Journalist, Author & Syndicated Columnist
The adventurous impresarios at the Annoyance Theater have put some crazy stuff on their Wrigleyville stage, but no one could have anticipated this week’s radical stunt: They’re bringing a septuagenarian comedian to town. Charlie Callas, 71, will perform Wednesday and Thursday in the room that each weekend fills with beer-swilling twentysomethings catching the raunchy, long-running musical “Coed Prison Sluts.”
There was no love lost early on in Tony and Michele Fitzpatrick’s relationship. He was an artist. She ran a gallery. He thought she was a know-it-all. She viewed him as a platonic buddy.
You know how people are always saying that pretty boys would make nice-looking women? Well, check out the current issue of Rolling Stone with Brad Pitt on the cover . . . in a dress. In fact, the prettiest of all male actors is featured in three more photos wearing dresses. And he doesn’t look good in them, either.
Linda and Jeff Van Kley had seen each other around the office. She worked in marketing communications at CNA Insurance. He was an actuary.
According to the Olympic creed, “the most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win, but to take part.” Try telling that to the managers and sports agents who are counting on the athletes to upgrade their medals into deals with the likes of Nike, Gatorade and McDonald’s. That’s a cynical view of the Olympics. The latest Omnimax film, “Olympic Glory,” presents a purer version of the Games.
Sure, its easy to make fun of the Backstreet Boys–especially if youre over the age of 17. But when things click just so–as they did Tuesday night at the Allstate Arena–the Backstreet Boys prove that they are the kings of the boy bands. At last year’s concert at the New World Music Theatre, the five-man group from Orlando, Fla., appeared dwarfed by the enormodome and was plagued by off-key harmonies.
Just when you think that Canadians really aren’t that different from Americans, there’s this little matter of ketchup chips. Len vocalist Sharon Costanzo is munching on a big bag of this treat when she phones from Toronto for an interview.
“I would like to think that it’s my glowing talent that got me cast in `Bluff,’ ” says John Cryer, laughing. “Did I get cast because I’m a `star’? If casting me can get people to come to the theater, that’s great. But I think that Chicagoans support theater regardless of who’s in the cast.”
Allison Ellis never imagined that she would be keeping house . . . on a boat. Then she met Gregg Collins at a Web development company in Seattle where they both worked.
You can’t go wrong with either cover of the October issue of Latina. In its annual tribute to Hispanic men, the magazine produced its first-ever split cover. Half of the 300,000 issues shipped nationwide feature Ricky Martin on the cover. The rest showcase a bare-chested Benjamin Bratt, formerly of “Law & Order” and currently Julia Roberts’ better half.