Glendale residents included Diane Carter, Rosemary Dominguez, Richard LaMont and Mary Lee Weidner.
Those further a field included Burbank residents and performers Matthew Ashford and wife, Christina Saffran Ashford. Others attending were Rodger Hargear and Christof Catlin, who hailed from Hollywood, and retired theater attorney Hal Bodner from West Hollywood.
Brentwood residents Muriel Chill and Mar Jennings accompanied Arlene Berent, whose son, Richard Berent, was the show’s music director.
J.R. McCloskey, former chair of Los Angeles City College’s Theatre Department and Academy, was proud of his former students, including record producer Bruce Kimmel, who is also president of the alumni association. Kimmel directed the revue featuring his closest friends — all Broadway and TV performers.
In 1993, the Los Angeles City College Theatre Alumni & Associates organization was formed to support the college’s well-known Theatre Academy.
The Alex Theatre was supported by Hollywood, once again, for the opening of author Ray Bradbury’s “Frost and Fire” on Friday. Theatre Bethune presented the multimedia music theater production’s weekend shows.
The futuristic tale takes place in 5002 on a foreign planet where a sub-culture of humans rise to existence and are condemned to a life cycle of eight days. Their story is told through Bradbury’s words and director Zina Bethune’s staged and choreographed sequences. Having hip and spine disabilities herself, Bethune made a point of including disabled performers in her cast. Ray Bradbury, Zina Bethune, and her mother Ivy Bethune were all on hand to receive congratulations and greet visitors.
