Journalist, Author & Syndicated Columnist
Last week, the “Late Show” flew 461 Chicagoans to New York to watch a taping of David Letterman’s CBS talk show. And next week, Jay Leno brings his “Tonight Show” to the Rosemont Theatre for a week. The trip is a repeat performance for Leno, who brought his act here in 1996. Letterman broadcast his show from the Chicago Theatre for a week in 1989 and did a one-night stand two years ago at the Steppenwolf Theatre.
Patti Kim shows the eloquent anguish of an abandoned child in her debut novel, A Cab Called Reliable (St. Martin’s, 156 pp., $18.95 . Her story is told through the eyes of 9-year-old Ahn Joo Cho, a Korean immigrant whose life changes forever when she sees her mother and little brother drive off in a cab. Without her. The last thing she remembers seeing is the word “reliable” on the car door.
There’s something to be said for delegating. Who knows whether “Waiting for the Man” would’ve been a better picture if John Covert – the film’s writer, producer, director and co-star – hadn’t tackled such a heady project himself. But it couldn’t have been much worse.
“Suicide Kings” doesn’t take the kamikaze approach of going in for the quick kill. Rather, the convoluted story aims for plot twists and revelations that never really materialize in this tale of a bungled kidnapping.
Subscribing to the theory that more is more, Eric Clapton kicked off the first of two sold-out concerts at Chicago’s United Center with a 20-piece orchestra, six-piece band and three backup singers. But in the end, the best moments of his uneven show occurred when Clapton and his band, who will perform May 27 at the Forum, cut loose on some blue-eyed soul.