Livingston County Daily Press and Argus from Howell, Michigan • 19

The Weeke nder Look for Reai Estate news Friday December 31,2004 and listings on Page ID i YOUR GUIDE TO ENTERTAINMENT REAL ESTATE PtES.ARGL'S The in Year 5 From movies to music to theater, the year's top local stories Top movie for the holidays: "Meet the Fockers." 'Fockers' sets record for holiday By Gary Gentile ASSOCIATED PRESS LOS ANGELES Millions of Americans went shopping for comedy this weekend, giving the star-studded "Meet the Fockers" the 4 it The scene in August: A crowd estimated at well over 2,000 File photo by GILUS BENEDICTouly press arqus looks on at the "Livingston Sensation" finals. 7 i If. record for the best single pTI Vf Christmas Day il-1TA box office take. The sequel, reuniting Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro and adding Dustin Hoffman and Barbra Streisand as tiller's parents, earned $46.1 million over the holiday weekend according to studio reports. Its total take was a whopping $70.5 million.

While not a weekend record, the film did set a record for Christmas Day, earning $19.1 million. The previous record was set last year when "The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King" earned 14 million on Christmas Day. Still, the performance of "Meet the Fockers" was impressive when measured against the overall weekend box office, which was down 26.S percent from last year. "When Christmas falls on a weekend, it's bad for business," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations. This weekend's top 12 films grossed an estimated $121.9 million, compared to last year's $165.8 million when Christmas fell on a Thursday.

Last year's figure was skewed a bit by the third "Lord of the Rings" movie, which earned $50.6 million in its second weekend. "Meet the Fockers" succeeded in part because of an aggressive ad campaign, including the release of the DVD of the original "Meet the Parents" as well as Streisand's return to the big screen after eight years. It also captured the clash between families, which resonates at the holidays. "It's a clash of cultures," said Marc Shmuger, vice chairman of Universal Pictures. 'It's about the coming together of completely different families, but that's exactly what the world is going through right now." "Meet the Fockers" opened Wednesday, bringing its five-day total to $68 million.

"The Aviator," the epic tale of billionaire Howard Hughes, did well enough in limited release to take fourth place with $9.4 million. The movie, directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, expanded from 40 theaters to 1,796 on Christmas Day. The small budget horror flick "Darkness" went against the slew of family films on the market now and attracted $6.4 million in its opening weekend. Hi LJ By Buddy Moorehouse DAILY PRESS ARGUS Music, theater, comedy, movies while it's certainly true that the Livingston County entertainment scene doesn't exactly rival New York City or Las Vegas (or even Ann Arbor) for excitement, we certainly have our share of outstanding performances year after year. And in every area, 2004 was a memorable year on the Livingston County entertainment scene.

In looking back over the past 12 months of plays, concerts, shows and more, the Daily Press Argus has highlighted these events as the year's top 10 entertainment stories: 1 Brighton Towne Square Cinema 20 expands Back in the day, you could count the number of movie screens in Livingston County on one hand. Now you'd need both of your hands, both of a friend's hands and more. The Brighton Towne Square Cinema 16 became the Brighton Towne Square Cinema 20 in April, as four screens were added to the burgeoning theater. The expansion brought roughly 1,200 new seats, including two 500-seat auditoriums the largest seating capacity in the theater. 2.

'Livingston Sensation' draws a huge crowd Livingston County's version of "American Idol" is called "Livingston Sensation," and this year, it drew one of the largest crowds ever to see a live performance in the county. Sponsored by the Daily Press Argus, "Livingston Sensation" held semifinals in Brighton and Howell in early August, narrowing the field of singers to 12 finalists. Those dozen competed in the finals during the Howell Melon Festival two weeks later, and a crowd estimated at well over 2,000 packed the Livingston County Courthouse amphitheater to hear them sing. The contest was won by Brad Killian of Brighton, who brought the house down with his rendition of "The Invitation." 3. Film legend Mickey Rooney comes to town One of the biggest names in the history of entertainment came to Livingston County in February, as "The One Man, One Wife Show" played to a huge crowd at the Brighton Center for the Performing Arts.

The "One Man" was Mickey Rooney, a film legend for decades who still tours the country performing live shows. The "One Wife" was Jan Rooney, who joined husband Mickey for the sellout show in Brighton. "Jan and I love doing these live shows because we really like the live audiences and enjoy seeing everybody," Mickey said before coming to Brighton. "Oh it's wonderful," Jan added. "We get a real mix of people at our shows." 4.

Local funnyman is 'Last Comic Standing' Local audiences have known for years that comedian John Hcffron is one of the funniest ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO Local funnyman John Heffron was crowned the winner of NBC's "Last Comic Standing 2" this summer. The comedian grew up in South Lyon and his family now lives in Fowlerville. Mickey Rooney and wife February for the "One Man, guys around. This summer, the whole country found out, too. Heffron who grew up in South Lyon and whose family now lives in Fowlerville was crowned the winner of NBC's reality show "Last Comic Standing 2" this summer.

With the win came an NBC talent contract that includes appearances on Comedy Central, "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" and more. A big crowd joined Heffron's family at the Howell American Legion Hall to watch the final round on TV. 5. Livingston Symphony gets a new conductor In its 10-year history, Tim Meixner had been pretty much the only conductor the Livingston Symphony Orchestra had ever known. This year, though, Meixner handed the baton off to a new conductor, so that he could concentrate on other entertainment-related projects.

The new director is Rachel Lauber, who conducted the LSO for the first time during its Halloween concert in October. 6. Jeff Daniels gives a boost to Opera House In November, Chelsea actor and director Jeff Daniels visited Livingston County promote his first CD "Jeff Daniels Live and Unplugged," to benefit the Purple Rose Theater Company in Chelsea, which Daniels founded 15 years ago. Daniels visited Borders in Brighton, and in Howell visited the Uptown Coffee House, Howell Opera House and Aria Jan came to Brighton in One Wife Show." Booksellers. He performed songs from the CD as well as sign copies of it At both Borders and Aria, over 300 people stood in line to get copies of the CD signed.

When he visited the opera house, Daniels told members of the Livingston Arts Council that it was important to get the place cleaned up and running as soon as possible. He felt that it was necessary to get more excitement generated in the building and would lead to more donations toward the renovation efforts. 7. Livingston Players get a new home For years now, the Livingston Players have been the nomads of the Livingston County community theater scene. After losing their longtime home at the Mill Pond Theater some years back, the group was forced to bounce around from place to place.

They hit on a winning formula last year by doing dinner-theater productions at Lake Pointe Manor in Howell, but that formula was upset when Lake Pointe Manor became Crystal Gardens, and a renovation meant the Players were homeless yet again. The search for a new home ended this fall, when the Players landed at the Barnstormer in Whitmore Lake. They performed "The Mousetrap" to large and enthusiastic dinner-theater crowds in November, and it's finally looking like the Players have found a new place to call home. 8. Howell man stars in 'Hie Full Monty' Howell High School graduate Steve DeBruyne cut his acting teeth in the Community Theatre of Howell and in high school plays.

After studying in New York, he landed his big break by getting a starring role in the national touring company of "The Full Monty." DeBruyne and the show made a couple stops in Michigan this year, appearing in March at the Wharton Center in East Lansing and in November at the Fisher Theater in Detroit. 9. Local youngster appears in Eminem, video Genoa Township's Tyler Mansfield, 9, had his shot in November at being the real Slim Shady, acting as a younger ver- sion of rapper Eminem in the video for "Like Toy Soldiers." The song is the latest single from Eminem's album "Encore," released in November. The song is a rap version of the song 'Toy Soldiers," record- ed pop artist Martika. In the video, Mansfield" appears as a childhood Eminem, reading a book with another boy.

As the video progresses, Eminem plays himself, grieving over the murder of his childhood friend. During the November shoot in Madison Heights, Mansfield didn't get to meet, or even work directly with Eminem. However, he is featured in about seven scenes in the video, now playing on MTV, VH1, eminem.com and other Web sites. 10. 'Sound of Music' is a sellout success The Community Theatre of Howell drew some of the largest crowds ever to see a local theater production when it staged the musical The Sound of Music" in November.

The group's productions are always well-attended, but box-office records were threatened with this show. CTH staged eight performances over two weekends, and played to full or nearly-full houses at the Howell High School Freshman Campus for all eight. i Box office U.S. movie revenues tor Dec 24-26. AJ doter figures In millions.

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