Illinois Showbiz Latest News and Updates

Losing his patience? Wheel of Fortune host Pat Sajak yelled at a contestant one day after going viral for jokingly tackling a winner.

CRAVITY have announced the dates for the North American leg of their upcoming ‘Masterpiece’ world tour.The Starship Entertainment group will start the North American leg of their world tour at Webster Hall in New York on June 16, before heading to Chicago’s Copernicus Center on June 18. CRAVITY will also play a show in the US territory of Puerto Rico on May 20, before heading back stateside with concerts in Atlanta and Dallas, before wrapping things up in Los Angeles.Aside from the US leg, CRAVITY’s ‘Masterpiece’ world tour will also see the boyband perform two shows each in the Japanese cities of Osaka and Yokohama.

TWICE have announced six new shows in North America and Australia for their upcoming ‘Ready To Be’ world tour.Today (March 23), the popular K-pop girl group announced on Twitter that they are adding two new shows to the Australian legs of their ‘Ready To Be’ tour. They include a second Sydney show on May 2, as well as a follow-up Melbourne concert on May 7.As for the North American leg of TWICE’s upcoming world tour, it will see the addition of four new stops – three in the US and one in Canada.

With no intention of making you feel absolutely ancient, 2023 marks 20 years since the release of Fall Out Boy's debut LP Take This to Your Grave. Since then, the Illinois-formed rock group have secured four Top 10 albums and 11 Top 40 singles; from Sugar, We're Goin Down to Centuries.

Billie Eilish, Kendrick Lamar and The 1975 among the headliners.Lollapalooza 2023 is returning to Giant Park in Chicago, Illinois from August 3-6. Red Hot Chili Peppers, Lana Del Rey, Odesza, Tomorrow X Together and Karol G will also be topping the bill, with the latter making history as the first female Latin artist to headline the festival.Elsewhere, Lollapalooza has also booked the likes of Carly Rae Jepsen, Rina Sawayama, Pusha T, Lil Yachty, 30 Seconds To Mars, Beebadoobee and Fred again..

Lollapalooza’s star-studded lineup for 2023 is here.

Billie Eilish and Kendrick Lamar are among the headliners for this year's star-studded musical event.Lollapalooza announced its lineup on Tuesday, with headliners also including the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Lana Del Rey, Karol G, Odesza, the 1975 and Tomorrow X Together. The event is slated for Aug.

According to MC Entertainment, Tickets for the Puerto Rico stop of E’LAST’s North America tour will start this Wednesday (March 22) with tickets going for US$35 to US$169.Meanwhile, more details regarding the rest of the shows on the ‘Thrill’ tour are set to be released later today.

KCAL meteorologist Alissa Carlson Schwartz fainted Saturday morning during a live TV broadcast.

Moving on for the better. Gabby Windey has learned a thing or two about finding love following her split from ex-fiancé Erich Schwer.

After being suspected of killing his estranged wife, the comments about marriage made by a former “Family Feud” contestant have some scratching their heads.

Jennie Garth is staying true to her Midwestern roots. Before the 50-year-old actress rose to fame starring as the wealthy and popular Kelly Taylor on the hit 1990s series "Beverly Hills, 90210," she was raised on a horse farm in rural Illinois. The "What I Like About You" alum opened up about her upbringing and the importance of passing down her values and traditions to her three daughters in an interview with Fox News Digital.  "I think a lot of people definitely don't associate me with a Midwestern lifestyle," she said.

MAMAMOO are set to embark on their first-ever tour of the US as part of their wider ‘MY CON’ world tour.Today (March 15), the quartet officially announced that they would be going on their first North American tour, which will comprise shows in nine cities on both coasts, as well as southern and midwestern markets, over two months.MAMAMOO’s US tour will first kick off on May 16 in New York, before heading down the coast to Baltimore, Maryland and Atlanta, Georgia. The girl group will then head down south, with shows in Tennessee, Texas and Arizona.

Fake news! Zendaya’s longtime stylist Law Roach slammed rumors that he and the actress were at odds following his surprise retirement announcement.  

you live in a state that is most likely to survive it?With the recent success of HBO‘s “The Last of Us,” insurance marketplace Insuranks surveyed more than 1,000 US citizens about zombies and what they might do in case of a terrifying undead apocalypse. They also analyzed more than 1,000 Google searches to determine where each state lands on zombie apocalypse preparedness.According to the survey, Wyoming is the readiest to take on the walking dead.

A new chapter! Law Roach announced his sudden retirement.

“This summer’s gonna be hot!”

Sufjan Stevens‘ 2005 concept album ‘Illinois’ is being turned into a musical, with its first run confirmed for this year.The new show will premiere this summer as part of the 20th anniversary celebrations of Bard College’s Fisher Center in New York.A synopsis of the production, which features music and lyrics penned by Stevens and script written by Justin Peck and Jackie Sibblies Drury, reads: “Featuring new arrangements of the entire album for a live band and three voices — ranging in style from DIY folk and indie rock to marching band and ambient electronics — Illinois will lead us on a mighty journey through the American heartland, from campfire storytelling to the edges of the cosmos.“Tony Award-winner Justin Peck transforms the album into a full-length theatrical performance with a cast of virtuosic dancers, singers, and musicians in a narrative crafted with Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Jackie Sibblies Drury.”The show will come to Bard from June 23 to July 2 and you can buy tickets here.A few years back, Sufjan Stevens called for every band to break up after ten years together in his end-of-year roundup for 2021.Writing on Tumblr, Stevens listed his favourite and least favourite albums of 2021 – even though most of the entries aren’t actual albums, and a majority of those that are, weren’t released this year.Topping Stevens’ list of the worst albums of 2021 was Netflix’s hit show Squid Game. “I didn’t actually see it but it looks really stupid,” he wrote before giving it a score of F-.Also on Steven’s list of his least favourite albums was The Matrix 4 (“Ugh.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Italian sales company True Colours has closed a raft of sales following Berlin’s European Film Market. Italy’s box office hit “La Stranezza” (“Strangeness”) got picked up for a dozen territories and queer romantic drama “Norwegian Dream” also sold widely, including to North America. Directed by Roberto Andò, “Strangeness” (pictured) toplines Toni Servillo (“The Great Beauty”) as Nobel-prize-winning playwright Luigi Pirandello. This tragicomic period piece about how Pirandello found inspiration to write his masterpiece “Six Characters in Search of an Author” has been a sleeper hit at the Italian box office, coming from nowhere to pull more than €5.5 million ($5.8 million) and becoming the local 2022 box office champ.

A stage adaptation of Sufjan Stevens’ acclaimed 2005 album Illinois will make its world premiere this summer in a production by The Fisher Center at Bard where Daniel Fish’s eye-opening Tony-winning revival of Oklahoma! got its start.

Uh… what? An Illinois man by the name of

Zoe Hewitt When it comes to any entertainment industry production, whether it’s a tentpole film or an independent commercial, creative choices must vie against the ever-important bottom line. Working in a state with tax incentive programs means productions can have the best of both worlds. In Illinois, Gov. J.B. Pritzker just signed a 10-year extension for the state’s film-friendly tax incentive program, which guarantees productions 30% back on eligible expenses through Jan. 1, 2033. The credit was recently expanded to include eligibility for nine key positions for non-residents: director, writer, DP, production designer, costume designer, production accountant, visual-effects supervisor, editor and composer.

Zoe Hewitt Maintaining the location library of 20,000 photos is one of Illinois Film Office assistant deputy director Louis Ferrara’s favorite parts of his job. “Producers always laugh when I say that, but it’s true,” he says. The massive quantity of location photos are categorized into various curated files so when productions have a need, the film office can readily supply whatever they desire. “We scout locations on a regular basis to freshen up the library,” says Ferrara, noting that they also send letters to homeowners and businesses to help with continually growing the resource. There’s no time wasted when productions choose to film in Illinois, and no need to retread the same locations.

Paula Hendrickson Illinois is no stranger to the film industry. Essanay Studios, founded in Chicago in 1907, is where silent film stars including Wallace Beery, Gloria Swanson, and Charlie Chaplin made some of their earliest films. Although filmmakers soon flocked to Hollywood, with its robust advertising industry, Chicago became — and continues to be — a hot spot for making commercials. Today, TV productions are on the rise with shows including “The Chi,” “The Bear,” “South Side” and others joining Dick Wolf ’s “Chicago Fire,” “Chicago P.D.” and “Chicago Med.” Many Windy City-based series are shot in the nation’s second-largest soundstage, Cinespace Chicago.

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Gearing up to change the world!

Snoop Dogg and Wiz Khalifa have announced a massive joint tour titled ‘High School Reunion’ across North America.Snoop announced the 33-date run via a poster on Instagram on March 7. The tour will kick off on July 7 in Vancouver before wrapping up the run in Irvine, California on August 27.

Fandom’s “Oscars According to Fans” survey reports that “Avatar: The Way of Water” takes the Oscar for Best Picture over “Top Gun: Maverick” if it were up to fans.James Cameron’s long-awaited sequel was the favorite of 15 states — such as Washington, Oklahoma, Illinois, New York and Alabama — while Tom Cruise’s equally long-awaited sequel took second place as the top film in 13 states including California, Oregon, Nevada, Montana, Wyoming, North Carolina and Maine among others.“Elvis” came in third place for fan votes to win Best Picture. Austin Butler’s portrayal of Elvis was the fan favorite of 9 states including Arizona, Mew Mexico, Minnesota and more, with 36% of voters picking him to win the Oscar for the Best Actor.

A legend in film and television! Best known for his roles in Star Wars and Indiana Jones, Harrison Ford’s career has spanned over six decades and he has become an icon in the film industry.

post, the Rays called Wills “a beloved figure throughout the Tampa Bay community and Major League Baseball.” The MLB commemorated Wills’ “impeccable play-by-play calling, his insightful analysis and his infectious personality.”“Dave was an outstanding broadcaster, a great friend and an even better person,” said the Rays’ principal owner Stuart Sternberg in the MLB announcement. “He had a remarkable talent for bringing the game to life for our fans and was a vital part of the Rays family.

appealing his conviction for staging a racist and homophobic attack on himself and lying to Chicago police about it — nearly a year after he was sentenced to five months in jail.The “Empire” alum, 40, is seeking a new trial, as he claims “prosecutorial misconduct” in this case was “clear and egregious,” according to the 102-page document filed Wednesday with the Illinois Appellate Court and obtained by The Post.A jury convicted Smollett in December 2021 of five counts of disorderly conduct. He had claimed that on a frigid early morning in January 2019, two men approached him in the dark, yelled slurs at him, punched him, poured a chemical substance on him and hung a noose around his neck.Chicago police accused Smollett of recruiting brothers Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo to carry out the attack to boost his burgeoning Hollywood career.Abimbola, an amateur boxer and occasional bit-part actor, testified in court that Smollett, who is black and gay, told him the specific words he wanted the brothers to used were “Empire’, f—-t, n—-r, MAGA.”On March 10, 2022, Smollett was sentenced to 150 days in jail as he continued to proclaim his innocence.

Dennis Harvey Film Critic Writer-director-star Alex Heller’s debut feature is a fictive spin on the very crisis she experienced at age 19, when she dropped out of college and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Not the weightiest screen treatment of a serious mental health issue, this drolly self-deprecating portrayal nonetheless achieves a degree of poignancy and depth within a distinctive sensibility you might call Midwestern Sardonic. After a fest run, it’s opening in limited theaters and on demand March 3.  Clemence Miller (Heller) screams “trainwreck” from the moment we first see her dragging a garbage bag across campus, haranguing everyone whose path she crosses. She then turns that alienating energy on her terrified dorm roommate (Taylor Marie Blim), who says, “You’re ruining my college experience!” The roomie has, it turns out, already informed Clem’s mother that she has spiraled into “hoarding, stealing, paranoia and shrieking.” Ergo Sherri (J. Smith-Cameron) bursts through the door, dragging her eldest child back to suburban Illinois not a moment too soon.

on Instagram Wednesday, nodding to the scene-stealing work of Amy Poehler in the original feature film. Based on the Tony-nominated musical, which itself was adapted from the Tina Fey-penned teen comedy film from 2004 starring Lindsay Lohan and Rachel McAdams, the upcoming movie musical begins production March 6. Fey and co-star Tim Meadows recently confirmed they’re returning to play their characters Ms.

Rockband Kiss have announced the final dates of their last tour — two back-to-back shows at Madison Square Garden in New York at the end of 2023. The final leg of the 17-date North American tour, “End of the Road Countdown: The Final 50 Shows” will start in October in Texas, moving to California, Washington, Canada, Tennessee, Indiana, Illinois and Maryland before closing out on Dec. 1 and 2.“Kiss was born in New York City.

Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo, who have never previously spoken to the media about the part they played in the elaborate plot to stage a hate crime on Smollett, 40, four years ago.“‘Anatomy of a Hoax’ takes a deep dive into a scam that reverberated through the worlds of entertainment, pop culture and politics,” said John Finley, the streaming platform’s executive vice president, in a press release.

The cast of the upcoming Mean Girls: The Musical movie is shaping up and there are now 10 actors announced for the Paramount+ film.