`Miami Vice` Lures 20,000 Into Street

[Pink Flaming0]

September 09, 1985|By Pat Wingert. It`s hard to look cool in the streaming rain, even if your T-shirt is sleeveless and you manage to keep your sunglasses on. But fans of the hit television series ``Miami Vice`` gave it a shot Sunday. After all, about 20,000 of them had stood for hours on the State Street mall in the earlier 91-degree glare and humidity for a glimpse of Sonny and Tubbs and the rest of the cast as they rode by in a parade of convertibles. The crowd, trying to emulate the style of the stars, was heavily into sleeveless T-shirts, silk blazers and Hawaiian shirts. Fuchsia and acid yellow were the colors of choice for many. Most of the spectators didn`t scramble fast enough to get to the ninth floor of Marshall Field`s State Street store, where the cast was supposed to sign autographs. The rush to the area caused such a frenzy that escalators were turned off as a form of crowd control. ``I just think they`re great, they`re gorgeous, they`re everything,`` said Liz Notley of Oak Park. ``I came down to see the guys,`` said Michael Dutze, wearing a hot-pink, sleeveless Miami Vice T-shirt. ``After having to watch programs like `Three`s Company,` it`s great to see a show that`s really well produced, has good music, good clothes.`` ``I like the clothes and the action,`` said Michael Arast of Oak Lawn, perched on the ledge of a store window. ``I like everyone on the show, like Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas, and I like their car too. It`s great.`` Thousands who failed to get near the stars inside the store were willing to stand in the rain to get a good look. But after the motorcade sirens had passed and the screams had subsided and the police had succeeded in pulling the most ardent fans away from the limo windows, at least one rain-drenched fan, 15-year-old Kelly Duram, had to admit it that ``it wasn`t worth it.`` Duram, a student at Schaumburg High School, said: ``All I saw was the black windows (of the limousines). I just wanted to see them.`` Miami Vice Day was billed by its sponsors as a chance for fans to ``see and meet`` the stars of the hip television show, which features vice cops chasing drug dealers to the rhythms of Phil Collins and in the threads of Giorgio Armani. The stars were in town to hype their show, their network, their fashion style and to salute Chicago police officers, who were decked out in their traditional blues rather than the apricot linen slacks and white silk blazers for which the ``Miami Vice`` detectives are famous. The cast members--Johnson, Thomas, Edward James Olmos, Olivia Brown, Saundra Santiago, Michael Talbott and John Diehl--made their entrance on State Street behind a band of kilted police and a high-school drum and bugle corps. After climbing out of their convertible and onto a stage set up on the mall, they were made honorary Chicagoans and given police citations for ``raising the public`s consciousness about narcotics abuse.`` But mostly they did exactly what the crowd had come to see. They threw kisses. They waved. They looked cool and hot at the same time. And Olmos, who plays a stone-faced lieutenant, gave the crowd a thrill by flashing a big, toothy smile. Then they went upstairs to sign autographs. But the upstairs reception area was jammed with fans before the parade started, and despite polite reminders over the store loudspeaker that no more people could be accommodated in the reception room, the crowd poured into the store and made a dash for the escalators. Soon there were lines waiting at the bottom of each floor`s ``up`` escalators. But with nowhere to go at the top, the moving stairs were turned off, and fans waited for a chance to inch up the nine flights. Even those who made it inside the reception area found that the crush of fans had forced a change of plans. Rather than getting autographs, fans were herded through a zigzag of velvet ropes until they got a chance to file past the stars, attempt a handshake and move out the door. With so many fans and so little time, the stars soon had to move downstairs to a reception of VIPs, and the long-awaited experience for many culminated in a chance to walk past the spot where the stars had stood.

[Matt5]

It`s hard to look cool in the streaming rain, even if your T-shirt is sleeveless and you manage to keep your sunglasses on.But fans of the hit television series ``Miami Vice`` gave it a shot Sunday. After all, about 20,000 of them had stood for hours on the State Street mall in the earlier 91-degree glare and humidity for a glimpse of Sonny and Tubbs and the rest of the cast as they rode by in a parade of convertibles.The crowd, trying to emulate the style of the stars, was heavily into sleeveless T-shirts, silk blazers and Hawaiian shirts. Fuchsia and acid yellow were the colors of choice for many.Most of the spectators didn`t scramble fast enough to get to the ninth floor of Marshall Field`s State Street store, where the cast was supposed to sign autographs. The rush to the area caused such a frenzy that escalators were turned off as a form of crowd control.``I just think they`re great, they`re gorgeous, they`re everything,``said Liz Notley of Oak Park.``I came down to see the guys,`` said Michael Dutze, wearing a hot-pink, sleeveless Miami Vice T-shirt. ``After having to watch programs like `Three`s Company,` it`s great to see a show that`s really well produced, has good music, good clothes.````I like the clothes and the action,`` said Michael Arast of Oak Lawn, perched on the ledge of a store window. ``I like everyone on the show, like Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas, and I like their car too. It`s great.`` Thousands who failed to get near the stars inside the store were willing to stand in the rain to get a good look.But after the motorcade sirens had passed and the screams had subsided and the police had succeeded in pulling the most ardent fans away from the limo windows, at least one rain-drenched fan, 15-year-old Kelly Duram, had to admit it that ``it wasn`t worth it.``Duram, a student at Schaumburg High School, said: ``All I saw was the black windows (of the limousines). I just wanted to see them.``Miami Vice Day was billed by its sponsors as a chance for fans to ``see and meet`` the stars of the hip television show, which features vice cops chasing drug dealers to the rhythms of Phil Collins and in the threads of Giorgio Armani.The stars were in town to hype their show, their network, their fashion style and to salute Chicago police officers, who were decked out in their traditional blues rather than the apricot linen slacks and white silk blazers for which the ``Miami Vice`` detectives are famous.The cast members--Johnson, Thomas, Edward James Olmos, Olivia Brown, Saundra Santiago, Michael Talbott and John Diehl--made their entrance on State Street behind a band of kilted police and a high-school drum and bugle corps. After climbing out of their convertible and onto a stage set up on the mall, they were made honorary Chicagoans and given police citations for``raising the public`s consciousness about narcotics abuse.``But mostly they did exactly what the crowd had come to see. They threw kisses. They waved. They looked cool and hot at the same time. And Olmos, who plays a stone-faced lieutenant, gave the crowd a thrill by flashing a big, toothy smile.Then they went upstairs to sign autographs.But the upstairs reception area was jammed with fans before the parade started, and despite polite reminders over the store loudspeaker that no more people could be accommodated in the reception room, the crowd poured into the store and made a dash for the escalators.Soon there were lines waiting at the bottom of each floor`s ``up``escalators. But with nowhere to go at the top, the moving stairs were turned off, and fans waited for a chance to inch up the nine flights.Even those who made it inside the reception area found that the crush of fans had forced a change of plans. Rather than getting autographs, fans were herded through a zigzag of velvet ropes until they got a chance to file past the stars, attempt a handshake and move out the door.With so many fans and so little time, the stars soon had to move downstairs to a reception of VIPs, and the long-awaited experience for many culminated in a chance to walk past the spot where the stars had stood.

Thankyou for sharing - great

[miamijimf]

Great info Pink. I would like to quote this article in my book. For the footnote, can you give me details about this article, page no, date, author, source if you have the actual article or the web link where you found it. I tried to find it in the Chicago Tribune on-line archives with no luck. Many thanks.

[Tony D.]

Man, I wish I was there back then. Those were the "glory days."

[Pink Flaming0]

Man' date=' I wish I was there back then. Those were the "glory days."[/quote']Tony, wouldn't it be nice if we all had time machines,I know where I would be !!

[Sonny-Burnett]

Thanks for this and other thread postings in recent days, PF. Though I purchased some of the books you referenced several years back I have yet to read any of them so it is good you grabbed some neat stuff to post here. Very cool. :thumbsup:And in this particular case (Tribune or Sun Times postings??) I live fairly close to Chicago and did back in the day, and had I known about this appearance I would have gone downtown! DAMN.