Chat with Courtney is less than fulfilling

Jae-Ha Kim

Courtney Thorne-Smith looks her usual perky, gorgeous self in the February issue of Shape. But the interview may as well not exist. In a pithy question and answer session with the “Ally McBeal” star, Celeste Fremon conducts a less-than-satisfactory interview. We learn that Thorne-Smith “spent years debating whether to get a boob reduction,” wishes that her arms were thinner and wakes up at 5:30 a.m. to run for an hour every day. And this would be interesting because . . . ?

“Fame–The Musical”

Jae-Ha Kim

“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.

Dumped woman strikes back

Jae-Ha Kim

The February issue of More contains a hilarious account of one woman’s revenge against a younger man who dumped her. “Romantic rejection is a staggering blow,” writes Benita Gold. “It rattles the self-esteem and can drive one to do strange and otherwise unthinkable things. Perhaps this explains why I pretended to my ex-boyfriend that I was dating Peter Jennings.”

`Left Eye’ speaks out on TLC rift

Jae-Ha Kim

You never know what you’re getting with TLC. In the January issue of Sister 2 Sister, Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes is quoted as saying, “I’m the creative force behind TLC.” That’s not even the best part. In the 12-page cover story, Lopes rebuts quotes her bandmates gave to another magazine, saying that she “doesn’t stick with us.”

`Joseph’ star Patrick Cassidy is at home in brotherly role

Jae-Ha Kim

Collaborating with brothers is nothing new to Patrick Cassidy, whose real-life siblings are former teen idols David and Shaun. But how about the six nephews of Donny Osmond, the singer whom many folks still associate with the starring role in “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat”?

‘Radio City Christmas Spectacular’ starring the Rockettes

Jae-Ha Kim

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.

“A Bug’s Life”

Jae-Ha Kim

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.