Tyler Peterson - Page 10

It's time, once again, dear reader, to give the boot to another All-Star. But don't flash those jazz hands too hard quite yet - there are still months to go until the finale. Tonight's somewhat of a shocker elimination episode featured a whole lot of the old, including performances from last season's Katherine Jenkins, as well as Placido Domingo (guess I wasn't cool enough to know who that was before tonight), and Cher Llyod. But also some new.

Has anyone noticed the cute, shameless plugging the contestants of DANCING WITH THE STARS partake in on Twitter? These guys are synergistic, cross-promoting, social media moguls! Example 1: Kirstie Alley asked Kristin Chenoweth for a sympathy vote this weekend. Cheno was naturally happy to oblige. She's Broadway/the planet's resident 'nice girl,' after all.

How did you guys watch the first All-Star take a bullet on the fifteenth season of DANCING WITH THE STARS? I ate a whole frozen pizza and tried to convince myself that Emmitt Smith wasn't Matthew McConaughey. Seriously, their cool-guy swag is identical!

Let's all take a moment, and let out a collective and exhaustive, "UGHHHHH." Dancing with the Stars is back. For the 15th time. I know, guys. I'm sorry. Just when you think the airwaves can't get even more clogged with televised rot.

Mastering the craft of magic, the slight of hand, and the art of maneuvering around disbelief, according to Chicago-based magician Dennis Watkins, requires the mastery of multiple worlds. The Magic Parlour is currently playing an open run at The Palmer House Hilton. Showtimes are Friday nights at 8 and 10:30 PM, tickets are $75 and include an open bar. They are available online at http://boxoffice.printtixusa.com/housetheatre/eventcalendar or by calling 773-769-3832.

Jim Irizarry, RAIN's resident John Lennon, is no amateur went it comes to The Beatles. Or their songs. Or mastering Lennon's accent, mannerisms, and musical style. For the first time since he joined the show, originally in the Broadway run over two years ago, he's back in Chicago, this time, performing for his hometown.

Shannon Mullen, who currently stars as Sherrie in ROCK OF AGES' second national tour, has missed four performances. And the show kicked off in October 2011. She's currently proving to Chicagoans she's a tiny powerhouse with a killer voice eight times a week with the rest of the ROCK cast at Chicago's Broadway Playhouse, where the show is currently in the middle of a sit-down run through August 5.

The Jim Henson Company may be commonly known for its children's programming such as Sesame Street - but the brand of pioneers of puppetry isn't afraid to show off the subversive underbellies of its fuzzy, legless characters, and the actors that control them. STUFFED AND UNSTRUNG, an improvisational puppet show billed as 'adults only,' created by Brian Henson, the son of Jim Henson, and actor/improv wonder Patrick Bristow (SEINFELD, ELLEN), is set to play the Bank of America Theater in Chicago from June 12-17. The show is performed centerstage, where the actors/puppeteers are completely visible, and the stage is flanked by two monitors, in which the puppets are shown from the waste up - what Brian Henson calls 'the Henson technique.' BroadwayWorld was fortunate enough to sit down with creators Brian Henson and Patrick Bristow (who serve as a puppeteer, and director/host, respectively,) as well as puppeteers Peggy Etra and Victor Yerrid.

JERSEY BOY Michael Lomenda has called Chicago his touring-home for just over a month, but the closest Starbucks to The Bank of America Theater, where the first national touring cast of Jersey Boys is currently playing its 9 week run, has rooted itself firmly in his routine. He also calls a brownstone with fellow cast members in Wrigleyville his place of residence, has mastered the el (and gotten plenty of compliments while doing so), and taken in the city's architectural feats on boat tours.

Not since Sherri Shepherd's early departure this season has DANCING (and its audience) announced such a shocking boot. Jenkins will keep on with her Welsh Wiggle, cavorting with a pleasant blankness; Driver will continue to foam at the mouth for a perfect 30; Levy will continue to cause housewives and their daughters (or sons) to wish they were pin-up girls, and thus, worthy of his attention. But Menounos will no longer cackel a la Fran Drescher or caper across the DANCING stage. BroadwayWorld's prediction of her claiming that mirrorball trophy, that perfect piece of mantle decor, is proven unfounded.

It's the Semi-Finals of the 84th (or so) season of DANCING WITH THE STARS; one contestant is just performances away from landing a week-long circuit on daytime talk-shows before departing from the public-eye for another decade or so. And by this point, it only comes around to reinforce that DANCING is an actual competition, and not just a golden ticket for a six-minute segment on LIVE WITH KELLY.

The heavenly gates have parted, their creak only outdone by that of the DANCING band's singers, and this glorious moment is now upon us all. We welcome our savior itself through the airwave spectrum, preceded by the ABC and DANCING logos. Yes, it is a blessed eve when DANCING's results show comes around; it might as well be the second coming when two contestants are condemned to spend the rest of eternity doing Proctive and Education Connection commercials in Satan's studio.

This week, DANCING contestants now have double the chances to end up in a full-body cast; for the first time this season, the competitors performed two separate routines, unguided by stipulations or other frivolous themes. Also, with two performances, come two eliminations tomorrow. The second routines featured past DANCING pros (both in the competition and the troupe), creating trios that were often, well, off.

DANCING WITH THE STARS has descended upon the common masses for yet another life-and-death situation: one pseudo-celeb's inflated head is resting in the guillotine's embrace once more. It's Wednesday eve, which means the sprawling epic drama that is results night has returned from the dark mists of Satan's den, ready to carry another beheaded contestant away, back to irrelevancy.

After umpteen seasons, it's clear DANCING WITH THE STARS can't demand its contestants abandon their sexy schtick, the costumes, the puffery that all makes DANCING what it is. So when designated Classical Week comes around, interesting combinations arise. Only so many competition shows can ask its contestants to marry Mozart with an ass-shake. Alas, these two seemingly unrelated aspects of human culture must of course be manhandled by DANCING, and the audience gets Classical Week.

DANCING WITH THE STARS' Motown tribute week featured new highs and lows in the competition, the newly invoked gladiator-esque dance-off included in the former. The results show featured performances by non-Motown artists - an odd choice - including Boyz II Men and Natasha Bedingfield. At the end of last night, Gladys Knight, the contestant with the most heart according to Len, was at the bottom of the leader board.

DANCING WITH THE STARS implemented new features into the competition to spice up another performance broadcast. For the first time in the show's history, contestants danced to the hits of Motown - while the original tracks' artists sang live. The Motown inspired special began with a montage of performances by the soulful legends: Smokey Robinson, Martha Reeves, and The Temptations. In additions, contestants this week also partook in a dance-off to rack up extra bonus points to be put towards their overall score.

Last night's performance show, dubbed 'Latin Night,' proved to provide the fire many couples needed to show just how talented they were; a new pack of frontrunners emerged, including Menounos and Levy - with previous favorites, Jenkins and Driver, reclaiming the spots they once held. With performances by Train and Selena Gomez, and a constant reminder of the uncertainty of anyone's position (after Shepherd's untimely departure), this results show was anyone's to lose.

After last week's shocking elimination of fan-favorite Sherri Shepherd, the DANCING competitors were widdled down to nine. Going into the halfway point of the competition, the remaining dancers and their partners were tasked with creating routines for the designated 'Latin Week.' The broadcast featured a performance by Santana, with sure-fire frontrunners emerging.

DANCING WITH THE STARS welcomed Kiss back to the stage to closeout perhaps the most impressive week of performances, 'Rock Week.' It heralded new leaders in the competition, with Donald Driver and Maria Menounos receiving the highest marks by the judges. Disney star Roshon Fegan managed to climb his way to the top of the competition, clearing former DANCING starlet, Katherine Jenkins, fell to third place points-wise after an attempt to rile up some Welsh aggression. But what came in the last few seconds of the broadcast, the star eliminated this week, was even more surprising than the performances of last night.