Seen: Renee Fleming + More Celebs in the 401
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Opera royalty was in the house this weekend when superstar Renee Fleming graced Providence and the stage at The VETS at a no-holds-barred gala performance to celebrate the rededication of the shining performance hall. The megawatt talent tries to keep it real, she's said, despite having gowns, a perfume, an iris, and even a pastry (a chocolate-almond-hazelnut creation by none other than Daniel Boulud) created and named for her. Maybe it's being the mother of two teenagers, who may be responsible for stretching their mother's musical street cred (Fleming's 2010 CD, "Dark Hope," featured covers of Arcade Fire and Death Cab for Cutie… which, by the way, happens to be coming to the VETS in April...).
This week's 401 silver screen update involves local talent Chris Sparling (straight out of North Providence), whose psychological thriller, ATM, has a release date announced for March 2nd, followed by a theatrical release on April 6. ATM stars Alice Eve (She's Out of My League, “Entourage”), Brian Geraghty (The Hurt Locker), and Josh Peck (Ice Age, “Drake & Josh”) as three co-workers who, on a routine stop at an ATM late one evening, end up in a desperate fight for their lives after becoming trapped by an unknown assailant. The film is directed by David Brooks, and written by Chris Sparling, who also wrote the dramatic thriller Buried, starring Ryan Reynolds, which earned him an award for Best Original Screenplay by the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures, as well as a Goya Award (Spain’s Academy Award) in the same category.
Not one to rest, Sparling is slated to work next with producer M. Night Shyamalan on the film Reincarnate, the second in a three-film series known as “The Night Chronicles.” In addition, the film Mercy, for which Chris wrote the
screenplay, will begin shooting later this year in Cape Town, South Africa. Chris will make his feature directing debut this summer with Falling Slowly, a supernatural drama, which he plans to shoot in Los Angeles and Rhode Island.
Keep an eye out on the streets of downtown Providence Friday, when country darlings Rascal Flatts come to town to play the Dunk. And if you do, give the boys a hug for being three pretty cool guys who just received the Country Radio Seminar's 2012 Artist Humanitarian Award for their giving spirit, including a 2010 donation of $3 million to the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital in Nashville. Moreso, the multi-platinum trio of Gary LeVox, Jay DeMarcus and Joe Don Rooney currently serve as celebrity spokespersons for The Jason Foundation, a national suicide prevention foundation, as well as being members of the American Red Cross Celebrity Cabinet.
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