Show Business

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.

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.

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.

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.

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)

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.

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...

* 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.

Isabel Sarah "Auntie" Austin, dancer, beautician, political worker and civic volunteer, died Monday. She lived in West Philadelphia. Her age was not disclosed. The former Isabel Dickerson grew up in South Philadelphia. After graduating from high school, she became a professional dancer and was cast in a number of New York shows. While working in New York, where she also performed in cafes, she married William L. Austin, now deceased. During World War II, as the dance dates decreased, she got a job at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard.

While so many other acts come and go, the Spinners refuse to disappear. Scoring their first hit in 1961, the group is bearing down hard on 40 years in the pop/R&B ranks - and though the five vocalists haven't had a major recording triumph since the early '80s, they are in greater demand than ever. "It's pretty amazing," Bobbie Smith said this week from his home in Orlando, Fla. "We really are working harder than ever. January is probably the slowest month of the year for most acts, but we're completely booked.

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.

* 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.

Now, of course, I'm ashamed to admit it, but I was one of those who complained that last season   of The Walking Dead , which transpired mostly on bucolic Greene Farm, was too civilized. "Too much walking, not enough dead," I wrote. I imagine I'm going to feel pretty stupid about making that statement - just as soon as I get over the lingering nausea that this week's grotesque gorefest induced. The Season 3 opener was like an X-rated grindhouse film, with a body count higher than the Rose Bowl's.

ST. LOUIS - With a string of gold albums, a hit TV series and his signature "Moon River," Andy Williams was a voice of the 1960s, although not the '60s we usually hear about. The singer - known for his easy-listening style and his wholesome middle-America appeal - was the antithesis of the counterculture that gave rise to rock 'n' roll. Williams' plaintive tenor, boyish features and clean-cut demeanor helped him outlast many of the decade's rock stars and fellow crooners, such as Frank Sinatra and Perry Como.

IT'S NOT BILLED as such, but Donny and Marie Osmond's gig this week at Caesars Atlantic City is a journey into the past. And not just back to the 1970s, when the impossibly adorable singing, dancing and wise-cracking siblings solidified their place in the show-biz firmament with their fondly remembered ABC-TV variety show. Instead the program, which runs Tuesday through Sunday, offers a bridge back to the time when the phrase, "The show must go on!" was the mantra of the entertainment industry.

BEVERLY HILLS, CALIF. — Mariah Carey has landed a seat in the latest game of musical chairs at Fox's "American Idol. " And what a seat it is. The opportunity to sit next to Randy Jackson and a Player To Be Named Later and to say kind or cutting things to young men and women who may or may not be able to sing is expected to bring the pop diva at least a bit more than the $12 million the now officially departing Jennifer Lopez was paid in...

The K-Stew follies are on. On. On! Kristen Stewart is pulling out all the stops on an aggressive publicity blitzkrieg for her Brothers Grimm adaptation, Snow White and the Huntsman, which features America's favorite vampire bride as a sword-wielding Snow White. So derriere-kicking is our Snow, in one scene she broke costar Chris Hemsworth's nose with one punch. That's Thor we're talking about. "I swear I didn't mean to," a penitent K-Stew told Today on Thursday. "He got too close.

It was one of those awkward live TV moments that now lives forever in infamy on youtube. On Wednesday morning's fourth hour of "Today," co-host Kathie Lee Gifford asked "Madagascar 3" plugger Martin Short about his wife, Nancy Dolman. Kathie Lee asked, "And you and Nancy have one of the greatest marriages of anybody in show business. How many years now for you guys?" "We ... have ... married ... 36 years," Short replied. Gifford: "But you are still like, in love?"

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)

Howard Stern is in such a good mood, he got all touchy-feely with Today host Matt Lauer Thursday on live TV, jumping into Matt's lap and gifting him with a big wet smooch. Stern, 58, later said he's dead serious about his new job as a judge on America's Got Talent, which returns Monday. Stern, who reportedly pockets $15 mil a year for the gig, joins Sharon Osbourne and Howie Mandel at the judge's table. "You know I love playing God," Stern told the crowd at a recent New York audition.