CMYK
etc.
Entertainment
Travel
Culture
SECTION F
timesleader.com
THE TIMES LEADER
SUNDAY, MARCH 25, 2012
Lenny Welch will join the Doowop lineup at the F.M. Kirby Center on Friday.
Doo-wop sways into the Kirby
By BRAD PATTON bpatton@timesleader.com
This post card provided by the Luzerne County Histocial Society promotes their 154th Annual Dinner Meeting at the Westmorland Club.
COMMEMORATIVE EVENTS ABOUND FOR THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE SINKING
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IF YOU GO
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By SARA POKORNY
spokorny@timesleader.com
he unsinkable ship that struck an iceberg and sank 100 years ago surely left more than a few would-be travelers leery of ocean voyages. In the century since, another such impressively sized and structured vessel might not have gone down and taken hundreds of lives with it, but peril on the high seas has made plenty of headlines.
From pirates targeting vessels they hope are filled with loot to ships running aground or encountering other issues that rendered them “dead in the water,” landlubbers have had plenty of cause for both fascination and fright. At least one travel executive, however, is unfazed. “People actually think it’s a joke,” said Karen Monko Nagle, who owns Sea The World Travel in Kingston. “They recognize that it was human error and uncommon. Business has been as usual here.” Amid the Titanic mania building as next month’s milestone anniversary approaches, do we fear another disaster? Evidently not. But we are still hugely enamored of the tragic tale of one of the most extraordinary ocean liners ever built. As April 15, the official 100th anni-
• Remembering the Titanic, a tea-tasting event hosted by author and teashop owner Alice Baran; a talk on the building of the Titanic by historian Bill Bachman; a creative-hat contest. Bring your favorite teacup and tell the story behind it. Hoyt Library, 284 Wyoming Ave., Kingston. 2 p.m. April 16. $5. Reservations (by April 10): 287-2013 • The Titanic: A Film and Discussion Series, screenings of “Ghost of the Abyss” (Thursday), “A Night to Remember” (April 5), “Raise the Titanic” (April 12) and the 1953 movie “Titanic” (April 15). With host Bill Bachman and special guest speakers. Movies 14, 24 E. Northampton St., Wilkes-Barre. 7 p.m. Sponsored by Penn State Wilkes-Barre. $40 for the series. 675-9269. • Welcome to the Titanic, crafts, games and books to mark the 100th anniversary of the sinking. West Pittston Library, 200 Exeter Ave., West Pittston. 1 p.m. April 14. Free. 654-9847. • Last Dinner on the Titanic, Westmoreland Club, 59 S. Franklin St., Wilkes-Barre. 6 p.m. April 14. $125. Members only. If space allows, other guests will be welcome after March 30. $150. 822-6141
See TITANIC, Page 5F
McGregor charms his way through Hollywood By AMY LONGSDORF For The Times Leader
In a movie career that’s lasted nearly two decades, Ewan McGregor has played poets, thieves, junkies, rock stars, playboys and Obi-Wan Kenobi. He’s sung to Nicole Kidman, smooched Scarlett Johansson and been seduced by Jim Carrey. But in all of his nearly 50 flicks, McGregor has never played such a buttoned-down square as he does in “Salmon Fishing in the Yemen,” which opens Friday in area theaters. As Fred, a fisheries expert enlisted by an Arab sheikh (Amr Waked) to create a habitat for salmon at the bottom of the Arabian Peninsula, McGregor might be mistaken for
the world’s biggest nerd. “This guy is very repressed, very locked-up emotionally, sexually and socially,” McGregor notes. “He’s quite an awkward man. The fun part of playing him was taking him from that place to the end of the film, where he’s a very different person. There was something very satisfying about depicting that journey.” “Salmon Fishing,” directed by “Chocolat’s” Lasse Hallstrom and written by “Slumdog Millionaire’s” Simon Beaufoy, hooks you with its depiction of a love affair between McGregor and Emily Blunt, who plays the sheikh’s assistant. Their relationship is complicated by the fact that Fred is locked in a loveless marriage
and Emily plays the girlfriend of a just-deployed soldier. For McGregor, working with Blunt was a dream come true. “Emily is so lovely,” he says. “I had such a laugh with her. She had me in stitches for three months. She’s such an amusing girl and so easy to be around. We are very similar kinds of actors, so it was a great partnership. We laughed our way through the whole thing.” Thanks to the charming 2011 rom-com “Beginners,” McGregor is enjoying something of a career boost these days. Even though the film enjoyed a limited theatrical run, it did well on DVD and earned an Oscar for McGregor’s co-star Christopher Plum-
mer. In almost every acceptance speech, Plummer thanked McGregor, at one point calling him “a scene-stealing swine.” “Christopher always gives you a compliment veiled as an insult, which I love,” McGregor says with a laugh. “He’s been very, very kind to me, always mentioning me in his acceptances speeches. I’m so happy and thrilled to have seen his performance up close. I can verify that it was absolutely worthy of all the awards.” McGregor is one of Hollywood’s busiest actors. He’s al-
See MCGREGOR, Page 4F
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It’s been more than 50 years since Doo-wop reached the height of its popularity in the late 1950s and early 1960s, but the vocal-based style of music is still quite popular on the concert circuit. Ask Kenny Vance, a founding member of Jay and the Americans and IF YOU GO leader of his own What: Malt Shop group since Memories When: 7:30 p.m. 1992, who Friday will headWhere: F.M. Kirby line “Malt Center for the Shop MePerforming Arts, mories” at Public Square, the F.M. Wilkes-Barre Kirby CenTickets: $29.50 to $49.50 ter in Call: 826-1100 or Wilkesvisit www.kirbycenBarre on ter.org Friday. “It’s bigger than ever,” Vance said. “There’s a certain demographic that just loves it, and we go on cruises and play places like Atlantic City and Las Vegas all the time. “It’s completely under the radar, but it still draws a tremendous crowd.” In addition to Vance and his group The Planotones, the fourth installment of Joe Nardone’s popular Doo-wop series will showcase Charlie Thomas’ Drifters, The Tymes, Lenny Welch, Linda Jansen and The Angels and The Duprees. Originally formed in 1953 as a backing group for Clyde McPhatter, the second incarnation of The Drifters, consisting of lead singer Ben E. King, baritone Doc Green, tenor Thomas and bass Elsbeary Hobbs began a string of hits in1959 with “There Goes My Baby.” “Dance with Me,” “This Magic Moment” and “Save the Last Dance for Me” (the group’s only No. 1) quickly followed before King left for a solo career in 1960. But the hits continued for the group, including “Up On The Roof” (No. 5, 1962), “On Broadway” (No. 9, 1963) and “Under The Boardwalk” (No. 4, 1964). Thomas sang lead on two Top 40 hits, “Sweets For My Sweet” in 1961 and “When My Little Girl Is Smiling” in 1962. The Drifters (consisting of members from both incarnations, including Thomas) were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988, while both incarnations were inducted separately into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame. There are multiple groups performing these days as The Drifters, but the one led by Thomas is the only one that includes an original member. The Tymes, a vocal quintet from Philadelphia, hit No.1 with their first release, “So Much in Love,” in 1963. The group then hit the Hot 100 nine more times over the next 13 years, including “Wonderful! Wonderful!” (No. 7, 1963), “Somewhere” (No. 19, 1963) and “You Little Trustmaker” (No.12,1974). The current incarnation includes original members Albert Berry and Norman Burnett, and the group was inSee DOO-WOP, Page 4F