Starlight Bowl

From a distance, Starlight Bowl might as well have been a private dance club on Sunday night, as residents twisted and shouted to the sounds of Captain Cardiac and the Coronaries. The ’50s and ’60s band moved through the crowd and sang along with audience members to favorites such as “Great Balls of Fire” and “I Saw Her Standing There.” Locals took in the band’s energetic sounds while helping to raise $50,000 for a new scoreboard at Memorial Field — part of the city’s $18-million joint athletic field project.

A sold-out crowd spent Sunday night twisting and shouting when the Fab Four — The Ultimate Tribute to The Beatles returned to the Starlight Bowl in Burbank. The performers — Ron McNeil (John Lennon), Ardy Sarraf (Paul McCartney), Michael Amador (George Harrison) and Rolo Sandoval (Ringo Starr) — not only resemble the famous quartet, but they sing and play just like them. McNeil reminded the crowd that all the music is performed live onstage by the guys. Nothing is pre-recorded, he said.

After the city’s summer concert season at the Starlight Bowl comes to a close in mid-August, another show will go on. The last show of the summer at the Starlight Bowl is a community-organized benefit concert on Aug. 24 to raise money for a new scoreboard at John Burroughs High School’s Memorial Field. The city’s three Kiwanis clubs have banded together in a quest to raise about $50,000 needed for a new scoreboard. Club members hope to bring in a bulk of those funds through the end-of-summer show.

After the city’s summer concert season at the Starlight Bowl comes to a close in mid-August, another show will go on. The last show of the summer at the Starlight is a community-organized benefit concert on Aug. 24 to raise money for a new scoreboard at John Burroughs High School’s Memorial Field. The city’s three Kiwanis clubs have banded together in a quest to raise about $50,000 needed for a new scoreboard Club members hope to bring in a bulk of those funds through the end-of-summer show.

The Burbank-bred band BlueLight takes seriously the saying, “The band that plays together, stays together.” Two of the core members of the rock band, Michael Hastings and Dennis O’Donnell, are coming together for a fourth time to perform O’Donnell’s original songs on July 20 at the Starlight Bowl. They will open for California Transit Authority. BlueLight adds a hometown feeling to the Starlight Bowl season, said Garth Nelson, former deputy director of Recreation Services for Burbank Park, Recreation and Community Services, who left the post Tuesday.

The city of Burbank is losing an enthusiastic public servant and dedicated team builder with the departure this week of Garth Nelson as deputy director of the Park, Recreation and Community Services Department. The 58-year-old Nelson, who served as deputy director for nine years, worked his last day with Burbank on Tuesday, as he has accepted a job leading the Community Services and Recreation Department in the city of Fontana. He will start in Fontana on July 21. Nelson said he was intrigued by the job because Fontana has recently undergone significant growth and development, and is in the process of building several new community facilities.

Revelers enjoyed patriotic music and lights during the show “A Star Spangled Salute to America” on Fourth of July at the Starlight Bowl in Burbank. Families and friends on Friday socialized down the length of the amphitheater, sprawled out on blankets in the grass, huddled around picnic dinners in box seats and danced in front of the stage to 1950s Doo-wop music. Concerts at the Starlight Bowl have a special hometown feel for Burbank resident Pat Aldrich. “Everyone is always in such a good, sweet mood,” Aldrich said.

Starlight Bowl season lineup announced The summer concert lineup has been announced for the Starlight Bowl. The Fourth of July concert will feature A Tribute to the Music of The Drifters, The Del Vikings and The Flamingos with the American Gold Band and the Burbank Philharmonic Orchestra. Tickets are on sale at the Administrative Services Building, Park, Recreation and Community Services, 301 E. Olive Ave. from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday; and McCambridge Recreation Center, 1515 N. Glenoaks Blvd.

Send DATEBOOK items to Burbank Leader, 221 N. Brand Blvd., 2nd Floor, Glendale, CA 91203 or fax to (818) 241-1975. Submissions must be received two weeks before publication. TODAY Lodestone Theatre Ensemble presents Euripides anti-war classic "The Trojan Women" opening at 8 p.m. at Grove Theatre Center, (in George Izay Park), 1111-B W. Olive Ave., Burbank. Performances are at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays through Aug. 26. Tickets are $15, $13 for students and seniors, $11 for groups of 10 or more.

TODAY Science and nature crafts will be at 10:30 a.m. at Stough Canyon Nature Center, 2300 Walnut Ave., Burbank. For more information, call (818) 238-5440. Two vampire authors, Jeanne C. Stein and Karen Taylor, will sign copies of their new books at 2 p.m. at Dark Delicacies, 4213 W. Burbank Blvd., Burbank. Stein will be signing "The Anna Strong Chronicles: Blood Drive," the second book in the Anna Strong series, and Taylor will be signing "Twelve Steps from Darkness," a book about a woman's battles with her inner demons as she deals with various addictions.