This review by Robert Loerzel originally appeared in the Chicago Sun-Times on October 11, 2009. The Man Who Looked Books Too Much By Allison Hoover Bartlett (Riverhead) John Gilkey is a convicted thief from California who bought stuff using other people’s credit-card numbers. There’s nothing especially dramatic or shocking about Gilkey’s crimes, although he did… Continue reading Book review: ‘The Man Who Looked Books Too Much’
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What is a dramaturg?
This article by Robert Loerzel originally appeared in Playbill magazine in October 2009. Of all the people listed in a theater program, the most mysterious may be the dramaturg. Or should that be dramaturge? The spelling is hard to pin down, and so is the definition of exactly what this person does. “I wish I had… Continue reading What is a dramaturg?
Record review: Oneida, ‘Preteen Weaponry’
This review by Robert Loerzel originally appeared in Signal to Noise magazine’s fall 2009 issue. Last year’s Preteen Weaponry came stickered with this bold announcement: “The first piece of Oneida’s much-anticipated ‘Thank Your Parents’ triptych of releases, which will lay bare the band’s colossal vision of a new age in music.” One assumes that they… Continue reading Record review: Oneida, ‘Preteen Weaponry’
Chicago theater lingo
This article by Robert Loerzel originally appeared in Playbill magazine in September 2009. Theater people have a language all their own. But the lingo doesn’t always translate from house to house. Take the term “Strawberry Shortcake,” for example. It was coined at Lookingglass Theatre in 2001, when the actress Lauren Hirte needed a costume to… Continue reading Chicago theater lingo
Classical music in Chicago
This article by Robert Loerzel originally appeared in Listen magazine’s September-October 2009 issue. When poet Carl Sandburg called Chicago “Hog Butcher for the World, Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat,” he easily could have added “Music Maker” to that list. The City of the Big Shoulders forged so many of the sounds that became popular American… Continue reading Classical music in Chicago
Record review: Wildbirds & Peacedrums, ‘The Snake’
This review by Robert Loerzel originally appeared in Signal to Noise magazine’s fall 2009 issue. Wildbirds & Peacedrums The Snake Vocals and percussion are the two sounds at the core of this duo from Gothenburg, Sweden. Wildbirds & Peacedrums’ songs often consist of nothing more than Mariam Wallentin singing while her husband, Andreas Werliin, pounds… Continue reading Record review: Wildbirds & Peacedrums, ‘The Snake’
A man with a gun: A primer on John Dillinger
Randolph Street, Chicago’s theater row
This article by Robert Loerzel originally appeared in Playbill magazine in June 2009. If you took a stroll down Randolph Street in Chicago’s Loop in the early 1900s, chances were pretty good that you’d rub elbows with an actor. The sidewalks were crammed with thespians almost every afternoon on Randolph, a street with so many… Continue reading Randolph Street, Chicago’s theater row
Rocking to Warhol films at the MCA
Exploring O’Neill at the Goodman
The Huffington Post, April 10, 2009 — The Eugene O’Neill festival now in its final days at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre wasn’t exactly designed as an introduction to this great American playwright. Nor was it a celebration of his best and most famous works… Read my blog post at the Huffington Post or Underground Bee. Photo by… Continue reading Exploring O’Neill at the Goodman