k.d. lang performs with Detroit Symphony
DETROIT, June 19 (UPI) -- Singer k.d. lang will perform next week with the Detroit's Symphony Orchestra, and people attending will receive a sample from her new album.
"In our world, you just don't get those kinds of artists who really want to do that type of project very often," said Kendra Whitlock, director of pops and specials for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. "So when somebody like k.d. lang wants to do that, you just jump right on it," she told the Detroit News.
Lang is on tour across the United States and Canada, performing with various orchestras. The tour runs through July and then resumes in October.
Her new CD, "Hymns of the 49th Parallel," includes songs written by Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen. It is set for release July 27.
The CD is lang's first release since doing "What A Wonderful World," her Grammy-winning duets record with Tony Bennett.
'World's Largest Sleepover' tied to movie
DETROIT, June 19 (UPI) -- Some 1,200 people in Detroit, mostly girls ages 8 to 11, are having a sleepover June 23 at the Emagine Theater, part of a promotion for the movie "Sleepover."
The "World's Largest Sleepover" is part of a national promotion at 21 movie houses hosting sleepovers tied to the MGM movie -- a summer comedy about high school girls involved in an all-night scavenger hunt.
Those invited can wear pajamas and will be issued inflatable sleeping bags. The promotion's main sleepover event will take place at the Mall of America in Minneapolis, the Detroit News reported Saturday.
Games such as "Cover to Cover," which is targeted to preteens, begin at 5 p.m. and involvesa scavenger hunt using disposable cameras. The movie is scheduled to be screened at 7:15 p.m.
Blocks of four tickets are free, but every group of three must be accompanied by a chaperone who is at least 21. The move is geared for girls, but organizers said boys would not be turned away.
Entertainer Gary Sinise set for USO tour
WASHINGTON, June 19 (UPI) -- Actor, director and producer Gary Sinise is embarking on his sixth USO tour to provide a morale boost to troops stationed at U.S. bases.
His tour, scheduled for June 20 to July 1, includes visits to Fort Polk, La.; Goodfellow Air Force Base, Texas; and Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M., as well as the USO's newest center at the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.
Best known for his Oscar-nominated performance as Lt. Dan in the movie "Forrest Gump," Sinise will meet with troops and their families. He will also perform with the Lt. Dan Band.
In the last year, Sinise has visited troops in Diego Garcia, Singapore, Korea, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Germany, Italy and Fort Stewart, Ga.
Following a USO tour to Iraq, Sinise co-founded Operation Iraqi Children Organization, which provides school supplies to students in Iraq through U.S. donations.
Rob Lowe pleased to do King adaptation
LOS ANGELES, June 19 (UPI) -- Hollywood actor Rob Lowe says he feels honored to have starred in film adaptations of two Stephen King's novels.
Lowe starred in the popular TV miniseries "The Stand" a decade ago and plays a hero in the new two-part vampire tale, "Salem's Lot," premiering Sunday on cable's TNT.
"I think that these are the two best film adaptations of his books and I think these are two of the best books he wrote: 'The Stand,' 'Salem's Lot' and 'The Shining,'" Lowe said. "And 'The Shining' was already done, so I think I may have to retire while I'm still on top."
Asked why he thinks it was necessary to remake the 1979 TV version of "Salem's Lot," Lowe said: "Technology is definitely a big part ... If you go back and look at the original, it's cheesy, with 1970s effects. But more than that, for me, this is a book that is dark and unsettling and provocative, and dark and unsettling and provocative are not the watchwords that come to mind when you think of programming on television in 1979."
