Dan Gross: Exotic dancer gets 'Real'
THERE'S PLENTY to catch the eye at Double Visions (1138 Easton) in Horsham, but on Wednesdays starting April 16, many of the dancers will be eye-balling MTV's "The Real World: Hollywood."
THERE'S PLENTY to catch the eye at Double Visions (1138 Easton) in Horsham, but on Wednesdays starting April 16, many of the dancers will be eye-balling MTV's "The Real World: Hollywood."
Warminster's Brianna Taylor, 20, who has danced at the topless tavern for two years, is among cast mates on the pioneering reality-TV show, and says her friends at the club are all excited to watch her. Viewers may also recognize Taylor from the 2005 season of "American Idol," where she made the top 40. The singer was sentenced last month to 90 days' probation after pleading guilty to harassment, a reduced charge from a simple assault arrest she had for hitting her then-boyfriend. Her case is discussed on the first episode of "The Real World: Hollywood," in which one of Taylor's cast mates reacts rudely to learning she is an exotic dancer.
"I didn't give a damn what my roommates thought," Taylor told us the other day by phone. She hopes viewers will realize she's "not a slut or a whore. I have my reasons for dancing and continuing to dance," Taylor said.
"I'm there in and out to get my money. I don't want to be in it forever, but I don't knock it at all."
Taylor says she did "The Real World: Hollywood," for which she attended an open casting call at O'Neal's (611 S. 3rd) last year, simply for the "great opportunity to help me take that step forward" with her singing, and is grateful to the show for selecting her.
The singer, working on an album for Chamberlain Records, has eclectic musical tastes. Her ideal three-song stripper-set would consist of songs by Paramore, Rage Against the Machine and Michael Buble.
Katz disses actor, upsetting son
How John Leguizamo could give an interview and "not mention my son, David Bar Katz, is beyond my realm of understanding," an outraged Harry Jay Katz wrote yesterday after reading People Paper film critic Gary Thompson's interview with the actor.
Leguizamo is here tomorrow to receive the Philadelphia Film Festival's Artistic Achievement award and attend a sold-out screening of Lafayette Hill native Brad Furman's directorial debut, "The Take," at the Prince.
Katz says Leguizamo and his son were "joined at the hip," when David wrote "The Pest," a 1997 film starring Leguizamo. David also wrote and directed the Tony Award-nominated play "Freak," in which Leguizamo starred.
Shortly thereafter, the elder Katz says, "John screwed David financially and still continues to do so . . . " Katz then made a rude suggestion about just what should be done with Leguizamo's award, much to the dismay of his playwright/director son.
"For years I have asked my father to stay out of this," David Bar Katz told us yesterday. "John was my best friend for a very long time and I only wish him well."
When we told Harry Jay that his son was upset, he replied, "No one f---s with my family and I will not now or ever accept that." Leguizamo, whom Harry Jay included as a recipient of his diatribe, did not respond to our e-mail asking for comment.
"The Take" screens again Friday afternoon at the Ritz East. For more info visit phillyfests.com.
Meanwhile, Leguizamo and Furman are scheduled to attend a Stoli Hotel party at Pearl (1904 Chestnut) featuring free Stoli drinks between 9 and 12 tomorrow night. To attend you must RSVP to
Segal glad Obama did gay mag
"I'm pleased that he at least made an attempt," Philadelphia Gay News publisher Mark Segal told us last night of Sen. Barack Obama. Obama was just interviewed for The Advocate, a leading gay/lesbian-issues magazine, DallasVoice.com has reported. Segal and the PGN had recently taken Obama to task for not doing interviews with the gay press. The PGN last week ran a large blank space on its cover where it said Obama's interview would have run. Sen. Hillary Clinton was interviewed for the same issue, and also recently spoke to other gay-press outlets.
Bucci hosts sports trivia
Former CBS 3 sports guy Steve Bucci hosts the first in a series of weekly sports-trivia nights tonight at the Field House (12th & Filbert). The event is from 7 to 9, and top prize is club-box seats to Friday's Sixers/Pacers game. We hope Bucci, who competed in our "Seinfeld" trivia events at the Khyber (56 S. 2nd), learned how to properly host such an event. *
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