Center Stage

When I first heard that Mama Mia was opening in Burbank, I had visions of the critically acclaimed Broadway musical in my mind. Well, maybe ABBA did not inspire this version, but it definitely deserves the spotlight. Mama Mia in Burbank is the latest entry in the Italian pizza and pasta take-out trend. I admit, they have some serious competition in this city alone, but if given a chance, they just might take center stage. Take note, when you first walk into Mama Mia, the stark white floor and walls may blind you for a moment.

Car enthusiasts admired the shiny coats of paint, chrome and steel that glistened in the sun during the 15th annual Jewel City Kiwanis Car Show on Sunday at Verdugo Park. Classic cars, hot rods and muscle cars brought back memories of decades past for attendees the show, which helped raise funds for local charities. About 185 cars participated in the show, which was expected to raise about $10,000, said Bob Morris, secretary of the Jewel City Kiwanis Club. Sitting underneath a tarp, Walter Rogers of Antelope Valley took refuge from the sun and the occasional gust of wind as passersby stopped to look at his 1959 Pontiac Bonneville.

GLENDALE ? Editor?s Note: The following is a recap of the 2007 local sports scene from the summer and fall seasons. ? The summer and fall seasons brought many surprising results and stories. The San Gabriel Valley Babe Ruth All-Star team won another World Series championship in Ohio. Two former local baseball standouts were named in the Mitchell Report. In the fall, Glendale Community College finally captured its first state title since 1980, shortly before Glendale college football coach John Cicuto resigned in December following 19 years at the helm.

CITY HALL — When Ann and Mike Collard went public in October with a $347,000 fine they received for illegally pruning 13 trees, they could not have predicted the outcome — intense media interest, a promise to revoke the fines, public apologies from politicians and, at today’s City Council meeting, an in-depth analysis of their case to help change an ordinance. Still singed from weeks of public outcry and intense criticism over the fines, the City Council today will examine how the Collards’ case came to be, and how to stop it from happening again.

As is the case for the team she plays on, all the pieces would seem to be in place for Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy outside hitter Katie Condon to have a huge season in 2007. Following years spent playing opposite former Tologs standout Julie Herrera, Condon enters the season as the team’s consensus No. 1 offensive option. Feeding her the ball on a nightly basis will be Sam Orlandini, a Mission League co-Most Valuable Player and All-CIF setter with whom Condon has spent several years honing an on-court rapport.

This weekend only the Assistance League of Flintridge is proud to present its summer drama workshops. Director Koni McCurdy takes the fourth to sixth grade drama students to camp in the play entitled "Terribly Terrifying Twisted Tales." While at camp, the kids will perform their very own humorously silly versions of "Frankenstein" and "Dracula." And while they have the audience in stitches, they will present two more stories also based on fractured fairy tales entitled "Sleepy Hollow" and "The Raven."

The following are updates on the area's Major League Baseball players. But it never came. Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Aaron Rowand popped up and Sanchez never got his chance to shine, finishing 0 for one in the game, as he ended the contest in the on-deck circle. "You live for those moments," Sanchez told mlb.com. "Unfortunately, we came up short." Sanchez gets a prolonged All-Star break, as him and the rest of the Pirates travel to play the Atlanta Braves through the weekend, beginning on Friday.

Verdugo Woodlands Elementary School students got a lesson in the "the's" yesterday. "The Samba," "The Twist," "The Charleston," "The Hitchhike," "The Monkey" and "The Mess Around" were just some of the moves that wiggled their way through a crowd of more than 200 kindergartners through second-graders. They were part of a dance performance by the Lula Washington Dance Theater — a well-known L.A.-based dance corps dedicated to modern, street-dance and jazz techniques as a way to tell the African-American story.

When a basketball team loses its returning league most valuable player and reigning All-Area Player of the Year, an obvious quandary as to how to replace the player arises. Well, if you're the La Cañada High girls' basketball team, the question is, apparently, an easy one to answer ? you simply get another player of the year. Such was the case this year, as La Cañada junior Emily Ballard was the second consecutive Spartan voted girls' basketball All-Area Player of the Year by the editors and sportswriters of the Burbank Leader, Foothill Leader and Glendale News-Press.