BY JIM KNIPPENBERG
The Cincinnati Enquirer
So, if Cincinnati gets the 2012 Olympics, we might have Fredrik Pallin to thank. Pallin, see, is a public relations exec with Rikta Kommunikation of Stockholm. He was here for two weeks to study PR in America as part of an exchange that soon sends PR exec Cindy Biddinger to Stockholm to do the same.
Anyway, one of his jobs at Rikta was working on Stockholm's bid for the 2004 Olympics: "We didn't get it, but something good may come of it," he says. "I met with your group and told them what I thought they were doing right and wrong."
Pallin's dance card here was full of meetings with other PR types but he found time to eat the Big Four:
- Montgomery Inn ribs: "Loved it but I needed a bib." Just one complaint: "Too much food."
LaRosa's: "Good, but no surprise. We have similar pizza in Sweden. But still, too much food."
Graeter's: "Great. I'm a fan, but still, too big a serving."
Skyline: "Good. I could live with it."
Portions were the problem: "I find way too much on the plate here. Everywhere I went, I didn't finish."
When not eating or meeting, he helped Biddinger with her Swedish. "I can say hello and thank you," she said. "And Absolut, but I already knew that.
HEARD AROUND TOWN: "Omigawd, it's weeeird. It's so colonial. George Washington could live here. But us???"
That's Kelly Ciannante Tina in Tony n' Tina's Wedding, commenting on the cast's accommodations at the colonial-style Williamsburg on Galbraith Road.
See, they're all New Jersey (actually Joisey, but we're trying to save our spell check some work) big-city types. Loud, raucous, hard-core city souls.
Cinnate was talking Monday at the rehearsal dinner at Italianni's, where the cast wolfed down chicken, shrimp and a ton of red wine. Guests were media and winners of a WVMX-FM promotion.
And mercy, didn't they party hearty? They were in character, which is to say they carried on like swamp trash while acting as if it were a real rehearsal dinner. Even down to dumb toasts and matriarchal Grandma Nunzio (Carol Pisano) barking orders.
And yes, it's true: Cast members remain in character at all times and never, ever, break. Well, best man Barry (Ronnie Marmo) broke once, but only when Psst! dangled a golf date in front of him.
Anyway, they love to party, so keep an eye out for them on the bar scene -- especially Carol's, Cincinnati's Main Street bars and Covington's MainStrasse.
"Oh, Covington," one said. "We had those people really confused." Tina's is at Norwood's Mitchell O.N.G. Armory through Nov. 8.
A TRIP DOWN THE AISLE: Well dang, were those wedding bells we heard pealing?
Sure were. They rang for Jesus Lopez Cobos, music director of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, who married wife No. 4 Aug. 13 in Lugano, Switzerland.
She is Brigitte Elm, a fairly constant companion (as constant as one can be with a frenetic travel schedule like his) who has been seen around town a few times during the past year. She is a business woman (used to own her own) but not a musician.
The couple were married in Lugano's city hall, then took off to Italy for a short honeymoon. They will live part-time in Lugano and part-time in Lopez Cobos' Hyde Park apartment. They'll hit town in mid-September in advance of the CSO's '98-99 season.
Psst! appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Have an item to report? Call Jim Knippenberg at 768-8513; fax: 768-8330.
KNIPPENBERG ARCHIVE