1. Spotted: Donny Osmond at Navy Pier, buying a Chicken Cubano sandwich at the Haagen Dazs there (here). He’s apparently a very nice man, who went to Navy Pier because he’s trying to see as much of Chicago as possible in his short time here for Donny & Marie - Christmas In Chicago. Our source says Osmond was then informed that Navy Pier is not really the part of Chicago you want to see if you come to Chicago, no matter what the tour books say. The Haagen Dazs is definitely worth a visit though.

2. Let’s read a bunch of commentary about UP! by way of the food and the cleanliness, from the Sun-Times and Comedy of Chicago. The former describes the current Second City with this sentence: “Seating is cramped, changing areas are no-frills, food is … edible,” while the latter says the new space ” is done in a sort of retro chic cabaret style with state of the art audio visual capabilities.”

3. South Pacific is still planning on wending its way to Chicago. In preparation for this move, tickets went on sale Friday for the production, which will be here for two weeks in February, starting on Valentine’s Day.

4. January brings Gypsy and Klea Blackhurst as Mama Rose at Drury Lane. The rest of the cast rounds out with some of the best and the brightest of local musical theater, many of whom come from past Drury Lane productions, but others from places like Chicago Shakes, which did so well with Follies this year.

5. The A.V. Club‘s Twitter has drawn our attention to the plight of Dastardly, a band you may be familiar with through their The Paper Machete performances. As of three days ago, their van had been stolen; no word on whether it has been retrieved. If anything, they’ll keep that memory of that first kiss they say was had there close to the chest.

Questions? Tips? Email kdries@wbez.org.