NAMES
'Office' party
Cambridge-bred actress Mindy Kaling was the center of attention in Scranton the other day. The Buckingham Browne & Nichols alum, who plays chatty Kelly Kapoor on "The Office," was in Pennsylvania to celebrate the release of "The Office" DVD board game. Fans came from as far away as Santa Barbara and the UK to take part in the daylong doings. (There was a 2K Fun Run, a trivia challenge, and a beet-eating contest, which netted the winner a Dwight Schrute bobblehead.) "That was disgusting," said Kaling, who bobbed for beets. "I wish we had picked corn instead of beets."
Tapas to the stars
Senator John Kerry's daughter Alexandra (left) was among the guests at the opening of the new Woods Hole tapas restaurant, Quick's Hole. Husband and wife owners P.K. Simonds and Beth Colt (right) invited family and friends, including "Surrogates" actor Jonathan Mostow and Alexandra's uncle David Thorne. Simonds flew in from LA, where he's executive producer of the CBS show "Ghost Whisperer."
Scully leaving Boston magazine
Exactly 24 years after he began at Boston magazine, president Dan Scully announced yesterday he's stepping down. Scully, who started out as a clerk and eventually worked his way into the corner office, said a recent health scare had prompted him to explore "new options for the next phase" of his life. He didn't say what those might be, but Scully, who's 50 and newly married, isn't abandoning the glossy altogether. He and Herb Lipson, Boston magazine's Pennsylvania-based owner, have hammered out a deal that'll keep Scully on as a senior publishing consultant. One of his responsibilities will be to assist his replacement, Randy Hano, a former publisher of Chicago magazine and onetime Herald employee. "We all know this town can be a little parochial at times, so if I can help Randy accelerate the transition, I want to do that," said Scully, whose resignation is effective July 31. He said it was his wife, Entercom VP Julie Kahn, who'd encouraged him to think about the future. Scully said he experienced chest pains earlier this year, and Kahn was alarmed. "Julie said, 'I don't want to see you carried out of there on a stretcher,' or words to that effect," he said. A Hull native who graduated from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, Scully said the magazine is reasonably robust considering the poor economy. "We're not blowing away last year," he said of the magazine's revenues, "but four of the eight issues we've closed are over last year." Yesterday's announcement took many at the mag by surprise. Said B mag blogger Paul Flannery: "I've never worked with someone who got what we in editorial are trying to do like Dan." Lipson, who hired Scully way back when, said he tried to persuade his president to stay. "But he decided he wants to do something else," said Lipson. "He'll be sorely missed, but that's life, I guess."
Place to be, bar none
McGreevy's was the hang-out joint for bands on a rare two-day break from the Vans Warped Tour earlier this week. Tom Gabel, James Bowman, Andrew Seward, and Warren Oakes of Against Me, Jim Lindberg and Fletcher Dragge of Pennywise, and Brian Dixon and Jesse Wagner of the Aggrolites joined former Bruin P.J. Stock in tossing back a few cold ones and playing punk rock tunes on the jukebox at the baseball bar owned by Ken Casey of the Dropkick Murphys. (The Murphys are touring in Mexico, and couldn't join their pals.) "It feels like home to them because it's their friend's bar," said spokeswoman Farah Casis. The bands, including Angels & Airwaves, did get some fan love, but the whole scene was very chill, she said.
New 'Tricks' for Pastore
Actress Natasha Lyonne has come and gone, but Vincent Pastore is still working on the indie flick now filming in Chelsea. The actor famous for playing Big Pussy on "The Sopranos" is starring with Lyonne in "Tricks of a Woman," produced by Boston-based Mutressa Movies. "One of the reasons Vincent was excited to be in it is because he plays a loving, caring figure," said producer Ashley Triffletti. "That's different than the roles he's been doing." Directed by Todd Norwood, "Tricks" is a romantic comedy about a young woman, played by Elika Portnoy, who's discovered by famous fashion photographer while working in a fish market. Lyonne plays Portnoy's pal and the movie also stars Madonna's baby daddy Carlos Leon.
Back in the ' 'Hood'
Good news for local actors and crew folks: "Brotherhood" is on its way back to Providence. The award-winning gangster-politico drama, starring Jason Isaacs, Jason Clarke, Annabeth Gish, Fionnula Flanagan, and Boston's own Brian Scannell, begins filming its third season on Monday; eight more episodes are on order from Showtime, according to the Rhode Island Film & Television Office. Rhode Island Governor Donald Carcieri, in a press release yesterday, said the show's decision to return to the Ocean State "is a tribute to a good story and a great place to tell it." Providence Mayor David N. Cicilline seemed even happier. " 'Brotherhood' is a tremendous source of good, steady jobs that pay well for our local actors and production professionals," he said.
Boston.TV refocuses
Boston.TV, which launched with modest fanfare 15 months ago, is doing a little restructuring, says founder Eran Lobel. The online video entertainment network focused on local content has "slowed production for the summer," Lobel said, but it is not ceasing operations. He would not confirm if anyone had been laid off. Lobel said his staff of 10 is busy creating Citylife.TV, which they hope to eventually have up in five cities: Boston, Chicago, Atlanta, San Francisco, and Philadelphia.
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