Pop icon Lisa Loeb filmed a scene for her
upcoming E! Entertainment Television reality series, "#1
Single," in DUMBO on Monday. The singer-songwriter – still
wearing her signature cat-eye specs – was spotted shooting on
Washington Street, then moving inside 111 Front St. to ogle the
works at the Nelson Hancock art gallery.
"The show is based on real life, and real life brought me
to Brooklyn," Loeb told GO Brooklyn. Many of Loeb’s friends
live in various neighborhoods in Brooklyn, and her brother’s
family recently moved to the borough.
Hancock is a friend of Loeb’s buddy from her Brown University
days, Stephanie Ittleson, who took part in the scenes filmed
on Nov. 21.
Loeb’s "#1 Single," which will premiere on Jan. 22,
is an eight-part series that tracks the "newly single"
musician as she moves back to New York City from Los Angeles
and embarks on her quest for "love, success, career and
family" via the city’s oft-publicized cutthroat dating pool.
"I decided to do a reality show, because I talk a lot on
stage when I’m performing, and one thing that stands out the
most to me is that the people who come to my show really like
to relate to what I’m saying," Loeb said. "That connection
is really important to me, and I think that being a mid-thirties
woman dipping back into the dating pool is something other people
can appreciate."
The gallery shoot, which lasted about an hour, included Loeb’s
sister Debbie and Loeb’s two college friends, actors Michael
Panes and Stephanie – grouped together in a tight huddle and
chatting quietly in front of one camera. A couple of gallery
visitors blithely mingled about in the background.
The small crew and cast were relaxed, although the week’s filming
schedule was described as "intense," by Loeb’s manager,
Janet Billig.
Loeb said she would be filming scenes on the L train on the following
day.
"I don’t live in Brooklyn, but some of my friends and family
do, so I have spent a lot of time in Brooklyn recently. I really
like Brooklyn. It has good restaurants and good stores,"
said Loeb, who has also been featured on a segment on fashion
designer Isaac Mizrahi’s E! show, which will air in December.
"I really like Bird and Baby Bird; they’re really cute [Park
Slope] clothing stores. But I missed going to that pizza place
in DUMBO, Grimaldi’s, so I’ll have to come back out."
On hand Monday as an "extra," as he called himself,
was Don Burmeister, director of the neighboring Safe-T-Gallery,
who commented that these were "not the kind of people you
normally see here" and that the shoot represented "more
action than you normally see around here on a Monday morning."
Loeb’s no stranger to TV work, having co-starred with Dweezil
Zappa in The Food Network series "Dweezil and Lisa,"
a weekly culinary adventure show that debuted in January 2004.
But the Grammy-nominated artist is best known for her 1994 hit
"Stay," which was featured on the "Reality Bites"
soundtrack. Loeb is in New York now to work on a new album.
"All kinds of things have happened," Loeb said of filming
the series. "I’m not an over-dramatic person, so it’s not
going to be a Whitney-Houston-and-Bobby-Brown show. It’s real
life, and I live a more subtly humorous life. It’s not crazy,
but there’s definitely some real-life drama involved."
The "#1 Single" reality series
will premiere on Jan. 22 on the E! Entertainment Television cable
channel. For more information, visit www.LisaLoeb.com.
