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Lifelong Theater Fan Spreads Magic Onstage

By Max A. Herman

(Article published in Chicago Arts & Entertainment Newspaper 1/2/03)

“I’m going to help (you) sift through the 50 shows that are showing on any given day,” said theater critic Tom Williams. Going to plays nearly every night gives Williams the chance to call each production just how he sees it, yet objectively.

“I try to go in there like a naive, golly-gee-whiz hick with a piece of corn stuck in my teeth,” said the matter-of-fact Williams. “Really, just go there and absorb it. If people do that, they’ll find that most theater will entertain them.”
Williams isn’t going to lie. He has his biases, just like everyone else. He may not be able to stand rock music in a production, but what sets Williams apart from the crowd is that he’ll let you know his biases from the get-go.
“Some critics say that you should just talk technically and let the people make up their mind - I say no,” Williams said. “I take it real personal. If people read my site, they’ll get to know my biases.”

The site he’s referring to is his independent enterprise www.chicagocritic.com, which receives nearly 805 visitors per day.
Here, he provides comprehensive and upfront reviews of nearly every show this city has to offer. Williams isn’t quite making a living off of the site yet, but he has so many deals in the works that this could very well become a reality.
With his online platform, Williams aims to be more than informative - he wants to be an advisor.

“People want to be led,” Williams said. “Sometimes people go, ‘You didn’t like the show, but guess what? You were wrong.’ You know how I am to that? I tell them ‘Thank you. You went to see the show.’ That’s my goal.”

Even before he became an official critic, Williams let his blue-collar Northwest Side friends know what shows were worth heading downtown for.

Today, Williams takes along a variety of acquaintances to every production he attends. In fact, Williams spoke of how he once took a 21-year-old rock musician, new to theater, to a production and he flat-out loved it. This is one of Williams’ many success stories. He wants to convert you, too.

Since experiencing his first play, Peter Pan, at age 11, Williams has been entranced by the magic that can be formulated on stage.
And thanks to the editor of the Wicker Park Voice, this grown-up theater enthusiast was given a chance to put his opinion on paper.

When Williams was able to talk the editor into flying him to a theater critic’s association convention in New York, he was reassured that he knew what he was talking about when it came to theater

After seeing a bomb of a production, Williams and his fellow critics were waiting for the bus when post-show conversation was ignited. In the crowd were critics from.publications such as The New York Times who didn’t realize Williams was a rookie. So Williams proceeded to give a five-minute shtick about why this show didn’t work. As it turned out, they all agreed with him.

“They went, ‘Oh yeah, you’re right.’ The New York Times critic and one from the New Yorker, I believe, came and joined us on the bus,” recalled Williams. “And the guy asked the New York critic what he thought. He said almost word for word what I said. And this was a guy who’s been doing it for, like, 25 years. It was pretty obvious this show was bad, but he had the exact little comments that I had. He had no way of hearing what we said ’cause he was outside.”

Williams said that during the conference he realized that he could blend in with the best of them. What I had learned from years of going to shows was that I wasn’t too far off,” said Williams. How’s that for a self-trained critic?

Williams now plans to do a radio show which would include interviews and contrary opinions - slightly similar to Siskel & Ebert, but without all of the arguing, said Williams. You may see Williams on TV and in print soon, as well. For now, make sure to log on at www.chicagocritic.com Remember, Williams is so insistent on you going and seeing a good show that he might even take you along.

Beverly Friend

Email Address: friend@oakton.edu

Free lance writer, lecturer, and desktop publisher, Beverly Friend, Ph.D., currently is Theater Critic for the Pioneer Press City Group (Skyline, New Star, Booster), and formerly was the Science Fiction Book Reviewer for the Chicago Daily News. An Emeritus Professor of English and Journalism at Oakton Community College, and Executive Director and Website Publisher for the China Judaic Studies Association (http://www.oakton.edu/~friend/chinajews.html), her numerous articles have appeared in journals and academic publications.

 As a founding member of the Science Fiction Research Association, she has chaired several national conferences and was head of the Academic Track for the 2001 World Science Fiction Convention in Chicago. Her books include "Science Fiction: The Classroom in Orbit, (Educational Impact 1974) "The Science Fiction Fan Cult" (dissertation, Northwestern University, 1975), "Legends of the Chinese Jews of Kaifeng (with Professor Xu Xin, KTAV, 1995). 

 She serves on the boards of the Oakton Community College Emeritus and Annuitants Associations, and Free Arts of Illinois, and lectures for Oakton's Emeritus Program and the Bluestem Humanities Festival, as well as on topics related to China/Judaic studies. She was a member of the steering committee for the American Theater Critics at their annual conference when it met in Chicago. She has led a tour to China, presented Elderhostel classes, and last summer lectured for Page and Stage during their annual Stratford, Ontario Theater Tour. 

 Friend is also a percussionist with Heavy Shtetl, the Jewish Reconstructionist Synagogue Klezmer Band. In addition, she annually selects the winner and presents an award for literary criticism at the Society of Midland Authors, in memory of her late husband, James Friend.

Beverly Friend's autbiograpy -- “No Girls in the Marching Band A Memoir” --
is avaliable at http://www.cafepress.com/friendmemoir.177560266
 

Richard Allen Eisenhardt

richard@chicagocritic.com

Theatre Critic

Richard Eisenhardt fell in love with the theatre at the age of five when his parents took him to see ”Hellsapoppin” with comedians Olsen and Johnson at the old Selwyn Theatre.

In 1976, he saw a production called “Dillenger” that Victory Gardens did in the now Club Metro Building with William Petersen. The show got good reviews but the Friday night performance he paid to see only had twenty people in attendance.

He was impressed and felt radio, TV and the papers did not give enough press to professional regional theatres. He then started his own homemade publication and paid for it out of his daytime salary with the railroad as an accountant. It grew from six pages to 150 pages giving free publicity to all professional theatres. “Theatre 76” was a terrific paper. Its named change to “Theatre (the current year) until 1990 when “Theatre 90” ceased publishing as Eisenhardt move to become a columnist and theatre reviewer for ‘Streetwise’ newspaper. He wrote for that paper for 9 years.

Currently he does theatre reviewing for “Our Village” newspaper. He also interviewed Paula Scrofono and John Reeger on Chicago Stage Talk Radio Show on UIC Internet Radio and he has done a number of cable TV shows out of Plano, Illinois.

Mr. Eisenhardt feels that there is a play out there for everyone if people will only discover and support it. Parents should take their children to the theatre at an early age so that can occupy their minds with wonderful entertainment.

Editor’s note: Richard Eisenhardt will post reviews on Chicagocritic.com and he’ll contribute with the “Aisle Seat” theatre column on Talk Theatre Radio Station in 2005.

Evan Kuchar

evan.kuchar@gmail.com

Evan Kuchar is a composer, musician, and teacher from Downers Grove, IL. He earned his undergraduate degree from Augustana College in Music and French and his Master's degree from the University of Iowa in Music Composition.

While not composing, he finds various ways to make a living. During the school season, he teaches piano and drums at the Maywood Fine Arts Association, and in the summer he gives bike tours through Bobby's Bike Hike.

As a composer, he tends to favor new music to old, although he believes strongly that we are lost without our history. In chronological order, his most overt influences are: Josquin des Prez, Beethoven, Schoenberg, Stravinsky, Messiaen, Steve Reich, Nirvana, and Radiohead.

Editor’s Note: We welcome Evan to cover opera, classical music as well as modern musical forms. Evan may also cover theatre.

Tom Williams