was transformed Friday into an explosive canvas of color as Nickelodeon artists helped students celebrate the 11th annual California Arts Day. “I love that we just get to express ourselves and draw what we love,” said fifth-grader Alexandria Llamas, 10, as she and classmates labored over chalk drawings. Washington Elementary has marked Arts Day with a chalk festival for about a decade, said Principal Arlene Mooradian-Zenian, and it is more anticipated and beloved than any of the traditional holidays.

I just finished reading "Intwine," Burbank author Christina Moss' debut novel, and for the life of me I cannot tell if I loved or hated it. "Intwine" tells the story of Juliette Greenmoss, a Burbank resident whose life is flipped upside-down when she falls in love with an interstellar rock-star prince named Seth. Think "Twilight," but with aliens. Moss calls the genre "young adult science fiction romance. " Like many others, I'm personally sick of seeing vampires everywhere, but instead of being a departure from the zeitgeist, forbidden alien love feels like more of the same.

In the entertainment business, a tough sell will always be a tough sell. No matter how great a play or TV show turns out, getting a large audience to experience anything with dark subject matter is next to impossible. For example, right now you couldn’t pay someone to watch an Iraq war movie, even if it stars Matt Damon. And recently receiving a Best Picture award didn’t change the fact that very few people actually bought a ticket to see “The Hurt Locker” in theaters.

Looking at his affable face, one probably wouldn’t link the voice of Dee Bradley Baker to Turner, the grouchy flat-head screwdriver character he plays on the Disney Channel’s animated series “Handy Manny.” Manny is the neighborhood handy man, and throughout the show, he and his box of colorful tools with huge round eyes help people with projects around their houses. “Turner is grumpy and a little selfish and not as much a team player as the others, but he comes around by the end of each episode,” Baker said.