General Bolden was appointed the 12th administrator of NASA in July 2009. In this capacity, he leads the NASA team and manages its resources with the goal of best advancing the agency’s missions and goals. This includes Caltech’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

This is General Bolden’s second time serving with NASA. His 34-year career with the Marine Corps included 14 years as a member of NASA’s Astronaut Office. After becoming an astronaut, he traveled to orbit four times aboard the space shuttle between 1986 and 1994, commanding two of the missions.

His flights included deployment of the Hubble Space Telescope and the first joint U.S.-Russian shuttle mission. General Bolden retired from the Marine Corps in 2003. His military decorations include the Defense Superior Service Medal and the Distinguished Flying Cross. In May 2006 he was inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame.

Before his appointment as NASA’s chief administrator, General Bolden was the chief executive officer of JACKandPANTHER LLC, a small business providing leadership, military and aerospace consulting, and motivational speaking.

He received his BS in electrical science from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1968 and earned an MS in systems management from USC in 1977.
Caltech’s 2009 commencement speaker was U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu.

In this gritty reimagining of Sophocles’ “Oedipus Rex,” the modern kingdom is the barrio of East LA. Our ruler, just released from prison, is in search of a new place called home. Along the way he faces off with a wounded queen, a three-headed born-again serpent and a king with road rage. Is our young homeboy doomed to suffer his destiny? The word on the street is not good, but great love conquers all.

“Oedipus El Rey” features Justin Huen in the title role and an ensemble including Marlene Forte, Daniel Chacon, Leandro Cano, Winston J. Rocha, Carlos Acuna and Michael Uribes.

Alfaro says, “I have always felt myself a part of a larger continuum; there were great writers before me and there will be great writers after, but for now, I feel humbled to tell the story of what it means to be alive today. The Greeks give us the structure for understanding the larger issues, and we writers get to tell the stories.”

Alfaro is a Chicano writer/performer known for his work in poetry, theatre, short stories, performance and journalism.  He is the recipient of a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation fellowship, popularly known as a “genius grant,” awarded to people who have demonstrated expertise and exceptional creativity in their respective fields.  He is also a producer/director who spent ten years at the Mark Taper Forum as Associate Producer, Director of New Play Development and co-director of the Latino Theatre Initiative.

His plays and performances include “Electricidad” (Teatro Vision-San Jose, Mark Taper Forum-Los Angeles, Goodman Theatre-Chicago, Borderlands Theatre-Tucson), “Downtown” (Institute of Contemporary Art-London, XTeresa Performance Space-Mexico City), “No Holds Barrio” (Goodman Theatre-Chicago), “Body of Faith” (Cornerstone Theater Company-Los Angeles), “Bitter Homes and Gardens” (Latino Chicago, Playwrights Arena-Los Angeles), “Ladybird” (La Jolla Playhouse.)

Alfaro is the only artist to have won two awards in the same year from The Kennedy Center’s Fund for New American Plays. He is also the recipient of awards from the National Endowment of the Arts, Theatre Communications Group and PEN USA, among others.  He is featured in over 25 anthologies, has an award-winning spoken word CD, and was nominated for a local Emmy for his short film, Chicanismo. He is a member of New Dramatists, an associate artist at Playwrights Arena and Cornerstone Theatre Company in Los Angeles.

Jon Lawrence Rivera (Director) has directed several plays by Luis Alfaro including “Straight as a Line,” “Bitter Homes and Gardens,” “Hero,” and the Getty Villa workshop of “Oedipus El Rey.”  Other recent productions include “The Last Five Years” by Jason Robert Brown (Ovation nomination), “Miss Saigon,” “Laws of Sympathy” by Oliver Mayer, “Sea Change” by Nick Salamone (LA Weekly Award), “The Third from the Left” by Jean Colonomos, “Hillary Agonistes” by Salamone (NY Fringe Award) and “Ruby, Tragically Rotund” by Boni B. Alvarez. He is the founding artistic director of Playwrights’ Arena and his productions have garnered over 100 local and international awards.

“Oedipus El Rey” is a National New Play Network rolling world premiere in conjunction with The Magic Theatre of San Francisco and Woolly Mammoth Theatre in Washington DC.

“Oedipus El Rey” previews for six performances beginning February 18, opening February 27 and runs Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. through March 28. Preview tickets are priced at $17 and regular performances at $32. Senior and student discounts are also available. Tickets can be purchased online at bostoncourt.org or by calling (626) 683-6883. Boston Court Performing Arts Center is located one block north of Colorado at the corner of Mentor Ave. and Boston Ct.

Beginning at 5:15 a.m., vehicular traffic will be allowed on the official route in these areas only:

·        Mountain Street eastbound between Lincoln Avenue and Raymond Avenue

·        Green Street eastbound between Orange Grove Boulevard and Pasadena Avenue

·        California Boulevard eastbound between Arroyo Boulevard and Orange Grove Boulevard

·        Glenarm Street eastbound between Marengo Avenue and El Molino Avenue

·        Villa Street eastbound between Mar Vista Avenue and Sierra Madre Boulevard

·        Sierra Madre Boulevard eastbound between Paloma Street and Sierra Madre Villa Avenue

·        Washington Street westbound between Wilson Avenue and Los Robles Avenue

·        Mountain Street westbound between Altadena Drive and Mar Vista Avenue

·        Raymond Avenue southbound between Montana Street and Washington Boulevard

·        Marengo Avenue southbound between Green Street and Glenarm Street

·        Washington Boulevard southbound between Del Rey Avenue and Woodlyn Road

·        Arroyo Boulevard northbound between California Boulevard and Seco Street

·        Sierra Madre Boulevard northbound between Villa Street and Paloma Street

·        Orange Grove Boulevard northbound between California Boulevard and Green Street

Streets will re-open according to a 17-minute-per-mile time clock.  The Pasadena Police Department reminds everyone to be patient and drive slowly with caution.

During street closures, vehicular traffic will be allowed to pass through the following intersections whenever police officers deem conditions safe to allow it:

·        Arroyo Drive eastbound and westbound at Arroyo Boulevard

·        Penn Street eastbound and westbound at Raymond Avenue

·        Penn Street eastbound and westbound at Garfield Avenue

·        Orange Grove Boulevard eastbound and westbound at Wilson Avenue

·        Orange Grove Boulevard eastbound and westbound at Sierra Madre Boulevard

·        Walnut Street eastbound and westbound at Wilson Avenue

·        Lincoln Avenue northbound and southbound at Mountain Street

·        Fair Oaks Avenue northbound and southbound at Mountain Street

·        Fair Oaks Avenue northbound and southbound at Colorado Boulevard

·        Grand Avenue northbound and southbound at California Boulevard

·        Los Robles Avenue northbound and southbound at Washington Boulevard

·        Lake Avenue northbound and southbound at Washington Boulevard

·        Hill Avenue northbound and southbound at Mountain Avenue

·        Hill Avenue northbound and southbound at Villa Street

·        Allen Avenue northbound and southbound at Mountain Street

·        Allen Avenue northbound and southbound at Villa Street

·        Altadena Drive northbound and southbound at Paloma Street

·        Altadena Drive northbound and southbound at Villa Street

Roads in and around the Arroyo Seco will be closed from 5:15 to 11:30 a.m.   Access to Brookside Golf Course, the Rose Bowl Stadium area, Kidspace Children’s Museum and the Rose Bowl Aquatics Center will be allowed on an intermittent basis during this period only when Pasadena police deem it to be safe.  Employees and patrons of the golf course or the stadium should take Arroyo Boulevard to Rose Bowl Drive, where police officers will allow

intermittent access across Rosemont Avenue; employees and patrons of the museum and aquatics center, as well as recreational users of the Rose Bowl Loop, should take Holly Street, then go south on Arroyo Drive, north on Arroyo Boulevard and park in Lot I at Brookside Park.

The Seco/Mountain on- and off-ramps from the northbound and southbound 210 Freeway will be closed from 5:15 to 11:30 a.m.  All other freeway ramps will remain open.

Parking will be prohibited along the route from 1 a.m. to 3 p.m.  Residents who live along the route and normally park on the street should park instead on adjacent streets that are not on the route to avoid having their vehicles towed.  Overnight parking restrictions throughout Pasadena will not be enforced during these hours.  However, all other parking restrictions and prohibitions will apply, including temporary tow-away zones, parking near fire hydrants and in red zones.

For more detailed information, including a route map and special information of interest to Pasadena residents, visit www.pasadenamarathon.org or call (626) 797-7238.