Morton finds directing to her liking
There are times when Amy Morton would rather not be directing_like when she perceives that her actors don’t like her. Never mind that it’s all in her head.
Category: Interviews
Visiting dignitary: Brian Liesegang
Brian Liesegang, front man for American Sunshine and former member of Nine Inch Nails and Filter, lives in Lincoln Park.
Spice Girls lose their heat
What the Spice Girls want–what they really, really want–is another hit album. But if early sales reports are any indication, their latest record “Forever” isn’t going to cut it.
CNN’s Shaw to retire
As a 12-year-old in 1952, Bernard Shaw already was honing the skills that would make him one of the country’s top journalists. With his polite demeanor, intelligence and persistence, the scrappy kid from Chicago finessed his way into the Democratic Party convention_a feat he repeated four years later.
Karen Duffy: Courage is model’s makeup
Karen Duffy is digging around her purse. She isn’t looking for lipstick, mints or a comb. She is looking for morphine. The raven-haired former MTV veejay suffers from sarcoidosis, an incurable disease that attacks the central nervous system.
A chop-socky novice learns from `Master’
Who would’ve thought that a turtle could go up against Jackie Chan and hold his own? Not long after battling evil as a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, former Chicagoan Ho-Sung Pak found himself playing the heavy opposite Jackie Chan in “The Legend of Drunken Master.”
Work of Jerry Garcia, the artist, hits the road
It’s fitting that the art of Jerry Garcia is on a national tour. After all, Garcia spent a good chunk of his life on the road with the Grateful Dead before he died of a heart attack Aug. 5, 1995.
Beatles made it better
We asked our readers to tell us which Beatles love song was the most romantic. We wanted to know, in 100 words or less, what special memories you might have attached to that song.
Of the many readers who entered, 10 of the best responses garnered copies of “The Beatles Anthology.” But the best and most charming entry came from Judy “Jude” Finkel of Chicago, who told us how “Hey Jude” brought her and her husband, Harvey, together.
Candace Bushnell: ‘Sex’ author in our city
Candace Bushnell is walking down Michigan Avenue smoking a Merit. She is chic, blond and a dead ringer for Peggy Lipton during her “Mod Squad” heyday. A woman walks by pushing a pram occupied by a tiny baby and an equally small dog. Bushnell sneaks a quick peek and says, “It makes me want to have a baby just so that I could accessorize it with a dog.”
Spotlight finds a Wallflower
“We did ‘Breach’ as quickly as we could,” says Jakob Dylan, phoning from Los Angeles last week. “The last record came out in 1996, but we were [on tour] until the middle of 1998. I was aware of a lot of time going by [between albums] and I wasn’t happy with that. I took some time off to rest when we got home from touring. But other than that, we got back to work right away.”
The new men of food: Tyler Florence, Bob Blumer
Back in the day, celebrity chefs started and ended with Julia Child and her messy but amusing style. But thanks to the advent of cable television in general and the Food Network in particular, the faces of a new breed of hot-shot chefs are becoming familiar. Joining the ranks of Emeril Lagasse, Ming Tsai and those poker-faced Iron Chefs are a couple of young guns–Tyler Florence and Bob Blumer.
What the Net surfers are saying
Here’s what the Internet buzz was Monday about Madonna’s “Music.” All spelling and grammar are as the fans intended:
Keanu Reeves: Not your everyday pop band
“The Watcher,” America’s No. 1 film, isn’t the the only project where Keanu Reeves shuns top billing.
He’s been doing it for years in the rock band Dogstar. The star of “The Matrix” is very aware that his status as an actor will overpower anything that his formidable band Dogstar accomplishes.
Fighting words
James Sie has Jackie Chan’s moves down pat. Vocally, anyhow. As Chan’s voice double in the animated series “Jackie Chan Adventures,” which will air at 10 a.m. Sundays on WCIU-Channel 26 starting this weekend, the former Chicago actor captures Chan’s energetic nuances so well that the casual listener would have a difficult time figuring out whether it was Chan or Sie doing the talking.
Christina Aguilera: Spanish disc on the way
Christina Aguilera, a former Mouseketeer, has set herself apart from the other blonds who have clambered onto radio’s playlists. Sure, former “New Mickey Mouse Club” co-castmate Britney Spears has sold more records. And Jessica Simpson’s climbing the charts, while Mandy Moore has her own show on MTV.
`New’ Beatles song on way
Thirty years after the Fab Four broke up, Paul McCartney has put together a “new” Beatles single. McCartney announced Tuesday that the new single, “Free Now,” offers snippets from the band’s recording sessions in the 1960s.
Radio Disney station is playing kids’ tunes
The song doesn’t always remain the same on Radio Disney. For instance, Lou Bega’s sexually charged “Mambo No. 5” was re-worked–with the artist’s cooperation–so that it is no longer about a string of one-night-stands, and now includes popular Disney characters such as Mickey Mouse and his girlfriend Minnie.
Take a seat, Slim
Will the real Slim Shady please shut up? That’s the request a Christina Aguilera clone raps on “No Reply.” Sung from Aguilera’s perspective, the parody of Eminem’s hit single “Real Slim Shady” is enjoying its 15 minutes of fame, thanks to a singer who sounds young enough to be Aguilera and some funny lyrics that mock the controversial rap star.
No Authority
Before No Authority, there was “Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery.” For Ricky G., anyhow. The 19-year-old member of the boy band No Authority had an acting career going for him before he decided to concentrate solely on the group. Under the stage name Ricky Felix (his mother’s maiden name), Ricky G. danced opposite Mike Myers in “Austin Powers” and appeared in Natalie Portman’s film “Anywhere But Here.”