HughE Dillon: Jason Statham To Close Down Broad Street

Plus Kerry Washington's Philly-based film, Ristorante Panorama celebrates 20 years, and sports stars flock to Del Frisco's

Last Thursday, Ristorante Panorama celebrated its 20th anniversary by inviting  friends, family members, customers and every employee who ever worked there. On Friday evening, I checked out Kerry Washington (pictured, at left) at the Philadelphia Film Festival‘s Night Catches Us screening at the Prince Theater. Then, I spent some time at Del Frisco’s, which has become the see-and-be-seen place — especially for athletes. I spotted Shane Victorino, the entire Maple Leaf hockey team, Pat Burrell, and some members of the Eagles.

Notable

At noon today, NBC10 will launch its 24-hour digital channel, Nonstop. All my favorites are getting their own shows! G-N Kang will host Dinner With Friends. Deanna Durante will be digging into Cold Cases in an attempt to find out where unsolved cases stand. Terry Ruggles will be chatting around The Watercooler and Dawn Timmeney will be hosting a show about pets. Additionally, Justin Pizzi will be doing The Scene, a show about arts, culture, and fun things around the city. I have a weekly segment where I chat about what’s happening around town with some of my favorite people. Foodie Collin Flatt will talk about Philadelphia’s best food and Q102’s Nicole Michalik will have a segment called “Around the Web  With  Q102’s Nik the Web Chick.” She’ll talk about fun Philly websites and apps (BYOB apps, parking meter app, etc).” Nonstop will air on Comcast channel 248, Fios  channel 460, and over the air on 10.2. Check out The Scene weekdays at 8:30 p.m., 9:30 p.m., midnight, 12:30 a.m., 3:30 a.m. , 5:30 a.m., or 6:30 a.m.

Celebrity Sightings

Jeremy Maclin and Lesean McCoy of the Philadelphia Eagles stopped by Whisper nightclub on Friday night. On Saturday night, Sixers Evan Turner also checked out the new club on Walnut Street.

During Friday’s happy hour at Chris Jazz Café’, Brian Anthony Wilson, who played Homicide Detective Vernon Holley, in all five seasons of the critically acclaimed HBO show, The Wire, participated in a fund-raising event to help support B. Someday Productions/Walking Fish Theatre, Brian was involved in some of the Kensington company’s early productions. Annie A-Bomb, star of Philadelphia’s Revival Burlesque, was a guest bartender for the benefit. More than $650 was raised through tips and a raffle.

Broad Street Closures

On November 17th, 18th, and 19th, both sides of Broad Street will be closed from approximately 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. for the filming of  Safe .

Speaking of  Safe, the film starring Jason Statham (The Italian Job, The Transporter), directed by Boaz Yakin (Remember the Titans) is wrapping up filming in NYC and is on it’s way to Philly to begin filming this week until the end of December (Yakin sported a Phillies hat on the set Friday!). I hear they will be filming a scene inside of the Bellevue in the coming weeks, but the best place to catch the action will be on Broad Street between City Hall and Spruce Street.

On Tuesday, November 16th, traffic will be diverted intermittently. The Philadelphia Police Department will detour car traffic around this closure, while sidewalks will remain open to pedestrians. During actual filming, pedestrians will be held from crossing the street. The production company asks for your patience and indicates that the inconvenience will only last for a few minutes at a time.

Check out my blog PhillyChitChat.com and follow me on Twitter @iPhillyChitChat for my latest adventures.