Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider gave some lucky School of Rock students the thrill of a lifetime: jamming with a real-life rock legend! Snider, the '80s music icon who is currently shredding the Broadway stage as Dennis in Rock of Ages, joined the rock stars in training in a concert at the Gotham Comedy Club to raise awareness for the Children’s Miracle Network, an organization dedicated to raising funds for 170 children’s hospitals throughout North America. Snider led the band in Twisted Sister songs "I Wanna Rock" and "We're Not Gonna Take It," and the kids went on to perform a full Rock of Ages set, including "Sister Christian," "Here I Go Again" and "Don't Stop Believin'." Click on below to see photos of this Rock star mash-up!
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Light the Lights! Elf?s Sebastian Arcelus Has a Miracle on 34th Street as He Unveils Macy?s Christmas Display
The festively decorative windows at Macy’s are a New York holiday tradition and on November 18 the landmark department store welcomed a special guest to help unveil their glamorous light display. Who better than Buddy the Elf (Sebastian Arcelus), the star of the new Broadway holiday musical Elf, to kick off the holiday season! Arcelus (who even gets a job at Macy’s in the musical) showed up dressed in his character's bright green elf outfit to take in the magnificent decorations. He even got the audience to sing Christmas carols together before flipping the switch to illuminate the dazzling spectacle. Check out the fun!
Fiyero Face-Off! Catch Me If You Can Stars Norbert Leo Butz & Aaron Tveit Ready for a Wicked Showdown
It's Fiyero vs. Fiyero in the Broadway-bound musical Catch Me If You Can. In one corner is Tony winner Norbert Leo Butz, who originated the role of Fiyero in Wicked. He's duking it out with young hunk Aaron Tveit, who played the Wicked charmer in 2008. Together they will musically recreate the true story of con man Frank Abagnale Jr. on Broadway in April.
“It’s funny because they both played the same role in Wicked only a few years apart,” Catch Me composer Marc Shaiman told Broadway.com, adding that now the actors will play men of different generations in the new musical. Even though Butz's character is on the hunt to arrest Tveit (who plays Abagnale), he functions almost as a father figure to the clever criminal. “Norbert is entering the phase of playing [older parts], so it’s a little like when Anne Bancroft and Dustin Hoffman were in The Graduate and there was only a six-year difference,” Shaiman laughed.
So can we expect a Fiyero rivalry between Butz and Tveit? Nah.“They’re both huge fans of each other and even have the same manager," Shaiman revealed. "They’re both just so good ...
Secret History of Chicago Music: Algebra Suicide
"Laurie Anderson meets the Velvet Underground"
by Plastic Crimewave
by Plastic Crimewave
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Googling Dracula's Michel Altieri: New York's Next Bloodsucker Shows Some Skin Online
The announcement of a new off-Broadway production of Dracula got the fangbanger in us pretty excited, and we immediately checked to see who'd be playing the legendary vampire. There it was in the press release: Michel Altieri. Who? One Google search later and we knew exactly who the Italian musical theater star was, and were overloaded with sexy, near-nude photos of him. It seemed only fair to share them with the world. Enjoy...and see Altieri in the flesh at the Little Shubert Theatre starting December 14! (Find out more about the actor by visiting his website.)
Secret History of Chicago Music: Algebra Suicide
"Laurie Anderson meets the Velvet Underground"
by Plastic Crimewave
by Plastic Crimewave
Fiyero Face-Off! Catch Me If You Can Stars Norbert Leo Butz & Aaron Tveit Ready for a Wicked Showdown
It's Fiyero vs. Fiyero in the Broadway-bound musical Catch Me If You Can. In one corner is Tony winner Norbert Leo Butz, who originated the role of Fiyero in Wicked. He's duking it out with young hunk Aaron Tveit, who played the Wicked charmer in 2008. Together they will musically recreate the true story of con man Frank Abagnale Jr. on Broadway in April.
“It’s funny because they both played the same role in Wicked only a few years apart,” Catch Me composer Marc Shaiman told Broadway.com, adding that now the actors will play men of different generations in the new musical. Even though Butz's character is on the hunt to arrest Tveit (who plays Abagnale), he functions almost as a father figure to the clever criminal. “Norbert is entering the phase of playing [older parts], so it’s a little like when Anne Bancroft and Dustin Hoffman were in The Graduate and there was only a six-year difference,” Shaiman laughed.
So can we expect a Fiyero rivalry between Butz and Tveit? Nah.“They’re both huge fans of each other and even have the same manager," Shaiman revealed. "They’re both just so good ...
Morning Art: Sergio Gomez
Vertigo, a painting by Sergio Gomez, part of Presence Absence, a show with Mark Zlotkowski opening Sun 11/21, 3-5 PM, at Noyes Cultural Arts Center, 927 Noyes, Evanston, 847-488-8260.
[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]
Source: http://www.chicagoreader.com/TheBlog/archives/2010/11/19/morning-art-sergio-gomez
Did Our Word of Mouth Panel Find Pleasure in the Big and Bawdy A Free Man of Color?
Big themes? A Free Man of Color tackles them in spades: the history of New Orleans, the effect of the Louisiana Purchase, the origins of slavery, racial politics—plus a central character who is irresistible to every women he meets. Playwright John Guare and director George C. Wolfe blend this spicy theatrical stew for Lincoln Center Theater’s latest Broadway production, which opened on November 18, starring Jeffrey Wright. Broadway.com sent Word of Mouth panelists Morgan, Ameil and David to the Vivian Beaumont Theater to check out the play. Did they find this Free Man irresistible, too?
Thou Anointeth My Head With Acid
New York Times, June 23, 1907. Armed with “squirt guns” full of acid, the bourgeoisie of Alliance, Ohio, terrorizes a camp meeting of glossolaliac holy rollers. Why?…
[ Read more ]
[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]
Source: http://www.chicagoreader.com/TheBlog/archives/2010/11/18/thou-anointeth-my-head-with-acid
Taser used on girl at Northwest Side high school
A Chicago police officer trying to stop a fight this afternoon between three female students at Kelvyn Park High School stunned one of them with a Taser gun when the fight got out of hand, police said.
Police responded to the fight, which initially involved two of the students inside the Northwest Side high school, 4343 W. Wrightwood Ave., about 1:35 p.m.
Police were trying to quell the disturbance when the third student got involved, police said. An officer then used a Taser on one of the three.
The student was taken to an area hospital to be checked out, but she and the two others were also detained by police after the incident.
--Staff report
Secret History of Chicago Music: Algebra Suicide
"Laurie Anderson meets the Velvet Underground"
by Plastic Crimewave
by Plastic Crimewave
Thou Anointeth My Head With Acid
New York Times, June 23, 1907. Armed with “squirt guns” full of acid, the bourgeoisie of Alliance, Ohio, terrorizes a camp meeting of glossolaliac holy rollers. Why?…
[ Read more ]
[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]
Source: http://www.chicagoreader.com/TheBlog/archives/2010/11/18/thou-anointeth-my-head-with-acid
Morning Art: Yvonne Domenge
Tabachion Ribbon, by Yvonne Domenge, part of Studio Translations, a show of her work opening Fri 11/19, 6 PM, at the Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington, 312-744-6630.
[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]
Source: http://www.chicagoreader.com/TheBlog/archives/2010/11/18/morning-art-yvonne-domenge
Casting Announced for Spelling Bee and Moonlight at London?s Donmar Warehouse
London's Donmar Warehouse has announced the cast of its British premiere production of The 25th Annual County Spelling Bee and additional casting for its revival of Harold Pinter’s tragic comedy Moonlight.
The 25th Annual County Spelling Bee, the musical about word-obsessed, lovable misfits, will begin performances February 11, 2011 and open on February 21 opening. Donmar Associate Director Jamie Lloyd will helm a cast that includes Chris Carswell (Leaf Coneybear/Carl Dad), David Flynn (William Barfee), Hayley Gallivan (Olive Ostrovksy), Harry Hepple (Chip Tolentino/Jesus), Katherine Kingsley (Rona Lisa Perretti/Olive's Mum), Maria Lawson (Marcy Park), Ako Mitchell (Mitch Mahoney/Dan Dad/Olive's Dad), Steve Pemberton (Vice Principal Douglas Panch) and Iris Roberts (Logainne Schwatzandgrubenniere).
Spelling Bee garnered six Tony Award nominations when it bowed on Broadway in 2005, including Best Musical, a Best Score nod for composer William Finn and a win for bookwriter Rachel Sheinkin.
Bijan Sheibani will direct the previously announced David Bradley in Harold Pinter’s Moonlight. Joining Bradley in this tragic comedy of family dysfunction will be Deborah Findlay as Bel and Daniel Mays as Jake.
Findlay is currently appearing on the London stage as Amanda Wingfield in The Glass Menagerie ...
Friday, November 19, 2010
Sarah Lancashire and Reece Shearsmith Gaze Toward Betty Blue Eyes in the West End
Sarah Lancashire and Reece Shearsmith will star in Betty Blue Eyes, a new musical adaptation of Alan Bennett and Malcolm Mowbray's film A Private Function. Directed by Richard Eyre, the show and features a score by George Stiles and Anthony Drewe and book by Ron Cowen and Daniel Lipman. The production will begin performances on March 19, 2011 at the West End's Novello Theatre.
Lancashire, who will play Joyce, last appeared on the West End in Guys and Dolls. Her many TV credits include Coronation Street, Clocking Off, Cherised, Five Daughters and Skins. Shearsmith will take on the role of Gilbert. His West End credits include The Producers, Art and Ghost Stories. He has appead on TV's The League of Gentlemen and Psychoville.
Betty Blue Eyes takes place in post-WWII England as the country works to rebuild itself and looks toward the upcoming wedding of Princess Elizabeth. A release for the production describes the show as "Belts are being tightened and the country’s long suffering citizens are being told by the government that there will be fair shares for all in return for surviving Austerity Britain. Meanwhile local officials feather their own nests by taking far ...
Will Gavin Creel Make Magic in a Broadway Pippin Revival?
Will Gavin Creel head back to Broadway in the the first-ever revival of Pippin? After a successful reading, starring Creel in the title role, it looks like Tony-nominated director Diane Paulus will reunite with her Hair headliner for a Broadway production of the Stephen Schwartz tuner during the 2012-2013 season.
The reading, which was presented by producers Barry and Fran Weissler, also featured Natalie Cortez as Catherine, Jayne Houdyshell as the Old Lady and Tracie Thoms as the Leading Player (a role traditionally played by a man). Paulus hopes to do a workshop of the musical in New York next year followed by a full-scale production at Cambridge's ART (where she is artistic director) before bringing the show to Broadway.
Pippin tells the story of a young prince who flees his kingdom, but returns to take down his tyrant father.
Featuring a score by Schwartz and book by Roger O. Hirson and the late Bob Fosse, Pippin opened on Broadway on October 18, 1972 at the Imperial Theatre. John Rubinstein lead the cast which featured Ben Vereen, Irene Ryan and Jill Clayburgh. After transferring to the Minskoff Theatre in 1977, the show closed after 1944 performances. The musical received ...
Source: http://www.broadway.com/buzz/154355/will-gavin-creel-make-magic-in-a-broadway-pippin-revival/
Chicago cop acquitted of beating man in '07
A Chicago police officer was acquitted today of federal charges that he beat a man during an arrest three years ago.
Craig Swistowicz, a 14-year veteran, was assigned to a federal task force in 2007 when he and other agents raided a South Side garage.
Swistowicz was later charged after the government alleged that he beat suspect Jose Parra during the arrest. He was charged with using unreasonable force by striking the suspect, breaking his nose and causing other facial injuries.
Swistowicz argued that Parra had a gun in his waistband and was resisting arrest when he struck him, said Michael A. Ficaro, Swistowicz's attorney. Parra was later convicted of drug trafficking, he said.
A jury returned the verdict following an eight-day trial, Ficaro said. Swistowicz has been assigned to desk duty since he was stripped of police powers in 2008 over the allegations and will likely remain there while the Independent Police Review Authority conducts its own investigation, Ficaro said. IPRA investigates allegations of excessive force by Chicago police officers.
But the officer, who has worked in the Chicago Lawn District as well as on gang and intelligence teams, hopes to return to the same kind of work, Ficaro said.
"I think he would still want to do what is the most significant police work he is capable of doing,'' Ficaro said. "He will want to be running through doors going after bad guys.''
-- Annie Sweeney
Craig Swistowicz, a 14-year veteran, was assigned to a federal task force in 2007 when he and other agents raided a South Side garage.
Swistowicz was later charged after the government alleged that he beat suspect Jose Parra during the arrest. He was charged with using unreasonable force by striking the suspect, breaking his nose and causing other facial injuries.
Swistowicz argued that Parra had a gun in his waistband and was resisting arrest when he struck him, said Michael A. Ficaro, Swistowicz's attorney. Parra was later convicted of drug trafficking, he said.
A jury returned the verdict following an eight-day trial, Ficaro said. Swistowicz has been assigned to desk duty since he was stripped of police powers in 2008 over the allegations and will likely remain there while the Independent Police Review Authority conducts its own investigation, Ficaro said. IPRA investigates allegations of excessive force by Chicago police officers.
But the officer, who has worked in the Chicago Lawn District as well as on gang and intelligence teams, hopes to return to the same kind of work, Ficaro said.
"I think he would still want to do what is the most significant police work he is capable of doing,'' Ficaro said. "He will want to be running through doors going after bad guys.''
-- Annie Sweeney
Daley appoints housing lender to run city development dept.
Mayor Richard Daley announced today he has appointed the executive director of an affordable housing lender to run a newly formed city development department.
Andrew J. Mooney will be the interim head of the new Department of Housing and Economic Development, which Daley created by consolidating the City's Department of Community Development and the Department of Zoning and Land Use Planning.
Read more in Clout Street.
Andrew J. Mooney will be the interim head of the new Department of Housing and Economic Development, which Daley created by consolidating the City's Department of Community Development and the Department of Zoning and Land Use Planning.
Read more in Clout Street.
Naperville wants every resident (all 145,000) in holiday card
Naperville's annual holiday card usually features a familiar location from the city -- the Riverwalk, the Carillion or another easily recognizable staple of the western suburb.
This year, the card that's sent to the likes of President Obama, Mayor Daley and neighboring municipalities will showcase the citizens of Naperville -- and everyone's invited.
Read more in TribLocal
This year, the card that's sent to the likes of President Obama, Mayor Daley and neighboring municipalities will showcase the citizens of Naperville -- and everyone's invited.
Read more in TribLocal
Savage Love: November 18, 2010
Does being into trans women make a guy gay?
by Dan Savage
Q I've been married for 16 years and have three children. My marriage isn't the best, nor is the sex.…
by Dan Savage
Q I've been married for 16 years and have three children. My marriage isn't the best, nor is the sex.…
[ Read more ]
Early Warnings Roundup
This week's batch of Early Warnings will probably be the last healthy crop before the end of the year, and it's an impressive one. Big names include indie-pop darlings the Decemberists with Baltimore duo Wye Oak, Celtic-punk phenomenon Dropkick Murphys with Against Me!, Swedish singer Lykke Li, postpunk pioneers Wire, and Norwegian black-metal legends Immortal.…
[ Read more ]
[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]
Source: http://www.chicagoreader.com/TheBlog/archives/2010/11/18/early-warnings-roundup
Tackle This! Player Bill Dawes Hosts an Exclusive Video Visit to Lombardi's Locker Room
With the fall gridiron season going strong, Broadway.com decided to check in on the Great White Way's own football friendly drama, Lombardi. Bill Dawes, who plays the show's charming quarterback Paul Hornung, invited our camera backstage at Circle in the Square Theatre to give fans a guided tour of the Lombardi locker room, er, dressing rooms. Watch as the hilarious and friendly Dawes gets into some locker room talk with co-stars Dan Lauria and Judith Light, catches his pal Robert Christopher Riley in a compromising situation and shows off his impeccable pool shooting skills. Let's go to videotape!
Thou Anointeth My Head With Acid
New York Times, June 23, 1907. Armed with “squirt guns” full of acid, the bourgeoisie of Alliance, Ohio, terrorizes a camp meeting of glossolaliac holy rollers. Why?…
[ Read more ]
[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]
Source: http://www.chicagoreader.com/TheBlog/archives/2010/11/18/thou-anointeth-my-head-with-acid
Will Kelsey Grammer be the next 'Boss' of Chicago?
Cable TV's Starz channel has ordered eight episodes of "Boss," a drama series that will star Kelsey Grammer -- best known for his work on the comedies "Frasier" and "Cheers" -- as a powerful Chicago mayor, Daily Variety reports.
Filmmaker Gus Van Sant will direct the series pilot with some shooting to take place in Chicago.
Read more HERE on Tower Ticker.
Will Kelsey Grammer be the next 'Boss' of Chicago?
Cable TV's Starz channel has ordered eight episodes of "Boss," a drama series that will star Kelsey Grammer -- best known for his work on the comedies "Frasier" and "Cheers" -- as a powerful Chicago mayor, Daily Variety reports.
Filmmaker Gus Van Sant will direct the series pilot with some shooting to take place in Chicago.
Read more HERE on Tower Ticker.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Residents share worries over cancer cluster fears
More than 100 residents poured in to the McCullom Lake Village Hall this week after a crushing development in a court case that many had hoped would resolve once and for all whether a nearby chemical plant had polluted the water and air, causing dozens of their friends and neighbors to develop brain tumors.
In all, 32 separate claims were filed against the chemical company. But recently, a judge in a Philadelphia courtroom abruptly halted the first of the cases to go to trial and sent the jury home, reserving harsh words for the expert witness whose report had tried to show the cancers were somehow linked.
Margaret Boyer, a longtime resident of the tiny McHenry County community, voiced the fears of many when she said, "We'll never find out how this story ends."
Some who gathered Wednesday night tried to channel their disappointment as they discussed the offer by the Philadelphia-based chemical company, Rohm and Haas, to pay $100,000 to have more than 300 wells tested and evaluated beginning next month. Although wary of the company's intentions, many admitted they were desperate. If they couldn't get an answer in court, maybe the independent testing of their wells could provide one.
"The residents are all in fear," said Terry Counley, the village president. "We have this black cloud over the village. Between the economy and the brain cancer, it's very hard to sell a house here."
Even if a buyer comes forward, it doesn't guarantee a sale. About a month ago, an appraiser attached a newspaper story about the possible cancer cluster with the appraisal report to the bank, and the financing fell though, Counley said. It wasn't the first time.
The shock waves from the legal setback in Philadelphia continue to ripple through McCullom Lake, where some residents wonder if a forgetful moment or a twitching leg will end with a diagnosis of brain cancer.
Of the claims of those who lived or worked around McCullom Lake, 18 contracted malignant brain tumors, 13 contracted benign brain tumors and one developed liver problems, documents show.
The judge who stopped the trial last month said he will soon either declare a mistrial or rule in favor of Rohm and Haas. The case involved a widow suing on her husband's behalf after he and his two next-door neighbors were all diagnosed with rare forms of malignant brain cancer within a year of each other.
The suit alleges that the company spilled, leaked and dumped highly toxic chemicals into the soil and groundwater for more than five decades.
But some McCullom Lake residents who remain healthy after years of living in the community say they don't believe cancer-causing chemicals invaded their village. They are sympathetic but say they just haven't seen the evidence. Others have resigned themselves to the possibility.
"(I'm) up there in age, and if brain cancer doesn't get (me), something else will," said 76-year-old Eireen Rybak, who has lived for more than two decades in the same house overlooking the lake.
"It would be a comfort to know either way," Rybak acknowledged.
McCullom Lake, population 1,200, has one restaurant (All Sports Bar & Grill) and six main streets. It's overwhelmingly white and blue collar. Neighbors know each other and let their kids play together on the park's green plastic alligator and grassy field.
The glistening, 245-acre McCullom Lake is the crown jewel of the town originally meant as a vacation destination for Chicagoans looking for a close getaway.
Dave Post, a retired truck driver, has lived in the village for 22 years. Like others, he worries he can't sell his house.
Post, 52, followed the trial in hope of finding out if there truly is a higher risk of contracting cancer in the village where he raised his two daughters.
"My neighbor two doors down died of the small brain cancer," he said.
On a recent afternoon, he stood in his backyard, his eyes squinting in the sun as he struggled to remember the name of a movie.
"Yeah, 'Erin Brockovich.' This is kind of like that," he said triumphantly of the film, based on a true story about a legal secretary who exposed a utility company that contaminated the water of a small California town.
Rohm and Haas officials insist their plant in nearby Ringwood hasn't tainted the water. An 8.2-acre chemical waste pit was in use on the site from 1959 to 1977, but it has since been closed.
The lawsuit alleges that vinyl chloride seeped into the water supply and caused the tumors. Although the company acknowledges the presence of an underground contamination plume, it asserts it has not reached private or public water supplies. Officials have previously said vinyl chloride has not been detected in the drinking water.
Rohm and Haas, a subsidiary of Dow Chemical Co., has been working with the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency to clean up toxic chemicals on the site since 1991, and a 2009 letter from the state EPA states that "no potable water supply wells are currently at risk from the groundwater contamination."
In stating there was no connection between cancers and their plant, Rohm and Haas has previously cited reports from the McHenry County Health Department, the Illinois Department of Public Health, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
But attorneys for the residents took issue with the findings. The judge in the case had ruled the McHenry County Health Department report -- which stated that an environmental analysis didn't support evidence of a cancer cluster -- and statements from a handful of other public agencies were inadmissible because they looked at the larger population instead of the McCullom Lake subset.
Citing a gag order by the judge, a spokeswoman for Rohm and Haas declined comment.
Although the residents' attorney, Aaron Freiwald, said he couldn't discuss specifics of the case, he argued that there was "no doubt based on the facts that there is a brain cancer cluster in McCullom Lake."
During the hearing last month, the judge had called the expert testimony by Richard Neugebauer, the Columbia University scientist hired by the plaintiffs, "tantamount to being fraudulent," according to court transcripts. Neugebauer had made a number of changes to his report alleging the existence of a cancer cluster.
The modifications were so egregious, the judge said, he couldn't allow him to continue his testimony. Neugebauer described it as "a misunderstanding" and said the changes didn't affect the validity of his report.
The trial's sudden conclusion didn't shake Sandy Wierschke's conviction that the water and air caused her glioblastoma, a rare form of brain cancer. She and her husband, Tim, had made the grueling drive to Philadelphia for opening statements.
"They must think we're idiots, that people are going to believe that it's a coincidence," said Tim Wierschke, 61, who owns a bowling pro shop in Crystal Lake. "This many brain cancers in this little community."
Every few minutes, Sandy Wierschke, 48, adjusts her crooked glasses. The right temple had to be removed when it would no longer fit over the lump that starts in the middle of her head and juts all the way down to her ear. Her
life is reflected in two cardboard boxes in her living room -- one filled with old bowling trophies and the other with empty pill bottles. She is eager for her day in court.
"They just have to admit that they did wrong," she said.
Her daughter, Stephanie, has put off going to college so she can help take care of her mother.
At 22, she has her mother's blue eyes, the same blond locks. And since her mother's cancer diagnosis, she can't bear to imagine a life without her.
Her eyes fill with tears before she gets a single word out.
"I try to have a positive attitude about it, but after four years, it's kind of hard to stay positive," she says.
She worries that her mother won't be around for her wedding or for the birth of her children.
By now, she's sobbing, gasping for air between words.
"Mostly, I'm scared that she's not going to be around in the future, to see me grow up," she said.
Tribune correspondent Terry Ganey contributed to this report.
This Week's Food and Drink Events
A bee forum, a pig roast, a Jewish-French luncheon, and more.
[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]
Source: http://www.chicagoreader.com/TheBlog/archives/2010/11/18/this-weeks-food-and-drink-events
Glee Fans Charmed By Kid Version of Cast
Glee scored quite the guest star this week when Oscar winner Gwyneth Paltrow showed up as a substitute teacher at McKinley High. With Holly reinvigorating the teens' passion for performing, there were plenty of great moments in the episode. We asked viewers to vote for which song or plot point they found most awesome, and the winner was a segment that featured the glee clubbers as very young children. The scene, in which a flu-ridden Mr. Schuester hallucinated his students as younger versions of themselves, scored 27% of votes.
Second place, with 20% of votes, went to the episode's closing number, continuing Glee's tradition of mashing up two songs into one stunning performance. Armed with plenty of umbrellas and gracing a wet stage, the club took on one of Mr. Schuester's favorite songs, "Singin' in the Rain," and combined it with radio hit "Umbrella" by Rihanna.
Paltrow got to show off her pipes by kicking off the episode with a soulful rendition of current chart topper "Forget You" by Cee Lo. The performance landed in third place with 15% of votes.
Thanks for voting, and watch the video below for more cuteness!
Source: http://www.broadway.com/buzz/154332/glee-fans-charmed-by-kid-version-of-cast/
Glee Fans Charmed By Kid Version of Cast
Glee scored quite the guest star this week when Oscar winner Gwyneth Paltrow showed up as a substitute teacher at McKinley High. With Holly reinvigorating the teens' passion for performing, there were plenty of great moments in the episode. We asked viewers to vote for which song or plot point they found most awesome, and the winner was a segment that featured the glee clubbers as very young children. The scene, in which a flu-ridden Mr. Schuester hallucinated his students as younger versions of themselves, scored 27% of votes.
Second place, with 20% of votes, went to the episode's closing number, continuing Glee's tradition of mashing up two songs into one stunning performance. Armed with plenty of umbrellas and gracing a wet stage, the club took on one of Mr. Schuester's favorite songs, "Singin' in the Rain," and combined it with radio hit "Umbrella" by Rihanna.
Paltrow got to show off her pipes by kicking off the episode with a soulful rendition of current chart topper "Forget You" by Cee Lo. The performance landed in third place with 15% of votes.
Thanks for voting, and watch the video below for more cuteness!
Source: http://www.broadway.com/buzz/154332/glee-fans-charmed-by-kid-version-of-cast/
Turkey Service
Restaurants offering Thanksgiving dinner—to stay or to go
Restaurants offering both dine-in and carryout are denoted by a s Aja The restaurant in the Dana Hotel offers a three-course prix fixe menu: an arugula salad, turkey with stuffing, and a choice of apple-ginger crumble or pumpkin upside-down cake.…
Restaurants offering both dine-in and carryout are denoted by a s Aja The restaurant in the Dana Hotel offers a three-course prix fixe menu: an arugula salad, turkey with stuffing, and a choice of apple-ginger crumble or pumpkin upside-down cake.…
[ Read more ]
Secret History of Chicago Music: Algebra Suicide
"Laurie Anderson meets the Velvet Underground"
by Plastic Crimewave
by Plastic Crimewave
NU project to clear inmates faces ethics probe
Northwestern University journalism professor David Protess and his student reporters have shifted the course of Illinois legal history, helping to rescue innocent men from death row and influence former Gov. George Ryan's decision to halt executions.
Protess, the founder and public face of the Medill Innocence Project, is a media celebrity who co-wrote a book on a local murder case that was turned into a made-for-television movie.
Now the Innocence Project's methods are under scrutiny by its own university and Cook County prosecutors, who say the students crossed legal and ethical lines while investigating a decades-old murder.
Prosecutors -- so often the antagonists in the Innocence Project's story -- said in court Wednesday that students working on the investigation secretly recorded a witness, a practice prohibited under most circumstances in Illinois.
Northwestern has hired a former U.S. attorney to look into the project's investigation of the hotly contested case as well as other potential ethical violations by Protess and his students, sources said Wednesday.
Protess confirmed that there had been a secret recording made, but he denied that the investigation by high-powered attorney Anton Valukas is focusing on ethical violations. Northwestern spokesman Alan Cubbage said the university will review all the program's policies and procedures, including any use of a recording device. The university doesn't condone any class exercise that violates state law, Cubbage said.
State's Attorney Anita Alvarez said in a written statement that the recording revelation raises "serious legal and ethical questions about the methods that the professor and his students employed during their investigation."
Though he said he didn't authorize the recording, Protess said he doesn't think the students violated state law because they were wired so a nearby private investigator could listen in and intervene in case of trouble.
Protess said that since he learned of the recording, he has feared the wiretapping issue would create a distraction from his project's aim -- to add Anthony McKinney to the list of more than 10 inmates freed from prison with students' help.
"I was right, and I'm not happy about being right," he said.
McKinney was convicted of killing security guard Donald Lundahl with a shotgun in Harvey in 1978, and Protess' students' attempts to establish his innocence have fueled a running battle with prosecutors over the project's information-gathering tactics.
While the students and university-affiliated lawyers are pushing for a new trial, prosecutors have accused students of improperly paying witnesses. Protess has denied students made any ethically questionable payments. More than a year ago, prosecutors subpoenaed students' notes and grades, generating a storm of controversy. Wednesday's filing was part of a status hearing on that case.
More recently, a lawyer abruptly withdrew as Protess' lawyer in the case when he discovered not all the documents had been turned over to the state's attorney's office as promised.
According to an internal Innocence Project memo obtained by the Tribune, students went downstate in May 2004 to interview a man they believed might have been involved in Lundahl's killing. The students were concerned about the "possibility of bodily harm" by the man, described in the memo as a convicted killer, because they planned to confront him with audio-recorded accounts from people who blamed him for Lundahl's murder, according to the memo.
As one of the students wore a wire, the Innocence Project's private investigator, Sergio Serritella, listened to the interview in his car, ready to aid the students if necessary, the memo said. The man acted "erratically," pacing and raising his voice, then demanding money, after which Serritella started recording the conversation, according to the memo.
The Innocence Project-affiliated lawyer who wrote the memo in 2006, Rebekah Wanger, wrote that she didn't think the students violated the state's eavesdropping statute because the law exempts recordings made with "reasonable suspicion" the recorded party will commit a crime against the recording party on tape.
Wanger concluded the students didn't violate the law, but she noted that she didn't think the exemption had been tested in the courts.
Assistant State's Attorney Celeste Stack said it was unlikely criminal charges would be filed over the recording, because the statute of limitations has passed.
A second recording involving a cell phone took place in Wisconsin, which has less restrictive eavesdropping laws than Illinois, Protess said.
Protess said Serritella made the call to record the interview, and the professor said he was upset with the private investigator about that decision. Protess said he asked for the legal opinion after attorneys from the Northwestern University Law School's Center on Wrongful Convictions asked questions about the recordings. But that was about two years after the recording occurred, he said.
Serritella's lawyer, Thomas Breen, said he believes the recordings were legal, but his reasoning won't likely be printed on any brochures for the Medill School of Journalism.
"It was an exceptional, very dangerous mission these students were on," Breen said.
That "dangerous mission" troubles media ethicists.
An experienced investigative reporter might understand and accept the legal consequences and safety risks of secretly taping a convicted murderer as he or she is confronted with unpleasant allegations, but a student shouldn't be asked to take that assignment, said Stephen Ward, a journalism ethics professor at the University of Wisconsin at Madison.
Harvard University media ethics professor Alex S. Jones compared the situation to deploying student journalists to a combat zone.
"This is not student stuff," he said. "This is dealing with murderers."
Cubbage, the Northwestern spokesman, said that if Medill was allowing students to go into dangerous situations, "it is clearly a matter of concern."
Lucy Dalglish, executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, said any project as ambitious as this one merits the consultation of lawyers, but she disagreed on the danger factor.
"It's a really paternalistic attitude in a country where we expect young people to do all sorts of dangerous things," said Dalglish, a supporter of the program.
Medill Innocence Project students have spent the last 11 years fighting prosecutors for the freedom of prisoners, but the McKinney case has turned into an epic battle over the law and journalistic ethics. Knowing the project's audacious mission -- which brings it into frequent conflict with the state's system of justice and punishment -- Dalglish said she isn't surprised to see the project besieged.
"I'm actually surprised that something like this hadn't happened already."
Lisa Black contributed to this report.
-- Matthew Walberg and Dan Hinkel
Long-Running Comic Thriller The 39 Steps Sets Off-Broadway Closing Date
The off-Broadway production of Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps has set a closing date of January 16, 2011. The show will have played 23 previews and 318 performances at New World Stages after a two-year Broadway run and a total of more than 1,100 performances in New York City.
Adapted from the 1935 Hitchcock film thriller by Patrick Barlow and directed by Maria Aitken, The 39 Steps features a cast of four actors who reenact all of the characters, locations and famous scenes in the movie using just a few props and a lot of theatrical ingenuity and split second quick changes.
After beginning life in London, where it is still running, The 39 Steps received its American premiere in September 2007 at the Huntington Theatre Company in Boston. The show moved to the Roundabout Theatre Company’s American Airlines Theatre on January 4, 2008, transferred to the Cort Theatre on April 29, 2008, and then to the Helen Hayes Theatre on January 21, 2009. After closing on Broadway on January 10, 2010, The 39 Steps moved to New World Stages, where it has been playing since March 25, 2010.
The cast currently includes John Behlmann as Richard ...
Take a Walk Down Wintuk Way with Cirque du Soleil
As the holiday season blows into New York City, Cirque du Soleil is ready to unleash its visually stunning extravaganza Wintuk for its final season. On November 17, the day of their first performance, the elaborately costumed cast of the winter-themed family spectacle headed to Manhattan’s 33rd Street to unveil a sign welcoming theatergoers heading into the Theater at Madison Square Garden to "Wintuk Way." Click on below to take a look at the winter wonderland below!
Source: http://www.broadway.com/shows/wintuk/buzz/154326/take-a-walk-down-wintuk-way-with-cirque-du-soleil/
Bohemia in Berwyn
At Czech Plaza, you can have dumplings with anything you damn well please.
by Mike Sula
At Berwyn's Czech Plaza, when someone orders dumplings with the breaded pork tenderloin, the waitresses don't bat an eye. "We're like, 'Sure, of course!'" says Zdenka Manetti.…
by Mike Sula
At Berwyn's Czech Plaza, when someone orders dumplings with the breaded pork tenderloin, the waitresses don't bat an eye. "We're like, 'Sure, of course!'" says Zdenka Manetti.…
[ Read more ]
Motorcade to honor fallen Arlington Hts. Marine
Hundreds are expected to line the streets of Arlington Heights Thursday as the remains of fallen Marine James Stack are returned to his hometown.
A motorcade of police, honor guards and patriotic motorcycle groups are to escort Stack's body as it makes its way to Glueckert Funeral Home, 1520 N. Arlington Heights Road, Arlington Heights, where a visitation is scheduled to take place from 2 to 9 p.m. on Friday.
Stack, 20, was killed in action in Afghanistan on Nov. 10.
Read more in TribLocal.
If Thanksgiving Is a Drag . . .
Head on down to the Big Tranny Hootenanny. Plus: the return of Telefon Tel Aviv, ax theft at the airport, new offerings at the Chicago School of Guitar Making, and more
by Jessica Hopper
The newest installment of the DJ-Kicks dance mix series, by Berlin producer Sascha Ring (aka Apparat), features the first new music from Telefon Tel Aviv since the passing of cofounder Charlie Cooper in early 2009. The track, "Lengthening Shadows," is also featured on Sayulita, an EP Apparat released in conjunction with the mix on !K7 Records.…
by Jessica Hopper
The newest installment of the DJ-Kicks dance mix series, by Berlin producer Sascha Ring (aka Apparat), features the first new music from Telefon Tel Aviv since the passing of cofounder Charlie Cooper in early 2009. The track, "Lengthening Shadows," is also featured on Sayulita, an EP Apparat released in conjunction with the mix on !K7 Records.…
[ Read more ]
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Beatles for Sale
As you may already know, Apple's big iTunes-related announcement this morning had nothing to do with the iTunes update that went live over the weekend, which consisted largely of stronger implementation of its wireless AirPlay streaming and Twitter integration for Apple's music-oriented social network, Ping (probably great news for the seven or eight people who actually use Ping but not exactly earthshaking for the rest of us). The most popular pre-announcement theory, that the Beatles catalog was finally going to be sold digitally—and that iTunes would be doing the honors exclusively, at least for a little while—turned out to be correct.…
[ Read more ]
[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]
Source: http://www.chicagoreader.com/TheBlog/archives/2010/11/16/beatles-for-sale
City Council OKs Daley's no-tax-hike budget
Mayor Richard Daley on Wednesday easily won City Council approval of his final budget, a record-high spending plan balanced by drawing down dwindling reserves instead of the deep cuts critics say are needed to maintain the city's financial health.
The $6.15 billion budget includes no new taxes, fees or fines -- a key selling point when all 50 City Council seats are on the ballot in February's municipal election. Aldermen voted 43-7 to approve the mayor's plan with no major changes.
"My concern is, what are we leaving our next mayor with this budget," Ald. Brendan Reilly, 42nd, one of the few to vote no, said during the debate. "It's an election-year budget. We're kicking the can down the road."
Daley announced he would not seek a record seventh term even as he was formulating his budget plans this fall, so it's unclear whether his traditional iron grip on the council would have won the day if he had proposed a lame-duck plan that raised taxes or made deep cuts.
"We have not kicked the can," he said. "We have not placed whoever the mayor is in a difficult position."
The mayor said the city expects to have a $576 million reserve fund at the end of next year, even after steep revenue declines in recent years. "I believe we have protected the city in the future," he said. "We're very proud of what we accomplished, dealing with this difficult economy."
Ald. Carrie Austin, 34th, who chairs the Budget Committee, praised the plan. "People are really, truly hurting, and they do not need additional taxes," she said.
But in a high-level acknowledgement that the city's financial condition is precarious, Austin and Ald. Edward Burke chose Wednesday to propose a $1 surcharge on all city cab rides to "shore up future city deficits."
"Our taxicab fares in Chicago are less than most of the major cities in America, and it seems to me to be a painless, easy way to generate about $70 million (a year) that we sorely need," said Burke, 14th, chairman of the Finance Committee.
Burke also proposed a $400 daily "environmental impact fee" on all incoming diesel commuter trains to raise $36 million a year, but said the moves were not indications that he anticipates a deficit next year.
To close a 2011 revenue shortfall once projected to approach $655 million, the city will draw down $288 million in reserves created with the long-term leases of the Chicago Skyway and city parking meter system. Less than 7 percent of the $1.15 billion upfront payment for the meter lease will be left at the end of next year.
By declaring $180 million in once-sacrosanct special taxing district funds as surplus, $38 million will be pumped into city coffers. Most of the rest will go to Chicago Public Schools.
The city also will save about $142 million by refinancing debt, upped its original revenue predictions by $91 million and eliminated 277 jobs.
Some aldermen contend the revenue predictions are too rosy, as they have been in past years, and they note that the budget relies in part on unions agreeing to extend a deal to take 24 unpaid days off each year. Some also said the budget fails to address the growing problem of underfunded pensions for city workers.
"Again this year we came up with a few more rabbits to pull out of a hat, some probably over-optimistic revenue projections, raiding what was left of the parking meter fund," said Ald. Joe Moore, 49th, who voted against the budget. "The quick-fix solutions are about done."
During the budget debate, Daley stood at the front of the council chambers, laughed and made fun of aldermen who voted against his budget proposal but then in favor of community programs paid for with federal funds, suggesting his critics were somehow being inconsistent.
When Moore, a frequent Daley critic who's often quoted by the media, voted for the federal funding, Daley became theatrical. "Oh, Joe, you can't, please," Daley said, sweeping his hands up as he turned to face the press gallery. "You can't interview him anymore. What's going to happen?"
Later, he criticized aldermen who spoke against the budget but offered no legislative proposals to change the document.
"In order to submit an amendment, you have to have leadership qualities, and if you really believe in it, you submit it," Daley said.
It was the final budget vote for nine aldermen who are not running for re-election. They include Ald. Ed Smith, 28th, whose retirement at the end of the month became public during the day.
--Hal Dardick and John Byrne
Go Djay (for iPad), That's My Djay (for iPad)
As a tech junkie I'm pretty much constantly in a state of acquisition-lust for some gadget or another, but I can only rarely afford to drop significant coin on new gear. The iPad, for instance, is a lustworthy item, but so far there's no good excuse for me to own one.…
[ Read more ]
[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]
Source: http://www.chicagoreader.com/TheBlog/archives/2010/11/17/go-djay-for-ipad-thats-my-djay-for-ipad
The Daily Show's Josh Gad to Read From The Book of Mormon, Cast and Creative Team Announced
The Daily Show's Josh Gad and Andrew Rannells (Jersey Boys) will star in the Broadway production of The Book of Mormon. As previously announced, previews for this world premiere musical from South Park creators Matt Parker and Trey Stone and Avenue Q composer and co-creator Robert Lopez are set to begin on February 24, 2011, at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre, with opening night on March 24. The show will feature choreography by Casey Nicholaw and direction by Nicholaw and Parker.
Gad and Rannells have been cast as Elders Cunningham and Price, a pair of mismatched Mormon missionaries sent to a land far from their comfort zone. The cast will also include Nikki M. James (All Shook Up) as Nabalungi, Rory O’Malley (The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee) as Elder McKinley and Michael Potts (Grey Gardens) as Mafala Hatimbi.
The ensemble will include Scott Barnhardt, Justin Bohon, Darlesia Cearcy, Kevin Duda, Asmeret Ghebremichael, Brian Tyree Henry, John Eric Parker, Jason Michael Snow, Benjamin Schrader, Michael James Scott, Brian Sears, Lawrence Stallings, Rema Webb, Maia Nkenge Wilson and Tommar Wilson. Additional casting will be announced at a later date.
The Book of Mormon will feature set design by ...
Sparring renews over proposed Peotone airport
Is the proposed south suburban airport all but dead, even as the state continues to buy up homes and farms for the project?
The state's long-proposed Chicago-area "third airport'' near Peotone in Will County is on the far back burner, if it is on the stove at all, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood indicated this week in Chicago, prompting an angry response today from U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Ill.
"No one has ever talked to me about it,'' LaHood said Monday during an airport conference in Chicago. "I have been in this job now 22 months. Gov. (Pat) Quinn has talked to me a lot about high-speed rail, about O'Hare, about roads, about bridges. That subject (the south suburban airport) has never come up, and it's never come up with any member of the (Illinois) delegation either.''
Wrong, said Jackson, who made available a March 2009 letter to him on the south suburban airport from Lynne Osmus, a U.S. Department of Transportation official, on behalf of LaHood.
"Secretary Ray LaHood has asked me to respond to your February 24 letter about the proposed South Suburban Airport in Illinois,'' Osmus wrote. "I appreciate the energy and enthusiasm you bring to this issue.''
Jackson said he met "at length'' with LaHood in Washington on Feb. 25, 2009 along with officials of the Abraham Lincoln National Airport Commission that Jackson helped create and an airport developer who has plans to build the airport with private funds.
"I also spoke with Secretary LaHood this morning,'' Jackson said in a statement today, "and he acknowledged our 2009 breakfast meeting at the U.S. Department of Transportation and the fact that we have spoken many times over the years about the airport in both his role as Secretary and during his time in Congress.''
Jackson expressed frustration that Quinn, who is on the record supporting the concept of the proposed airport to relieve congestion at O'Hare International Airport and Midway Airport, has not given the final go-ahead for the project.
There are still a number of hurdles. The Illinois Department of Transportation has not yet submitted an airport master plan for the Peotone project, and it still owes other studies and paperwork to the Federal Aviation Administration.
"The goal is to get a completed master plan to the FAA by the end of the year,'' said IDOT spokesman Guy Tridgell.
FAA spokesman Tony Molinaro said the agency is "working collaboratively with the state as they develop their plan for the airport. More documents need to be given to us by the state before we can start our environmental analysis, so no timetable has been created yet.''
One of the biggest hurdles, apart from the FAA review, is political. Jackson's Abraham Lincoln National Airport Commission and Will County officials are battling over who should have control over the airport.
IDOT envisions a starter airport covering about 5,000 acres and including one runway and a passenger terminal with about a half dozen aircraft gates. The airport would be expanded, based on demand, over time.
More than 2,400 acres have been acquired by the state to date, according to IDOT.
LaHood and other officials said any third airport remains a low priority. The focus is on O'Hare expansion, he said.
"The leaders of the state and the leaders of the city have put a lot of emphasis on O'Hare, on Midway and certainly other airports in the state,'' LaHood said Monday. "We take our cues from the leaders.''
U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said conditions have changed significantly since the idea for the Peotone airport was proposed by former Gov. George Ryan.
"I think that conversation has changed some,'' Durbin said. "It's changed because the expansion of communities and residences toward the south has slowed down. It's slowed down because of the state of the economy and the state of the real estate market.''
"Secondly, most of the theories behind a third airport involve some form of private funding. That too is in question,'' Durbin said, "because of the current state of the global economy, in terms of funding that kind of operation. So I'm not going to push it off the table, but I am going to tell you what is smack dab in the middle of the table is finishing O'Hare and doing it the right way.''
Alderman expected to defer to Daley on budget vote
The next mayor of Chicago could be left with some tough choices about reorganizing and cutting city services if the City Council votes as expected today to approve Mayor Richard Daley's last budget proposal, one that relies heavily on one-time revenue sources to plug a shortfall of $655 million.
To keep the city financially afloat next year, Daley wants to pull $273 million from the city reserves created from long-term leases of the Chicago Skyway and city parking meter system.
Read the rest in Clout Street
To keep the city financially afloat next year, Daley wants to pull $273 million from the city reserves created from long-term leases of the Chicago Skyway and city parking meter system.
Read the rest in Clout Street
Real estate con man gets 15 years
A politically connected south suburban man was sentenced today to 15 years in prison for operating a real estate investment scheme that bilked more than 60 victims in three states of $10 million.
Lee Anglin, a onetime protege of former Chicago Ald. Edward Vrdolyak, pleaded no contest last year to charges stemming from the scheme. His sentencing was delayed as he challenged prosecutors on issues including how much was stolen, the number of victims and whether he had cooperated with authorities.
Federal prosecutors sought a prison sentence of more than 20 years. In addition to 15 years behind bars and three years of supervision, U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman ordered Anglin to pay $9.8 million in restitution. He has been in custody since 2006.
Advertising in newspapers, Anglin found willing investors to buy securities that he said were backed by real estate. But in some cases, he sold the same properties over and over, according to prosecutors. Sometimes the properties didn't even exist. In other cases, the commercial buildings he sold were little more than abandoned structures.
"Anglin ran essentially a Ponzi scheme, using investor funds to provide returns to earlier investors, claiming these funds constituted returns on investments from a particular property investment," prosecutors said in court filings.
FBI agent Ryan McDonald testified Monday that he traced 64 victims involved in the scam who lost $10.2 million.
McDonald quoted a victim who lost $124,000 as saying, "I have come to the conclusion that Mr. Anglin was a pathological liar who came to believe his own lies."
Another couple lost their entire life savings, about $40,000, McDonald testified.
In 1994, Anglin won a Republican primary for state representative in a South Side district. After that, his relationship with Vrdolyak soured, and Anglin once accused an associate of Vrdolyak's of shooting at him.
Among the properties Anglin used in the scheme was a warehouse in Riverdale where mercury-laden light bulbs were illegally stored. Anglin told the Tribune he paid bribes to a government official to overlook the operation.
-- Ray Gibson
Broadway-Bound Daniel Radcliffe Takes NYC By Storm at Harry Potter Premiere
The November 19 release date of the first installment of the Harry Potter film franchise's final chapter, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, is just around the corner and audiences are snapping up advance tickets to see the magical adventure. With Harry Potter himself (Daniel Radcliffe) readying to return to Broadway this spring in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, it's fitting that the film's North American premiere took place in just a few blocks from the theater district. Radcliffe (who brought along his future How to Suceed co-star Rose Hemingway) and co-stars Emma Watson, Rupert Grint and Ralph Fiennes were greeted by hoardes of fans (including several famous faces!) at Alice Tully Hall on November 15. Click on below to take a look at the excitement.
Chicago's public pensions near insolvency
Chicago's public pension funds are teetering on the brink of insolvency in large part because city officials and union leaders repeatedly exploited the system, draining away billions of dollars in the last decade to serve short-term political needs, a Tribune investigation has found.
Time and again, the funds have been used as a bargaining chip or a piggy bank. Politicians trimmed budgets by offering early retirement incentives and greased union contract deals with increases in benefits. "Pension holidays" allowed the city to avoid paying into workers' retirement funds.
As a result, the funds soon may not be able to keep promises that are codified in the state constitution, threatening the retirements of tens of thousands of rank-and-file union members and leaving taxpayers on the hook for billions of dollars owed to teachers, police officers, firefighters and others.
Read the rest at chicagotribune.com
Time and again, the funds have been used as a bargaining chip or a piggy bank. Politicians trimmed budgets by offering early retirement incentives and greased union contract deals with increases in benefits. "Pension holidays" allowed the city to avoid paying into workers' retirement funds.
As a result, the funds soon may not be able to keep promises that are codified in the state constitution, threatening the retirements of tens of thousands of rank-and-file union members and leaving taxpayers on the hook for billions of dollars owed to teachers, police officers, firefighters and others.
Read the rest at chicagotribune.com
Sookie & Bill on Broadway! True Blood Trio of Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer & Denis O'Hare Reunite at Elling
As Russell Edgington, the vampire king of Mississippi, Denis O'Hare did all kinds of deliciously bad things to Anna Paquin's Sookie Stackhouse and Stephen Moyer's Bill the Vampire on season three of the hit HBO series True Blood. But there wasn't a trace of nastiness when newlyweds Paquin and Moyer visited O'Hare backstage at his new comedy Elling on November 16. Here's hoping Russell crawls out of that pool of cement and continues to haunt Sookie and friends in season four. Oh, and while we're wishing, come back to the stage, Mrs. Moyer! Photo by Bruce Glikas for Broadway.com
Johnson Publishing sells Michigan Ave. HQ to Columbia College
Johnson Publishing Co., publisher of Ebony and Jet magazines, is selling its Michigan Avenue headquarters building to Columbia College Chicago, the company and the college announced today.
Johnson uses only about 40 percent of the 820 S. Michigan Ave. building and a plan to move its headquarters has been part of the company's strategy to reduce costs while revamping its publishing and cosmetics business, company Chairman Linda Johnson Rice said a in a press release.
Johnson boasts Ebony and Jet have a combined readership of more than 17 million, but the company has been hit by declines in ad revenues that have devastated many magazine publishers, including a 38-percent drop in ad revenue last year for Ebony. A creditor had filed liens against the property, but no mention of that situation was made in releases from Johnson and Columbia today.
Johnson will remain at the 1972 building for the next 18 months under a lease with Columbia, until it finds a new location for its headquarters. When completed, the building was touted as the first in downtown Chicago designed by an African-American since Jean Baptiste Point DuSable's trading post, built in the late 18th Century.
Columbia had been searching for a replacement for its current library, 624 S. Michigan Ave. Last year, Columbia discovered the books in that building exceeded its maximum weight capacity, according to a letter from Columbia President Warrick Carter posted on the college's Web site. The 11-story, 110,000-square-foot Johnson building will more than handle the library's needs.
"When we learned of Columbia's interest in preserving the building and using it to expand opportunities for young people to study visual, performing, media and communications arts, we knew this was an opportunity that we should pursue," said Rice, daughter of Johnson founder John H. Johnson.
The terms of the sale, which also includes a nearby parking garage, were not disclosed, but Warrick said in his letter that the college used reserve funds for the purchase, and will save money by cancelling leases for functions that will relocate to the building.
-- Staff report
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
So Much for the Journalism Career Ladder
Fourteen-year-old style blogger and Oak Park native Tavi Gevinson is teaming up with Jane Pratt, the founding editor of the much-missed Sassy magazine, to start a new publication. Exactly how it will look is vague at this point, although Gevinson writes that it will have a "'for the people, by the people' kinda vibe."
Right now, writers and editors everywhere who have put in years of servitude at magazines and newspapers are surely slamming the lids of their laptops in frustration. What were you doing when you were 14?…
[ Read more ]
[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]
Source: http://www.chicagoreader.com/TheBlog/archives/2010/11/15/so-much-for-the-journalism-career-ladder
Dinner & a Show: Monday 11/15
Lit
Show: Lynda Barry Lynda Barry stopped drawing her beloved strip, Ernie Pook's Comeek, in 2008, after about 30 years. But she didn't stop drawing, and her new book is an ode to the joy of putting pen (or brush) to paper.…
[ Read more ]
[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]
Source: http://www.chicagoreader.com/TheBlog/archives/2010/11/15/dinner-and-a-show-monday-1115
And They're Off
Danny Davis: taking the Bill Brady approach to speculative future budget repair.
James Meeks: school vouchers and an endorsement from Andy McKenna Jr..…
[ Read more ]
[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]
Source: http://www.chicagoreader.com/TheBlog/archives/2010/11/15/and-theyre-off
Stroger ally says Preckwinkle should 'shut up'
The Cook County Board commissioner most loyal to outgoing board
President Todd Stroger today took a shot at Toni Preckwinkle, who will
replace Stroger next month, in the ongoing war of words over the
transition between leaders.
"Listen, shut up and get over here and try to do some work -- that's what she needs to do," said Commissioner William Beavers, D-Chicago, during a discussion of the transition at today's regular board meeting. Preckwinkle was not there.
Read the rest in Clout Street
President Todd Stroger today took a shot at Toni Preckwinkle, who will
replace Stroger next month, in the ongoing war of words over the
transition between leaders.
"Listen, shut up and get over here and try to do some work -- that's what she needs to do," said Commissioner William Beavers, D-Chicago, during a discussion of the transition at today's regular board meeting. Preckwinkle was not there.
Read the rest in Clout Street
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)