Broadway at the Gardens, the city's annual musical production at Lewis Family Playhouse, will host auditions for "Rent" in December. The musical will be staged March 5-14, 2010.

 Auditions will be on Dec. 7 in Los Angeles and Dec. 14 in Rancho Cucamonga. Interested actors need to submit their headshots and resumes online at www.actorsaccess.com. Actors will get an appointment time if invited to audition.

An open call audition will take place Dec. 14 from 2 to 5 p.m. No appointment is necessary for the open call. Actors should bring a photo, resume and be prepared to sing 16 bars of a song from the show and another 16 bars of a pop rock number.

Ron Kellum, who has been involved in Broadway productions including "Chicago" and "Dreamgirls", will direct "Rent." Courtney Corey, who starred in the first Broadway national tour of "Rent," will co-direct.

Is it harder to find a job if you're not into Facebook?

It seems like it, especially if you want to work for Nestle. The cookie joint is gearing up to open at the end of the year at Victoria Gardens. This sign is posted in front of the shop, which is across from Starbucks.

Several newcomers have opened at the mall, including Dukez (Men's apparel), Swee'Ts (funnel cakes and other carnival food), Raylight-Flashwear (clothes that light up) and Gelato Ice & Bites.

Two sit-down restaurants, Paisanos and Candelas, are expected to open at the end of the year or in January. Paisanos, an Italian restaurant, will be near AMC. Candelas, a Mexican restaurant, will be near Fleming's.

It looks like Victoria Gardens will have a Chipotle in the future. A liquor license notice is seen posted at a shop near Pinkberry.

Santa Claus, pictured here, will make his official debut at Victoria Gardens tonight with family entertainment starting 6:30 p.m. and a tree lighting ceremony at 7:45 p.m.

Victoria Gardens will be opened 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. until Wednesday.
The mall is closed on Thanksgiving.
On Black Friday, JCPenney opens at 4 a.m., Macy's at 5 p.m. and the rest of the mall at 7 a.m. until 10 p.m.
On Christmas Eve, the last day Santa will be at the Santa Depot, the mall is opened 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The mall is closed on Christmas.

Bass Pro Shops is having its own party on Black Friday. The Great Turkey Campout starts 5 p.m. on Thanksgiving when customers will pitch their tents and camp out until Friday morning. Employees will pass out hot chocolate, coffee and smores until 8 p.m.
                                                                                                                    Thomas Cordova/Staff Photographer   

A quick and fierce episode of chicken pox paid me a visit a couple of days ago, making me miss work, a City Council meeting and opportunities to blog. The news brought forth all kinds of advice from friends -- take Benadryl, soak in baking soda, don't scratch! But I'm still not sure what chicken pox is exactly, how it's different from shingles and why it would come three decades late.

Staying at home because of the chicken pox seems like such a wimpy excuse. It's not like the flu, which makes you tired and achy so it's okay to watch game shows all day and eat chicken noodle. But with the chicken pox, you don't fell sick, just annoyed.

I felt bad calling in sick because I was annoyed. I wanted to do something productive like read a book or do the laundry but I couldn't concentrate on a single task because every fiber of my body was busy fighting the urge to itch. And everything, from my eyelashes to the heel of my foot itched.

Thank goodness for Calamine lotion, which I purchased at the pharmacy minutes after it opened. I must have looked like a tweeker, disheveled and itchy. When I got home, I nearly drank the lotion because it seemed even my internal organs itched.

And then the bumps went away just as mysteriously as it came leaving me wondering if it was chicken pox after all. Perhaps it was just some physiological aversion to City Council meetings. 

The Metrolink Holiday Toy Express kicks off this Saturday in Rancho Cucamonga. The Metrolink station is on Milliken and Azusa.

The train arrives at 5 p.m. but family friendly activities start at 3 p.m. There will be storytime, crafts, entertainment and cookie decorating. Bring a new, unwrapped toy for the Spark of Love Toy Drive.

You can also drop off toys at any fire station.

Information: (909) 477-2770

  In case you missed the Founder's
Day Parade on Saturday, check out Staff Photographer Mediha Fejzagic Dimartino's photo gallery.

Highlights included this giant Woody, a 400-member high school marching band, a beauty queen float with Miss Baby Alta Loma and a cute boy impersonating "Twilight" actor Robert Pattinson with a gang of screaming girls behind him.

For the second year in a row, I helped announce the parade participants as they passed by Macy's. Without reading the 94-page script ahead of time, I made all sorts of mistakes like calling the Angelina Jolie impersonator Octomom and calling the police chief "fire chief." (Sorry, Chief Cuisimano!)

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Having covered the city for only four years, I only know the parade as a Victoria Gardens affair. My friend and Alta Loma old timer Catherine Bridge informed me that the very first community parade was hosted by the Alta Loma Community Chamber of Commerce before the city was incorporated and went along Base LineHighland Avenue. Bridge and her husband, Arthur, a former councilman, had an entry with their fruit truck and an assortment of smudge pots. Their circa-1938 fire truck was also on display, a crowd pleaser just as much as this 40-foot flying cowboy.

 

Jamba Juice, located at Victoria Gardens near Starbucks, will offer free flatbreads to the first 150 customers starting at 2 p.m. Tuesday. The new California Flatbread comes in four flavors -- Tomo Artichoko, Smokehouse Chicken, Mediterran Yum and Four Cheesy.