Access Atlanta > Blog > Archives > 2006 > May
May 2006
Singer Candi Staton will belt out a few at home
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
For the first time in 30 years, Atlantans will have the rare opportunity to see soul singer Candi Staton perform in her hometown this week.
The veteran vocalist will perform a mini concert at 3 p.m. Saturday at Aurora Coffee in Little Five Points. The Criminal Records-sponsored gig will help introduce local fans to Staton’s new, critically acclaimed album, “His Hands,” her first secular recording in 24 years.
“I call them my life songs,” the Stone Mountain resident told Buzz Tuesday. “It’s about dealing with the relationships in your life.” She paused, laughed and added: “And I’ve had a lot of failed ones, so I know what I’m talkin’ about, too!”
Staton is trying to adjust to her quiet life here in the American South, where she remains virtually unrecognized after a much-heralded tour in Europe, where U.S. soul singers are hugely popular.
“They treat me like royalty,” Staton said. “There were maybe 15 different reporters in the hotel lobby all lined up, waiting to talk to me over there. It’s really amazing.”
Overseas, a dance version of Staton’s “You Got the Love” remains lodged on the charts after 15 weeks as well.
Slowly but surely, Staton and veteran soul singer Bettye LaVette, who recently released her own comeback album, “I’ve Got My Own Hell to Raise,” and also performed a sold-out show in Little Five Points, are receiving their “propers” in their native country.
“Back in the day, we were competing with Aretha Franklin and Gladys Knight,” Staton explained. “That’s some tough competition, especially when your record label isn’t lobbying for you. Now, we’re finally being heard, and it’s wonderful. Sometimes, the seasons just come a little later. I’m hoping my season has finally arrived.”
Staton’s Saturday concert is free. Aurora Coffee is at 468 Moreland Ave.
Chris Tucker to star in Bollywood remake
Atlantan Chris Tucker will star in a Hollywood remake of a Bollywood hit about a gangster who enrolls in medical school, according to a newspaper report.
“Munnabhai M.B.B.S.,” a hit in India and among South Asians living abroad, will be remade as “Gangster M.D.,” director Mira Nair was quoted as telling the Mumbai Mirror in Monday’s editions.
“Chris Tucker will be playing the main character in the film,” said Nair, adding that she may cast some actors from the 2003 Bollywood original.
Filming is expected to begin after Tucker, 33, finishes work on “Rush Hour 3,” to be directed by Brett Ratner and co-starring Jackie Chan.
Nair, who splits her time between homes in New York and Uganda, directed “Vanity Fair,” “Monsoon Wedding,” “Mississippi Masala” and “Salaam Bombay!”
Sick bay
A complication from back surgery has forced Luciano Pavarotti to postpone five June dates on his worldwide farewell tour, his manager said Tuesday.
Performances in the Canadian cities of Calgary, Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto, and a U.S. date in Washington, have been delayed until October, said Terri Robson, Pavarotti’s London-based manager.
Last month, the 70-year-old tenor released a statement saying he expected to recover in time for the June dates.
“However, he went on to develop an infection during his stay in the hospital,” Robson said. “This condition has unfortunately delayed his recovery time.”
Pavarotti was staying in New York to continue with intensive physical therapy, his manager said.
His farewell tour was expected to resume in July with shows in the United Kingdom. Tickets from the postponed dates will be good for the October shows.
“Luciano apologizes to his many disappointed fans for having to reschedule these concerts,” Robson said. “Happily, he is now well on his way to recovery and very much looks forward to continue celebrating his career with the Pavarotti Worldwide Farewell Tour.”
Celebrity birthdays
Actor-director Clint Eastwood is 76. Singer Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary is 68. Actress Sharon Gless (“Cagney and Lacey,” “Queer as Folk”) is 63. Actor Gregory Harrison is 56. Actor Tom Berenger is 56. Comedian Chris Elliott is 46. Actor Kyle Secor (“Commander in Chief,” “Homicide: Life on the Street”) is 46. Actress Lea Thompson (“Caroline in the City”) is 45. Singer Corey Hart is 44. Rapper DMC of Run-DMC is 42. Actress Brooke Shields is 41. Actor Colin Farrell is 30.
Contributing: news services. If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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McConaughey’s jog turns into starring role at picnic
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This just in: “We Are Marshall” actor Matthew McConaughey is just as nice as we’ve all feared.
Last week, a class of disabled children from Laurel Ridge Elementary School in Decatur were enjoying a picnic at Stone Mountain Park when McConaughey jogged past. When he saw the kids, he stopped by to chat with the students and their teachers.
According to Laurel Ridge Elementary principal Mark Gordon, McConaughey told them he has a relative with cerebral palsy and was able to “talk” with the kids who rely on communication devices.
We’re told that before resuming his run, the actor even helped to load the school’s coolers back on board the bus.
Noted Gordon in an e-mail: “The teachers really enjoyed it!”
The lyrical response goes on
Words continue to roll into Buzz Central as readers seek to assist “It’s Buckhead!” singer Melanie Massell as she takes us up on our offer to pen a theme song for the relaunched Woodruff Park downtown. Here’s another entry e-mailed into Buzz: “I’m as happy as a lark/When I take off to Woodruff Park/As the summer breeze whistles through the trees/I sit playing chess/Or crunching on ‘cumbers, tomatoes and watercress/You can lay in the grass/Watching the people pass/As they go from place to place/Looking for the ideal space/To rest before going back to the rat race.” Have your own ideas? E-mail them to us at buzz@ajc.com.
Free ‘Prairie Home’ passes
Public radio listeners don’t normally get the truckloads of freebies normally reserved for commercial radio. Garrison Keillor and film director Robert Altman are altering that by offering free passes to their upcoming big-screen comedy, “A Prairie Home Companion.”
Starting today during her famed “Second Cup” concert segment, WABE-FM’s Lois Reitzes will be giving away passes to an advance screening of the flick. The tickets also will be offered on Wanda Yang Temko’s “Afternoon Classics” show on the station all this week.
Celebrity docket
The drunken-driving case against country singer John Michael Montgomery is heading to trial in Kentucky.
Jack Miller, assistant Fayette County attorney, said he is pushing forward with all the charges — including carrying two loaded handguns in a vehicle without a permit and carrying prescription drugs in an improper container. “We think there is sufficient evidence to go forward,” Miller said.
Defense attorneys say Montgomery has a permit for the guns and a prescription for the drugs.
A trial date will be set at another hearing June 12. Montgomery, 40, won’t attend that hearing, but he must attend the trial.
Montgomery’s attorney, Brent Caldwell, said prosecutors had originally indicated the charges might be dropped. He said the credibility of the arresting officer could be a factor.
Why, you ask, dear reader?
Well, officer Joshua Cromer was forced to apologize for postings on his MySpace.com Web site.
The site included comments from other police officers congratulating him on the arrest as well as an altered picture of Montgomery and a fan, with Cromer’s head superimposed over the fan’s.
In addition, Caldwell says he has witnesses who will testify Cromer was off duty and in the same bar as Montgomery the night of the arrest.
Ang Lee to take on ‘Lust’
Oscar-winning director Ang Lee will next film a Chinese-language spy thriller set in World War II-era Shanghai, film company Focus Features has announced.
Set to begin production this fall, it will be Lee’s first movie since “Brokeback Mountain,” which failed to win the best picture award but won Lee his first Academy Award for directing.
The movie, titled “Lust, Caution,” also marks the director’s return to Chinese-language cinema after “The Hulk” and “Brokeback Mountain.”
“Lust, Caution” will reunite Lee with the team behind his 2000 kung fu hit “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.” Focus, a division of NBC Universal, and which released “Brokeback Mountain,” did not announce any casting choices.
Celebrity birthdays
Actor Ted McGinley (“Hope and Faith”) is 48. Actor Ralph Carter (“Good Times”) is 45. Country singer Wynonna is 42. Guitarist Tom Morello of Audioslave and Rage Against the Machine is 42. Rapper Cee-Lo with Goodie Mob is 32.
Contributing: news services. If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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No one will mistake Jim Belushi for Dr. Phil
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jim Belushi, star of ABC’s “According to Jim,” readily admitted to a packed house at Barnes & Noble in Vinings on Friday evening that he was promoting a book for one reason: “I thought it would be easy money.”
In the end, Belushi said, “I’m going to make about 27 cents an hour.” The book, “Real Men Don’t Apologize” (Hyperion, $21.95), features his observations about life, love and relationships. He’s on his third marriage and realizes now why he failed the first two times: “Men need three things — a sense of humor, a sense of compassion and a sense of strength. I didn’t have enough of the third.”
The actor gabbed for nearly an hour before he signed books, touching on everything from his Blues Brothers gigs to his children to his late, great brother John, who died of a drug overdose in 1982. “People still stay, ‘I’m sorry about your brother,’ ” Belushi said. “Most people can hide from that, but because of who I am, I could never hide.”
On a brighter note, he said he’s happy to have his sitcom back for a sixth season this fall — moved to a time slot away from “American Idol.” “You’re going to get a lot more of me,” he said, “whether you like it or not.”
Speaking of funny guys …
Brian Regan is one of the few stand-up comics who can sell out 2,000-seat theaters without the benefit of movie roles or a TV series, à la Ray Romano or George Lopez. And as Buzz watched Regan work the sold-out Tabernacle crowd Saturday in a loose-fitting Tommy Bahama shirt, it was clear why: He’s gut-busting funny.
Like many solid stand-ups, his humor derives as much from his energizing delivery as his jokes, which touch upon familiar staples such as food, family life and gender differences. Of cooking shows, Regan noted that of course they make it look easy: “Everything is already in pre-measured bowls!”
Plus, he does a local joke about I-285, which can be used in virtually any major city. “People are either going 3 miles per hour or 119. There really is nothing in between!”
And when it comes to Pop-Tarts, he’s bemused by the instructions on the box: “Why is there more than one step?”
Stork report
Joining Brangelina in parenthood, pop star Gwen Stefani birthed Kingston James McGregor Rossdale by Caesarean section at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on Friday, according to Stefani spokesman Dave Tomberlin. The baby weighed 7 1/2 pounds. “Both mother and child are doing well,” Tomberlin said in a statement. It’s the first child for Stefani, 36, and rocker Gavin Rossdale, 38, who were married in 2002.
‘Georgia’ on Idol’s mind
“American Idol” winner Taylor Hicks told Buzz during a news conference Friday that he wanted to sing his hero Ray Charles’ signature song, “Georgia on My Mind,” on the show but never got the opportunity.
“That would have been a tough fit” with the themes “Idol” gave him, Hicks said. “Who knows? Maybe I’ll sing it on tour.”
He said he also wanted to sing “Try a Little Tenderness” during “love song” week but had to do “Easy” instead. He also requested songs by Van Morrison and Paul Simon but couldn’t get clearance on certain songs.
As for his worst performance, Hicks said John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads” didn’t click. “I think I was flat the whole song. I should have sung ‘Country Boy Can Survive’ ” by Hank Williams Jr.
If you’re interested in going to the “Idols Live” tour at Gwinnett Arena on Aug. 3 or Sept. 12, the dates are sold out, so you’ll have to try eBay or ticket brokers. And speculators have had a field day. Buzz checked several broker sites, and there are hundreds of seats available at prices from $110 to $250.
Alley Cat gets a second life
Last week, we reported that Charlie Brown’s Cabaret is leaving the struggling entertainment district at Underground Atlanta. Another original concept there has shut down as well: the Alley Cat, a rock club with exposed brick and a cool vibe. But operator Andy Adler said he couldn’t draw enough of the rock crowd and is moving to more compatible East Atlanta in late summer. “It just wasn’t the right place for our genre,” Adler said. “If nothing else, we got a lot of notoriety. We have a built-in customer base. It’s not like starting a whole new business.”
Celebrity birthdays
Singer LaToya Jackson is 50. Actress Annette Bening is 48. Actor Rupert Everett is 47. Singer Melissa Etheridge is 45. Guitarist Noel Gallagher of Oasis is 39. Cartoonist Aaron McGruder (“Boondocks”) is 32. Singer Melanie Brown (“Scary Spice”) of the Spice Girls is 31.
Contributing: news services. E-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
Foxy Brown has a rap, one she’d like to beat
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Rapper Foxy Brown, accused of assaulting two nail salon workers in a fight over payment for a manicure, will go on trial in July, a judge said Friday.
Brown, 26, whose real name is— shut up! — Inga Marchand, is charged with misdemeanor assault in the Aug. 29, 2004, incident. New York City prosecutors allege she kicked one worker and hit the other in the face.
During her last court appearance in December, Brown was to have entered a guilty plea to a misdemeanor. But the session was derailed when Judge Melissa Jackson accused the rapper of disrespect and making faces at her.
“I don’t like her attitude,” Jackson then told Brown’s lawyer Joseph Fleming.
A ruckus also developed when Brown was handcuffed during the December session. She shouted at a female court officer that her numerous bracelets were “in the way” and allegedly struck the officer.
Jackson said Brown could either apologize or serve up to 30 days in jail. Brown apologized but did not enter the plea. Assistant District Attorney Gary Galperin had said the statement was legally and factually flawed and indicated that Brown had not accepted enough blame for the nail salon fracas.
On Friday, Brown appeared before Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Gerald Harris, without incident. She arrived in court wearing her hair in two long pigtails, brown knee-length pants, stiletto heels and a clinging T-shirt with a tiger image.
Harris set a hearing and trial date for July 17 and extended orders of protection for the nail salon workers.
She knows the wine list
Chantelle Grilhot, the Ritz-Carlton Buckhead’s sommelier, who was pictured here Friday, has a busy summer ahead.
Not only did she just pass the Advanced Sommelier Certificate test — which included questions on everything you want to know about wines, spirits and beers — but her drinkable concoction, Siren’s Call, was named the signature cocktail for the Georgia Aquarium.
The cocktail contest — recently judged by movers and shakers in the city — was held to celebrate the hotel’s exclusive partnership with the big tank. The winning drink is being offered in the hotel’s Lobby Lounge for $15. It features rooibos red tea, coconut Malibu rum, grenadine cointreau, orange juice and fresh plum.
At 24, Grilhot is one of the youngest sommeliers in the country to be invited to take the final test for the Master Sommelier Diploma, which is like getting a master’s degree in wine knowledge.
And how will she prepare for this grueling, weeklong event? “I will either be drinking wine, reading about wine or dreaming about wine all the time,” Grilhot said.
Stork report
Actor Kevin Dillon has a new addition to his personal entourage.
The 41-year-old star of the HBO show “Entourage” became a first-time father last week when his wife, 28-year-old model and actress Jane Stuart, gave birth to a daughter, Us Weekly magazine reported on its Web site Thursday. Ava Dillon was born in a Los Angeles-area hospital, the magazine said.
Uncoupling
Two-time Oscar winner Hilary Swank will file for divorce from actor-husband Chad Lowe, People magazine reports. “Hilary Swank and Chad Lowe have jointly decided to divorce,” an attorney for the couple, Jeffrey A. Bernstein, told the magazine in a story posted on its Web site Friday. “They continue to be friends and have the utmost respect for one another.”
The female side of Dylan
Oscar winner Cate Blanchett, who has portrayed Queen Elizabeth and Katharine Hepburn, will add another legend to her résumé: Bob Dylan. The 37-year-old Australian actress is one of seven actors to play Dylan at various stages of his career in the biopic, “I’m Not There,” tentatively scheduled for release next year. She’ll portray a specific aspect of Dylan’s personality, embodied by an androgynous singer-songwriter character named Jude, according to Killer Films, the movie’s production company.
Celebrity birthdays
Today: Actor Christopher Lee is 84. Actress Lee Meriwether is 71. Musician Ramsey Lewis is 71. Actor Louis Gossett Jr. is 70. Actor Richard Schiff (“The West Wing”) is 51. Actor Todd Bridges (“Diff’rent Strokes”) is 41. Rapper Andre 3000 of OutKast is 31. Rapper Jadakiss is 31.
Sunday: Singer Gladys Knight is 62. Singer John Fogerty is 61. Actor Brandon Cruz (“The Courtship of Eddie’s Father”) is 44. Actress Christa Miller is 42.
Contributing: Marylin Johnson and news services. If you have a tip, 404-526-2749. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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Drag show prepares to exit Underground
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
On June 4, a little over a year and a half after a jampacked New Year’s Eve debut, Atlanta drag queen “matriarch” Charlie Brown will hurl her final insult onstage at Charlie Brown’s Cabaret at Underground Atlanta downtown.
“It’s just time to go,” Brown confirmed to Buzz on Thursday. “There’s just not enough business for us to continue.”
Ironically, Underground insiders say that during the nightclub industry’s slowest months, January and February, the newly reinvented nightlife scene there did OK. However, after an article about Underground ran in the AJC in March, crowd numbers continued to dwindle.
While Charlie Brown’s Cabaret was one of Underground’s success stories, especially on Thursday nights when it hosted its popular “Drag Idol” competitions, Brown says business has continued to evaporate.
“I really enjoyed working with the people down there,” Brown said. “It’s a shame it didn’t work out.”
Underground general manager Dan O’Leary didn’t immediately return calls to Buzz on Thursday.
Naturally, with two decades under her/his garter belt, Brown is busy securing the cabaret’s next home.
“We’re looking at a dinner theater concept,” Brown hinted. “It’s going to be an elaborate, Las Vegas-outfits kind of thing. It’ll be a proper dinner theater ‘La Cage’-type show.” An October launch is being planned.
In the interim, according to Brown, the Charlie Brown Cabaret cast will move its show to WETBar in Midtown every Friday night, beginning June 16.
Overscene
“We Are Marshall” actors Matthew Fox, Matthew McConaughey, the film’s director McG and some guests having a quiet dinner in one of Pricci’s private rooms Wednesday night in Buckhead. We’re told the party dined on authentic Italian from Pricci’s chef Piero Premoli, a native of Milan, Italy. So, unlike the rest of us, Fox presumably was relaxing and not throwing stuff at his TV screen and screaming “What the [expletive]?!” at 10:59 p.m. during the final moments of “Lost.”…
When Steven Eisenstein, catering sales manager at Omni Hotel at CNN Center, was busy offering directions and assistance to guests this week, he remarked to one woman on the elevator, “You look just like one of the actresses on ‘Desperate Housewives.’ ” Turns out, it was Bree Van De Kamp, herself, Marcia Cross, who was in town for a few hours for an interview at CNN. We’re told that Eisenstein quickly figured out who Cross was when he spotted a stash of “Desperate Housewives” DVDs in her arms. Cross also popped into KEF Media’s studio in west Atlanta to chat via satellite with 16 TV stations across the country to discuss the malady of migraine headaches.
There was no immediate word whether Cross had the opportunity to pop into MetroFresh in Midtown for the eatery’s tribute sandwich, the Brie Van de Kamp (brie cheese, tomato chutney with basil on raisin nut [case] bread, natch). …
Former Atlanta Mayor Bill Campbell at V-103’s “Love Jones: Night of Music & Poetry” concert Wednesday at EarthLink Live in Midtown. Also in the capacity audience was DeKalb County CEO Vernon Jones, for whom V-103’s Wanda Smith and Miss Sophia performed their original poem, “Can a Black Man Get a Little Peace?”
Lowe: I’m no no-show
Lowe Gallery owner and charity auctioneer Bill Lowe was surprised to learn in this space this week that he had been characterized as a “no-show” at the UNICEF “Designs of Hope” gala over the weekend. “I’ve never even heard of this event,” Lowe told Buzz on Thursday. “It was total news to me.” Lowe said that not only was he in town and available for the event, he was out, taking in “The DaVinci Code” on the night in question. “Designs of Hope” organizers contacted by Buzz, meanwhile, continue to maintain that Lowe was indeed scheduled for the event through a Lowe Gallery employee. Still, we continue to wonder how a Lowe-led auction would have fared. After all, at a 2004 Rainforest Foundation-U.S. benefit, Lowe managed to get Sting to take off his shirt for moneyed females in attendance.
Sick bay update
PBS host Charlie Rose says he’s a lucky man.
The “Charlie Rose Show” interviewer was traveling in Syria in late March when he unexpectedly developed heart trouble that required surgery in Paris and a monthlong hospital stay.
He’s still recuperating, and grateful that things aren’t worse.
“You’re talking to someone who’s very, very lucky. It could have gone the other way,” Rose told The Daily Dispatch of Henderson, N.C., his hometown, for a story published this week.
The 64-year-old said his doctors in the United States were aware of a weakness in his heart but didn’t expect trouble to crop up so soon. It did just after he boarded a plane from Damascus to Paris on March 24.
“It just deteriorated faster than we thought,” Rose said.
Celebrity birthdays
Actor James Arness is 83. Singer Stevie Nicks is 58. Actress Pam Grier is 57. Country singer Hank Williams Jr. is 57. Singer Lenny Kravitz is 42. Actress Helena Bonham Carter is 40. Actor Joseph Fiennes is 36. “South Park” co-creator Matt Stone is 35.
Contributing: Sonia Murray and news services. If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
Unlike most vampires, Elton’s ‘Lestat’ dies easily
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In the end, it wasn’t so much a wooden stake but dismal reviews that killed “Lestat” on Broadway.
The $10 million Elton John-Bernie Taupin musical inspired by Anne Rice’s “The Vampire Chronicles” will close Sunday after a disappointing run of 39 performances. It was the third Broadway show for the Peachtree Road resident and the first for Warner Brothers’ theatrical arm.
The show opened April 25 to mostly critical pans and has seen its box-office grosses steadily sink since then. Last week, for example, the expensive show, which stars Hugh Panaro as the vampire, grossed $448,525, playing to only 53 percent capacity at the Palace Theatre.
“Lestat” didn’t fare well with Tony nominations either. It received only two, one for Carolee Carmello (who plays Lestat’s mother) in the featured-actress category and the other for Susan Hilferty’s lavish costumes.
Adding to Sir Elton’s woes, at last week’s television network upfront sessions, the annual media circus designed to tout this fall’s new shows, John’s sitcom pilot, “Him and Us,” which chronicles the adventures of a gay rock icon and his staff, failed to net a slot on ABC’s fall schedule. The pilot starred “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” actor Anthony Head and “Sex and the City” star Kim Cattrall.
In ABC’s defense, when your bar is set as loftily as “According to Jim,” you have to protect your network sitcom legacy.
On the upside, the Elton John AIDS Foundation will likely soon see a check for $188,000. That’s the settlement the pop star received Wednesday (about 100,000 in UK pounds) in libel damages over allegations that he asked guests not to approach him at a charity ball.
Associated Newspapers, which publishes The Daily Mail, paid the damages, according to John’s attorney, Hanna Basha. The Sunday Times, which reprinted the Mail article, agreed on a confidential settlement this year, Basha said.
The allegations surrounded John’s behavior at his annual Tie and Tiara annual charity ball. The Mail claimed in its June 24 article that the singer had issued a “bizarre” edict for guests not to approach him at the ball.
Having attended a number of Sir Elton’s fund-raisers through the years, we can attest that the performer’s actions at such events are actually the polar opposite of what was reported overseas. If the guy stops chatting up and thanking guests even for the length of a bathroom break, we have yet to detect it.
The Varsity earns rave
Ever since that whole Jayson Blair whoopsie, we find ourselves reading The New York Times more closely. But on Wednesday, we read a certain paragraph three times, and still it failed to completely register.
On his cross-country fast-food pigout (affectionately dubbed “TransFat America”) published Wednesday, Times restaurant critic Frank Bruni gave Atlanta’s Varsity a rave review. Bruni spent nine days in 15 states and made 42 pit stops at burger joints across the land and lauded the Varsity here (along with a stop at a Culver’s in Texas) as “my favorite stop.”
Raving about the emporium’s chili slaw dog, Bruni writes: “Cole slaw atop chili turns out to be a bold idea, cooling and adding texture to it. And the dog beneath the condiments had a meaty, smoky appeal.” He also liked the onion rings there, marveling: “Steakhouse quality, with pleasantly greasy — but also thin and crunchy — shells that slipped off to reveal real, thick onion slices that weren’t overcooked.”
We spent most of Wednesday at Buzz Central awaiting the inevitable Overscene report on where the top of Guenter Seeger’s head landed after he read that Bruni actually visited our fair city and chose to dine at a venue best known as a Georgia Tech undergrad hangover remedy.
Stones postpone tour
The Rolling Stones have postponed the first 15 dates of their European tour, as guitarist Keith Richards recovers from a head injury.
Stones publicist LD Communications said Wednesday the European leg of the band’s “A Bigger Bang” tour, which had been due to start Saturday in Barcelona, Spain, would now begin in July at a venue and city to be announced.
The postponed gigs were scheduled for Barcelona and Madrid, Spain; Brussels, Belgium; Paris; Bergen, Norway; Horsens, Denmark; Gothenburg, Sweden; St. Petersburg, Russia; Brno, Czech Republic; Warsaw, Poland; Vienna, Austria; Milan, Italy; Athens, Greece; and Zagreb, Croatia.
The postponement of the two Paris shows on June 3 and July 2 was announced Tuesday by French organizers.
Richards, 62, was injured April 27 in Fiji. News reports variously claimed that he fell out of a palm tree or from a jet ski. Richards later had surgery in New Zealand to relieve pressure in his head. The Stones’ official fan Web site said in a statement Monday that Richards had returned to his home in Westport, Conn. — and was “feeling great.”
Celebrity birthdays
Songwriter Hal David is 85. Actor Ian McKellen (“The Da Vinci Code”) is 67. Actress Dixie Carter is 67. Actress-singer Leslie Uggams is 63. Actor-comedian Mike Myers is 43. Actress Anne Heche is 37. Actor Justin Henry (“Kramer vs. Kramer”) is 35. Singer Lauryn Hill is 31. Actor Ethan Suplee (“My Name Is Earl”) is 30.
Contributing: Wendell Brock and news services. If you have a tip, 404-526-2749. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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Play brings back beloved writer
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
We’re not exactly the sort to enlist “Ghost Whisperer” thespian Jennifer Love Hewitt anytime soon, but there were more than a few coincidences when Buzz arrived in the square in Marietta on Sunday afternoon.
It was the very first table reading of “Turned Funny,” the theatrical adaptation of our much-loved, late AJC colleague Celestine Sibley’s memoir. The world premiere of this “play with music,” thoughtfully adapted by Atlanta playwright Phillip DePoy, will open the venerable theater’s 25th season Aug. 9.
As strong, freshly brewed coffee (one of the columnist’s favorite beverages) scented the rehearsal space above Powder Springs Street, Theatre in the Square’s Palmer Wells, Jessica Phelps West and M.J. Conboy gathered with actors and staff to conjure up the script.
At times, actress Jackie Prucha, reading the lead role for the workshop, was an eerie reminder of the legendary scribe. The Southern accent she used, her spirit and the oversized horn-rimmed glasses she wore were all reminiscent of the writer.
While we assumed Prucha was using the glasses as a prop, she sheepishly conceded later that her regular glasses had broken. She dug out Celestine-like specs just before the reading.
The play’s first act focuses on Sibley’s eccentric upbringing in Alabama and Florida. The act ends with the young reporter being hired at the Atlanta Constitution. The second act focuses on Sibley’s expansive 60-year AJC career.
For the columnist’s many admirers, the play’s opening scene packs an emotional wallop. It opens in 1999 with Sibley reading a newspaper at her beloved Sweet Apple log cabin. Her first words?
“Well, I’m dead. I know this because I’m reading my obituary. That’s what you might call a dead giveaway.”
As if we needed any further evidence that Sibley’s spirit was in the air? When we arrived, the single available parking space on the entire square was directly in front of a bright blue AJC newspaper box .
T.I. tour continues
Atlanta rapper-actor T.I. resumes his concert schedule tonight in Anaheim, Calif. The tour came to a tragic stop May 3 in Cincinnati when his longtime friend and personal assistant Philant Johnson was killed. On BET’s “106 & Park” Monday, the 26-year-old, born Clifford Joseph Harris Jr., said that “Big Phil would kick my [behind]” if he stopped.
Other dates include Thursday in San Diego and Friday in Los Angeles. The tour tentatively ends June 5 in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. No arrests have been made in Johnson’s death.
More lyrical ideas for Woodruff Park
Lyrics continue to arrive at Buzz Central for the city’s forthcoming Woodruff Park theme song, celebrating the park’s recent renewal. “It’s Buckhead!” belter Melanie Massell has agreed to take some of the sample lyrics from Buzz readers and integrate them into the final ditty. Here’s another batch of ideas submitted by a reader. “A six-acre park was given a hand/By an unknown donor named Woodruff/ Who saved a piece of the land/Through plantings and sculptures and fountains by two/An effort was made to make everything bright and new.” If you’d like to try your hand, e-mail buzz@ajc.com.
Celebrity birthdays
Musician Bob Dylan is 65. Singer Patti LaBelle is 62. Actress Priscilla Presley is 61. Actor Eric Close (“Without a Trace”) is 39. Rapper Heavy D is 39. Guitarist Rich Robinson of the Black Crowes is 37. Country singer Billy Gilman is 18.
Contributing: news services. If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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Sir Elton vs. photogs, Round 2
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Must remember to keep photographers away from pop star Elton John. Two years ago, he paused at a Taiwan airport to call a group of reporters and photographers “rude, vile pigs.” Then, just Saturday, Sir Elton launched into an expletive-laden tirade against the press in Cannes during the annual film festival. At a ceremony held by luxury jeweler Chopard, everything seemed to be going smoothly enough as John presented the Chopard Trophy to young Canadian actor Kevin Zegers, who co-starred in the film “Transamerica” with Felicity Huffman. “He [Zegers] is only 21 years old, already he showed incredible talent and maturity,” said John, wearing dark glasses and accompanied by actress Elizabeth Hurley. “I sincerely believe he will be a huge star and a great actor for many, many years to come.” Then, as photographers called out during his address, he added: “If you saw ‘Transamerica’ … I’m talking … you [expletive], [expletive] photographers you should be shot, you should be all shot. Thank you.”
Where’s Whitney?
Bobby Brown showed up, as expected, at the New Edition concert Friday at Chastain Park, where Hot-107.9 personality Akini asked him “How’s Whitney [Houston]?” Brown’s answer: “I don’t know! Ask Whitney. Whitney, when you get this, give me a call!”
48-hour film? No problem
Trying to make a film in two days can be beneficial for the imagination but dangerous for the circulatory system, according to recent Atlanta College of Art graduate Miranella Taoushiani. The 21-year-old filmmaker said she enjoyed her first outing in the 48 Hour Film Project, in which teams compete to produce the best short film in a single weekend. But she worried about suffering a major heart incident when, at the last minute, her laptop wouldn’t burn the file to disc. “I can laugh about it now, but at 7:27 p.m. Sunday I wasn’t laughing,”she said. “I almost had a stroke.” Taoushiani and her team of about 15 (including four actors and 10 crew members) shot in four or five locations, including her Marietta home, writing the script for the story in the car on the way to pick up the crew. Her assigned genre, romance, morphed into what she called a “pretty twisted” story called “Dead Romance.” They were one of 30 Atlanta teams in the competition, which will feature more than 1,000 teams in 35 cities in the United States and elsewhere. In the end, her computer cooperated, and her entry came in under the 48-hour wire, which she celebrated with a drink and a long nap.
Winging it
Sally Dorsey is not only a sought-after organizer in the city’s fund-raising game, she has some quick-witted friends who came to the rescue Sunday night at the fourth annual Designs of Hope dinner and fashion show at the InterContinental Hotel in Buckhead. The evening, a benefit for UNICEF’s global program that assists orphans and other children made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS, started with a migrane-inducing tribal drums display designed to direct attendees into the ballroom. Then, as guests dined on grilled veal tenderloin medallions with marsala sauce, the gala’s organizers quietly panicked backstage when it was discovered that Atlanta art gallery owner and auctioneer pro Bill Lowe was a no-show. Emcee and WSB-TV anchor Monica Kaufman immediately pressed old pals Tony Conway, the owner of A Legendary Event catering company, and Carey Carter, the co-owner of Carter-Barnes Hair Artisans, into service.
The trio then proceeded to delight the crowd by singing, dancing the tango together, yanking guests up on the catwalk from the audience and, through good-natured mortification, coaxing their customers into handing over large sums of cash. A trip to Greece and an elaborate dinner at Kyma Restaurant donated by Pano Karatassos Jr. and his wife, Angela, fetched $19,500. A trip to the U.S. Open went for $6,500 and a trip to Buenos Aires and tango lessons scored $13,000. (The event had already raised about $450,000 before the auction even began.)
A thoroughly impressed Barron Segar, UNICEF’s Southeastern regional director, just shook his head and conceded: “I can’t imagine anyone else doing a better job than the team of Monica, Tony and Carey. It’s by far the most entertaining live auction I’ve seen probably ever. And they’re up there completely improvising!”
SCADs of fun
Fashion, design and entertainment were on the menu Saturday night — along with rabbit, halibut and tarte tatin — at the Savannah College of Art and Design’s first SCAD Style Étoile Gala at the Atlanta campus. The 350 guests honored trendsetters and designers chosen by school President Paula Wallace: retailer Jeffrey Kalinsky; furniture designer Dakota Jackson; entertainment executives and philanthropists Judy and Michael Mauldin; Veranda magazine editor and style journalist Lisa Newsom; and SCAD alumnus Santiago Barberi Gonzalez. Kalinsky, director of designer merchandising for Nordstrom and a former Atlantan who now lives in New York, acknowledged, it was “great to be in Atlanta and to be honored in your hometown.” Also, A Dream of a Dress fashion show featured bridal gowns designed by SCAD students and a professor from the Savannah campus. They were worn by models who sported “lace makeup” and Swarovski crystal patterns on their arms and faces — done by the Carter-Barnes Hair Artisans. Although proceeds for the evening were not available, the silent auction raised $20,000, which supports scholarships for study at SCAD’s campus in Lacoste, France. Notables attending the gala included a judge on UPN’s “America’s Next Top Model,” J. Alexander; jewelry designer Mark Edge; Atlanta Ballet’s John McFall; honoree Kalinsky’s parents Morris and Sybil Kalinsky; and charity circuit regulars Nancy and Jeffrey Gallups, Aida Flamm, Sandra Baldwin and Randee and Bill Lieppe. Log onto: www.scad.edu /scadstyle for more information.
Celebrity birthdays
Television comic Drew Carey is 48; actress Joan Collins is 73; actress Karen Duffy (“Dumb and Dumber”) is 45.
Contributing: Marylin Johnson, Richard Eldredge, and news services. If you have a tip, call 404-526-5688 or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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He’s a morning person after all, Kicks jock says
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Given opportunities in the past to take the crucial morning slot at country radio station Kicks 101.5, afternoon jock Cadillac Jack said he didn’t feel right about it. He passed.
But after Craig Cornett’s brief, unsuccessful morning stint, Kicks gave Cadillac (real name: Hyde Choate) another trial run. This time, things were different. He liked it. He officially starts today.
“At some point, you have to take the job,” Cadillac told Buzz. “This time around, I knew I was ready.”
Kicks has had problems finding a go-to morning show since it dropped old-school jock Moby in 2002. The amiable Bandy & Bailey lasted three years but couldn’t agree on a renewal deal. That led to the short-lived Cornett experiment. But now Kicks is going with someone with whom listeners are familiar.
“They deserve to be comfortable and depend on someone they know,” Cadillac said.
His boss, Victor Sansone, said Cadillac never wastes words and has good timing and great cadence.
Cadillac, 33, will have to work with a team for the first time: former Star 94 producer Kristen Gates and veteran traffic guy Jim Vann. (News gal Jill Kelly was ousted Friday, told that Gates filled the female role without her.)
“He’s comfort food,” Sansone told Buzz. “Listeners relate to him.”
Cadillac, who is married with three children, has worked at Kicks and Eagle over the past decade. He knows he’ll be under far more scrutiny from now on.
“I’ll have to get tough skin,” he said. “I’m not a very tough-skinned person. You have to expose yourself to everything you do.”
Live-band karaoke takes off
For guitarist Curtis Clark, live-band karaoke was a bit of a lark three years ago, a way to fill the usually dead Monday nights at Virginia-Highland’s 10 High.
But Metalsome Mondays, in which the band focused on ’80s metal hits from the likes of Guns N’ Roses and Whitesnake, quickly caught on. Soon, upwards of 300 people were crowding into the tiny basement space as the band reeled off a marathon of 36 songs a night. Artists from Butch Walker to Skid Row bassist Rachel Bolan have hit the stage.
Tonight, the Metalsome quintet— which now knows 185 songs — will celebrate its unlikely success with a third-anniversary party featuring a karaoke awards show and a renovated stage. “And we got new ceiling fans that work!” Clark said. (Details at www.metalsome.net.)
Other bands have copied Metalsome but failed to capture the zeitgeist.
“We have created a family” on Monday nights, Clark told Buzz. “The crowd knows we are sincerely enjoying what we’re playing. It’s not a goof.”
Metalsome has since added a second night at 10 High, on Saturdays, and a weekly Thursday night gig at the Wild Wing Cafe in Alpharetta. The band also gets corporate gigs, from Motorola to the Cartoon Network. A radio station flew them to Baltimore for a festival and paid them $12,000.
“We were saying, ‘What’s going on?’ ” Clark said. “I never got any of this playing original music.”
Strange encounter
Fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger went ballistic on Axl Rose last week, though not because Rose hasn’t released a Guns N’ Roses album in more than a decade.
At a birthday party for Rosario Dawson at a New York City nightclub, Rose told an L.A. radio station that he had moved the drink of Hilfiger’s girlfriend so it wouldn’t spill. Hilfiger got angry, began punching Rose’s arm and swore at him. Club security, Rose said, kicked Hilfiger out.
Rose described the incident as “the most surreal thing that has happened in my life.” No comment from Hilfiger.
Chicks’ Maines still defiant
The ever-defiant Dixie Chicks will hit Philips Arena on Oct. 17. The trio sold it out in 2003 — before Natalie Maines dissed President Bush on the eve of the war in Iraq. In Time magazine’s cover story out this week, Maines wasn’t ready to make nice. “I apologized for disrespecting the office of the president, but I don’t feel that way anymore,” she said. “I don’t feel he is owed any respect whatsoever.” Her record label execs must be popping a lot of Valium.
Celebrity birthdays
Songwriter Bernie Taupin is 56. Singer Morrissey is 47. Singer Johnny Gill is 40. Model Naomi Campbell is 36.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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Elvis and other legends ready to rock Chastain
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Chastain Park Amphitheater fans should be readying their credit cards today and Sunday. That’s when tickets go on sale for the second half of this summer’s lineup at the venerable venue via promoter Live Nation and Classic Chastain series with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.
The concerts put on by Live Nation roll out with Elvis Costello & the Impostors featuring Allan Toussaint with the Crescent City Horns and Anthony “AB” Brown on guitar July 17; Willie Nelson, July 24; Steely Dan and Michael McDonald (sans tables), Aug. 7; James Gang Rides Again, Aug. 24; Chris Isaak, Aug. 29; Earth Wind & Fire, Aug. 31; Styx and Foreigner, Sept. 22; Santana, Sept. 30; and John Mayer, Oct. 14.
The 2006 Delta Air Lines Concert Series B will go on sale at 10 a.m. Sunday. For tickets, call 404-233-2227 or go to www.livenation.com.
Meanwhile, the 2006 Classic Chastain Summer Concert Series will present Los Lonely Boys, June 16; B.B King with the Neville Brothers and Dr. John, June 21; Doobie Brothers, June 24; Kenny Rogers, June 30; Gipsy Kings, July 1; Peter Frampton, July 12; the Beach Boys, July 26; India Arie, July 29; George Benson, Aug. 4; Bruce Hornsby, Aug. 9; Hootie & the Blowfish, Aug. 12; John Prine, Aug. 18; Lyle Lovett, Aug. 25; and Amy Grant, Aug. 26.
Debuting in the Classic Chastain line-up this season are Toni Braxton, June 23; Ian Anderson, July 22; Anita Baker, July 14-15; Paul Simon, July 19; Guster, July 21; Fiona Apple, Aug. 2; Raul Midon, Aug. 4; Chris Botti, Aug. 11; Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, Aug. 16; Collective Soul, Aug. 19; Spyro Gyra/Fourplay, Aug. 23.
Tickets go on sale this morning. Call 404-733-5000 or go to www.classicchastain.com.
Still chastising Chastain
Alas, one name is missing from both Chastain lineups this summer. “A Prairie Home Companion” host Garrison Keillor is still a might mad at those chatty chardonnay sippers who irritated him last season. Recently on prairiehome.org, Keillor fielded this question from an Acworth fan who wrote: “Are you mad at Atlanta? I know with the unpleasantness at Chastain Park last year you may think we are all uncouth rascals, but really there is a large contingency of ‘PHC’ lovers here… . Have you forever crossed us off your list of tour destinations? Please don’t punish the 98% of those of us who love your show because of the 2% who act like goobers. Come back to the Fox. We were all civilized there.”
Keillor responded, writing: “I don’t hate Atlanta. I just feel that rudeness should be pointed out and I find the rudeness of wealthy drunken people especially irritating… . The evening at Chastain sticks in my craw. An apology would’ve eased the situation, but none was offered, and that, to me, is an enormous insult.”
The folksy radio host did tell fans he has nothing against the South, pointing out an enjoyable recent trip to Columbus, where he sat “on a screened porch, talking about the South with some of the nicest people you’d ever want to meet. They may have been rich and they might have been drunk but they didn’t yell at me. I look forward to going back.”
Star Fest at Atlantic Station
Hoping to fill the void left by the on-hiatus Music Midtown, Star 94 is throwing Star Fest on July 22 at Atlantic Station. The one-day, two-stage outdoor festival will feature Train, Pink, Nickel Creek, Aqualung, Mat Kearney and the Whigs. We’re told more acts will likely be added before tickets going on sale June 3. The price? An economical $35 per person.
Sick bay
Lynyrd Skynyrd frontman Johnny Van Zant had his appendix removed in emergency surgery, the band’s manager said.
Van Zant, 46, came out of surgery at Stanford University Medical Center in Palo Alto, Calif., on Thursday night, said manager Ross Schilling. His condition was not immediately available.
“He had been feeling bad the past couple of days,” Schilling told The Associated Press. “He had performances Tuesday and Wednesday and sucked it up last night as far as performing with some pain.”
Celebrity birthdays
Today: Singer Joe Cocker is 62. Singer-actress Cher is 60. Guitarist Jane Wiedlin of the Go-Go’s is 48. Actress Mindy Cohn (“Facts of Life”) is 40. Rapper Busta Rhymes is 34. Actor Matt Czuchry (“Gilmore Girls”) is 29.
Sunday: Singer Ron Isley of the Isley Brothers is 65. Comedian Al Franken is 55. Actor Mr. T is 54. Actor Judge Reinhold is 49.
Contributing: news services. If you have a tip, 404-526-2749. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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Elton’s glam jacket will raise cash for kids
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Peachtree Road resident Elton John didn’t neglect his American hometown prior to purging his wardrobe last month at his massive Elton’s Closet fund-raiser in New York.
Before the event, which ended up raising more than $700,000 for his Elton John AIDS Foundation, the singer allowed local UNICEF fund-raisers to select an article of clothing to auction off at this weekend’s “Designs of Hope” gala at the InterContinental Buckhead hotel.
The Versace cotton twill orange blazer with silk barocco lining was custom-made for the pop star. The jacket comes with a Versace leopard button-down shirt with silver buttons. Organizers are also throwing in Sir Elton’s personal seats to the “Red Piano” concert at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas and two first-class Delta Air Lines tickets. (One fashion note: Buzz advises that the winning bidder reconsider actually wearing the frock to the performance, as the part-time Atlantan prefers being the sparkliest-dressed individual in the Caesars Colosseum.)
At Sunday night’s dinner, the jacket will serve as the centerpiece of the live auction to raise funds for UNICEF’s programs that provide care and support for children orphaned and made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS.
On today’s 6 p.m. newscast, we’re told that WXIA’s chief meteorologist Paul Ossmann will attempt to squeeze into the jacket to give viewers and potential bidders a sneak peek.
For tickets to the gala, call 404-881-2700.
Crafty like a Cox
Bless her heart, gubernatorial candidate Cathy Cox dutifully lined up next to Sonny Perdue and Mark Taylor in fine red-state solidarity against gay marriage Wednesday after a Fulton County judge struck down that hilariously flawed (not to mention redundant) constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage in Georgia. But on Saturday night, Cox wasn’t above trolling for votes at the 19th annual Human Rights Campaign Dinner at the Marriott Marquis downtown. The HRC, mind you, is the nation’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender equality.
Cox’s name was among those announced from the dinner’s dais off the list of influential politicos in attendance. Cox campaign spokesman Peter Jackson told us that a scheduling conflict prevented the candidate from attending. Thankfully, there was a lovely letter signed by Cox in the dinner program, where she extended “warm greetings” to attendees and commended the HRC for “its tireless dedication to social and civic outreach” and wished the organization “best wishes for a productive and successful” event.
Buzz, meanwhile, was politely informed that HRC Atlanta dinner organizers would not be commenting on Cox’s same-sex marriage stance. Presumably, they’re still too busy counting the wheelbarrows of money raised last weekend.
Overscene
Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani and entourage, including NFL Hall of Famer Fran Tarkington and Georgia politico Art Morris, enjoying cigars and Scotch on Wednesday night at the Club at Chops in Buckhead. We’re told that Giuliani was in town to coax some greenbacks from local pockets for the state GOP campaign coffers. As the former mayor’s security detail looked on, Giuliani happily posed for pictures with club general manager Jim Monteleone and the cocktail serving staff in the facility’s room-size humidor.
Dining for Dimes
If you’re susceptible to power dining for a good cause, you’ll want to pop into one of Atlanta’s A-list restaurants tonight for the 22nd annual March of Dimes Dining Out fund-raiser. While there’s a special “Stepping Out: An Entertainment Experience” event at Atlantic Station’s Twelve hotel (tickets range from $75 per person to $1,250 for a table of 10), dozens of the city’s busiest restaurants like Atlanta Fish Market, BED, Dantanna’s, Fogo de Chao, Park 75, Rathbun’s, Taurus, the Capital Grille, the Oceanaire, Two Urban Licks, Woodfire Grill and many others will also be supporting the cause (for a complete list, go to www.marchofdimes.com
/georgia). Brian Ziegler, the March of Dimes state director, credits this year’s re-imagining of the event to its energetic 2006 trio of chairs: Angela Karatassos, the wife of Kyma executive chef Pano Karatassos Jr., honorary chair Sean McGinnis, the publisher of Atlanta magazine, and honorary chef Doug Turbush, who doubles as Bluepointe’s executive chef. For tickets: 404-350-9800, Ext. 203.
A lyrical response
As sample lyrics for the upcoming Woodruff Park theme song continue to arrive at Buzz Central, we’re opting to share some of the reader-created lines here.
As you’ll recall, the downtown park recently was reintroduced with less litter, patio tables and chairs for lunchtime dining and free Wi-Fi.
“It’s Buckhead!” songstress Melanie Massell has graciously offered to help craft a song celebrating the park. All this week, we’ll be running excerpts from the submissions we’re receiving. Think you can do better? Send your lyrical ideas along to buzz@ajc.com. Here’s the first sampling of the submissions:
“In the afternoons I drift / ‘Cause something seems to shift / To whatever’s goin’ on in Woodruff Park / Expand my mind on chess / Or maybe get a little rest / Something always sounds so good ‘bout Woodruff Park.”
Celebrity birthdays
PBS newscaster Jim Lehrer is 72. TV personality David Hartman is 71. Musician Pete Townshend is 61. Singer-bassist Dusty Hill of ZZ Top is 57. Singer-actress-model Grace Jones is 54. Actor Steven Ford is 50.
Contributing: news services. If you have a tip, 404-526-2749. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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‘Will & Grace’ actor lets a few finale tidbits slip
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It’s always a plus when dish-dense celebrities blatantly disregard those pesky confidentiality agreements. So, naturally, we were only too happy to apply our speed-scribbling techniques over lunch with “Will & Grace” actor Leslie Jordan recently.
Over salsa and chips at Zocalo in Midtown, the character actor, who has portrayed the prissy, pompous Beverley Leslie on the NBC sitcom for most of its eight-year run, spilled like ice dancers Federica Faiella and Massimo Scali at the Winter Games in Turin.
“Oh, please, ” Jordan said, waving his hand, “what are they gonna do? Fire me?”
Jordan told us that tonight’s one-hour series finale was shot over three nights with audiences earlier this spring. The sitcom’s creators, David Kohan and Max Mutchnick, were lured back to write the episode directed by “W&G” vet James Burrows.
“Debra [Messing] just fell apart,” Jordan confided. “She cried the entire week. But you could not have dreamed a more perfect ending for the show. There’s flashbacks, flash-forwards, you laugh, you cry. It was amazing to be asked back for the finale.”
While Jordan didn’t disclose major plot points, he did let slip that Beverley Leslie figured prominently in the final night’s last shot, when he was left dangling over the soundstage.
“My character flies out the window,” he recalled, laughing. “All that’s left are his opera slippers. It jolted me so much that the next thing I knew I was dangling above everyone in a Cathy Rigby harness. I looked down and all four of them — Eric [McCormack], Debra, Megan [Mullally] and Sean [Hayes] — were all clapping in slow motion. It took me a moment to focus and to get my senses back, it all happened so fast. I kinda got teary-eyed. I mean, what a way to go out.”
The foursome presented Jordan with a signed, silver-framed photo of themselves blowing him a kiss.
Said Jordan: “It was very sweet. I’m just proud to have been a part of a show that, through laughs, battled homophobia.”
Tonight, he’ll co-host an invitation-only Q100 “Will & Grace” viewing party at Red Chair in Midtown.
And somehow the 14th Street Playhouse has found a way to squeeze in another week of the actor’s hit one-man show, “Like a Dog on Linoleum.” Now the run will end May 28.
45 years of Atlanta
Atlanta magazine publisher Sean McGinnis put the city’s weighed-down news racks into comic perspective Tuesday night at the Atlanta History Center. Taking a good-natured poke at the recent glut of inaugural parties for the Atlantan, Atlanta Peach and Skirt! magazines, McGinnis kicked off the glossy’s 45th-anniversary party by announcing: “This isn’t a launch party!” (Skirt! operates under an Atlanta licensing agreement with Cox Newspapers, which owns the AJC.)
Among the notables hanging out, alongside the large silk renderings of Atlanta magazine covers: Spanx founder Sara Blakely, CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta, V103’s Frank Ski, Dave FM’s Holly Firfer, the Zone’s Steak Shapiro and WSB-TV anchors Collins Spencer and Jovita Moore.
B.E.D.’s VIP top bunk
Across town on Tuesday night, we took a gander at B.E.D.’s new rooftop bar on Marietta Street. Aside from finding a spectacular snooping perch into Ted Turner’s Luckie Street penthouse across the way, we were able to glean a few details from the club-eatery’s co-owner, Parnell Delcham. The rooftop will be frequented by “B.E.D.’s biggest supporters, who can help us reach our goals,” he told us. Translation: A-list celebs and well-dressed guys with black AmEx cards, looking to buy bottles of bubbly for scores of hot females.
After stumbling a bit out of the block since its February debut, B.E.D. has a freshly installed chef and menu. Delcham conceded that the Miami-New York brand’s Atlanta location earned its early reputation for making prospective patrons feel like they were pledging a fraternity or sorority.
“We have to control the environment,” he reasoned.
Come again?
“If we had just opened the floodgates to everyone, we’d be done in a year,” Delcham explained. “We’d become Shout. We’ve got to have a proper dress code, and we’ve got to have the right ratio of females to males. Atlanta is an incredibly diverse city. We want to celebrate that.”
Uncoupling
Ex-Beatle Paul McCartney and his wife, Heather Mills McCartney, are planning to separate after four years of marriage.
Making matters worse, the kaput couple, via a statement e-mailed to Buzz Central from publicist Paul Freundlich, inevitably blamed the media: “It is with sadness that we have decided to go our separate ways. Our parting is amicable and both of us still care about each other very much but have found it increasingly difficult to maintain a normal relationship with constant intrusion into our private lives.”
For the record, Buzz’s last “intrusion” into the couple’s private life was on Oct. 31, 2003, when we announced the birth of the pair’s daughter, Beatrice.
Coupling
Actress Nicole Kidman and country singer Keith Urban will tie the knot, the country music star’s publicist has finally confirmed. And you’ll never guess who their flack is.
“They are very happily engaged,” said publicist Paul Freundlich, who we’re assuming scored massive amounts of overtime Tuesday. He declined to discuss details, while no doubt figuring out a way to blame us when Urban starts his inevitable couch-jumping phase.
Celebrity birthdays
“Maude” actor Bill Macy is 84. Keyboardist Rick Wakeman of Yes is 57. Country singer George Strait is 54.
Contributing: news services. If you have a tip, 404-526-2749. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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Star promises ‘Lost’ has hatched great finale
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
OK, “Lost” fans, straight from the mouth of the good doctor, Jack Shephard:
The last two episodes of the season will answer a lot of questions, said “Lost” star Matthew Fox, who is in town filming the movie “We Are Marshall.”
Fox told Buzz on Tuesday that the season finale, a two-hour episode May 24, tops last season’s, which saw a group of creepy pirates kidnap Walt on the high seas.
“A lot of stuff is revealed, much more so than last year,” Fox said. “It leaves the island and a lot of people on the island in some difficult spots.” Of course, Fox wasn’t telling exactly what would be revealed.
One knock on the show has been that it raises questions that never seem to get answered. But Fox said he loves it that way. “When I’m reading a great book, I savor it,” he said. “I make myself read only one chapter a night because I don’t want it to end. ‘Lost’ is like a good book. It’s tantalizing to enjoy. In no way does it try my patience.”
Fox will be in and around town for much of the next month shooting “Marshall.” The movie co-stars Matthew McConaughey and revolves around the 1970 plane crash that killed the entire Marshall football team and all but one of the coaches. Fox portrays Red Dawson, the coach who drove home from the East Carolina game instead of flying.
Most of the football and locker room scenes, as well as the crash site shots, are being filmed in Atlanta. Parts were filmed in Huntington, W.Va., the home of Marshall University. The movie is set to be released in early December.
More talk on FM dial
R&B station 102.5/WAMJ-FM has dropped music during middays for two syndicated African-American talk shows led by Michael Eric Dyson and the Rev. Al Sharpton.
Dyson, an outspoken University of Pennsylvania professor and author, began airing Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. His latest book, “Come Hell or High Water,” is a sharp condemnation of the government response to Hurricane Katrina.
Sharpton, the controversial civil rights activist and former Democratic presidential candidate, is on from 1 to 3 p.m. Both are heard on 20 stations nationwide but mostly on AM signals. Atlanta is unusual because the pair are on an FM station here.
A rival for iTunes
Viacom Inc.’s MTV cable-television music channel is starting a song-downloading service this week, aiming to compete with Apple Computer Inc.’s iTunes by offering a monthly subscription fee.
The service, which begins today, will be available through Microsoft Corp.’s new version of its media-player software, Van Toffler, president of MTV Networks Music, Films and Logo group, said in a briefing. The music service will cost $99 for full-year access or $9.99 a month, he said. Consumers also can purchase songs for 99 cents each.
“Only 5 percent of music is sold digitally,” Toffler said. “We will concentrate on people who don’t have iPods.”
Celebrity birthdays
Actor-director Dennis Hopper is 70. Actor Bill Paxton is 51. Comedian Bob Saget is 50. Singer Enya is 45. Musician Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails is 41.
Contributing: Bill Sanders, Rodney Ho and news services. If you have a tip, call 404-526-5688 or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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John Lewis remembers King’s support for gays
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The city’s 19th annual Human Rights Campaign fund-raising dinner, held Saturday night at the Marriott Marquis downtown, was among the most emotional in the event’s history.
The mere mention of U.S. Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) resulted in a spontaneous standing ovation before the civil rights icon ever strode onstage.
Lewis paid tribute to the late Coretta Scott King for her work on behalf of gay and lesbian rights even after she was criticized by folks within the civil rights struggle who questioned her decision to link the two movements.
“She took a stand,” Lewis told the crowd, “not just for civil rights but for human rights. She believed in the dignity and the worth of every human being. That’s why she attended one of the first [Human Rights Campaign] dinners here. She never gave up and never gave in. And in her beautiful way, she got in the way.”
In his keynote address, campaign President Joe Solmonese managed to localize his national stump speech to include former Republican gubernatorial candidate Linda Schrenko, who pleaded guilty last week to corruption charges.
“Linda Schrenko learned something recently,” quipped Solmonese. “Something we could have all told her — there’s no such thing as free plastic surgery!”
Tony Conway, owner of A Legendary Event catering company, was awarded the Dan Bradley Humanitarian Award for his philanthropic contributions to the city.
The emotional centerpiece of the evening came when Q100 “Bert Show” staffer Melissa Carter, in a gorgeous red gown, accepted the Community Leadership Award for her work as the city’s first openly gay Atlanta morning radio personality.
Tearfully recalling her high school years in Tennessee, Carter said she hid her sexuality as another female classmate — referred to as “Beth” — braved being out at school. Carter dedicated the award to that student. She said the experience inspired her to “start telling the truth about my life.”
“I just hope,” said Carter, “that I’m worthy of this award.”
The sheer volume of folks blubbering into their dinner napkins and tuxedo jacket sleeves should have answered Carter’s question for her. Buzz will formally present the DJ with our dry-cleaning invoice today.
Ecco opens in Midtown
Over the weekend we got an advance taste of Ecco, Fifth Group Restaurant’s latest concept. The former site of Haze nightclub and the Atlanta Fencing Club at 40 Seventh St. in Midtown has been transformed into a comfortable, European-inspired neighborhood eatery. Among the appetizer offerings are imported meats and cheeses and a fried duck egg with truffle and potato. The inviting bar was busy serving up signature pear martinis, made with vodka, pear liqueur and pear puree. Wood-fired pizzas and paninis (served with pommes frites) also proved to be early favorites as did entrees of braised veal with grana potatoes and balsamic marinated quail with pine nuts and roasted cauliflower entrees. Ecco makes its official public debut at 5:30 p.m. today. Call for info: 404-347-9555.
Oprah benched for Bush
Because of President Bush’s immigration speech Monday night, ABC postponed airing of the one-hour “Oprah Winfrey’s Legends Ball” until 8 p.m.on May 22.
Winfrey, one of the most powerful women on television, held a three-day celebration a year ago to honor 25 notable women in various fields. The special will feature highlights, including moments with legends such as Maya Angelou, Shirley Caesar, Roberta Flack, Lena Horne, Gladys Knight, Toni Morrison and Tina Turner. Two civil rights icons who have since died — Rosa Parks and Coretta Scott King — were there as well.
Plenty of younger stars came to honor the “legends,” including Mariah Carey, Angela Bassett, Janet Jackson and Alfre Woodard. Winfrey hosted a private luncheon, a white-tie party and a Sunday gospel brunch.
Celebrity birthdays
Actor Pierce Brosnan is 53. Singer and part-time Atlantan Janet Jackson is 40. Actor David Boreanaz (“Bones”) is 35. Actress Tori Spelling is 33. Actress Melanie Lynskey (“Two and a Half Men”) is 29.
Contributing: news services. If you have a tip, 404-526-2749. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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