Dreamgirls

CHICAGO – Jennifer Hudson has won an Academy Award and a Grammy. Not bad for the 33-year-old singer and actress who was discovered as a runner-up on “American Idol.” She will perform in Downers Grove, Ill. this Thursday, July 30, 2015 at Art Van Furniture’s grand-opening event “The Art of WOW!”

CHICAGO – Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson came back to her hometown of Chicago last month to sign her new book, “I Got This: How I Changed My Ways and Lost What Weighed Me Down.” She also announced she is moving back to the area, after purchasing a multi-million dollar home right outside the city.

CHICAGO – The longtime career of Eddie Murphy has lately taken an interesting turn.

After a meteoric career with huge box-office comedies, Murphy has steered toward more family oriented fare (“Daddy Day Care,” the “Shrek” movies, etc.) before his Oscar-nominated performance in “Dreamgirls”. After the stumble of 2007’s “Norbit,” Murphy has again returned this summer in kid-friendly mode with “Meet Dave”.

CHICAGO – To its voracious universe of cult-following fans, it feels like a television marathon that spans an entire season. To everyone else who bats an indifferent eye at the religion that is “Sex and the City,” it may surprise you to find that all the glam and glitz has something even for you to learn, too.