Journalist, Author & Syndicated Columnist
If you think that cute guy you saw heading into Tempo last week looked a lot like Keanu Reeves, there’s a good chance that it was. Reeves has returned to Chicago to film “Hardball.” He first made his presence in the Windy City known four years ago when he shot “Chain Reaction.” You can bet that he’ll be out and about in the city this time around, too.
Let’s get this out in the open now: I am three times older and twice as tall as many of the ‘N Sync fans who attended the band’s sold-out show Tuesday night at the Route 66 Raceway in Joliet. I do not listen to their records at home. Nor do I own any of their collectible dolls, T-shirts or posters. But once or twice a year, when the Sun-Times sends me out to review their concerts, darned if I don’t end up having a good time.
It’s time to finalize phone-a-friend lifelines. We get to name up to five people, and may use one if we get to the hot seat and are stuck on a question. On the day I qualified, I’d asked Phil Blanchard, the Sun-Times telegraph editor on whom I plan to lean for geography, current events and general arcane knowledge. My others will be Darel Jevens and Jae-Ha Kim from the Sun-Times features staff, John Lavalie, a librarian friend in Des Plaines, and George Vass, an author and retired sportswriter and copy editor who is my backup on classical music, literature and history.
The animated Imax 3-D film “Alien Adventure” is about a lot of things, but plot isn’t one of them. Sure, it has a premise: A small tribe of space gypsies called the Glagoliths roam the universe in search of a new home. The leader of the Glags – a sadistic Jabba the Hutt type – sends out a team to evaluate a potential new home. But instead of landing in a real city, the soldiers encounter “Adventure Planet” – a high-tech amusement park not yet open to the public.
Come July 8, 12-year-old Allie Greenberg will be one of the first kids in Chicago to own the new Harry Potter book. Allie, who’ll be in seventh grade at the University of Chicago Lab School this fall, put her name on the pre-order list at Barbara’s Bookstore in Old Town, oh, a year ago.
Richard Hatch walked around naked, caught a lot of fish and got on a lot of people’s nerves before winning the million-dollar prize on “Survivor.” And Chicago’s gay community is loving all of the attention being lavished on a man one of his cast mates referred to as “Darth Gaydar.”
A decade of despair, the heroes of “Beverly Hills, 90210” have endured every kind of trauma possible.
Directing Gary Hobson wasn’t difficult for Kyle Chandler. After all, Chandler has played Hobson on the CBS series “Early Edition” for four years. What did present a challenge for Chandler was shooting scenes that centered on Gary, without being able to view himself in action as it happened.
It would be a fair assumption to say that the vocal male contingent at Britney Spears’ sold-out concert Wednesday night at Allstate Arena wanted her in a big way. Get in line buddies. The 18-year-old princess of pop is pen pals with Prince William and rumored to be setting up house with ‘N Sync hottie Justin Timberlake.
On their second album, “No Strings Attached,” the members of ‘N Sync get down and even a little dirty. But is that such a good idea? Do we really want to hear them shout out “Ho, ho, ho!” on the rambunctious “Just Got Paid,” and wonder if they’re repeating Santa’s mantra or are referring to that other kind of ‘ho?
You’d think that “Chicago”–which promises to tell the story of murder, greed, corruption, violence, exploitation, adultery and treachery–would be a bit of a downer. But throw in a Tony Award winning score by John Kander and Fred Ebb, some sexy choreography by Ann Reinking and a couple of celebs well-known to sitcom fans, and you have a musical in which the overall flashiness cloaks the underlying darkness of the play’s theme: That you’re only as important as your last 15 minutes of fame.
Let’s face it. Few bands break up and produce better groups for their ex-members. Judging by the Gas Giants’ concert Friday night at the Park West – as well as their recently released debut album, “From Beyond the Back Burner” – they don’t look like they’re going to disprove this theory.
It was Cirque du Cher Friday night at the Allstate Arena. How else can you describe a concert that incorporated a theatrical stage setup with flying dancers and costumes worthy of “The Road Warrior” and “Les Miserables”?
Former Chicagoan Bob Bass lost his chance to become a millionaire. And he wants a second shot at it. As a contestant on last week’s highly popular game show “Who Wants to be a Millionaire,” Bass was asked which U.S. president was the youngest at his inauguration. He answered John F. Kennedy. The show maintains that the correct answer is Theodore Roosevelt.
Move over, Cher. Minnie Mouse is in town, and she’s sporting a Bob Mackie gown that you’d die for. The beloved Disney character was just one of dozens Wednesday to glide into the Allstate Arena for the opening night of “Disney on Ice.” Classy ice shows usually are an oxymoron. But this production was a splendid affair, with gorgeous costumes, striking sets and a cast of skaters who did a formidable job of re-creating some of Disney’s best-known animated characters. Sure, there were some aborted jumps and falls that wouldn’t happen at competitive-level ice shows. But then again, those athletes don’t have to perform wearing rubber masks and cumbersome costumes.
Think of “Blue’s Clues Live!” as the “Rocky Horror Picture Show” for the preschool set. But instead of getting dressed up like transvestites and throwing things at the screen, the tiny tots at the Rosemont Theatre on Friday night clutched their stuffed animals and shouted out answers to puzzles as the performers acted out a charming stage adaptation of the popular Nickelodeon children’s show.
If you closed your eyes and just listened to the voice, it was easy enough to imagine that you were at an Elvis Presley concert Saturday night at the Rosemont Theatre. Heck, even after you opened your eyes, the simulation by Presley stylist Trent Carlini was so good that it was difficult not to get caught up in the hysteria that permeated the concert.
“You must be in touch with your emotions if you expect to touch others,” a teacher says early on in “Fame–the Musical.” Too bad the writers of the play didn’t follow this advice. The play, which opened Tuesday night at the Chicago Theatre, wasn’t much of an improvement from the production that rolled into town last year. Full of cliches and stereotypes, the musical lacked memorable, well, music.
To parphrase ZZ Top, the Rockettes have legs…and they know how to use them. So it’s not surprising that the 18 leggy dancers were the stars of the “Radio City Christmas Spectacular,” which opened Friday night at the Rosemont Theatre. Displaying no first-night jitters, the Rockettes lived up to showman Russell Markert’s dream of forming a chorus line that moved and behaved as one dancer.
Following on the multi-legged heels of Dreamworks’ often dark and somber computer animation debut “Antz,” “A Bug’s Life” is Disney’s colorful follow-up to its mega-blockbuster “Toy Story.” While it doesn’t have the wit or great performances of “Toy Story,” it’s amusing in its own right and the animation by Pixar is even more astounding.