Journalist, Author & Syndicated Columnist
Long before “La Cage Aux Folles,” “Tootsie” and the much-maligned “Bosom Buddies,” Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon were making like women in “Some Like It Hot.” Curtis returns to the gender-bending format in the musical version of “Some Like It Hot,” which opened Tuesday night at the Rosemont Theatre. This time around, instead of playing one of the randy young men posing as a woman, he portrays a randy old man who falls in love with one of the women who really is a man.
For Big Head Todd & the Monsters, 2002 was quite a year. Their indie release “Riviera” won favorable reviews, their tour sold out, and their frontman–Todd Park Mohr–found himself in a sex scandal, thanks to Cara from the Chicago cast of MTV’s “The Real World.”
Two men are on a small platform wearing nothing but flashy capes, sensible sneakers and big smiles. That they’re happy to see us has yet to be determined. But yes, they are nekkid and about as full frontal as you can get.
If you’re lucky enough to have tickets for the Rolling Stones concerts Tuesday and Wednesday at the United Center, chances are you’re going to be too busy gawking at Mick Jagger and Keith Richards to notice the fella walking around the arena with his handheld computer.
If you want to get philosophical about “National Security,” you could ask yourself this: Would you be able to forgive and perhaps even befriend the man who wrongly accused you of a crime that got you sent to prison? No? How about if that man was Martin Lawrence? ‘Cause that’s what this action-comedy buddy pic is asking of the viewer.
There are a few stereotypes which neither sex seems to mind perpetuating. Men are deathly afraid of marriage. A bachelor party isn’t complete without strippers. It’s better to take chances than settle for a middle-class life. Each of these elements plays a component in the plot developments (such as they are) of the comedy “A Guy Thing,” but none of them are fleshed out in a manner that’s even vaguely interesting, much less plausible.
You know Jeremy Piven. Or at least you think you do. Chances are you attended Evanston Township High School with him, or were in acting classes with him at his parents’ Piven Theatre Workshop, or knew someone who knew someone who did.
Before she helped Mary Tyler Moore turn the world on with her smile, Valerie Harper was a pretty New York dancer trying her hand at comedy at Chicago’s Second City. “Making a crowd laugh is one of the most difficult things to do, but it’s also one of the most enjoyable,” says Harper. “I learned early on that you can only force a laugh so much. You have to really mean it.”
Everyone has a favorite shoe designer, be it lowbrow (Keds) or haute couture (Jimmy Choo). Though Sarah Jessica Parker steps into Choo and Manolo Blahnik shoes on “Sex and the City,” the diminutive actress has been known to scour Soho boutiques for a great pair of Robert Clergerie boots. And Chicago-based actress Shane Williams has a love affair with Ferragamo.
In the 1950s, sophisticated fashionistas traded in their chunky 1940s shoes for sexy Italian stilettos. But for the bobby-socks set, penny loafers were still the rage.