Modernization

Music lovers and musicians gathered at the Metzler Violin Shop on Sunday to listen to the sound of more than 40 modern Italian violins during the Tenth Annual Traveling Cremona Exhibition and Sale. David Stenske, associate concertmaster of the Los Angeles Opera Orchestra, played and compared violins from Cremona, Italy, before an audience of about 70 people. Stenske performed a brief snippet from a classical piece to demonstrate the difference in the sound and tone of the instruments.

Tonight at Crescenta Valley High, three ghosts visit a miserly old Scrooge. And it will be happening again on Saturday and Sunday as well. Crescenta Valley High School Drama Department is putting on their fall play, “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens. Drama teacher Brent Beerman has adapted the novel for the stage into an award-winning play. It won a National Playwriting Contest sponsored by the Butler Little Theatre in Pittsburgh, Penn. and was just produced there as well.

Looking for a family event to enhance the holiday spirit? Try Crescenta Valley High School’s production of “A Christmas Carol.” Written by drama instructor Brent Beerman, this adaptation of a classic won a national playwright award and was recently presented in Pittsburgh. It is a modern look at the story of Ebenezer Scrooge. The advanced theater class at Crescenta Valley High is producing the event. Every student has been assigned a part and will perform on stage.

Glendale Police Officer Jim Flores — dressed in street clothes, carrying a handgun loaded with blanks and pretending to be a disgruntled parent as part of a school shooting drill — strode into Roosevelt Middle School on Thursday afternoon yelling and firing his weapon. “Where’s he at?” Flores called repeatedly, stalking the hallways of the school, pretending to be a parent who was angry after finding marijuana in his son’s school bag. Flores, a member of the Police Department’s SWAT team, was the fake suspect in a drill designed to help police and the Fire Department work together in the event of a violent incident at school.

GLENDALE — Construction at Marshall Elementary School intensified Monday as workers raced to get the heavy work finished while students are on summer break. Moving crews hauled away about 300 boxes of books from the school library and about 60 computers from the computer science room, said Ata Mooraj, supervisor for S&M Moving Systems. "They'll be moving stuff out to storage in preparation for those [rooms] to be modernized," said John Fenton, administrator of Glendale Unified School District's planning development and facilities department.

"Modern Lovers," a group art exhibition at the Glendale Community College Art Gallery opens March 24 and continues through May 5 . Kathryn Andrews , a Los Angeles-based artist and author, organized the show. Featured artists are Jeffrey Rugh , Jill Spector , Stan Kaplan , Benjamin Lord , Stephanie Taylor , Brian Fahlstrom , Ruby Neri , Brett Cody Rogers , Monique Van Genderen and Jonas Wood . "Modern Lovers" displays traces of so-called aesthetic modernism which Andrews perceives in the artwork of her peers.

Beginning March 4th, Heritage Square Museum offers a series of lectures on various arts disciplines: architecture, music, and literature. Presentations will be on three Sundays: March 4, March 11, and one Sunday TBD. Each lecture will be followed by a reception honoring the speaker, affording an opportunity to meet and talk with them. On Sunday, March 4 , Jim Jimirro, creator and founding President of the Disney Channel and Walt Disney Home Video and Chairman of the Board of National Lampoon, will discuss a special interest of his ?

Benita Bike's DanceArt Company brings an exciting, free program of modern dance solos and duets to McGroarty Arts Center on Sunday, Feb. 11, 3 p.m. The McGroarty Arts Center is located at 7570 McGroarty Terrace in Tujunga. This performance is funded in part by a grant from the Department of Cultural Affairs, City of Los Angeles. Additional support comes from the Los Angeles County Arts Commission. The intimate main floor "living room" of the McGroarty Arts Center is particularly suitable for the performance of solos and duets ?

"The Nativity Story" is a delightful film that tells the traditional story of the events leading up to the birth of Christ, but presents it with an artsy flair along with a keen understanding of the culture of the eastern Mediterranean during the 1st century. Screenwriter Mike Rich has included scenes in his screenplay that one wouldn't expect to find in a typical Christmas pageant. When we first come upon the youthful Mary, ably played by Keisha Castle-Hughes of "Whale Rider" fame, we find a normal teenager laughing with her friends and flirting with the boys of her village.

Theater-goers will have a final opportunity this weekend to see local students participate in the Pasadena Junior Theatre's production of 'Thoroughly Modern Millie.' Rosemont Middle School student Jesse Kroon is playing the part of Jimmy Smith, described as "an apparently ne'er-do-well paper clip salesman." Fellow local students Julia Skrovan and Christine Lyon are on the costume crew. The cast of 'Thoroughly Modern Millie' is comprised of students of the Pasadena Junior Theatre group whose players are between the ages of 8 and 18. 'Thoroughly Modern Millie' is playing at 75 N. Marengo Ave. in Pasadena Friday, Dec. 8 at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, Dec. 9 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Dec. 10 at 2 p.m. Ticket prices range from $10 to $16 per person and can be purchased at the theater box office.