Which "Fame" song does the Lyric: "There ain't nobody quite like you" come from?
FILM: LORI SINGER IN
'SUMMER HEAT'
By Judy
Klemesrud Published: July 19, 1985
LORI SINGER, who for
a while seemed to be playing every teen-age role that wasn't offered to Molly
Ringwald or Ally Sheedy, has finally grown up. In fact, it will be hard to
think of her as a teen-ager again after her appearance as Maddy, the sexy,
intense, career-driven Government agent in the Stan Dragoti comedy ''The Man
With One Red Shoe."
''I love it,'' Miss
Singer, who is actually 23 years old, said in an interview. ''After 'Fame' and
'Footloose,' I kept getting offered all these teen parts. It's really nice to
play an adult for a change.''
In the film, Maddy
falls in love with a violinist (played by Tom Hanks), who unknowingly becomes
involved in a bizarre conspiracy in which he is bugged, shadowed and almost
wiped out by a band of Government agents.
Miss Singer said she
had prepared for the part by talking with two female C.I.A. agents, and by
copying the mannerisms of a New York management consultant named Susan Engel,
who is a friend. ''Susan really inspired me,'' Miss Singer said. ''I got
Maddy's intensity and sharpness and speed from her.''
Miss Singer, who is
5 feet 10 inches tall with long blond hair, originally planned to be a cellist.
She is a graduate of Juilliard, where she was first cellist in the school's
orchestra, and she has played professionally with a number of groups. Her
father, Jacques Singer, was a symphony orchestra conductor, and her mother,
Leslie, is a concert pianist. Her twin brother, Gregory, is a violinist.
But, like her older
brother, Marc Singer, star of the television series ''V,'' she chose acting.
''In a world where such terrible things are happening,'' she said, ''it's just
so fantastic to become someone else.''
She was first
noticed in the role of the shy cellist in the television series ''Fame.'' In
the film ''Footloose,'' she played the daughter of a preacher who longs to
break out of her strict small-town environment, and in ''The Falcon and the
Snowman'' she played Timothy Hutton's girlfriend.
Miss Singer lives in
New York with her husband, Richard Emery, a civil liberties lawyer. She said
she was not worried that her part as the secret agent would cause her to be
typecast in sexy roles, because she has just finished an Alan Rudolph film
called ''Trouble in Mind,'' with Kris Kristofferson and Keith Carradine, in
which her character is very different from Maddy.
''She's an innocent,
backwoods character,'' she said.
A young man in a
leopard-skin leotard swung from a street light. A girl in a polka-dot tunic
pranced below. Other capriciously dressed teen-agers hugged and mugged
yesterday at Broadway and 43d Street.
They could have been the usual denizens of Times Square. Except that the usual denizens were across the street, quietly watching them.
''Who are those people, man?'' one Times Square habitue said with sniff. ''What is that girl doing?''
Life watched art. It made for an odd looking glass.
A producer, Ken Ehrlich, and the cast of the television show ''Fame'' were filming sequences for the fall season, one on a subway and one about dancing in the streets of New York.
The city provided a subway train free from graffiti. The dance number was more realistic.
Valerie Landsburg, Darryl Tribble and other ''Fame'' regulars are frolicking at a dozen locations, from Bowling Green to the South Street Seaport, for several days - all for a three-minute scene.
The number will be a reflection, in dance, of the youths' reluctance to part with the joys of summer and return to the confines of the classroom.
That, for those who were wondering, is who those people are and what they were doing.
Drug Sweep Nets
Relatives of Actor
Published: June 23, 1983
The mother, a grandmother and other relatives of a star of the television program ''Fame'' were among 14 people arrested over two days in Harlem and the Bronx and charged with peddling heroin and cocaine, a Federal spokesman said yesterday.
Mr. Ray, who was in the movie ''Fame'' and the recently canceled TV series, was not involved in the 10-month investigation that preceded the arrests, Mr. Pucher said.
Mr. Ray's grandmother, Viola (Lilly) Ward, 66, had six ounces of cocaine and a .38-caliber pistol when she was arrested at her home at 270 West 153d Street, Mr. Pucher said.
Practicing dance
steps on the sidewalk and humming to themselves, hundreds of young people
mobbed the Minskoff studio at 1515 Broadway on the edge of Times Square, hoping
for parts in the television series ''Fame.'' It was still dark when they lined
up.
''It's such a long shot, for them and for us,'' Bill Blinn, the executive producer, said. ''We've probably turned away three Judy Garlands already.'' A handful will be considered for parts.
Gabby Casseus, who lives in Roosevelt, L.I., and works in a J. C. Penney store. arrived at 6:30 A.M. Six hours later, his eyes shining, he said, ''It feels wonderful!'' He said he had made it through the second round of auditions. ''
Paula Saunders of Brooklyn apologized to Mr. Blinn for not going all out on some strenuous routines. ''I'm pregnant,'' she told him, ''and the baby's due today.'' Mr. Blinn said he'd keep her in mind.
''It's rough,'' said Otis Sallid, the assistant choreographer, remembering his own tryout days. ''Now pay attention.'' he told the dancers. He demonstrated a routine. ''And have a good time.''
THIS evening at 8 on
NBC, the series ''Fame'' is being pre-empted for a one-hour special called
''The Kids From Fame.'' It seems that ''Fame,'' which has been having its
ratings problems in this country, is extremely popular in Britain, sometimes
No. 1 and always placing in the Top 10. Songs from the program have made the
best-seller record charts. So, presumably in gratitude, several members of the
cast, headed by Debbie Allen, agreed to participate in a stage production that
was given a British tour last December. According to reports, that too was
extraordinarily popular.
Tonight's TV special is the story of that tour. George Burns has been recruited as the host/narrator, wandering around the deserted studio set of ''Fame'' and showing us that the M-G-M crew is working even in the early morning. ''Look,'' he adds gently, ''that's what a host does - he explains everything.''
It would be nice to report that ''The Kids From Fame'' conclusively demonstrates that American audiences should take a cue from their British cousins. In fact, ''Fame'' is one of the better weekly series available on the current schedule. It is uneven, but it explores different performance areas and regularly comes up with an exceptional episode. If nothing else, there is, as just about everybody has noted, the unflagging energy of its young cast.
A stage production, however, is something else again. The energy is still there, with enough left to light up Piccadilly Circus. But while these performers may be credible within the context of a scenario portraying them as fledgling actors and singers, they are way out of their depth in what is meant to be a slickly professional production. With the exception of the seasoned Miss Allen, whose credits include a sizzling Anita in a recent Broadway revival of ''West Side Story,'' the ''Fame'' kids generally seem amateurish in this instance.
The producer, Nicholas Clapp, and the director, Terry Sanders, almost concede as much. The cameras are nearly always jumpy, rarely staying on a production number from beginning to end. Instead, we get a few bars of a song and then are whisked to, among other places, the dressing rooms where other performers are preparing for the next act. About halfway through the hour, even Mr. Burns offers what sounds suspiciously like an apology: ''At last, the kids know they're finally reaching the audience. It's good now, and it's going to get better.'' It doesn't.
Obviously, these young people are talented. The dancer Gene Anthony Ray, for example, can be dynamic, but he dissipates his impact by assuming an attitude that is somewhat haughty toward the audience. Lee Curreri, framed in a mass of dark curls, is coming on so gently sensitive that he almost disappears before your eyes. And so it goes, one disappointing way or the other, with Erica Gimpel, Carlo Imperato, Lori Singer and Valerie Landsburg. In fact, some of the best work is contributed by the anonymous members of the backup chorus line, who seem to be thoroughly trained dancers.
Obviously, the kids from ''Fame'' have connected solidly with their British fans. The audience at the Royal Albert Hall did not seem to be disappointed. Perhaps young audiences simply want something of their own, something that may not equal the Beatles but that still may serve in some personal way. The success of the Puerto Rican group Menudo with Hispanic audiences reflects something of the same phenomenon. In that sense, ''The Kids From Fame'' has its place. But the show is not likely to help the ratings of the regular series over here.
Memorial Shown at the Fame Family Experience - We Remember the Fame fans, the crew, the dancers and the cast that we have lost over the ye...