Ron Onesti: More than just a 'side' of Bacon

I don't care who you are, meeting superstars with whom you grew up with on television and in the movies is a pretty cool thing. People in my industry are constantly making the point of just how not "star-struck" they are. For me, I AM stars-truck … and proud of it!

Really, why not? "I'm not only the Arcada president, but I am also a client." Oh wait, that ad campaign has already been used.

Regardless, I am a fan of the people who I grew up with, which is why I love music of the 1960s, '70s and '80s so much. And when I can work with familiar faces from film and TV, I am just as excited.

We recently produced a show with the Bacon Brothers at the Arcada Theatre. The band features film star Kevin Bacon with his brother, Michael. And the same way I was thrilled to work with Kevin Costner, Dana Carvey, Martin Short and other film and TV superstars, I was truly excited to see Kevin.

I've met him once before, backstage at Carnegie Hall in New York City at a fundraiser/concert with Bruce Springsteen. He was waiting to go on and I said hi. He kind of just looked at me. I said, "I loved you in 'A Few Good Men!' " He just said thanks as he kept looking down at his guitar. Maybe our short conversation wasn't as "riveting" for him as it was for me, now that I think of it.

So I enter the theater and the band was already on stage doing its sound check. I walked up to introduce myself, as I always do. Kevin was turned around, facing the drums as I said hello to his brother Michael. Kevin then spun around, somewhat unintentionally theatrical, I am sure, and extended his hand.

"Whoa!" I thought loudly to myself. "That's Kevin Bacon!" Although quite thin in build, that face is unmistakable. This is the guy who has starred in many of my favorite movies, and more major roles in motion pictures than most other "superstars."

" Footloose," "Quicksilver," "Apollo 13," "JFK," "A Few Good Men," "Mystic River," "Sleepers," "Murder In The First," "Tremors," on and on … even "Animal House!" How could you not be star-struck?

The brothers' show was really awesome, all the music being their original renditions. They are a tremendous team, as Michael, who is a few years older than Kevin, is an Emmy Award-winning composer for film and television who writes the band's music. Kevin typically writes the lyrics, many of them based on his personal experiences.

The songs were infectious, with audience members dancing in the aisles during some of the numbers and grasping their chests during others. The guys really touched the crowd.

Kev (I can call him that now, as we are buds) proved to be a humble, soft-spoken and focused kind of a guy. He was very interested in the theater, asking many questions about the design of our 1926 gem. Some of the questions were pretty detailed, stuff I couldn't even fake my way through.

"Are you looking to build one of these," I asked? "No, I have always been kind of interested in these old buildings. My dad was an architect, so I grew up around this stuff."

I looked up his dad and he was more than just an architect. His name was Edmund Bacon, and he is referred to as the "Father of Modern Philadelphia," even appearing on the cover of Time magazine in 1964! Now I know where all his creativity comes from!

I was asked by his manager to not focus too much of my conversations about Kevin's movies because he really likes to talk about his music and not too much about "the past." I did, however, always want to ask him about the "Six Degrees of Separation" thing, but I thought he really would not appreciate any line of questioning regarding that subject.

But as the day went on and we became more familiar with each other, I thought maybe I could suavely toss it into a conversation. He went to walk out to his tour bus, so I held the door open. Of course, a slew of fans were waiting for him and one kind of yelled out, "Hey Kevin, where did the Six Degrees of Separation thing come from?" I was flabbergasted!

We both kind of scrunched our faces and he made his way to the bus. When he returned I sort of half-apologized for the shout out, and he said he gets that all the time. "It's always been kind of embarrassing," he said. (OMG, is he actually going to tell me about it?) "How so?" I asked in a prodding manner.

"It started with three college guys in the early '90s. Apparently, they were watching 'Footloose' and started quizzing each other on other things I had done, and other people I worked with. It started to become like their party game. They somehow got the idea to Jon Stewart from 'The Daily Show,' then Howard Stern. Then they wrote a book ("Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon"), then it became a board game.

"At first I was horrified by it, then I was really upset about all of it, but eventually I was cool with it. It totally exploded!"

If you are not familiar with the concept, here's how it goes: You say a name, then you try and figure out the least number of connections (degrees of separation) to Kevin Bacon between the two people. Say Elvis, for example. He has two degrees of separation from Kevin Bacon because Elvis appeared in a motion picture with Ed Asner, "A Change Of Habit," and Ed Asner was in "JFK" with Kevin Bacon, so Elvis is two degrees of separation with Bacon. It can be addicting.

The end of the night came, the show was incredible and Kevin and his brother had the best time. They both thanked us for taking such good care of them and we all vowed to make it happen again. As Kevin was leaving to go to his bus, he stopped to sign autographs outside our backstage door. There must have been 200 people waiting.

"Hey Kevin, when are you coming back," a fan shouted. Kevin looked at me and said, "There is one degree of separation between me coming back and The Arcada … and that's Ron!"

How about that for a trophy? Next I'll be responsible for not passing go or collecting $200 for people.

• Ron Onesti is president and CEO of The Onesti Entertainment Corp. and The Historic Arcada Theatre in St. Charles. Celebrity questions and comments? Email ron@oshows.com.