Dan and Dean Caten, the twin brothers who founded Dsquared, are taking to the airwaves for a new radio and tv show. Known for their outgoing personalities, the twins seem a perfect fit for the gigs. The radio show gives them a chance to talk about the music they use for their runway shows. And a new TV show focuses on contestants who want to start a new fashion line.
Last week, they finished taping “Launch My Line” (originally announced as “Celebrity Sew-Off”), a new fashion competition series they are hosting on Bravo. The premise: 10 professional fashion designers are paired with pop-culture notables who all want to launch their own fashion line. Scoop boutiques co-founder Stefani Greenfield and boutique owner Lisa Kline sit as judges. “We got really attached to these people,” said Dan and Dean, finishing each other’s sentences. “We were there to be mentors and give them constructive criticism to help them grow, and create, and develop their inner selves. We’re not there to be bitchy. We tried to pull everything we could out of them. And we got teary eyed at the end. Sending someone home every other day is really tough.”
Since North America associates Dsquared primarily with jeans, they said, they deliberately wore three-piece suits on the show. With Launch My Line wrapped in Los Angeles, they took a red-eye to New York to record their new, monthly radio program for Sirius XM satellite radio, Dean and Dan on Air: Style in Stereo. “We started to realize how much people appreciated the music from our shows. We always get requests for CDs, but then you have to pay for rights or whatever. By strange coincidence, we met the president of Sirius and he asked us to come in,” said Dan. Each hourlong show is mainly about the runway music from a particular season.
The duo wants to raise brand awareness in America and get rid of the idea that Dsquared is all about jeans. The new TV show sounds especially interesting. The departure of Project Runway from Bravo’s stable of shows has provided a great opportunity for their new tv show, which sounds like a cross between American Idol and Project
DSquared Productions (D2) announces a first for the company. It is teaming up with Fat Chef Café (25 Peavine Plaza, approximately four miles north of I-40 exit 322, on the right toward Fairfield Glade) for a dinner theater presentation every Monday and Tuesday in June, at 6 p.m.
Patty Payne, a D2 company member, has been looking for a dinner theater production for some time and has found the ideal show to perform at the Fat Chef Café, owned by her brother, Jerry Payne. “Barbara’s Blue Kitchen,†a comedy with music by Lori Fischer, who wrote the book, music, and lyrics, takes place in a small diner in Watertown, TN one summer day from open to close.
Originally written as a tour de force for the author, D2’s production of “Barbara’s Blue Kitchen†will expand the cast to include some of their most talented performers. Rusty McClanahan will play Dickie Brian Hull, the wacky disc jockey at radio station WATR, “where all the songs are original and all the folks listening are one of a kind.†His original country flavor songs and commercials include such titles as “Love Is Slippery,†“I Want My Kidney Back†and “God Allows U-turns;†and the folks listening truly are one of a kind.
There’s Barbara Jean, played by Patty Payne, who owns her own diner and worries about her bald spot. Patty also plays Jeanette, her new inept waitress who only wants to sell Tupperware and has been Barbara Jean’s pen pal since childhood, and Melissa, Barbara Jean’s sister, mother of three boys whose husband recently left her.
Pat Kelly will play the roles of Tessie, a lovable senior citizen from the Happiness Home across the street, and Miss Morris, a nurse who is planning a trip to see the pyramids. Other diner characters include Tommy Lee, Melissa’s 8-year-old son, who has just been bitten by his dog, Killer; and Lombardo, the Italian owner of Lombardo’s Beauty Emporium, who wants to be a country singer and is Barbara Jean’s love interest. Dennis Donald will play both of these roles. Pat, Dennis, and Patty will lend their voices to more songs including “Love Coming Through,†“Blue Winged Butterfly,†“Can You Hear Me?†and “Mom Doesn’t Know It.†Patty Payne will direct the production with musical direction by Rhonda Wallace.
Tickets for “Barbara’s Blue Kitchen†are $25, which includes dinner, a choice of beverage, dessert, show, and tax (tip not included) and may be purchased only at the Fat Chef Café (456-8171). Reservations are required – Patty or Alice Payne will be at the Fat Chef to take reservations Wednesdays through Saturdays from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. beginning April 15.
As Lori Fisher says in the author’s note of the script, “’Barbara’s Blue Kitchen’, God only knows what color it really was. It felt blue though. Every time I walked into it, it felt like a big blue neatly lived-in surprise.†So, come, be surprised by the fun and quirky characters of “Barbara’s Blue Kitchen†every Monday and Tuesday in June at 6 p.m. at the Fat Chef Café, on Peavine Rd.