Seen: Kevin Bacon + More Celebs in the 401
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
There were way less than six degrees of separation between Providence and Kevin Bacon last weekend. The prolific actor was spotted at Brown University, attending the concert of all-female a capella group the Ursa Minors, of which his daughter Sosie is a member (she’s currently a sophomore at Brown). The Brown Jabberwocks and Higher Keys also performed that night. Since Bacon was in New England filming R.I.P.D. with Ryan Reynolds and Jeff Bridges, although he wasn’t in the car chase scene filmed in downtown Providence last week, it makes sense that he would stop by College Hill to watch his daughter sing a solo in “King of Anything” by Sara Bareilles. He was also spotted eating at Brickway on Wickenden St., before gawkers snapping cell phone pics forced him to leave early, donning a baseball cap and sunglasses...
One of Rhode Island's more recent celebrities returned home last Saturday. Paul "Pauly D" DelVecchio of Johnston was down at Waterplace Park in Providence DJing the Cox Back to College Block Party. The park was filled with about 400 college students who got free passes for subscribing to Cox services, although plenty of other people eagerly watched the show from the outskirts. The Jersey Shore star was excited to be back in his home state doing what he loves. It's good he was able to stop by now, because between his upcoming three-album deal with 50 Cent and spinoff show Pauly's World (which will start filming soon), who knows when he'll be back in the area. But they say the new show will feature Rhode Island quite a bit, so maybe it'll be sooner rather than later...
In other 50 Cent news, the rapper recently got into a bit of a legal snafu with a famous Brown professor. Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe, currently professor of Africana studies at Brown, denied 50 the rights to use the name of his acclaimed novel Things Fall Apart as the title of his upcoming movie. The movie producers supposedly offered Achebe $1 million for the use of the name, but he wouldn't concede, saying that the novel's value to modern African
literature is much more than $1 million. So now the movie, starring Ray Liotta alongside 50, will be called All Things Fall Apart, and be released in early 2012. Way to stand your ground, Mr. Achebe...GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST
Last Friday night, the students and teachers of Birchwood Middle School in North Providence were all over national television. The school was the subject of a special episode of the CBS program 48 Hours about bullying in schools, entitled “Bullying: Words Can Kill.” For six months, cameras and microphones documented the daily lives of six students—some were the bullies, and others the bullied. CBS news correspondent Tracy Smith (a Boston University grad) reported on the serious issues the Birchwood kids faced as representative of what happens in schools all over the country. Hopefully Rhode Island students can set an example for the rest of America…
Nine years after releasing his Pulizter Prize-winning novel Middlesex (currently being adapted by playwright Donald Marguiles into a mini series for HBO), a prominent Brown alum is getting ready to release his new book. Jeffrey Eugenides, who also wrote the award-winning novel The Virgin Suicides, will release his third novel The Marriage Plot this fall. He clearly drew a bit on personal experiences when writing it, as the book is about three friends at Brown University in the early 1980s. If you need any more reason to pick up a copy, from previews of the book, we know that parts of the book will feature College Hill (and the RISD-formed Talking Heads). I for one am definitely interested in reading about what Providence was like in the Reagan era, aren’t you?
Seen someone famous? Get famous yourself by sending it to Seen. Email [email protected].
