The North Shore Weekend, April 15, 2023

You are invited to a community healthcare education event at no cost:

What Every Man Should Know About Prostate Cancer, From Warning Signs to Treatments

Northwestern Medicine urologists specializing in prostate cancer will highlight advances in prostate cancer screening, diagnosis, treatment and recovery.

Monday, April 24, 7 pm

Northwestern Medicine Lake Forest Hospital Conference Center 1000 North Westmoreland Road Lake Forest, Illinois

Your questions are welcome!

Refreshments will be served. Space is limited. Please RSVP today by emailing Rosie Schalka, Northwestern Medicine Physician Services, at tcroghan@nm.org.

nm.org/urology

Presented by:

Michael McGuire, MD

Dennis Pessis, MD

Matthew Schaff, MD

10 rock out

Kenilworth’s Julia Dale stars in Paramount Theatre’s production of School of Rock

11 film fan

Joshua Handler of Northbrook is turning his lifelong love of film into a virtual venture

LIFESTYLE & ARTS

14 #hashtag

Glencoe mom Lilia Barbra speaks about her unique Winnetka party store, Balloons & Paper

15 material pursuits

This weekend's must haves include a retro-inspired device, a Bulgari watch, and a piece of history from the Chicago Bulls dynasty

16 extraordinary caddies carry on— to college

North Shore student caddies win prestigious Evans Scholarships for college

LAST BUT NOT LEAST

18 sunday breakfast

Former Hoosier Sarah Marie Young makes wonderful music in Illinois

John Conatser FOUNDER & PUBLISHER

ADVERTISING @NSWEEKEND.COM

Jennifer Sturgeon

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Michelle Crowe, Dustin O'Regan, Kemmie Ryan, Sherry Thomas, Megan Weisberg

FASHION EDITOR

Theresa DeMaria

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Mitch Hurst, Bill McLean

DESIGN

Linda Lewis PRODUCTION MANAGER/GRAPHIC DESIGNER

Chris Geimer ADVERTISING COORDINATOR/GRAPHIC DESIGNER

PHOTOGRAPHY AND ART

Tom Bachtell, Barry Blitt

ILLUSTRATION

Cheyanne Lencioni ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT ALL

@

Kitchen Jennifer Noone Northbrook

BY MITCH HURST THE NORTH SHORE WEEKEND

With nearly 450,000 followers on Instagram, culture writer and video creator Kelly Rizzo is a tastemaker when it comes to what people eat and drink, where they might find their next travel adventure, and what music they listen to. Under her brand, EatTravelRock, Rizzo also publishes a blog, travel guides, recipes, and other content that aims to tingle the imagination and the tastebuds.

This past year, the 43-year-old Rizzo took on a new, unanticipated role: Processing grief, and helping others with similar experiences to hers process theirs. In January 2022, Rizzo’s husband, the well-known actor and comedian Bob Saget, passed away suddenly while on tour. His death shocked both her and Sagat’s legion of fans. She’s spent the past year honoring his memory.

We caught up with Rizzo recently to not only talk about her growing business but also about her late husband and how he continues to be a presence in her life and work. A Chicago native familiar with the anticipation of spring, Rizzo looked rather content to be sitting in her sun-drenched home in Los Angeles.

Rizzo’s early years were spent in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood. At 12, she moved with her family to Glenview, where she attended Glenbrook South High School. When she was 20, her parents, who own a real estate company, moved to Lake Forest. In all, she spent about 15 years on the North Shore before moving back to Chicago and then to L.A. after she met Saget. Chicago remains home in her heart.

“When I think of home, I consider Chicago my home. When someone asks where I’m from I say, ‘Chicago’,” she says. “That will never, ever change, I don’t care how long I live in L.A. I’m a Chicago girl.”

One of the things Rizzo told Saget when she moved to L.A. is that family and Chicago are extremely important to her, and she couldn’t imagine going months without seeing them. She flies back to Chicago for a week or so every month for work, bouncing between her parent’s house in Lake Forest and her sister’s place in Highland Park.

Like many children of business owners, Rizzo got her professional start working for her family’s real estate company. She obtained her real estate license at the age of 20, going to work with her parents. Although successful, she would learn after seven or eight years that the real estate world wasn’t where she belonged.

“My family’s been in real estate in Chicago for over 40 years, and I became a realtor and broker in Illinois in 1999,” she says. “After the crash in 2008, I burned out. It just was not my thing anymore. At the time it seemed crazy to do anything else because that’s all I’d ever done and all I’d ever known.”

In her gut, Rizzo says, she knew she wanted to follow her passions which, when she thought hard about it, were food, travel, and music. In 2012, she started EatTravelRock and began blogging and making videos that included tips and ideas, including recipes and hotel recommendations.

“I realized that this is really what I love to do. Just to be in this world and talk to chefs and talk to musicians and tell people about

ensue, which led to a few challenging discussions about geography. Being a Chicago lifer, Rizzo had thought a few times about what it would be like to live in New York or L.A., but there was nothing in her plans to do so. Then Saget came along.

“I met Bob, and he was L.A.-based, and he was so charming that I decided to keep pursuing that and I knew he wasn’t going to move to Chicago,” she says. “He was like, ‘You’re

tone of her content has become more personal knowing that many of her followers have become familiar with her story and have had similar experiences and want to interact. It’s one way to keep her late husband’s legacy alive.

“Bob’s an easy person to talk about and honor and sharing his legacy is the easy part. For what I do forever and ever I’ll always be talking about Bob,” she says. “Bob had so much loss and death and grief in his life, and he always looked at it as an opportunity to not only better himself but to help other people.”

Saget was a “grief expert,” Rizzo says, and he used that experience to help anyone else who was grieving or going through a hard time. She says she’s trying to learn from him.

“I think he was a pro at it. He always knew what to say and I’m still not great at it but I’m getting better,” she says. “All of the lessons he taught me from his lifetime of experience, of really going through it on the career side and on the life side, that’s stuff that I will take with me forever.”

As for her future plans, Rizzo says a show is always the ultimate goal and something she’s been working on for a long time. In the near future, she has a podcast in the works that she’s very excited about that focuses on inspiration and grief, with a bit of a food tie in.

“Something that actually really helps people, not that recipes and travel tips don’t help people, but helps people in a deeper way,” she says. “There’s also hopefully a cookbook plus some other interesting things related to the book that I can’t give away just yet, but a lot of endeavors coming down the line that I’m really excited about.”

She also wants to inspire younger women and girls not to doubt their own dreams and to follow their passions, even if it means ignoring their naysayers. When you’re young, it’s easy to feel the tug of doing what others want you to do instead of following your own path.

the greatest hotels and greatest restaurants and the easiest and best and coolest ways to travel,” Rizzo says. “It kind of just picked up and became an actual full-time career, I left real estate behind. My dad was really sad about that at first, my mom was very encouraging of the new career, and now of course they’re both incredibly encouraging. They both love it.”

People tend to question the judgement, if not the sanity, of those who leave a stable job to pursue a new venture, and Rizzo was no exception. But she ignored the skeptics. Not following her passion was out of the question.

“Part of the message is if it’s something you’re really passionate about and you really believe in yourself and you believe there’s something there, you just keep going for it,” she says. “When you clearly have that drive and determination and passion about it, it’s going to come through, and now it’s nice to see some of the fruits of my labor.”

Along the way—in 2016—Rizzo and Saget met through mutual friends. Love would

going to need to move to L.A.,” and I said, ‘It’s tempting, the weather is tempting’, so I made the decision. ”Bob always felt a tinge of jealousy with Chicago. He was never jealous of any other people, but he would say he was jealous of Chicago because he thought I liked Chicago more than anybody or anything.”

Jealousy aside, you can hear in Rizzo’s voice that her and Saget’s love affair was the genuine article. It comes out in full in the media interviews she gave on the anniversary of Saget’s death. But he was also an important influence on Rizzo’s business life, giving much needed encouragement based on his more than 40 years in the entertainment business.

“Because he knew show business so well, he would always teach me when I would get discouraged. He would say, ‘Kelly, you’ve been out here a few years, are you serious?’” she says. “He’d say, ‘You just keep going. Don’t get discouraged. Don’t take no for an answer. You have to stay positive.’”

Since Saget’s death, Rizzo has continued to expand EatTravelRock but she says the

“Maybe your family has a business like mine did and people really want you to get involved with the family business because it’s what you do. If that’s not what your heart is telling you to do, that’s okay,” says Rizzo. “Some people might not understand that in the beginning but if it makes sense to you and it’s what you truly want to do in your heart, if you lead with conviction and purpose and passion, then all the people who might be a little doubtful in the beginning will come around.”

On the wall in Rizzo’s home is a reminder for her when making the tough or even everyday choices that can alter our lives—and the lives of others—for the better. It’s a familiar face.

“I have a needlepoint that somebody did for me. It’s a picture of Bob and at the bottom it says WWBD, What would Bob do?” she says. “That’s what I think about all the time. What would he do? If he went through this, how would he use it to help people?”

Follow Kelly Rizzo on Instagram at @EatTravelRock.

The wedding of Kelly Rizzo and Bob Saget with Rizzo’s family.

Photography by Nicole Goddard

ROCK OUT!

Kenilworth’s Julia Dale will star in the upcoming production of Paramount Theatre’s School of Rock.

BY MITCH HURST THE NORTH SHORE WEEKEND

New Trier Freshman Julia Dale is already a veteran performer on the stage. She got her first professional role at Chicago’s Steep Theater in Edgewater when she was just in the 4th grade, and prior to that performed in community theater and school productions. The 15-year-old Kenilworth resident says

“A lot of theater got shut down because of the pandemic but I'm super excited to be back doing it again,” Dale says. “I think more than just the thrill of performing in front of people and making people laugh or cry or whatever, I like being in an environment where everybody's really passionate about what they do. I like being with other people who like to do the same thing as me.”

Dale says she particularly excited about School of Rock because she is able to utilize

she used to do performances of Frozen for her parents in her family’s living room when she was 4 or 5 years old. Dale returns to the spotlight this week as she takes on the role of Katie in Paramount Theatre’s production of School of Rock—a musical based on the beloved movie that starred Jack Black as an imposter (but hilariously enthusiastic) middle-school music teacher. With a few years off due to the pandemic, she’s excited to get back on the stage.

the broad array of talents that emerged back in the day performing in her living room.

“I've always really liked singing and acting and dancing so I've always really loved doing musicals, and then my dad is really into guitars and music. We have seven guitars in our house,” Dale says. “I've been playing the bass since probably fourth grade and so this is just the perfect role that I can do. I’m doing a bunch of the things I love to do at once.”

Balancing schoolwork and rehearsals

can be a challenge, but Dale says her teacher and her parents help keep her focused. She’s not looking for celebrity status.

“I do a lot of my homework in the car, but my teachers have been really understanding. Obviously, I don't get extensions or anything, but if I need to leave class a couple of minutes early, they're totally fine with it,” says Dale. “My parents have also been really supportive. I think I've been okay with managing the workload.”

One big difference between School of Rock and her previous productions is that Dale is able to work with a cast who all are close to her age. In the past, she’s often been the youngest member of the cast.

“This is my first show where I've been with a lot of other kids my age, so that's really fun. And the adults are very, very talented also. Everybody behind the scenes—the supervisors, the stage managers, the directors—are also very helpful in welcoming the young performers. Everybody is just so nice,” she says. “We have a lot of fun on our breaks, too. If you walk into our break room, we're all singing, even though we don't have to be. We’re playing games, wearing our pajamas to work. It's super fun.”

While Dale is obviously passionate about her career on stage, she might head in a different direction after she goes off to college.

“When I go to college, or after college, I want to be an OB/GYN,” she says. “It's a very different career path than what I'm doing right now but I've always liked kids and I think delivering babies would be really cool and also just helping women in that way.”

Paramount Theatre’s production School of Rock runs now through June 4 in Aurora. For tickets and more information, visit paramountaurora.com.

Julia Dale stars as Katie in Paramount Theatre’s staging of the musical, School of Rock Photography courtesy of Amy Nelson.

FILM FAN

Northbrook native Joshua Handler has turned his lifelong love of film into a venture that hosts virtual conversations with film industry professionals about the craft of filmmaking.

BY MITCH HURST THE NORTH SHORE WEEKEND

Joshua Handler was 3 years old when his father showed him the original Star Wars. While he was too young to fully process it, Handler says it planted the seed that would grow into a lifelong love—or obsession, it might be safe to say—with film.

Decades on, Handler now runs New York-based Picturehouse441, a live, virtual Q&A series with film industry professionals that is dedicated to promoting film literacy through events centered around essential cinema. The Q&A events run for an hour and delve into the art of filmmaking. It all started on the North Shore.

“I grew up in Northbrook. I lived there from when I was about 2 until I was 18. That was where my love of film began,” Handler says. “And it was really nurtured by the North Shore. I've lived in New York for over a decade, but my home will always be the North Shore of Chicago.”

Handler says he’s grateful for the opportunities he was offered in Northbrook to be exposed to movies, and it’s something he never takes for granted. The Northbrook Public Library was an essential part of his youth.

“I've been very vocal about how the Northbrook Public Library was instrumental in providing me with films. They still have thousands of movies in their film section on the third floor,” says Handler. “That was my first film school. I was there all the time, and I probably drove my parents crazy with how much I went to the library.”

Though there was a video rental store in town, Handler says it “didn’t hold a candle” to the library’s collection. His dream was to be a filmmaker, then in college that notion went by the wayside, so he found another way to carry on his film fandom.

“It's not necessarily a career that is always the most stable or the easiest to navigate and support, but my parents have always been my biggest cheerleaders and I am just grateful to them for supporting me,” he says.

Film can take you to places that no other medium can, and in the most immersive way. As the late, great Roger Ebert once said, “film is like an empathy machine.” As Handler’s gotten older, it’s a quality that he’s appreciated more about the art form.

“I like the fact that it can really put me inside other people's experiences,” he said. “That's one reason why I've always been drawn

to documentary cinema because you can really experience somebody else's life in a way that, that no other medium can bring.”

Picturehouse441 is sort of a virtual version of the old PBS Inside the Actor’s Studio, the show made famous by the legendary host James Lipton. Handler says he gets the comparison often, and he takes it as a compliment. The bug to create programming started with the Film Club at Glenbrook North High School.

“I continued to pursue my love of film when

son, over what films the club watched.

The inevitable question for a film buff such as Handler is what one film had the most impact on him and contributed to his current vocation. While as a boy it was Star Wars that got it all started, it was another film that truly inspired him.

“The one movie that immediately pops into my mind is It’s a Wonderful Life. It’s a movie that I loved. I saw it relatively late; I think I saw when I was 13 for the first time and it just profoundly impacted me,” he says. “The

filmmakers and talking with people about their lives, and he thinks it's fascinating to interview people who are particularly great at what they do. When he was in college, he says, he interviewed a number of filmmakers for a blog series he called “From The Mouths of Filmmakers.” It was about promoting the importance of independent and classic cinema. He’s carrying on the idea with Picturehouse441.

“We are very craft focused. We are here to explore, examine, and celebrate the craft and

I was at Glenbrook North. I was part of the film club the first year. There was somebody else running it and he showed me such amazing essentials of American cinema,” Handler says. “We watched Cool Hand Luke, Being John Malkovich, One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, Dog Day Afternoon. Movies that continue to be favorites of mine now.”

He eventually took over the Film Club and ran it for his last couple of years in high school. He says his faculty sponsor, Robert Gallivan, who he’s still in touch with to this day, gave him control of the programming, within rea-

character of George Bailey to me is just one of the most righteous, one of the most beautiful human beings ever created for film.”

While Handler initially wanted to be a filmmaker, in college his focus shifted, and he decided to focus on programming.

“When I do one of my Q&As, once or twice a week, I find the best ones to be when it's not just me asking a question and somebody providing an answer,” Handler says. “When it becomes more of an easy going conversation, I think that is when it’s the best.”

Handler has always loved interviewing

celebrate these great films with regards to getting actors or filmmakers to participate,” says Handler. “We've had a great run so far. I'm really proud of the work that we've done, and I'm really excited for what we have upcoming.”

Upcoming Picturehouse441 Q&As include conversations with Brokeback Mountain screenwriter Diana Ossana on April 17 and Lion King director Rob Minkoff on April 20. Tickets to the events cost $6. For more information, visit picturehouse441.com.

Joshua Handler turned his love of cinema into an ongoing series of Q&As with notable film industry professionals through Picturehouse441.

#HASHTAG

EDITED BY DUSTIN O'REGAN ILLUSTRATION BY TOM BACHTELL

#ON MY NIGHTSTAND

I must confess that I am not a huge reader, not because I don’t love it, but because I find it hard to set aside the time. However I didn’t want to miss out on Where the Crawdads Sing. Everyone loved it, so I decided to give it a go. I am almost done and even though it’s definitely a very sad story that will make you shed a few tears, I am appreciating Delia Owen’s magnificent writing skills and poetry. I also loved Nemesis: The True Story of Aristotle Onassis, Jackie O, and the Love Triangle That Brought Down the Kennedys by Peter Evans.

#ON MY MOBILE

“I follow @sambencheghib. Sam Bencheghib is an environmental activist. He is cleaning rivers and reusing the plastic to create new products. His passion and mission is worth following.

Born and raised in Mexico, Glencoe’s LILIA BARBA is bringing fun to the North Shore. The mother of three has opened everyone’s favorite party store, Balloons & Paper. Located in Winnetka, the bountiful boutique is brimming with unique items created by female artisans. For anything from small helium bouquets to large-scale balloon installations for birthdays, summer parties, or holidays—Balloons & Paper is your party go-to. Barba takes a break from selling celebratory goods to share how she stays on trend in world full of parties.

#IN MY EARBUDS

My main band has always being MUSE, but “Space Song” from Beach house is on repeat. I love listening to entrepreneur podcast, Dear FounHer created by Lindsay Pinchuk and for the Spanish speaking readers I recommend HablamosArte. It’s all about the art world. From the business behind it to discovering new artists.

This

curated luxury trends MATERIAL PURSUITS

weekend’s

IT'S OK

Combining one key modern component with a Walkman-inspired design, NINM Lab's It's OK cassette player updates this once-beloved category. This vintage-inspired 1980s design mimics the original personal cassette players of that era. Its iconic, transparent case allows you to watch cassette tapes play within it— and its Bluetooth 5.0 technology means you can play cassettes through its conventional 3.5mm audio jack for wired headphones or through any Bluetooth® enabled headset or speaker, including those with noise cancellation options. A clip for attaching it to your clothes or bag, 1980s-style, and a transparent cover design lets you watch as the wheels turn. ninmlab.com/ its-ok

OCTO ROMA

With its roundbut-not-round aesthetics, Bulgari’s Octo Roma watch combines Roman architectural heritage, Swiss watchmaking savoir faire, and Italian flair. This striking Papillon Tourbillon places the mechanical marvel in the middle of the dial, creating a hands-free design. To read the time, an hour window is at 12 o'clock, while the minutes are measured on a glowing green semi-circle panel at the bottom. The Calibre BVL 348 movement peeks through the skeletonized dial and is housed in a 44mm case with a black DLC coating. Its design combines angles, curves, and a rounded octagonal shapeblack, along with a strap with green stitching to complete the look. bulgari.com

THE LAST DANCE

The 1997-98 Chicago Bulls capped off an epic dynasty that saw them win six NBA titles during the decade. Coach Phil Jackson began their final season together by giving the team's playbooks the title "The Last Dance," which would also become the name of last year's celebrated sports documentary. This unique auction gives fans an opportunity to own a copy of the playbook, donated from former Bull Jason Caffey. In addition to the 27-page doc, the auction lot includes a team-issued travel schedule, a numbered and a commemorative coin issued after the Bulls 72-win 1995-96 season. The winning bidder also receives 8 unused tickets and a laminated guest pass from Game 6 of the 1996 NBA Finals, and a booklet of Bulls team issued 1997 Playoff tickets. Bid on this item at goldinauctions.com.

EXTRAORDINARY CADDIES CARRY ON—TO COLLEGE

Evans Scholars are aces as caddies, and as people. Thirteen North Shore students earn this prestigious award valued at more than $125,000 over four years.

BY BILL MCLEAN THE NORTH SHORE WEEKEND

Where there’s an Evans Scholar, there’s a story.

And it’s usually an inspirational one.

Sarah Adebayo’s began in 2019, when the Chicago resident and Loyola Academy senior first heard about the Western Golf Association’s Evans Scholarship Foundation, a full, four-year housing and tuition scholarship for golf caddies.

“A daughter of a friend of my mother (Ayo) was looking to be a caddie,” says Adebayo, who immigrated with Ayo from Nigeria to Chicago when Sarah was an infant.

“I did some research and learned about the Evans Scholarships. My goal, right then, was to earn one.”

It didn’t matter that Adebayo hadn’t been a golfer. She was determined to shoot high for an opportunity to pursue a degree in biology and a career in the medical field.

Adebayo became a caddie at Bryn Mawr Country Club in Lincolnwood, commuting (public transportation, walking) an hour each way to work loops (rounds of golf) for the next several years.

Last year she applied for an Evans Scholarship—founded and named after famed Chicago amateur golfer Charles “Chick” Evans in 1930—valued at more than $125,000 over four years. The scholarship’s four criteria are a strong caddie record, excellent academics, demonstrated financial need, and outstanding character.

Adebayo went 4-for-4.

Weeks later, after having interviewed for the award, Adebayo opened an envelope from the Western Golf Association, read its contents, and promptly screamed.

She then cried tears of joy.

“I was happy,” says the University of Illinois Chicago-bound Adebayo, who sings in Loyola Academy’s choir and volunteers in Chicago as a tutor for youth at Madonna

Mission, a not-forprofit organization providing education and resettlement support for refugee individuals and their families.

“I’d dedicated myself to achieving something all those years ago and realized my hard work paid off.”

Helen Rinaolo’s story is a wonderful family sequel. The sixth of nine children, Rinaolo—a Lake Forest High School senior and a sister of Mark, a 2016 Evans Scholar—began caddying at Exmoor Country Club in Highland Park the summer before the start of her freshman year.

Raised by her single mother, Beth, since 2015, Helen often bikes four miles to Exmoor CC. The two-sport athlete (badminton and cross country) and 4.0 honors student at LFHS also works as a host at two Lake Forest restaurants and somehow finds time in her packed days to lift weights four or five times a week at a local gym.

“I value exercise, health, and fitness,” says Rinaolo, who plans to study nutrition and dietetics at the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign and is thinking about pursuing a career in physical therapy.

Rinaolo had a good feeling as soon as she handled the WGA envelope that arrived in her mailbox late last year.

“It had some thickness to it, a good sign,” she recalls. “I got excited. As I read the letter, I felt total relief, followed by joy. The scholarship was going to help my family again.”

The scholarship gave Beth yet another reason to be proud of Helen.

“My mother,” Helen says, “is my biggest role model. While interviewing for the Evans scholarship, I cried when I talked about my mother. She’s incredibly humble and hardworking, as well as kind and patient.

“She’s everything I hope to be.”

Both Adebayo and Rinaolo have appreciated a range of experiences as caddies, from invaluable conversations with members between shots to a preview of life after college.

“I’ve received investment advice and life advice,” Rinaolo says. “One member helped me become a better caddie.”

“Being a caddie,” Adebayo says, “has given me a glimpse of what adulthood will be like. I’ve learned to plan things out and be patient.”

A record 1,100 caddies are enrolled at 22 universities across the nation as Evans Scholars, and more than 11,800 caddies have graduated as Evans Scholars since the program’s inception.

“Each student has demonstrated excellence in the classroom, on the golf course, and in their communities,” WGA Chairman Joe Desch says in a statement. “We are thrilled to welcome them to what will be an exceptional

class of New Scholars from across the nation.

Scholarship funds come mostly from contributions by more than 36,000 members of the Evans Scholars Par Club program. Evans Scholars alumni donate more than $15 million annually, and all proceeds from the BMW Championship, the penultimate PGA Tour playoff event of the FedExCup competition, are donated to the Evans Scholars Foundation.

Other recent recipients of an Evans Scholarship include Sarah Isa (Chicago resident, Loyola Academy); Karla Tapia

(Chicago, Woodlands Academy); Elizabeth Nakashima (Glenview, Glenbrook South High School); Marcus Santos (Glenview, Glenbrook North HS); Henry McGlynn (Lake Bluff, Lake Forest High School); Jessica Luna (Northbrook, Glenbrook North High School); Nareg Sarrafian (Northbrook, Glenbrook North HS); Sebastian Hernandez Benavides (Lake Bluff, Lake Forest HS); Haryu Wooten (Evanston, Loyola Academy); Javier Sebastian Sanchez (Highwood, Highland Park High School); and Natalie Vela (Waukegan, Woodlands Academy).

To learn more about the Western Golf Association and the Evans Scholarship Foundation, visit wgaesf.org.

Helen Rinaolo

Sarah Adebayo

LET’S TALK MUSIC

Jazz vocalist and Evanston resident Sarah Marie Young discusses her unique take on a stage dynamic ahead of her April 28 concert with jazz composer Steve Million at Studio5.

BY BILL MCLEAN ILLUSTRATION BY BARRY BLITT

For jazz vocalist Sarah Marie Young, performing music on stage is more than creating notes and beats for an audience.

“We’re up there having ‘conversations’ among ourselves, through our music,” Young says. “The audience can interpret what we’re performing any way they’d like.

“We’re expressing ourselves to each other, and our audience is listening.”

Young, 40 years old and an Evanston resident since 2016, invites you to eavesdrop on her “conversations” with jazz composer and Berwyn native Steve Million and three other musicians on April 28 (8 to 9:30 p.m.) at Studio5 in Evanston.

The quintet—also including bass Eric Hochberg, drummer Juan Pastor, and saxophonist Jim Gailloreto—will perform music from the 2021 album, JazzWords, that Young and Million produced together.

Studio5 is an intimate performing arts center that also boasts excellent sight lines and comfortable seating. Co-founders Steve Rashid, an Emmy Award-winning composer, and Bea Rashid, a dance educator, choreographer, and theater director, opened the welcoming space in 2016—expanding Dance Center Evanston to include Studio5 as a performing arts venue presenting professional dance and music events among other forms of entertainment.

“It should be a fun concert,” says Young, who’s also a ukulele player. “I get to put my jazz hat on; I love singing jazz.”

Young grew up in Indianapolis and earned her first paycheck, $75, as a musician in the seventh grade, after singing at a church in 1994.

“I remember my (late) father (Jeff Ferguson) telling me, ‘Now you’re a real musician,’ after I received the money,” Young says.

Young used the income to purchase a personal landline at home.

“I spent 11 dollars per month for the use of the phone,” she reports. “My older sister, Jenny, who sang with me, also bought a landline.”

Young attended Broad Ripple High School, a magnet school for performing arts, in Indianapolis, and took voice lessons in high school. She played Cinderella in the musical Into the Woods and drew praise— “You’re good at this; keep at it”—from a teacher after a show.

Young then enrolled as a classical voice performance major at Indiana University in Bloomington, but she did not complete the degree, choosing instead to leave the school and perform for the indie pop band The Nods. She sang background, played the moog synthesizer, and wrote songs for the group. But, when The Nods relocated its base to New York, Young opted to stay in the Midwest.

She earned a degree in jazz voice performance at Columbia College Chicago in 2008.

Gigs at jazz clubs in the Chicago area followed.

“I wanted to make a small jazz name for myself,” says Young, who’s a co-leader of the event band Rendezvous, and won awards at the Montreux Jazz and Thelonious Monk competitions.

“I love singing jazz standards,” she adds. “Jazz musicians, I believe, have to be good historians. I like finding out what was going on in the world at the time certain jazz music was made.”

Her four jazz albums include the holiday record The Most Wonderful Time, released last December and featuring Kent Wehman. But Young enjoys leaving the jazz lane every now and then. Her favorite song to

“cover” is Tears for Fears’ “Everybody Wants to Rule the World.”

Part of the 1985 hit’s lyrics:

There’s a room where the lights won’t find you Holding hands while the walls come tumbling down

When they do I’ll be right behind you

“I feel an emotional response every time I sing and hear the song,” Young says. “I’ve cried while singing it. What the song is saying to me is, ‘This is your life, and this is what you have. You’re going to fail, but don’t fear, because we’re all in this together.’”

Young was living in Chicago’s Ukrainian Village and performing at Pete Miller’s in Evanston on the night she met Guy King, an Israeli-born blues and jazz guitarist and singer, in 2015. King had returned to Chicago to make a record after living in Brazil for a while.

“I remember being nervous at first as the two of us walked together to a coffee shop soon after we’d first met,” Young says. “I was also walking my (late) dog at the time, so there was a good chance it would turn awkward. But it didn’t. We had nice, easy conversations and our walking pace was in synch.”

They got married in 2017, and Young converted to Judaism. She learned Hebrew during the pandemic. They have a daughter named Rahel, 5, and a son named Yoav, 1.

“Guy and I are two artists,” Young says. “He gets me; I get him. Creating music is important to us. So is raising children in a Jewish home. It all starts with home in our religion. We stress being kind and good to people, as well as being peaceful.”

Rahel was a huge fan of her mother’s light-hearted children’s show, Sarah’s Music Room, which she also produced for the National YMCA beginning in 2020. Young dropped a total of 50 episodes across a twoyear span.

“You know what else I did with my daughter during the pandemic?” Young says. “I read a Hemingway book to her. I wish I had more time to read than I do now. Reading, seeing plays, watching dancers perform—all are inspirations for musicians.”

Studio5 is located at 1934 Dempster Street in Evanston. For more information, and for ticket information for Sarah Marie Young’s April 28 concert with Steve Million and others, call 847-328-6683 or visit studio5.dance. Visit sarahmarieyoung.com and stevemillion.com for more information about the musicians.

What the song is saying to me is, ‘This is your life, and this is what you have. You’re going to fail, but don’t fear, because we’re all in this together.’

Sarah Marie Young

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