Sandler reps South Philly
Hollywood star has a heart for local special-needs lad.
FUNNYMAN Adam Sandler has helped make a dream come true for an autistic boy from South Philly.
Lisa Stagliano is the mother of Santino, a 10-year old who was diagnosed with autism when he was a little boy.
As first reported in May by my colleague, Stephanie Farr, Santino began drawing dragons on T-shirts as a way of expressing himself through art. Before long, the shirts he created grew popular in their West Moyamensing neighborhood, with friends and neighbors buying them up for $5 apiece and spreading the word. Well, word spread to Hollywood, and that's where the "Happy Madison" producer jumped on board.
"Santino is a very funny - very serious, strait-laced kid. He's been on the news, but he doesn't seem real impressed when anything like that happens," Stagliano told me.
"Finally I said, 'What would excite you?' "
"If Adam Sandler wore my shirt," he replied.
Stagliano said she's not exactly sure how her friends got in touch with the comedian's people, but the "Big Daddy" star was photographed wearing Santino's shirt while playing basketball this past weekend. We have the picture to prove it.
"The people from South Philly are unbelievable," Stagliano said. "Santino's overcome so much since this dragon shirt thing happened. Now he's shaking hands and doing events, and he's so happy to help other kids, too. We're not gonna rest until every kid feels like this."
Part of the proceeds from Santino's T-shirts go to the Center for Autism, a nonprofit that Stagliano said has changed her son's life.
Try to tackle this
The "Jason Kelce Sandwich" debuted on Monday at the Philadelphia Horticultural Society's popup beer garden (1438 South St.).
Kelce, a center for the Eagles, teamed up with Ruth "Momma Dietz" Eni, daughter of Dietz & Watson founder Gottlieb Dietz, to construct a mammoth mouthful of a sandwich to sell.
This hearty hoagie boasts huge portions of meat - pastrami brisket, London broil roast beef, Genoa salami and bacon -along with lettuce, arugula, cheddar cheese, pickles and mustard on a hoagie roll. It's now available for purchase at the popup garden for $6, and will soon be sold at Lincoln Financial Field during Eagles games.
Kelce toured Philly's Dietz & Watson facility in June, where he and Eni concocted the idea to make him into a sandwich.
'Dance' stars to dazzle
The Emmy-winning TV show, "So You Think You Can Dance," is coming to town this fall for its Season 12 tour.
This season, the show launched a new theme - "Stage vs. Street." Dancers on "Team Stage" competed in traditional styles like ballet, jazz and tap. Dancers on "Team Street" competed in more contemporary styles of music such as hip-hop, breakdance and freestyle.
The tour will take the dancers to 70 cities from coast to coast.
Tickets for the "So You Think You Can Dance Season 12 Tour" go on sale next Friday (Aug. 28). The tour stops in Philly on Nov. 8 at the Academy of Music (240 S. Broad St.). The show airs Mondays at 8 p.m. on Fox.
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