Boston Globe: Joey McIntyre in town for Mass. Eye and Ear

Eric Antoniou Photography

From left: Joey McIntyre, Bianca de la Garza, Moi Blaton and daughter Elle, and Wyc Grousbeck at Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary.

New Kid on the Block Joey McIntyre doesn’t get back to Boston as much as his kids would like. “They have a lot of cousins here and they love to see each other,” says Joey Mac, who grew up the youngest of nine in Jamaica Plain. (He was last here over the summer to shoot the film “The Heat,” with Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy.) Joey Mac is back now, if only briefly, to attend Tuesday’s gala fund-raiser for Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, a place that’s near and dear to his heart since his 2½-year-old son, Rhys, was born with severe hearing loss. “He’s doing fabulous,” says Joey. “You never want to say you’re out of the woods, but thanks to my wife [Barrett], who’s done all the legwork with the audio/verbal therapist in LA, Rhys is doing great and is in the same school as his older brother and comfortable and learning.” Monday, McIntyre visited Mass. Eye and Ear, joined by Channel 5’s Bianca de la Garza, the gala’s emcee, and Wyc Grous­beck, Celtics principal owner and chairman of the hospital board. “We met some special kids,” says Joey, who’ll be singing at the event with special guest Sweet Honey in the Rock. He also told us that he and fellow New Kids Donnie Wahlberg, Jordan and Jonathan Knight, and Danny Wood are recording a new CD and plan to hit the road again. “We want to keep it fresh — and dignified,” he said, laughing. “We’ve been so fortunate, since [the 2008 comeback], to be doing what we’re doing.” Although scheduling is complicated because everyone’s scattered and Wahlberg has commitments with his CBS show, “Blue Bloods,” McIntyre said it’ll work out.

SOURCE: http://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/names/2012/10/15/joey-mcintyre-sings-praises-mass-eye-and-ear/PrJUEmicUCGsb222QcSqsK/story.html