Icepack Illustrated: Aimee Mann, Viktor Luna, Shonda Rimes and more
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.
News, gossip, goings-on.
Gay Philadelphia has much to celebrate this week. The John C. Anderson Senior Apartments/LGBT-friendly home I’ve touted in Icepack since it was just a rumor, finally and proudly saw the light of day with a ribbon cutting on Monday. Sure, senators, ex-governors, mayors, councilpersons and congressman such as Bob Casey, Ed Rendell, Michael Nutter, Bob Brady and Mark Squilla appeared, but the star of the day was truly the newly-dedicated space to Philly’s aging gay community. Bravo.
Another bravo (literally from his Bravo network ties a la Project Runway) goes to Viktor Luna for his participation in Glamsino Royale, Feb. 27’s event for local ActionAIDS charities at Hotel Palomar with food from Square 1682 and drinks courtesy Philadelphia Distilling. Project Runway: All Stars Season 3’s Luna publicly revealed his HIV status during the fashion-centric television show. “At first I was worried I would receive negative reactions,” says Luna about his brave reveal. “But everyone I’ve encountered that has talked about HIV-positive has been ultra supportive and positive. I think we need more role models that are willing to open up and talk about it. That way we can create awareness and reduce the virus from spreading.” With that, the criteria he uses to judge charitable projects and events to get involved with is always a serious choice. “I usually do an event for two reasons,” says Luna. “First, I usually have a long relationship with the company/event and I like to continue that relationship. And second, I always feel good when I can help by joining an event for a good cause.” That’s why Glamsino Royal and its support of ActionAIDS made sense to Luna. “As humans, we can do anything that we put our minds to, and if we all come together we can help ActionAIDS end the stigma, the virus, and hopefully eliminate any persecution. We are all different bodies, but have the same mentality.” For the record, Luna is currently in New York City working on his new collection, FW14, that he’ll show at Palm Spring’s “El Paseo Fashion Week.” Along with encouraging us to met with him tonight, he asks us to follow all his adventures on social media at @ViktorLuna.
Know who else did some brave work this week? Philly native playwright David Bar Katz (Harry Jay’s son). As the friend who found Phillip Seymour Hoffman deceased in his NYC apartment, the young Katz had to endure the National Enquirer’s wrongly written gossip that the actor and the playwright had a gay relationship as well as rumor-mongering that Katz knew of Hoffman’s heroin abuse. Katz could’ve gone the personal lawsuit route and won millions for himself, but instead (as witnessed during a morning interview on CNN) got the Enquirer to pony up an annual cash award of $45,000 to produce plays courtesy the newly set up American Playwriting Foundation as well as issue a public apology in a one-page ad printed in the New York Times.
So I ran into local restaurant (Cuba Libre) and catering magnate (Brûlée) Barry Gutin at the opening of Peter Brook’s The Suit at the Prince (Gutin’s crew did the post-show spread). Gutin told me that he and his partner Larry Cohen had taken over the recently shuttered Pesche space at Sherman Mills and were remodeling the venue and renaming it Moulin (as in Moulin Rouge). The massive Moulin (it started life as a 19th century textile mill ) is one block off East River Drive and will be ready for business April 1, No fooling.
Look for cameras to start rolling locally on Shonda Rhimes (Scandal) next bright idea for ABC, How to Get Away with Murder, with Viola Davis in the lawyer-filled mystery’s lead. It’s a pilot episode to start, the show is set in Philly, Orange is the New Black’s Matt McCrory and Harry Potter alum Alfie Enoch co-star, and crews and actors are expected to hit the streets within two weeks.
The Passyunk Avenue Revitalization Corp., Sam Sherman’s baby, snagged 1934-36 E. Passyunk Ave. not so long ago. Yeah, that’s cool. It’s just another spot for a restaurant, yes? No. It is the spot, the long triangular (and forever vacant) gateway to the Avenue from Broad Street. Booya. No word yet on who’ll get it, but don’t be surprised if Starr Restaurants (who also eyeballed the recently vacated St. Jude Shop along the Avenue) gets busy there.
You say you want to meet Allen Iverson before he retires his Sixers jersey this weekend? No. OK, Still, just go to Mitchell & Ness at 12th and Chestnut (a busy block) on Friday at 5 p.m. hail Iverson, and win an opportunity get up close with the Answer.
Word has it that come March 12 you’ll be able to buy tickets to eat in the main dining room at Jose Garces’ Volver at the Kimmel. Is this a lottery? A chance to eat at the big boy’s table with the adults? You better go to volverrestaurant.com and start buying.
Several weeks ago, I mentioned Philly’s Thom Bell and the good word of his Philadelphia International Records Building on Broad Street finalizing all sales. Last week I gave you news that the Philadelphia International Records catalog post-1975 had just been acquired by Sony Music Entertainment to go with Sony’s pre-1975 PIR deal. Today, I can tell you that PIR’s Gamble & Huff will receive the top prize at 2014’s Songwriters Hall of Fame ceremony on June 12 in Manhattan: the Johnny Mercer Award. The pair were already inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1995 (as was Bell), but the Mercer Award is the very top of the heap.
WHOWHATHERE: Aimee Mann and Ted Leo must love Philly. Their new duo The Both, opened the door and warmed up the stage of Boot & Saddle last year. They just shot a video for the first single (“Milwaukee”) on their soon-to-drop debut album at the Boot as well as Kung Fu Necktie with director Dan Ralston, and they’ll be back in town at Union Transfer on May 3 for a big record release gig. New York City Mayor (I mean DiBlasio’s cool but I still think of Rudy as Mr. MYC) Rudy Giuliani hit up Geno’s for a sammich the other day. The tony Saint Laurent Paris shop opened quietly but handily in the King of Prussia Mall, and already has several of my fashion-forward pals excited. While Philly chanteuse Christina Perri visited MIX 106.1 this week, where she spent time with a live penguin (yeah, I don’t get it myself, but). MKTO hit up Clear Channel’s neighboring Q102 performance theater and Wild Cub visited Radio 104.5 in Bala. May I just say how much of a pleasure it was to see and hang with Pittsburgh’s Rusted Root when they sold out the Ardmore Music Hall? These guys couldn’t even take a bathroom break without being besieged with Instagram-loving fans — and yes, the Root obliged. Dancing with the Stars dancing machine Louis van Amstel hit up the Society Hill Dance Academy off South Street the other day to promote his LA Blast Fitness workout program. On another sporting tip, I stopped by the Crystal Tea Room’s Philly first Philly Sports Roast thrown by Joe Conklin for ex-Eagle Terrell Owens. With T.O. nestled upon a red velvet throne, cats like Conklin, Stu Bykofsky, Ed Rendell and Damon Feldman bitched out the one-time Eagles baller for just being a asshole to a house filled with sports scribes and TV types such as Stan Hochman and Howard Eskin. Afterwards, that lot hit up Del Frisco’s for a second round of roasting.
