Starlight Bowl

When "Jesus Christ Superstar" was first produced on Broadway 19 years ago, it caused picketing and protests by religious groups. A rock opera about the final days of Christ? A sympathetic portrait of Judas? A question about whether Jesus was a man or a god? It's hard to imagine the stirring and beautifully sung production, in its Starlight Musical Theatre premiere at the Starlight Bowl, causing protests now. Part of the reason is the inevitable softening effects of time.

6:30pm Music The Starlight Bowl closes out its 2001 season with the retro-swing band Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. The Ventura-based band has performed around the world and at a Super Bowl halftime show. Lulu LaFever opens. * Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Starlight Bowl, 1249 Lockheed View Drive, Burbank, 6:30 p.m. $3 to $5. (818) 525-3721.

David Byrne has done quite a bit of musical globe-trotting over the last decade. It all started in 1980, when he cut an album of African-influenced music with the Talking Heads, the innovative New York band he founded five years earlier to ply the burgeoning new-wave scene revolving around CBGB's nightclub.

* Cross-Cultural--The Valley Cultural Center presents its Cultural Arts Festival on Sunday at 5 p.m. at Warner Park in Woodland Hills. The program will feature Brazilian jazz artists Airto Moreira and Flora Purim, plus several other international acts. The husband-wife team of percussionist Moreira and singer Purim have performed individually or together with such luminaries as Miles Davis, Chick Corea, Stan Getz, Cannonball Adderly and Dizzy Gillespie.

During the four years-plus that she played Christine Daae, the object of the title character's tortured affections in the Los Angeles production of "The Phantom of the Opera," Dale Kristien was on stage for 2 1/2 hours each performance, while the masked man was visible a mere 27 minutes. Yet, she says, her role was considered the "second banana" part.

After being closed for nearly three years, the Starlight Bowl in Burbank is open again for a series of community-based concerts and children's events. The summer season marks the first time that the city-owned and city-managed facility has been used since September, 1989.

Thinking of going to an outdoor summer concert? There's the Hollywood Bowl, the Greek Theater or Warner Center. But if you take a ride to the hills high above Burbank, you'll discover a less-obvious choice--the Starlight Bowl. The music offered is wide-ranging, the view spectacular, and it's often free. Jazz musician Jack Sheldon returns Aug. 14 for the third year in a row, taking his place among other celebrities who have played the Starlight--Bob Hope, Dennis Day, Jack Benny and Mel Torme.

6:30pm Music The Starlight Bowl closes out its 2001 season with the retro-swing band Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. The Ventura-based band has performed around the world and at a Super Bowl halftime show. Lulu LaFever opens. * Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Starlight Bowl, 1249 Lockheed View Drive, Burbank, 6:30 p.m. $3 to $5. (818) 525-3721.

Mothers Embracing Nuclear Disarmament will hold a musical program dedicated to the memory of Samantha Smith from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Sunday at the Starlight Bowl in Balboa Park. Actor David Ogden Stiers will moderate "Holiday for Peace," which will include performances by San Diego choirs and children's music groups. A flashlight vigil and readings from Smith's book, "Journey to the Soviet Union," also will be part of the program.

* Cross-Cultural--The Valley Cultural Center presents its Cultural Arts Festival on Sunday at 5 p.m. at Warner Park in Woodland Hills. The program will feature Brazilian jazz artists Airto Moreira and Flora Purim, plus several other international acts. The husband-wife team of percussionist Moreira and singer Purim have performed individually or together with such luminaries as Miles Davis, Chick Corea, Stan Getz, Cannonball Adderly and Dizzy Gillespie.

Rick Braun called to say he's turning his entire Woodland Hills home into a studio to record his next album. "I'm taking over the whole house," said the trumpeter-composer-producer whose 1995 album, "Beat Street," spent 13 weeks at No. 1 (a record) on Gavin's jazz-adult-alternative radio play chart. "One room has a tile floor and wood-beam ceiling that's perfect for live drums. Another room has wood floors, which resonate with acoustic bass, giving the sound a lot of warmth," Braun said.

During the four years-plus that she played Christine Daae, the object of the title character's tortured affections in the Los Angeles production of "The Phantom of the Opera," Dale Kristien was on stage for 2 1/2 hours each performance, while the masked man was visible a mere 27 minutes. Yet, she says, her role was considered the "second banana" part.

Thinking of going to an outdoor summer concert? There's the Hollywood Bowl, the Greek Theater or Warner Center. But if you take a ride to the hills high above Burbank, you'll discover a less-obvious choice--the Starlight Bowl. The music offered is wide-ranging, the view spectacular, and it's often free. Jazz musician Jack Sheldon returns Aug. 14 for the third year in a row, taking his place among other celebrities who have played the Starlight--Bob Hope, Dennis Day, Jack Benny and Mel Torme.

Even as Broadway is rediscovering the pleasures--and financial rewards--of putting a fresh coat of greasepaint on such oldies but goodies as "Guys and Dolls," regional theaters are also taking a new look at old staples. For 48 years, San Diego's Starlight Musical Theatre has made a career of doing old-fashioned musicals the old-fashioned way. Now with "Good News!

After being closed for nearly three years, the Starlight Bowl in Burbank is open again for a series of community-based concerts and children's events. The summer season marks the first time that the city-owned and city-managed facility has been used since September, 1989.

"No, No, Nanette" has a plot--but don't let that fool you. What this show is really about is feathers and spangles and beads, tap dancing, dancing through hoops (literally), dancing on beach balls and glorious candy store colors that drape its chorus from hats to spats and be-ribboned feet. Starlight Musical Theatre's faithful recreation of a 1971 revival of a 1925 hit is pure, breezy melt-in-your-mouth dessert fare. Those looking for something to chew on should keep looking.

Pass the magic wand of nostalgia over a '50s tale of love, betrayal, theft, rejection and unwanted pregnancy, and what do you get? What else but the old Broadway smash "Grease," now providing a wild and rollicking good time at the Starlight Bowl. Sure, we're not talking depth here. All the characters are types, from the leather-jacketed toughs to their girlfriends: Frenchy, the gum-cracking beauty-school dropout; Rizzo, a girl with a chip on her shoulder the size of Mt.

Charles Durning, three-time Emmy Award nominee and two-time Academy Award nominee, best known for his roles as the high-stepping governor in "Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" and Jessica Lange's father in "Tootsie," will join Mayor Maureen O'Connor at the opening of a permanent Times Arts Tix booth at the southwestern corner of Horton Plaza today. The dedication, which is open to the public, begins at 11:45 a.m. and continues until 12:30 p.m., and will feature selections from the Starlight Musical Theatre's production of "The Sound of Music," which opens tonight at the Starlight Bowl.

It's been a quarter of a century since Starlight Musical Theatre, once an exclusively outdoor theater, made its indoor San Diego Civic Theatre debut with "Gypsy." That was just eight years after the 1959 show first opened on Broadway. Many people think Starlight hasn't changed much since that time.

Starlight Musical Theatre will present the San Diego premiere of "Chess," a musical with lyrics by Tim Rice about a match between an American and Soviet chess player at the center of its 1992 season, the theater announced this week. The season also will contain four other musicals. "Chess" opened on Broadway in 1988 and is a pre-glasnost story rife with Cold War tensions.