Vegetarian,Vegan, and Raw How Local Radio Legend La Donna Tittle Got
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R. Kelly’s Old Lady CHICAGO’S FREE WEEKLY | THIS ISSUE IN FOUR SECTIONS How FRIDAY, FEB 17, 2006 | VOLUME 35, NUMBER 21 local Chris Ware radio p 16 legend La Donna Tittle got The Works “Trapped The rest of the Red Line? in the p 8 Closet” Restaurants Vegetarian, vegan, and raw Section 2 A movie about Iraq, a play about Guantanamo, our favorite PLUS moral relativist Jack Bauer, best belt buckle ever, and more Section One Letters 3 Our Town 19 Now that’s a rock ’n’ roll high school Columns Hot Type 4 Reviews Jack Bauer’s real appeal Movies 27 The Straight Dope 5 Eugene Jarecki’s Why We Fight Superhuman strength, continued Art 29 Yutaka Sone at the Renaissance Society The Works 8 Can federal funding get the Theater 30 Red Line past 95th? TimeLine Theatre Company’s Guantanamo: Honor Bound to Defend Freedom Chicago Antisocial 10 New York Fashion Week Plus What Are You Wearing? 20 Victoriana, taxidermy, and high-rise jeans February 17, 2006 Comic Chris Ware 16 Ink Well 31 This week’s crossword: Discounts ON THE COVER: NORMAN L. HUNTER FOR JET, 1979 R. Kelly’s Old Lady She’s best known as the DJ who ruled black radio in the 70s and 80s, but La Donna Tittle has always thought of herself as an actress. Now thanks to a cameo in R.Kelly’s epic “Trapped in the Closet” video, she’s ready for her close-up. OM RIGHT) TT PEREZ (LEFT AND BO TY MAR Tittle on the air at WKKC, on the set with R. Kelly as Rosie the nosy neighbor, cosmetics on the console By Jake Austen or much of the 70s and 80s La Donna Tittle was the her the acting career she’s always dreamed of. queen of local black radio. She was number one in her In one of the videos for “Trapped in the Closet,” R. Kelly’s F time slot, showered with awards, and tens of thou- multipart R & B song cycle, Tittle plays Rosie, the elderly, sands of fans roared when she took the stage at funk and R spatula-wielding “nosy neighbor.” Her brief appearance, & B concerts. A longtime midday fixture on local radio, she mugging like a silent-film actor, is a highlight of the was, as her nickname put it, your Tittle in the Middle. Grammy-nominated series of videos. But even at the height of her radio career she considered herself an actress, doing side work in commercials, industri- ittle grew up in Bronzeville, in the shadow of the Regal al films, and local plays. Those jobs included a turn as a T Theater. As a girl she helped run the cash register at the teacher in a 1997 horror film, The Relic, and a guest role pool hall on 47th Street owned by her father, James O. on an episode of a cop show, Turks, in ’99. Nowadays Tittle Tittle, who’d also worked as a bartender, musician, and appears mostly on humble media outlets like WKKC, longshoreman. He demanded excellence from his five chil- Kennedy-King College’s 185-watt radio station, and dren, doling out “whuppings” for any failings, be they in CAN TV, where she hosts a soul-food cooking show. schoolwork or in his favorite game, chess. “My father didn’t But a nonspeaking cameo may be the role that brings continued on page 21 2CHICAGO READER | FEBRUARY 17, 2006 | SECTION ONE CHICAGO READER | FEBRUARY 17, 2006 | SECTION ONE 3 m Chicago Reader, 11 E. Illinois, Chicago, IL 60611 312-828-9926 FEBRUARY 17, 2006 f VOL 35 | NO 21 Letters @ [email protected] Publisher Michael Crystal Editor Alison True was coming home from, well, walked off of the show, instead Managing Editor Kiki Yablon work. It was only when Glass of looking so morose—and tak- Senior Editors Michael Miner |Laura Molzahn | Kitry Krause What Actors and cohost Gary Covino parted ing her crap. And of course it Associate Editors Martha Bayne | Anaheed Alani ways and the show was can- was all about her—the reason Philip Montoro | Kate Schmidt Won’t Do celed that we learned just who she was so ticked off was Assistant Editors Jim Shapiro | Mark Athitakis | David Wilcox Staff Writers Liz Armstrong | Martha Bayne | Steve Bogira had been contributing the gen- because she was getting ques- John Conroy | Jeffrey Felshman | Harold Henderson I am surprised at your quickness uinely “wild,” seditious content tioned by the media—it had Deanna Isaacs | J.R. Jones | Ben Joravsky | Monica Kendrick to irresponsibly state that all and who had been flattering “Most actors nothing to do with any of his Peter Margasak | Tori Marlan | Bob Mehr | Jonathan Rosenbaum Mike Sula | Albert Williams “actors don’t have the luxury of the suits at NPR and its corpo- don’t have the lies. It’s always about her. Copy Chief Brian Nemtusak being finicky about scripts”—as if rate benefactors while angling luxury of being A Chicago publicist Editorial Assistants Pat Graham | Renaldo Migaldi | Joel Score all actors will grab whatever they for bigger things. TAL ’s audi- finicky about Mario Kladis | Michael Marsh | Tom Porter | Jerome Ludwig Tamara Faulkner | Patrick Daily | Stephanie Manis | Robert Cass can, without thought or question ence might think it a mere scripts; if they Kerry Reid | Todd Dills | Katherine Young | Ryan Hubbard [The Business, February 10]. coincidence that the program don't have to Miles Raymer | Tasneem Paghdiwala Having worked as an actor in has followed Marketplace, eat live rats or In the Typesetters Vera Videnovich | Kabir Hamid Chicago for many years, I know American Public Media’s daily set their hair Archivist Eben English that actors have more respect for forum for edgy, hipster capital- on fire, they’re Beginnings the craft than that, and more ism, for several years now. likely to grab Advertising Director Don Humbertson integrity in themselves and their More likely, they smirk at what any chance to Dear Reader, Sales Director Ginger Wade professionalism. they take to be the “ironic jux- show what I want to write to correct a Display Advertising Manager Sandra Goplin taposition.” We’ll probably they can do misquote that appeared in the Assistant Display Advertising Manager Katie Falbo A Chicago actor never fully comprehend how onstage.” article “Bounty Hunter” by Online Advertising Coordinator Renate Durnbaugh Pilsen Display Representatives Jeff Martin | Christine Thiel social class operates in the —Deanna Nicholas Day in your January Brad Winckler Deanna Isaacs replies: United States until we can rec- Isaacs, 20 edition. The nonprofit Sales Development Manager Susan Zuckert I didn’t say “all,” I said “most.” ognize that there is no irony February 10 referred to in the article as Senior Account Executives Denice Barndt | Angie Boehler Evangeline Miller | Geary Yonker here, certainly not in the minds Farm Beginnings is really a Account Executives Nichole Flores | Greg Saint-Victor of those who program the program run by the nonprofit Tim Sullivan | Laura Swisher | Dan VanKirk polite marginalism of “public” CSA Learning Center at Advertising Project Coordinator Allison Hendrickson It’s So Easy broadcasting. Angelic Organics. Our farmer Advertising Assistants T.J. Annerino | Kieran Kelley training programs are taught Sarah Nishiura Ed Tverdek Being Green by farmers through winter Albany Park sessions and on their farms Art Director Sheila Sachs In “Follow That Draft” (February during the growing season. Associate Art Director Godfrey Carmona Art Coordinator Elizabeth Tamny 3) I wrote that the city’s “green- I was delighted to see your Production Director David Jones permit” program requires appli- The Triumph article on Mari Coyne and on Production Manager Bob Cooper cants to go through a complex our farmer, Farmer John, of Associate Production Manager Nickie Sage process whose flowchart takes up of Pope-rah Angelic Organics. Please keep Production Artists Jeff Marlin | Jennifer McLaughlin | Mark Blade an 11-by-17 sheet of paper. In up the good work of highlight- Benjamin Utley | John Cross | Andrea Bauer | Dustin Kimmel Josh Honn | Mike Browarski |Nadine Nakanishi fact, the chart is only for large Re: Oprah/James Frey [Hot ing the farming scene in the Editorial Design Jardí + Utensil projects; routine projects involv- Type, January 20]. Chicagoland area. ing three or fewer units can typi- First of all, one of the other Parker Forsell cally be approved on a fast track people on the couch or by Operations & Classifieds Director Mary Jo Madden Farmer development coordinator within ten days, following a remote said, on the show, that Controller Karl David Wilt CSA Learning Center at Angelic Organics Classifieds Manager Brett Murphy process that can be diagrammed they commended Frey for com- Classified Representatives Sara Bassick | Danette Chavez on a Post-it. ing on the show, that a “PR per- Nicholas Day replies: Bill Daniel | Kris Dodd | Chip Dudley | Janet Lukasiewicz son” would have told him to do Farm Beginnings was found- Jeff McMurray | Amy O’Connor | Scott Shehan | Kristal Snow Harold Henderson Bob Tilendis | Stephen Walker nothing and wait for it to blow ed in 1998 in Minnesota bythe Matches Coordinator Jane Hanna over. I would have told him to nonprofit Land Stewardship Back Page Representative Chris Auman write the truth and then release Project. Inthe fall of 2005 Operations Assistants Patrick O’Neil | Alicia Daniel This All-Too- it via e-mail to the media—but organizations in three other Receptionists Monica Brown-Fielding | Dorie T. Greer not to go on Oprah, since it was states began offering classes Robert Jacobs |Dave Thomas | Stephen Walker Bookkeeper Marqueal Jordan American Life going to be a kangaroo court, based on that curriculum, Circulation Manager Perry A.