Category: Reviews

`Tour of Duty’ actor Stephen Caffrey is ready to `die’ on TV

Jae-Ha Kim

Actor Stephen Caffrey was born in Cleveland, attended high school in five different states and now divides his time between Los Angeles and New York. But ask him where home is, and he’ll say Chicago. “My father was in a business that moved him around a lot, and as a result I was often uprooted,” Caffrey said. “The longest I’ve ever been in one place was the eight years I spent in Chicago. It’s hard to describe what bouncing around from place to place is like to people who haven’t experienced it. But eventually you end up just grabbing hold of home, and for me that’s Chicago.”

Linda Ronstadt and Hank Williams Jr.

Jae-Ha Kim

In the first of two Poplar Creek shows, Linda Ronstadt played to an enthusiastic, predominantly adult audience, of many of whom sang along with the Mexican lyrics she belted out in her inimitable, guttoral soprano. I got the impression that if she needed to, she could do just as well without the microphone. The tour is in support of her latest album, “Canciones de Mi Padre” (Songs of My Father). Subtitled “A Romantic Evening in Old Mexico,” the Poplar Creek show was the same production that played for three weeks on Broadway. The two-act revue was as much theater as it was a concert.

Lauralee Bell: TV’s `Restless’ daughter – Teen actress works for dad on CBS serial

Jae-Ha Kim

Being the young, blond, beautiful daughter of the executive producer for “The Young and the Restless” isn’t enough when an actress wants a job on the CBS soap opera. It pays to beg, said former Chicagoan Lauralee Bell. The 19-year-old TV star portrays high-fashion model Cricket Blair on the daytime drama.

Tonio K.

Jae-Ha Kim

Tonio K.’s latest album, “Notes From The Lost Civilization,” is a cohesive collection of songs. Utilizing the talents of his friends Sexton, Peter Case, Billy Vera, Booker T. Jones and T Bone Burnett, Tonio K. takes his music less seriously than critics who’ve at turns dubbed him a poet and a jester. K.’s music falls into a happy medium somewhere between serious art and giddy pop.

Rick Springfield nurtures new son – and a new album

Jae-Ha Kim

Many pop stars say music is the most important thing in their lives, but Rick Springfield put his beliefs and his career on the line when he took a self-imposed two-year break from the recording business
to reassess his priorities. “I think that of anything success has given me, alleviating the day-to-day money worries has got to be the greatest thing,” Springfield said. “I’ve been in the situation where I’ve had to scrimp to get together the rent and utility money. I know how hard it is, and I know how lucky I am now.”

`Emperor’ star Maggie Han has leg up on other actresses

Jae-Ha Kim

Maggie Han has a leg up on other actresses in Hollywood. While she waits for suitable acting roles, she doesn’t have to wait on tables to supplement her income. The Korean actress-model is the spokeswoman for L’eggs Shear Elegance pantyhose. “It’s nice to have that to fall back on,” Han said in a telephone interview from her Westwood, Calif., apartment.

Marlee Matlin

Jae-Ha Kim

Blessed with a simple, heartbreaking beauty, Marlee Matlin carries her star status with self-effacing humor. A native of Chicago’s northwest suburbs, Matlin presently lives in New York. Having lost her hearing at the age of 18 months, she was recently back in town to attend the creative arts festival at the Center on Deafness in Des Plaines where she had been a student.

Rockin’ Scots Hipsway will sway here

Jae-Ha Kim

“Somebody was saying that I was too tall to be a rock singer,” Grahame “Skin” Skinner said. “Actually, I didn’t sing in most of the groups I was in before because I didn’t think I had a good voice. I played a little guitar — very little. The theory goes that a baritone doesn’t reach his potential until he’s 35, so I’ve still got several years to ago. Then I can make my comeback.”

Pop star Paul Young is at home on tour

Jae-Ha Kim

During Paul Young’s last visit to the United States, he impaled himself onstage and was propositioned on national television. He’s still not sure which made him feel more uncomfortable. “I’m never quite sure when I’m being chatted up,” said the soulful British pop singer. On NBC’s “Tonight” show, actress Sonja Braga indicated she was interested in more than Young’s British accent. “I just sat there thinking, `This can’t be happening.’ It’s quite easy to flirt when you’re onstage, but in private, it’s a totally different situation.”

Rebecca Schaeffer — patient actress skips soap for bubbly `Sister Sam’ role

Jae-Ha Kim

While many would-be actresses would jump at the chance of nabbing a three-year contract on a television soap opera, Rebecca Schaeffer passed it up. “If I give you the real reason why I didn’t take it, I’m going to sound so cocky,” Schaeffer said during a break from working on her role in “My Sister Sam,” a CBS sitcom that airs at 7:30 p.m. Mondays on
WBBM-Channel 2. “But I got offered a role on `Loving’ within a couple of months after I had moved to New York. So I thought, if I got this so quickly, I might want to hold out for something that I really wanted to do.”

Patrick Francis Bishop wants recognition

Jae-Ha Kim

A lot of people are fooled by his name. Patrick Francis Bishop sounds about as American as you can get. But the Eurasian star of “General Hospital” considers himself more Asian than Caucasian. “I think it’s the same for most kids of mixed marriages,” Bishop said. “If a person’s half black and half white, society tends to think of him or her as black.”

Dolph Lundgren muscles his way to movie stardom

Jae-Ha Kim

Before he hit it big last year as the Russian boxer in “Rocky IV,” Dolph Lundgren was best known as the boyfriend of singer/actress Grace Jones. Today, the Swedish actor doesn’t have a steady girlfriend. He’s too busy starring in “Masters of the Universe” for Cannon Films.

Alyssa Milano discards image of tomboy kid on TV’s `Boss’

Jae-Ha Kim

Alyssa Milano has been acting for about half of her life. When you’re 13 years old, that’s not a long time. But the young actress already has starred opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger and John Gielgud. Television viewers may know her as the tomboy daughter on ABC’s popular “Who’s the Boss?” series. The sitcom, starring Tony Danza, airs at 7 p.m. Tuesdays on WLS-Channel 7.

Courteney Cox gets big break by dancing with `The Boss’

Jae-Ha Kim

People who recognize Courteney Cox remember her as the girl who danced with Bruce Springsteen in the “Dancing in the Dark” video. Although Cox did little more than look enthused and dance with “The Boss,” her 20 seconds of video exposure opened the door for her in Hollywood.

Acting is strained in `Self-Portrait’

Jae-Ha Kim

“Self-Portrait” has the makings of a good play: an interesting premise, dramatic lighting and softly lilting music. The problem lies with the actors. With the exception of Patricia Gallagher, the Zebra Theater actors seem to be concentrating too much on delivery and not enough on little details that would give their characters some depth. For instance, audience members sitting by the side of the stage could see that one character who was supposed to be playing the piano barely went through the motions.

Pegasus Players hit home with `For Colored Girls’

Jae-Ha Kim

“For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Is Enuf” is a beautiful and touching experience. It’s a play about being a black woman in today’s society, and it is done well by the Pegasus Players. The play, which opened to good reviews last April at the Edgewater Presbyterian Church, is currently running at CrossCurrents. The intimate atmosphere of the club suits the production. When the actresses speak, they are not reciting words to an estranged audience. They’re so close, and they look and talk directly at you. You feel as if you’re sitting in on an open confession. Some members of the audience even venture to talk back to the actresses. This doesn’t faze them one bit.