Characters

Good news, aging populace! I’ve found legitimate evidence that getting old doesn’t have to be such a drag. The three silver-haired actors in “Exit Strategy” are living proof that anything is possible, regardless of what year is printed on your driver’s license. The Falcon Theatre takes a detour from its typically more raucous productions to offer up the West Coast premiere of “Exit Strategy,” a consistently entertaining combination of drama and comedy written by Bill Semans and Roy M. Close.

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?

Family and friends of Wayne Allwine, the voice of Mickey Mouse who died Monday of complications from diabetes, are remembering how the Glendale resident so embodied the modest and optimistic character he portrayed since 1977. Funeral services for the Walt Disney figure are pending and will be private. He was 62. He died holding hands with his wife, Russi Taylor, the voice of Minnie Mouse. “Walt [Disney] used to say, he put the heart and soul into Mickey Mouse,” Taylor said.

Attention sports fans, college students and anyone else 21 and older who loves to have fun in a bar setting: The Office Bar and Grill is the place for you. If you?re looking for a family restaurant, nix it from the list. Located in Burbank on Victory Boulevard, a stone?s throw east of Hollywood Way, the Office facade is somewhat modest and easy to miss if you?re not looking for it. Before I entered, I stood at the door and paused for a second. It seemed strangely quiet for a sports bar, especially on opening night for the NHL playoffs.

I want to issue a sincere “thank you” to my fellow citizens who voted in this election and to each candidate who ran for the City Council. The candidates may not always agree and we may not always agree with them, but their willingness to put themselves out there and their interest in serving the city is admirable and appreciated. And without the voters, none of it would matter at all. This election seemed to be a more civil event than the prior election, at least to the casual observer.

Burbank residents joined Warner Bros. Studios employees at Animation Plaza last week to honor the company’s 80 years of classic cartoon production and be the first to see the studio’s new animation billboard. Beginning with the studio’s 1930 release of “Sinkin’ in the Bathtub,” Warner Bros. Animation has set the standard for quality animation and has given the world more than 3,000 classic cartoon characters that range from Looney Tunes such as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Sylvester and Tweety to Batman of DC Comics fame and George Jetson, Scooby Doo and Top Cat of Hanna-Barbera.

Producers hope their colorful characters and costumes make a splash on stage in “Once Upon a Mattress,” the spring musical of the Glendale Community College theatre arts department. It’s quite a contrast in tone from last semester’s drama “Savage in Limbo,” said director Melissa R. Randel, co-chairwoman of the department. “It was really dark and serious and dramatic and this is like eating cotton candy and watching ‘I Love Lucy’ or cartoons,” Randel said.

Tom Gibis gets a wild workout oscillating between his roles of brother and sister in Phil Olson’s “A Don’t Hug Me County Fair.” The musical comedy is in its world premiere now through March 29 at the Lonny Chapman Group Repertory Theatre in North Hollywood. Gibis plays Gunner Johnson, who owns a bar in Bunyan Bay, Minn., with his wife, Clara. It’s county fair time and several of the women in the bar decide to compete in the Miss Walleye Queen Competition, including Clara, a waitress named Bernice, and Johnson’s twin sister, Trigger — also played by Gibis.

Most people rarely think of Matt Bellner and romance movies in the same sentence, but this hopeless romantic of a critic always has a soft spot for quality films, and ?He?s Just Not That Into You? is the one of the most passionate movies I?ve ever seen about dating. It?s informative, touching, funny and a must-see for anyone who likes to analyze what makes men and women so different. ?He?s Just Not That Into You? is based on the book of the same name that gives relationship advice to women on what guys are really thinking.

There will be a new ballerina wearing Clara’s crown in Media City Ballet’s production of Peter Illyich 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.