You don’t have to listen closely to know that the halls in the State of Illinois Building are alive with the sounds of politics:
– Although George Ryan has delayed announcing he’ll run for governor until after Labor Day (giving him more time to work on his “dream ticket”), don’t expect him to name a Lite Guv choice on his Sept. 2 fly-around.
– Hot buzz has Ryan pushing Illinois Comptroller Loleta Didrickson hard to reconsider her decision to drop a U.S. Senate bid and has offered to help her raise money for that effort. With Didrickson out of the secretary of state hunt, the way would be cleared for Gayle Franzen, a Ryan ally, to run for the job.
– But Illinois Atty. Gen. Jim Ryan, also interested in the U.S. Senate, is now hinting his announcement for the job will come sooner than the Sept. 22 date previously indicated.
What about Lee? Lee Daniels has a history of tweaking Franzen and INC. hears “Daniels for Secretary of State” buttons were in evidence at the Illinois House GOP leader’s golf outing Monday, which saw close to 600 golfers and an additional 400 or so for dinner at the Medinah Country Club. But this talk of Daniels seeking higher office is unsettling for state reps counting on him for help in re-election bids.
Hart throb: For a fresh face in politics, how about ex-pro football star Jim Hart, a popular QB for the old St. Louis Cardinals, an ex-WGN-Radio football analyst, and now athletic director at Southern Illinois University? A Republican, Hart’s exploring a run against beleaguered Downstate U.S. Rep. Jerry Costello (D-Ill.).
Funny face: Just when you thought you’d heard the last of John Tesh and sports (at least until he grins/gushes his way through the 2000 Olympics) there’s this: He’s got a CD for sports junkies. Titled “Victory: The Sports Collection,” it’s a bunch of his TV sports theme compositions (like “Roundball Rock,” which NBC plays for the NBA). The best part? Trading cards–six in all–with caricatures of Tesh playing basketball, diving, cycling.
Sounds good: “Hoodlum,” the Laurence Fishburne-Vanessa Williams movie filmed here, hits theaters Wednesday and–love it or hate it–the music’s worth noting. Oscar-winning composer Elmer Bernstein tapped the city’s gospel riches, including the wife of Vernon Oliver Price and DePaul University, for talent. Besides musicians, Cliff Colnot, the school’s symphony orchestra conductor, wrote treatments of Duke Ellington music for club scenes.
Talk soup: Oprah Winfrey’s show reportedly has a new director–Joseph C. Terry, who arrives from a stint with the Maury Povich talker.
Spice boys 1: It was a can’t-miss celeb chef who held court for autograph hounds at Mantuano’s Mediterranean Table here Monday, chatted with fellow kitchen wizard Jean Joho, then polished off several plates of spicy fare. The celeb? New Orleans’ Paul Prudhomme, planted at the end of a booth unable to contain his girth, was in town to talk spice blends with the eatery’s Tony Mantuano.
Spice boys 2: Meanwhile, over at Le Colonial, fitting everyone at a table was no problem when 15 members of the Gipsy Kings showed up Monday for spicy red snapper–the chow palace set up one long table for the Kings in the Rush Street eatery’s upstairs lounge.
Passages: Wednesday birthdays: Barbara Bach, 50; “Downtown” Julie Brown, 34; Paul Reubens, 45; Tommy Sands, 60; Mother Teresa, 87; Tuesday Weld, 54; Sid Yates, 88.
Dueling dancers: It’s only August, but stage moms with ballerina-dreamers should think Christmas. Auditions for kids for two productions of “The Nutcracker” are set–Sept. 6 for The Joffrey Ballet of Chicago’s version at the Rosemont Theatre, and Sept. 7 for the production presented by the Chicago Tribune Charities Fund at the Arie Crown Theater.
