BUSINESS
July 11, 1990 | By Anthony R. Wood, Inquirer Staff Writer
ICI Americas Inc. went to Sheila Kutner and Lynn Katz last year and got a real song and dance. Actually, that's exactly what ICI, of Wilmington, was looking for. The company was inaugurating an in-house computer system and was looking for an unthreatening way to introduce it to employees. Enter Kutner and Katz, who own and operate something called the Showplace. You might say they're in show business: They write and perform original musical productions for corporations. They also run sales-training seminars.
NEWS
July 31, 2011 | By A.D. Amorosi, For The Inquirer
The summer wind is blowing hot on a recent Sunday night, but Jerry Blavat is rolling cool. Exiting a car plastered with stickers bearing his visage in various stages of Geator-dom, Blavat bops up the steps of an Old City restaurant, snapping his fingers. He has just spent the weekend deejaying and entertaining crowds at his Memories nightclub in Margate. Strolling into Positano Coast, "The Geator" greets the owner with a chipper "My man, pots 'n' pans" and a group of elders with a hand-clapping, fast-pattering set of salutations.
NEWS
May 27, 2012 | Freelance
Redefining Diva Life Lessons From the Original Dreamgirl By Sheryl Lee Ralph Gallery Books/Karen Hunter Publishing. 224 pp. $14 Reviewed by Karen E. Quinones Miller Many people who are asked to describe a diva would say that it's a demanding and arrogant woman who believes she's entitled to having all of her needs met, even at the expense of the inconvenience of others. In fact, diva is often considered synonymous with a less polite word starting with "b. " But in a new book, actress Sheryl Lee Ralph (best known for playing Deena in Dreamgirls, the role reprised by Beyoncé in the movie based on the huge Broadway hit, and stepmother to singer/actress Brandy in the hit television show Moesha)
NEWS
November 2, 2012
* MALIBU COUNTRY. 8:30 p.m. Friday, 6 ABC. I'M NOT sure what it is about Reba McEntire that screams "wronged wife," but the singer-actress embarks on her second sitcom Friday in a role that once again has her starting over after marriage to a cheater. In ABC's "Malibu Country," she's doing the leaving, taking her kids and her mother (Lily Tomlin) and fleeing Nashville, Tenn. - and her country star husband - for the Malibu, Calif., house she never even knew she had, hoping to restart the singing career she put aside years earlier.
NEWS
May 7, 1987 | By Francie Scott, Special to The Inquirer
Marc Weil has done many bizarre things in the name of show business since the age of 3, when he deliberately toppled from his chair and put his head through a snare drum. During his 12-year career as a comedian in Europe and the United States, Weil has set his hair on fire; become a human "bomb," complete with smoke and firecrackers to resemble a bomb explosion, and "climbed" a sidewalk in full mountaineering dress. "I knew literally from the age of 10 I was going to be a clown," he said.
NEWS
September 30, 1990 | By Susan Koomar, Special to The Inquirer
Education is no joke to Ben Peruso, but that doesn't mean it can't be fun. Peruso, a Harlem-born comedian known to audiences as Ben Perri, has spent more than 30 years in show business and about 75 days substitute-teaching in several Pocono schools. Peruso's stage-to-school odyssey may sound unusual, but the performer's methods of applying his show business experience to the classroom might make students more eager to study. "I don't care if it's toothpaste. If it gets them to learn, I'll try it," Peruso said.
NEWS
January 15, 2013
A COMING-OUT (of sorts) for one of Hollywood's most beloved figures. An appearance by the 42nd president of the United States to introduce a movie about the 16th. And some good-natured goofing around by Upper Darby's Tina Fey and her former "Saturday Night Live" partner-in-crime Amy Poehler. And a considerable amount of bleeping by NBC. Does anyone even care who brought home the hardware at the 70th annual Golden Globes Sunday night? Lena Dunham might. The 26-year-old Dunham, whose HBO comedy, "Girls," began its second season Sunday night, won for TV comedy or musical and for acting, and delivered a couple of breathless speeches, one of which included thanking her fellow nominees in a way that couldn't help but make them feel past their sell-by date.
ENTERTAINMENT
February 6, 2012
SMASH. 10 tonight, NBC 10. I'VE SPENT months trying to resist NBC's "Smash," I really have. Not only does that title - "Smash"! - lead with its chin, but as a show about show business, it has critically acclaimed heartbreak written all over it. And I know my gushing about it isn't going to help, especially if you're already tired of hearing about it. So I'm not going to gush. Much. Instead, because I've considered all of them, I'm going to offer a few reasons you might not want to bother with "Smash," which premieres tonight after a two-hour episode of "The Voice," the singing competition that's currently the only decent lead-in NBC has to offer: * You're already sick to death of Fox's "Glee," and a show about the making of a Broadway musical sounds an awful lot like "Glee" for grown-ups.
NEWS
April 4, 1991 | By Ann Kolson, Inquirer Staff Writer
He looks every bit the successful businessman: immaculate dark blue suit, beautifully patterned silk tie, gray ponytail, a half-dozen enormous turquoise-and-silver rings, and at least that number of heavy silver bracelets. (We're not talking IBM here.) But singer Richie Havens has always gone his own way. It seemed as if the whole world was listening when Havens, now 50, opened the Woodstock Music and Arts Fair in August 1969 with his song "Freedom. " His singular voice, husky, impassioned, tinged with pathos, was accompanied by his insistent, driving guitar.
NEWS
April 19, 2012
Paul Bogart, 92, a puppeteer who bumbled into the new medium of television in 1950 and rose to be an Emmy-winning director known for popular shows like All in the Family and The Defenders , died Sunday in Chapel Hill, N.C. Mr. Bogart was recognized as a master of live television, from game shows to high drama, and later as the respected director of filmed shows like Get Smart . Known for his skill in positioning actors for best effect...