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TV legend Sonny Fox to perform in Rahway Dec. 1
Kids’ TV hosts say the darndest
things… and 1960s’ TV icon Sonny Fox will offer up plenty of wit and nostalgia
when he brings his Wonderama revival to Hamilton Stage for the Performing Arts
on Sunday, Dec. 1 at 2 p.m., 360 Hamilton St., Rahway.
An Afternoon with Sonny Fox
features the popular kids’-show television host signing copies of his new
memoir, “But You Made the Front Page: War, Wonderama and a Whole Bunch of
Life,” as well as recreating many magic moments from the show.
From 1959-1967, the hottest
ticket in New York was not to a Broadway show or a Yankee or Giant game. It was
to get your kid on Sonny Fox's Wonderama show broadcast live on Channel 5.
Demand for tickets was so high and the wait so long, expectant mothers were
known to put in ticket requests in hopes they could secure a seat for their
unborn child.
As comedian Whoopi Goldberg
recalled, “On Sunday, I had to do two things: go to church and watch Sonny
Fox.” American Theater Group, a New Jersey drama company in residence at
Hamilton Stage, is organizing the event. Tickets are $40 and available online
at hucpac.org, by calling 732-499-8226, or visiting the Union County Performing
Arts Center box office, 1601 Irving St., Rahway.
“For kids of my generation,
watching Sonny Fox was a fundamental part of growing up,” said Jim Vagias,
American Theater Group’s co-producing artistic director. “We are thrilled he is
visiting Rahway to allow us ‘Baby Boomers’ to experience this wonderful part of
our childhood again." Fox’s unrivaled stature among the young New York
metro audience enabled him to attract special guests from all walks of life,
including Senator Robert Kennedy, the young cast of “The Sound of Music” film,
and the designer of James Bond’s Aston Martin from the then newly released film
Goldfinger.
In addition, the show regularly
featured art lessons, magic performances by The Amazing Randi, riddles, Mad
Libs and the favorite, Simon Sez. On Dec. 1 at Hamilton Stage, Fox will
reminisce about the early days of live television and share choice Wonderama
film highlights.
Audience members will get a
chance to recreate some of the program’s favorite segments including stumping
Sonny with riddles, playing Mad Libs and competing in Simon Sez.
“Hamilton Stage was created to
showcase a wide range of eclectic entertainment appealing to a broad cross
section of the community,” said Union County Performing Arts Center Executive
Director L.E. McCullough. “An Afternoon with Sonny Fox is yet another exciting
program devised by American Theater Group.”
For more information about
American Theater Group, visit americantheatergroup.com.
For more information about the
2013-14 performance season at UCPAC’s Hamilton Stage, visit
hamiltonstagenj.com.
Nostalgic Memories Could Create Optimism For The Future
Nostalgic memories of the past could make some people feel more positive about their prospects for the future, according to researchers from University of Southampton in the UK.
Researchers surveyed a group of volunteers on their self-perception after hearing a nostalgic holiday song or story. They found that those who heard a nostalgic song were more likely to report optimistic feelings about the future than those in a control group:
"Nostalgia is experienced frequently and virtually by everyone, and we know that it can maintain psychological comfort. For example, nostalgic reverie can combat loneliness. We wanted to take that a step further and assess whether it can increase a feeling of optimism about the future," the researchers said.
Mob wanted Johnny Carson dead for flirting
The Mafia put a contract out on “Tonight Show” host Johnny Carson after he drunkenly hit on a mobster’s mistress in Frank Sinatra’s favorite Manhattan bar, according to a new biography of the TV icon.
It was 1970, and a predictably sloshed Carson was pounding drinks at Jilly’s Saloon on West 52nd Street and Eighth Avenue at closing time.
“An attractive brunette at the bar caught Carson’s eye, and he was doing his considerable best to convince her to leave with him,” wrote Henry Bushkin in his new tome “Johnny Carson.”
But the beauty already had a beau — and he had a hair-trigger temper.
“And when her boyfriend — a major figure in the underworld — arrived, he was not grateful to Johnny for entertaining his ‘goomar’ in his absence,” Bushkin wrote.
The unidentified wiseguy and his goons picked Carson up off his bar stool and threw him down a flight of stairs before famed saloon owner Jilly Rizzo — whose regulars included Sinatra, Dean Martin and Judy Garland — interceded and prevented a more serious beatdown.
But the mob big wasn’t satisfied and put out a contract to have Carson whacked.
A terrified Carson wisely “holed up in his UN Plaza palace for three days, missing three shows,” according to the book.
The vengeful mobsters only backed off after one of Carson’s contacts at the William Morris Agency cut a deal with crime boss Joseph Colombo.
The mob boss had recently formed the Italian-American Civil Rights League to persuade America that people of Italian descent were being unfairly stereotyped as mafiosi.
The group was planning a big rally and “Colombo was deeply, deeply disappointed that so far all of the [TV] networks had refused to cover the rally,” Bushkin wrote.
“Soon an accommodation was reached. NBC News covered the rally, and Johnny could leave the apartment,” he wrote.
As for Colombo, he was gunned down in 1971 at the second annual Italian Unity Day rally in Columbus Circle. He was left almost totally paralyzed and died in 1978.
“That was the last of the rallies,” Bushkin noted.
Rizzo was a boyhood pal of Sinatra, who had his own chair permanently reserved in the back room of Rizzo’s watering hole, which drew as many mobsters as celebrities
It was 1970, and a predictably sloshed Carson was pounding drinks at Jilly’s Saloon on West 52nd Street and Eighth Avenue at closing time.
“An attractive brunette at the bar caught Carson’s eye, and he was doing his considerable best to convince her to leave with him,” wrote Henry Bushkin in his new tome “Johnny Carson.”
But the beauty already had a beau — and he had a hair-trigger temper.
“And when her boyfriend — a major figure in the underworld — arrived, he was not grateful to Johnny for entertaining his ‘goomar’ in his absence,” Bushkin wrote.
The unidentified wiseguy and his goons picked Carson up off his bar stool and threw him down a flight of stairs before famed saloon owner Jilly Rizzo — whose regulars included Sinatra, Dean Martin and Judy Garland — interceded and prevented a more serious beatdown.
But the mob big wasn’t satisfied and put out a contract to have Carson whacked.
A terrified Carson wisely “holed up in his UN Plaza palace for three days, missing three shows,” according to the book.
The vengeful mobsters only backed off after one of Carson’s contacts at the William Morris Agency cut a deal with crime boss Joseph Colombo.
The mob boss had recently formed the Italian-American Civil Rights League to persuade America that people of Italian descent were being unfairly stereotyped as mafiosi.
The group was planning a big rally and “Colombo was deeply, deeply disappointed that so far all of the [TV] networks had refused to cover the rally,” Bushkin wrote.
“Soon an accommodation was reached. NBC News covered the rally, and Johnny could leave the apartment,” he wrote.
As for Colombo, he was gunned down in 1971 at the second annual Italian Unity Day rally in Columbus Circle. He was left almost totally paralyzed and died in 1978.
“That was the last of the rallies,” Bushkin noted.
Rizzo was a boyhood pal of Sinatra, who had his own chair permanently reserved in the back room of Rizzo’s watering hole, which drew as many mobsters as celebrities
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