Icepack: A.D. Amorosi on the news, nightlife and bitchiness beats
Please note: This article is published as an archive copy from Philadelphia City Paper. My City Paper is not affiliated with Philadelphia City Paper. Philadelphia City Paper was an alternative weekly newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The last edition was published on October 8, 2015.
Last Saturday’s 157th Academy Ball was a gorgeous thing — as it is every year — with 1,200-plus of Philly’s 1 percent (and me) in their sartorial finest, cold snap and slush be damned, at the Academy of Music. In particular, the private President’s Reception Pre-Ball in one of the Academy’s opulent ballrooms was the kind of sight-to-behold event that old money Philly does best. Like an updated scene from Scorsese’s The Age of Innocence (which filmed at the Academy in 1992), the Pre-Ball was filled with shaped-bearded men in white ties and tails and gals in beaded plunging necklines. One weird rumor came from this night: that the Ball’s longtime production folks would be doing switcheroos with their job descriptions, and bringing in additional producers to welcome newer musical talent — specifically an ’80s new wave band, a top-tier jam band boss, a hip-hop mogul and a platinum-plated pop-soul star — at several Balls to come. Stay tuned.
Here’s a little third-generation entertainment news: Congratulations to Philadelphia nightlife entrepreneur David Carroll, whose grandson London Jackson Glorfield — better known as London Jax — has scored a YouTube/iTunes hit with the sunshiny “Ruby Lips” and landed the type of management (Los Angeles’ Gail Gellman, reps Sugarland) that guarantees mainstream success. Next up: a bright shiny cover of Led Zep’s “Going to California.”
Philly’s Lee Daniels may not be getting any love from the Oscar community for The Butler, but he just got a deal with Fox Television for Empire, a Dynasty-like hip-hop drama written by Danny Strong. The pair will write and direct the first episode with additional scribes and directors to jump in after that. No word on what is happening with Daniels’ cinematic takes on Broadway’s Miss Saigon and Janis Joplin: Get It While You Can, that were supposed to be among his next film projects.
Michelle Pauls’ Walking Fish Theatre and her B. Someday Productions is hooking up with Light Thief Productions for their first co-venture starting Feb. 6. Written by Avergazzi’s Cubby Altobelli, Romeo & Juliet in Space: A Space Opera Burlesque stars Sarah Braun, Gina Martino and more.
With the long-discussed closing of Kmart at Ninth and Market (to say nothing of the Orthodox Street Kmart in Juniata Park), the fight for the space — Bloomies vs. Nordstrom vs. one of several H&M knockoffs — begins in earnest. The fate of the high-value spot will surely be a game changer for the future of Market Street.
More ice? See citypaper.net/nakedcity.
