Cecilia Paluch's blog

The Rockettes are an American icon, having been around longer than many theatrical ventures. Their faces have changed as often as their costumes, but ticket sales continue to grow, a testament to the timelessness of their appeal.

Though most famous for their Radio City Christmas Spectacular, the troupe now travels to six cities in addition to New York, including Chicago, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Nashville and Toronto.

During the era of Zeigfeld’s girls, bejeweled women in elaborate costumes ruled the stage. The John Tiller girls were one of these acts, which inspired the Rockettes creation, an American version of the French Can Can dancers. They started in Missouri, and were relocated to their current home of Radio City Music Hall in 1932. With their long legs and sparkling outfits, the girls were an instant sensation. That excitement hasn’t waned in the 80 years they have graced the stage.
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It's down to the wire. The Tigers have secured their spot, as the Mets continue to face off against the Cardinals.

As these last three teams battle it out on the field, fans of the sport often reflect on the years before...the years before the Red Sox won it again, the years before contract negotiations could get in the way of the game.

This year tragedy has again touched the championship race, with the recent plane crash involving Cory Lidle. Questions were raised as to whether the games should be postponed as they were after 911. But the lessons learned after that disaster proved that the game must go on. Baseball has once again stood to show that through all the trials and tribulations we face, sports are always there to help us rise up again.
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Boston College's new kicker Steve Aponavicius and I shared something last night: Our first football game.

Mind you, Steve had been to football games in the past. That was evidenced this morning by last-season footage on Sports Center of him in BC’s stands, painted from head to toe, wearing a little girl’s cowboy hat.

But last night’s game against Virginia Tech was the first he ever played, even counting high school. With a baseball/soccer background, Steve walked on and dominated the evening, helping to secure BC’s 22-3 victory over Virginia. Even I noticed that all his kicks made it through the goal posts.
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If pursuing magic is one of your pastimes, the Trans-Siberian Orchestra may the ticket to ride. Think rock concert meets Christmas carolers, with a touch of metal mixing. Unlike many rock groups, the research and wording that goes into these songs blows most others out of the arena.

Created in 1996 by former heavy-metal band Savatage producer, composer and lyricist Paul O’Neill and partners Robert Kinkel and Jon Oliva, the group explores musical tales of loss and redemption, with a serious light show, lasers and fog machines to boot.

The aggressive metal stylings of the 2 ½ hour performance have taken the group from small theaters to large arenas. But the string octet, drummer, guitarists, bass, keyboard and vocalists are still connecting with audiences on an emotional level uncommon in many of today’s performances.
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The Rolling Stones have done little to change their image in the 44 years they've been together. Yet they still lead Pollstar’s list as the top-grossing tour for the first half of 2006.

How veteran rockers like the Stones can still command such a successful go-round is something newer bands should study … hard.

First of all, the Stones’ audience is full of baby-boomers, who at this point in their life have the money to drop on a band that they could have seen for $10 when they first started out. Sometimes, experience pays.
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For 15 years, the Wiggles, with their goofy smiles and silly songs, have been singing and dancing across the globe to the delight of children and parents alike. Why this group has stuck it out and others have fallen by the wayside is a question to ponder, but the answer is simple: They love what they do and it shows.

Donning their trademark shirts: yellow (Greg), red (Murray), purple (Jeff) and blue (Anthony), the foursome has seen unparalleled success on the stage, television and movie screens. Their 2005 earnings surpassed the combined incomes of ACDC and Nicole Kidman. And they have more DVDs than the Olsen twins.
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The amazing success of “The Cheetah Girls” production, which started as a television movie and turned into a traveling act, has taken ‘girl power’ to a new level. Tickets to the production are flying out of box offices, and it has become an almost overnight sensation.

This "tween" demographic is not to be underestimated, as their influence is felt across the charts. Disposable income and plenty of free time make the pre-teen and teenager a target audience for music and television combos that also translate to the stage. Disney is a master at getting all they can from a single concept, and this act is no exception.
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True to his incredible work ethic, Bob Seger is hitting the stage like a Silver Bullet...well, with the Silver Bullet Band.
Hitting only venues in the Mid-West at this point, Seger announced recently a return to the stage after a decade-long hiatus.
After performing to nearly a million fans in 1996, he was the fourth-most popular touring act that year. Though he hates the road, I'm going to bet he hates being idle even more. Lord knows how he made it 10 years without getting on the bus.
Not that he hasn't been recording, he produced 10 albums from 1975 to 1995, and they all sold over a million copies. Considering he hadn't had one hit in seven years prior to that, that's quite an example of extreme dedication.
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Finding out she had breast cancer in February may be one of the worst thing that has happened to singer Sheryl Crow, but it could be one of the best things to happen to breast cancer awareness.

After a routine mammogram, Crow was told she should return after six months to re-check some calcium deposits in both of her breasts that may have been forming a pattern. Instead, on the recommendation of her OB-GYN, she delved farther. On Feb. 20, she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

Two days later, she reported on her Web site that she underwent “successful minimally invasive surgery” to remove those deposits, and her prognosis has been excellent. Less than a month after the procedure, she announced new dates for her tour which was originally scheduled to begin in March.

Despite having recently broken off an engagement with Lance Armstrong, who had previously been diagnosed with cancer, she pushed forward with the tour. Her strength and determination with all of the stress in her life has been incredible. She told Vanity Fair that it had been hard not being with Armstrong after she was diagnosed. He felt the same.
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So they finally made it legit...in the Bahamas on a boat. Well, sort of legit...it wasn't a wedding, there was no certificate, but it was still a true commitment to each other, in a way, kind of, without the total commitment.
So that's got to mean something in this world, right?
And this comes after news that her son's death was not suicide or intentional drug overdose. People Magazine reported that Dr. Cyril Wecht, a private pathologist hired to investigate her son's death, blames it on cardiac dsyrhythmia, due to a lethal combination of methadone, Zoloft and Lexapro. Supposedly the methadone wasn't to treat any heroin addiction, but was used as a pain killer.
But now she has a committed baby-daddy at her side, until, well, I guess he can still just take off whenever he wants to. Pretty sweet deal.