Exclusive Portrait

CHICAGO – Idina Menzel is an icon of the Great White Way and is appropriately nicknamed “Queen of Broadway.” She and her sister Cara have released their new children’s book “Proud Mouse,” a veiled story of their sisterhood. Photographer Joe Arce of HollywoodChicago.com got Exclusive Portraits of both at a recent book signing.

SAN MARCOS, Calif – There was an Alan Arkin for every generation. Post World War Two adults may have seen him at Chicago’s “The Second City.” Baby Boomers remember his films “Wait Until Dark” and “The Russians Are Coming, The Russians are Coming” and Gen X saw him in “The In-Laws” (“Serpentine, Shel”), “Glengarry Glen Ross” and his Oscar winning turn in “Little Miss Sunshine.” He even did a Netflix series, “The Kominsky Method.” For every generation, for every form of acting, there was Alan Arkin. He passed away on June 29th, 2023, at the age of 89.

CHICAGO – Stacey Abrams, the activist from Georgia, has created power in an old fashioned way … by actually getting out the vote. Her efforts had Georgia … a southern state … show up for Joe Biden in 2020, and her influence produced two Democratic Senators to represent Georgia going forward. She appeared at the Chicago Humanities Festival on June 1, 2023.

CHICAGO – Sharing his travels was the aim of actor Andrew McCarthy, and he was able to do with this son, as chronicled in his new book “Walking with Sam: A Father, a Son, and Five Hundred Miles Across Spain.” Photographer Joe Arce crossed his path and took Exclusive Portraits for HollywoodChicago.com.

CHICAGO – Everyday is a Winding Road, as pop-rocker Sheryl Crow once reminded us. But one of her recent days included the announcement that Ms. Crow was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio. The new class will be inducted on November 3rd, 2023.

CHICAGO – This past January, U.S. Congress California Representative Katie Porter (Democrat, 47th District) announced her intention to run for the U.S. Senate. The populist for the people, who famously takes down unprepared corporate overlords with her profound financial knowledge (symbolically often illustrated with a white board), also appeared at the Spring Chicago Humanities Festival on April 29th for her book “I Swear: Politics is Messier Than My Minivan.” Photographer Joe Arce of HollywoodChicago.com took these Exclusive Portraits.

CHICAGO –Rainn Wilson is best known of course in his magnificent interpretation as Dwight Schrute on TV’s ‘The Office,’ but his foray into spirituality is why he is appearing at the Chicago Humanities Festival on Friday, April 21st, 2023, promoting his new book, “Soul Boom: Why We Need Spiritual Revolution.” For tickets and more info, click

CHICAGO –The birthday gal today (April 19th) is movie star Kate Hudson, and Joe Arce of HollywoodChicago.com is celebrating with an Exclusive unpublished Portrait from a 2016 photo shoot. Hudson’s recent films include “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” and “A Little White Lie,” costarring Chicagoan Michael Shannon.

CHICAGO – When the envelope was opened, containing the name of the Best Supporting Actress Oscar at the 95th Academy Awards earlier this month, it was veteran actor Jamie Lee Curtis who won the honor. She brought down the house with her memorable “we just won an Oscar” speech.

CHICAGO – Michael B. Jordan and Jonathan Majors are two of the hottest featured players in film right now and teamed up over the weekend in “Creed III,” the continuation of the Adonis Creed (Jordan) story, son of Apollo Creed from the Rocky Balboa Universe. Majors portrays Damian, the latest challenger to Creed’s reign.