Indianapolis Recorder, Indianapolis, Marion County, 7 January 2005 — Page 20

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FRIDAY, JANUARY 7, 2005

THE INDIANAPOLIS RECORDER

PAGE C5

ENTERTAINMENT BRIEFS

Zoo open on Martin Luther King Jr. Day In recognition of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the Indianapolis Zoo will be open from 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 17. Normally, the zoo is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays during the months of January and February. The zoo is joining with its partners in White River State Park by offering free admission and free parking on this special day to guests who bring a canned or non-perish-able food item for Gleaners Food Bank. Each person in a family or group is asked to bring a food item to donate. Regular admission prices are $8 for adults and $6 for

seniors (62+) and children ages 2-12. Children 1 and under are free. Parking is $5. Tickets are good for same-day admission to both the Indianapolis Zoo and White River Gardens. Spitlcr quits on-air duties at WISH-TV After 32 years in broadcasting, Patty Spitler informed WISH-TV that she was stepping down from her on-air duties. Spitler, who has suffered from Meniere's disease since 1987, plans to seek a long term disability program. Meniere's disease is a progressive inner ear condition that affects both balance and hearing. The cause and a cure are unknown at this time.

Actress and rapper Eve poses for a photo on the set of her URN sitcom "Eve" in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles. Starring in her own sitcom allows Eve to reveal a "girlie girl" side not usually associated with the hard-core rapper image that first made her famous. (AP Photo/K. Djansezian) Rapper Eve shows softer side in UPN show

By BRIDGET BYRNE

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Starring in her own sitcom allows Eve to reveal a side not usually associated with the hardcore rapper image that made her famous. “The part that people know the least about her comes across most in this show: There’s a seriously girlie girl side to her,” says co-star Jason George. He cites her fondness for frilly slippers, little dogs and movies like “The Sound of Music” to explain the flip side of a woman who described herself as “a pit bull in a skirt” in one of her early raps. Eve plays fashion designer Shelly Williams, the central character on UPN’s “Eve” — about a group of friends struggling with modern attitudes about romance. Now in its second season, the series airs Tuesdays at 8:30 p.m. When Eve first signed on to star in the series, “Eve” was titled “The Opposite Sex.” She acknowledges being uncomfortable when the network decided to name it after her. “What if it fails and my name was on it?” she recalls thinking at the time. The network eased her doubts, explaining the importance of letting audiences know it was her show and that viewers wouldn’t find it confusing to have the title name not match the name of the main character. (Classic examples cited were “The Cosby Show,” starring Bill Cosby as Dr. Cliff Huxtable, and “The Bob Newhart Show,” in which Newhart played Dr. Robert Hartley. Eve, of course, is used to name changes. Born Eve Jeffers 26 years ago in Philadelphia, when she first started rapping she was known as Eve of Destruction. Then “I looked at myself as an artist and decided I didn’t want any title,” she explains. “I just wanted to be myself.” So she settled on just one name, Eve, “the name my mother gave me.” After breaking into hiphop as a protege of gangsta rap pioneer Dr. Dre and then the Ruff Ryders collective headed by ruffian DMX, Eve released three successful solo albums: “Let There Be Eve,” “Scorpion” — which featured the 2001 Grammy-winning single “Let Me Blow Ya

Mind,” recorded with Gwen Stefani — and “Eve-olution.” This spring, she’ll be cutting a new album and relaunching her fashion line, Fetish. Eve’s feature film experience has included Vin Diesel’s action thriller “XXX” and the comedies “Barbershop” and “Barbershop 2.” Currently she has a supporting role in Kevin Bacon’s critically acclaimed “The Woodsman,” which she believes “will open the doors for me” to other dramatic roles. After it was retitled “Eve,” the sitcom naturally shifted its focus a little, but at its heart, the show remains the dilemma of six friends — three female, three male — trying to make sense of their love lives and better understand the opposite sex. Ali Landry plays Rita Lefleur and Natalie Desselle-Reid is Janie Egins, who are Shelly’s girlfriends and co-workers in their Miami-based fashion business, DivaStyle. The male trio is composed of J.T. Hunter (George), a physical therapist and Shelly’s exbeau, and his boys, trendy club manager Brink (Sean Maguire and Nick Delaney (Brian Hooks), an accountant obsessed with the search for a perfect woman. There’s a great deal of laughter and chat on the stage at Sunset Gower Studios as the three woman rehearse a scene for an upcoming episode. “We talk too much,” Eve confesses, noting that, like a bunch of kids misbehaving in class, they often need to be told to focus and stop their extracurricular fun. Such on-set levity wasn’t always the case for Eve. “The first year was hell. It was torture. It was like I was being punished. I felt like I was in detention,” she says. She found the five-day work week very different from making music in a recording studio where she could “set my own schedules and be able to be late, as late as I want.” Last season she admits there were moments when, “I just wanted to leave because there was so much to learn, it’s just a different world ... It’s hard to play funny, there are certain beats you have to learn.” But it’s been easier this second season. She’s still working on her tardiness, but she’s come to like the stability. “It feels like Wow,’ this is home. I love my cast, I love my crew ... it’s exciting. I’m having fun.”

'Fat AlberK star hopes to avoid typecast

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Kenan Thompson, who plays the title role in the new “Fat Albert” movie, hopes he doesn’t get typecast. “You always gotta watch yourselfwhen you’re playing like such an iconic character because you don’t want to be trying to audition for something else and all anybody wants to do is 'Hey! Hey! Hey!’... andkickyou out of the audition,” Thompson recently told reporters.

The live-action film, directed by Joel Zwick, is based on the animated TV series that comedian Bill Cosby created in the 1970s about adolescents growing up in Philadelphia. Thompson said he wore a form-fitting fat suit to play the role. “I had all this belly to get around and a little more booty, but you know it was cool,’’the 26-year-old actor-comedian said.

The Tale of the

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