The North Shore Weekend, August 19th, 2023

“Are you going to believe me or what you see with your own eyes?”

- Groucho Marx

The Joffrey Ballet holds open auditions for The Nutcracker pg5

This weekend's list includes eco-friendly rugs and a must-have serum pg9

5 casting call

Open auditions are being held for The Joffrey Ballet's popular holiday production

6 going for the goals

Lake Forest-based North Shore FC to attend soccer fundraiser this weekend at Soldier Field

LIFESTYLE & ARTS

8 stage & screen

Winnetka natives Maddie McCormick and Natalie Pelletier share their Children’s Theatre of Winnetka stories

9 material pursuits

From eco-friendly rugs to a company that breathes new life into antique chairs, here are this weekend's must-haves

904 Glencoe Dr

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NORTHBROOK

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12 dreamin ' wild

The real-life story of a family's belated musical success comes to life in this film

13 the last voyage of the dementer

This thrilling horror flick is inspired by a famous Bram Stoker vampire tale

14 #hashtag

Highland Park native Jake Schneider and River North deli owner shares what's trending in his life

16 north shore foodie

Our Glass Noodle,

LAST BUT NOT LEAST

Summer Listings Along the North Shore

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Jason Cannon features 'unfairly forgotten' former Cubs owner Charlie Murphy in award-winning biography @

BY ELISA DRAKE THE NORTH SHORE WEEKEND

Nadia Rawlinson describes herself as a “chief optimism officer,” who strives to create workspaces where people can thrive and reach their full potential. She is now bringing her perspective, her expertise, and her positive attitude to the business of basketball. In January, the Lake Forest native, 44, was named Co-Owner and Operating Chairman of the WNBA’s Chicago Sky women’s basketball franchise.

The Sky won its first WNBA Championship in 2021, and it was recently valued at $85 million, the second-highest valuation in the league next to the Seattle Storm. Plus, viewership for WNBA games as a whole is on the rise. In other words, it’s a great time to get in the game. “There’s great momentum happening in women’s sports right now, and it’s pretty exciting,” says Rawlinson who will now be on the frontlines to push the team to even greater heights.

In the newly created position of Operating Chairman, Rawlinson hopes to enhance player support; improve the fan experience, grow revenue streams, and improve capital infrastructure, including building a new practice facility.

Rawlinson has led the creation of Sky’s new, all-female group of minority investors.

In fact, “co-owner” was the title Rawlinson originally had in mind when she considered getting involved with the team last year, but principal owner Michael Alter had even broader plans for her. “He said he appreciated that I was a business executive at the intersection of tech, media, and entertainment and thought I’d bring great value to the franchise in an operating role.”

Alter certainly knew what he was talking

about. Rawlinson brings some big-name business experience—high-profile roles at Slack Technologies, Live Nation Entertainment, and Google, for starters—but she

arrived at her human resources career in an unusual way: via an MBA from Harvard Business School. “I can count on one hand how many people in my graduating class went into HR,” Rawlinson says.

For Rawlinson, it was a typically atypical move. “I thought I could offer something

that was different from most people who worked in that function,” she recalls. “I have found my individuality and confidence in doing things that most people would not automatically choose.”

Some of her confidence might stem from being one of just a few Black students at Lake Forest High School. “I don’t want to say that I’ve been underestimated, and I’m sure maybe I have been, but it’s more that I wanted to prove that what I was doing was possible,” she says.

Along the way, Rawlinson has since shifted out of proving mode. “There’s noth-

Courtney Williams

Marina Mabrey

Rebekah Gardner

Dana Evans

ing left to prove. It’s just to be. And that’s been very freeing and has created richer opportunities.”

One thing Rawlinson was not, was an athlete, but she knows that a large percentage of female business leaders played sports at some point in their lives. “It’s the teamwork, commitment, drive for excellence, and resilience that prepares them so well,”

she says. “So, I have a deep appreciation for those with that competitive spirit and athleticism, and for women in particular who really exemplify the discipline that it takes to play at the professional level.”

Rather than sports, Rawlinson credits her parents for nurturing her drive and passion. Her mother was an educator, then served in nonprofits helping domestic violence victims. Her father was first an educator, then moved to the corporate world, eventually rising to the C-suite of Fortune 500 companies. “It was about valuing education and striving for excellence, no matter what while staying authentic to who you are,” Rawlinson recalls. She’s kept that philosophy top of mind throughout her career, despite often being the only Black woman in the room, because she says, “We’re here to make sure we’re the best we can be, reaching our potential, whatever that may be.”

After following jobs around the country, Rawlinson and her husband are now back in her hometown. “It’s been a really meaningful homecoming in ways I didn’t expect,” she says. In between attending Chicago Sky games, she’s been able to enjoy Lake Forest life, continuing her Pilates practice at Superior Pilates, checking out the farmers market, and dining at Sophia Steak, Le Colonial, Hometown Coffee & Juice, and Deer

CASTING CALL

Path Inn. “What’s so wonderful is that it’s the same in all of the best ways it was when I grew up here in the 1990s.”

Besides her new day job, Rawlinson sits on the Stanford University Board of Trustees and the Board of Directors for J.Crew Group, Vail Resorts, and is an Advisor with Google Ventures. An impressive lineup for a woman who as a high schooler snuck out of her house to attend the Chicago Bulls Championship parade. Maybe the passion for basketball then has brought her to this point now. “I hope the Sky can continue to be part of the Chicago culture, just like the Bulls were for me growing up.”

Young dancers and theatrical performers are invited to audition for a role in The Joffrey Ballet’s The Nutcracker.

The Joffrey Ballet will be holding open auditions for the Children's Cast of Christopher Wheeldon’s The Nutcracker at its downtown studios in Joffrey Tower, 10 East Randolph Street, on Thursday, September 7, and Sunday, September 10, with a video submission audition for a specific role that closes at 9 p.m. on Saturday, September 9.

All students in the Chicago area with dance experience that meet casting criteria are welcome to audition.

This annual audition is for all young dancers, from any studio or school, interested in auditioning for Wheeldon’s The Nutcracker, whether they have participated in Joffrey’s Nutcracker in the past or not.

The audition will be directed by staff from The Joffrey Ballet. The age and height parameters are strict and students who do not fall within the parameters will not be admitted into the audition. Details are as follows:

Thursday, September 7 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

General Audition #1

Audition for dancers of all genders age 8 or older on audition day. Maximum height 4’7” (no minimum height). Dancers may be asked to return to audition on Sunday, September 10, from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Sunday, September 10 10:30 a.m. to 11 a.m.

General Audition #2

Auditions for male-identifying dancers ages 10 to 18 on audition day. Minimum height 4’7”, maximum height 5’8”.

Sunday, September 10 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

General Audition #3

Auditions for female and non-binary-identifying dancers ages 10 to 18 on audition day. Minimum height 4’7”, maximum height 5’6”. Dancers may be released before 4:30 p.m.

Anytime through Saturday, September 9 9 p.m.

Diverse movers are encouraged to submit a video audition for the role of Worker Child, performed in a non-motorized wheelchair specially crafted for The Nutcracker. Dance training is not required. Dancers should be comfortable waiting for long periods of time and performing silently in a group setting on a stage with bright lights, loud music, and a large audience.

Video submissions close at 9 p.m. on Saturday, September 9. Applicants must be:

• Ages 12 to18 on audition day.

• Dancers of all genders.

• No minimum or maximum height requirements.

Space is limited and pre-registration is required at least one day in advance of your audition. In-person forms will not be available. If you have questions about pre-registration, please email nccadmin@joffrey.org. For full

audition details visit joffrey.org/nutcrackerchildrens-cast/.

"We’re here to make sure we’re the best we can be, reaching our potential, whatever that may be."

GOING FOR THE GOALS

Lake Forest-based North Shore FC has grown from a five-team youth soccer organization in 2017 to a 20-team regional outfit with championship timber behind the leadership of Ross Bristow and the AYSO 163 Board.

BY BILL MCLEAN THE NORTH SHORE WEEKEND

This Sunday, August 20, will be quite the soccer day, globally and locally.

The 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup final is scheduled to be staged at 7 a.m. Central Time in Sydney, Australia.

Hours after its conclusion, all 20 teams (200-plus players) of a local soccer organization—Lake Forest-based North Shore FC— will attend the Orlando City vs. Chicago Fire men’s soccer match as part of its inaugural fundraiser at Soldier Field in Chicago. A nonprofit co-founded by Ross Bristow and

(U8 through U18) from at least a dozen additional suburbs—represent the futbol club today, and the U12 girls squad captured the Illinois Youth Soccer Association Junior Presidents Cup in Rockford last October.

“We wanted to create a high-level youth soccer club in the community,” says the 32-year-old Bristow, a native of England who played professionally for Cambridge United (2008-2010) in England and for the Chicago Mustangs (2016) of the Major Arena Soccer League. “That result in Rockford was a huge accomplishment. We’re driven to teach life skills and to develop all-around soccer players. We preach an attacking style of play.

and the captain of San Diego Wave FC of the National Women’s Soccer League. There’s a great chance she’ll dazzle millions of TV viewers in that FIFA Women’s World Cup final on August 20.

At North Shore FC’s fundraiser on the same date, the primary goal will be to raise awareness of the burgeoning club and its capable coaching staff (Bristow, who coaches six of the 20 teams, along with Lorant Balasi, Julian Roman, Uriel Pedraza, Anthony Cordaro, and Frankie Gomez). A kick back of $5 for each Orlando City-Chicago Fire ticket sale will be allocated to North Shore FC.

North Shore FC players might get to kick the ball around at Soldier Field before

forward for a North Shore FC U10 Volt team (7-0-1) team last year, and earned a spot as a midfielder on a North Shore FC U11 Elite team—two levels above Volt— this year. “There’s a seriousness at practices. During games, the coaches don’t scream. My son loves soccer, identifies himself as a soccer player. He comes home after practices and works on his game some more.”

Cameron Smith, who will be a fifth grader at Deer Path Middle School in Lake Forest this fall, executed a wow-filled Rainbow move during a match in June, flicking, while dribbling, the ball to himself—from behind his frame—to confound a defender and set up an assist shortly thereafter.

Debbie Gallagher in 2017, North Shore FC is the competitive side of American Youth Soccer Association (AYSO) 163.

North Shore FC fielded a combined five boys and girls teams (U9 through U11) in its first year, with most of the organization’s players hailing from either Lake Forest or Lake Bluff. Twenty teams—featuring players

“I want to see our players eventually excel at the high school and collegiate levels and maybe watch some of them play on TV someday. Alex Morgan started as an AYSO player.”

Morgan is a superstar striker for the United States women’s national soccer team

the Major League Soccer game’s 7:30 p.m. kickoff.

“The players respect Ross right away, and they follow his lead,” says Lake Forest resident Jason Smith, whose 10-year-old son, Cameron, started playing soccer at the age of 9, competed as a back, midfielder, and

“What was quite helpful last year was Ross allowing U10 Volt players to practice with U10 Elite players,” Jason Smith says. “Volt players developed their skills through those opportunities (while connecting, at a variety of levels, with potential future teammates). My son and others made more friends at the

Members of the Woodlands Academy soccer team and coaching staff pose with the championship plaque after capturing an Illinois High School Association regional title in May.

same time. It’s a nimble organization, with merit and the expectation that every player on each team will show up at every practice.”

Bristow’s and Gallagher’s other titles are North Shore executive director and AYSO president, respectively.

Bristow’s penchant for generating rapid soccer success played out this past spring during his second season as Woodlands Academy’s head coach. The Lake Villa resident and father of two (Brody, 3, and Beau, 20 months, with wife Lindsay) guided the Wildcats to a 12-5 record and the program’s first Illinois High School Association (IHSA) girls soccer regional championship since a team coached by Amy Perry netted WA’s second such title in 2014.

Bristow also runs RB Soccer, offering private coaching and summer training sessions. North Shore FC’s summer camps are held at Northcroft Park in Lake Forest.

“There are a lot of soccer clubs available out there,” Bristow says, adding North Shore FC teams have also battled in tournaments held in Wisconsin, Missouri, and Indiana,

with future plans to compete in Ohio and Florida. “We realize parents have many choices. At North Shore FC, we’re looking to grow in numbers and up our competitiveness by drawing strong players from all over the North Shore and beyond.”

More than 1,300 families have moved to Lake Forest since 2021, Jason Smith notes. Hundreds of budding soccer players in the influx continue to dribble soccer balls in back yards and basements as they await the chances to display their talents against the area’s best.

“It’s an important time in our country for soccer, with the Women’s World Cup going on this summer and the U.S. getting ready to host (with Canada and Mexico) the Men’s World Cup in 2026,” Smith says.

“That’s why I think it’s so valuable to have a strong organization like North Shore FC available for soccer-loving kids of all ages.”

Visit northshorefc.org and rbsoccer.com for more information. For information about purchasing tickets, contact Ross Bristow at ross@ northshorefc.org or 224-401-5662. To reach Debbie Gallagher, email ayso163@comcast.net or call 708-334-0139.

North Shore FC Co-founder Ross Bristow, a former professional soccer player in England, has overseen tremendous growth in his Lake Forest-based youth soccer organization. He also coaches the Woodlands Academy soccer team.

North Shore FC’s U13 girls’ team won the Scott Gallagher St. Louis Fall Showcase in 2022.

"“I want to see our players eventually excel at the high school and collegiate levels and maybe watch some of them play on TV someday.”"

STAGE & SCREEN

Rising stars Natalie Pelletier and Maddie McCormick trace the roots of their success to the Children’s Theatre of Winnetka.

the ‘Minnie Fay’ to Natalie’s ‘Dolly’ in Hello Dolly our eighth-grade year, and not much has changed in L.A.”

Following college graduation—McCormick from UCLA; Pelletier from UNC at Chapel Hill—they, like so many aspiring actors, moved to Los Angeles and were roommates. “Our first apartment was right off of the famous Robertson Boulevard, literally right behind the Ivy restaurant. We both waited tables at Dominick’s, and we were so broke that when we took our friend out to dinner for her birthday; both of our cards were declined after we tried to split the bill,” says McCormick.

Their strong friendship buoyed both women during the early days of their careers. “When we were fresh on the scene, we did weekly coffee meetings sharing our ‘wins of the week’ (nothing was too big or too small), tasks to accomplish before our next coffee, and a review of our long-term goals. We held each other accountable and pushed each other to keep after it even when we heard a lot of nos,” McCormick reflects.

“My first big role out of college was as a series regular in an MTV pilot directed by Zach Braff called Self Promotion. I was in a Trader Joe’s with Natalie when I got the call and both of us started jumping up and down in the checkout line. I’m pretty sure people thought we were crazy,” McCormick shares.

Recently, you might have seen McCormick in HBO’s Shameless or the mini-series Little Fires Everywhere with Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington. As for Pelletier, she has appeared in four episodes as a casting assistant in the final season of Mad Men and starred in Geo-Disaster, an action sci-fi movie directed by Thunder Levin, the writer of the Sharknado films. Her other credits include roles on the talk show A Little Late with Lilly Singh and the mystery/thriller A Dark Place. When Pelletier isn’t filming, she can be found modeling, working as a sommelier, or hosting her successful podcasts—Family Meal, which can be found on Apple, and SipSip.mp3, which can be found on Spotify.

But it all started for them, and so many others, at the Children’s Theatre of Winnetka.

BY RONI MOORE NEUMANN THE NORTH SHORE WEEKEND

Jennifer Aniston and Courtney Cox. Emma Stone and Jennifer Lawrence. Salma Hayek and Penelope Cruz. If the stars keep aligning, Winnetka natives Maddie McCormick and Natalie Pelletier will join this select club of

Hollywood BFFs.

The two best friends and Los Angeles-based actors trace their friendship and shared passion for theatre to the storied Children’s Theatre of Winnetka (CTW).

McCormick recalls, “My first CTW production was Good News. They posted the cast list outside Matz Hall, and I remember

sprinting to read it and literally jumping up and down when I saw my name listed as ‘Cheerleader.’”

“This is how I met Natalie; we were both cheerleaders in Good News. Cut to 20 years of friendship later and she was the maid of honor in my wedding last year ... and yes, she did sing during her speech,” laughs McCormick. “I was

Barbara Weldon and Lu Sunkel spearheaded the launch of the theatre with Winnetka legend Tom Fritts, then the executive director of the Winnetka Community House. The trio, along with a volunteer board of directors, executed the organization’s mission—to teach and involve students in all aspects of theatre production—through two shows each year.

The Theatre opened in 1974 with Charle Dickens’s A Christmas Carol debuting in 1975. In almost 50 years since, productions have ranged from classics—Rumpelstiltskin, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe —to adaptations of Broadway shows Bye Bye Birdie, The Music Man, Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat, and Oklahoma

Thousands of young thespians have taken the stage at Winnetka Community House, some of whom, like McCormick and Pelletier, have pursued careers in theatre, dance, music, vocal performance, television, and cinema (think Saturday Night Live’s Beck Bennett, Broadway star Betsy Morgan, playwright Sarah Ruhl, singer Elizabeth Lyons, and violinist Emelia Suljic).

“CTW gives children a sense of belonging, being part of a team, acceptance, responsibility, hard work, and most of all, joy—so important to children at this age. That is why I am still involved long after my child moved on,” says CTW board member Connie Yonan. Both Pelletier and McCormick share advice

for future L.A. thespians: “Surround yourself with an amazing group of people who inspire you. This career has many ups and downs, and having a support system in place makes the worst times bearable and the best times that much sweeter. Champion your wins, however ‘little’ you think they are, and do the same for your friends. And know that you can follow many paths in life! Do the inner work (The Artist’s Way is a beautiful place to start for anyone, not just actors) and show up prepared, but also prepare to have a scene go in a completely different direction. Never dim your sparkle, listen deeply, and be kind to everyone,” says Pelletier.

According to McCormick, “My biggest

MATERIAL PURSUITS

This weekend’s curated luxury trends

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piece of advice is to trust your gut. Listen to those little intuition pings—they’ve never steered me wrong.”

Both Pelletier and McCormick have a bright path ahead. “A feature-length romantic comedy I co-wrote with my friend Katherine Hughes is being shopped around. It’s about a woman becoming a sommelier and is based on a 2019 trip I took to Italy. I’m looking forward to being behind the camera and shining a light on all the fabulous women breaking barriers in the wine space,” shares Pelletier.

As for McCormick, “Last year, I spent three months in Atlanta shooting the lead of a series for Tosca Musk’s (Elon’s sister) platform Passionflix. The series is based on a New York

ANTIQUE CHAIRS GET AN ENCORE

Maribel Weisz of Antique Resources and Stephanie Sarris with Bellehaven Designs have collaborated to breathe new life into antique chairs with the aptly named Encore Collection. Luxurious, durable, sustainably sourced fabrics are selected to reupholster 100-to-200-year-old chairs by a talented team of local, woman-owned upholsterers. For more information, visit antiqueresourcesinc.com.

Times best- selling book series called The Secret Life of Amy Bensen. They’re re-releasing the book series with my face on the cover, which is really exciting.”

“I’m also currently in pre-production to direct a short film with the cinematographer of the series. Our industry desperately needs more female directors/filmmakers and it’s something I’ve always been interested in pursuing, especially after receiving my film minor from UCLA,” adds McCormick.

As Pelletier and McCormick continue to build their careers, their admirers in Winnetka, the North Shore, and beyond will be celebrating their successes with the loudest applause coming from their CTW fans.

DERMINFUSIONS FILL + REPAIR SERUM

Dr. Dennis Gross has just launched the first product in a new category—Derminfusions Fill + Repair Serum. This serum is an advanced 3-D alternative to injectable filler that immediate fills lines, plumps, and repairs in just two weeks. The breakthrough is what Dr. Gross is coining the “MicroCell Delivery system.” The delivery system uses micelles (microscopic molecules) to reduce the molecular size of active ingredients and push them deeper to better penetrate skin. This is the first time this technology has been used as a delivery system (micelles are typically used in cleansers, like micellar water). sephora.com

Natalie Pelletier starring in Geo-Disaster

Maddie McCormick outtake from The Secret Life of Amy Bensen

BY REX REED ILLUSTRATION BY TOM BACHTELL

RUNNING TIME: 1 hour, 50 minutes

RATING: 3.5 stars

A fact-based film about the life-altering pain of failure, the thrill of belated success, and the challenges inherent in both, Dreamin' Wild is a testament to a musical family who epitomize the old saying "No matter how long it takes, if you wait long enough, your dream will come true".

Years ago, Donnie and Joe Emerson, the teenage sons of a farmer in Fruitland, Washington, formed a musical duo called "Dreamin' Wild" and recorded an album of their songs with the same name. Donnie, 15, wrote most of the material, played the guitar and sang the lead vocals, accompanied by his older brother Joe, 17, who played the drums. They wrote and produced the record themselves, pouring

DREAMIN’ WILD

A thoughtfully done film based on a real-life story tells the tale of a musical family’s challenges and belated triumphs.

their hearts into the project, and nobody liked it.

Thirty years later, when Joe (Walton Goggins) has given up music for building houses, Donnie (Casey Affleck) and his wife Nancy (Zooey Deschanel) have fallen on hard times, singing occasional hicktown gigs while struggling to keep their recording-studio business alive and raise two kids of their own, and the Emerson family patriarch Don Sr. (Beau Bridges) has lost all but a tiny patch of his oncerich farmland. Miraculously, at their lowest ebb, fate intervenes.

A record collector in Montana finds a copy of the old forgotten album "Dreamin' Wild" gathering dust in an antique shop and brings it to the attention of a recordlabel executive who hears something fresh and full of soul in the songs, labels it "a lost masterpiece", and wants to re-release it, market it, and turn it into a hit for a whole new generation.

Locating the Emersons after a long, exhausting search, he shocks them with the news, but they sign a contract and the wheels of renewed progress begin to spin. The New York Times sends a writer to the farm in Fruitland to do a profile of the Emerson family, and suddenly they're plunged into the throes and thrills of fame. Offers pour in with the royalty checks. So

do the problems that threaten to destroy their family values.

For one thing, Donnie doesn't feel the same way about the music he once did. Joe hasn't played the drums in years and now lacks the same pacing he had as a teen. The film shifts between time frames, contrasting scenes set in the present and the past, separated by decades, showing the family resentments, differences, and disagreements. The demands for Donnie to go solo form a wedge between brothers the same way they did decades earlier. The sacrifices their Dad made to finance their pop group through the years feeds the guilt the boys feel for the price he paid for his loyalty and pride and the toll it took on his farm when they failed. The internecine family dramas also take their toll on the movie.

Dreamin' Wild is a slow moving narrative, but I didn't mind. I admire the way it takes its time to develop character and mood. I don't mind admitting this is not my kind of music, but it grows on you. There's a lot of it, most of it has depth and soul, and Casey Affleck is so well directed and so natural that it really looks like he's doing the singing himself. (Most of the sound track is actually performed by Don and Joe Emerson, and in the final musical segment, the real Donnie, Joe, and Don-

nie's wife Nancy all appear as themselves in a triumphant finale.)

Writer-director Bill Pohlad, best known as the man who produced such prestige pictures as Brokeback Mountain and 12 Years a Slave, also knows his way around a pop chart. (He directed a similar film about the destructive inner turmoil in the troubled life of a pop star, the 2014 Love and Mercy, about the emotional disintegration and eventual redemption of the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson.)

There are also parallels between the Emerson Brothers and the Afflecks. Casey's career has always been eclipsed by the popularity of his brother Ben, but Dreamin' Wild again demonstrated the many ways (most ways) Casey is the more talented and versatile of the two. When he learns to reconcile his conflicts and accept his differences with his brother Joe, he is genuinely touching. As the less talented but unwaveringly loving older brother Joe, Walton Goggins lends sturdy support and Beau Bridges, my favorite of Lloyd Bridges sons, is nothing less than wonderful as the sensitive, poignant and memorable as the wise, understated head of the Emerson family.

A lot of talented people give it their all, in a film that is both thoughtful and rewarding. I liked it a lot.

RUNNING TIME: 1 hour, 58 minutes

RATING: 3 stars

THE LAST VOYAGE OF THE DEMENTER

On a dank, dreary, and dismal night in1897, a chartered Russian tanker called the Dementer left Romania for England with an under-staffed crew, its only cargo a series of coffins in the shape of wooden boxes. In the ominous black nights that followed, a chaos of death, destruction, and unspeakable horrors ensued. When the Dementer finally arrived at its destination, the ship was empty. Nobody ever solved the mystery. Until now.

And so, begins The Last Voyage of the Dementer , a longer dramatization of a brief chapter in Bram Stoker’s classic vampire novel, Dracula. It took up only a few pages in the book and no more than a single scene in the film with Bela Lugosi, but now we can see what really happened on that fatal voyage from Transylvania to London. It’s pretty foreboding, loaded with atmosphere, dark as midnight, and thick as a deadly fog. Also very well made and justifiably terrifying.

Distilled from details in the captain’s log discovered in an empty cabin, the narrative moves forward from one bloody

encounter after the next as the remains of the evilest Carpathian count of all time rises from the soil of his native country and wreaks havoc—first attacking the livestock used for meat to feed the crew, then the dog that was their mascot.

There are some grotesque eating scenes when the monster comes alive and, one by one, drains the jugulars of everyone onboard. Then, in the eye of a violent and brilliantly staged storm, the creature goes on a rampage of relentless horror and savagely feasts on several humans at once who replace the animals as the missing protein on the menu, including the captain’s beloved cabin boy.

Dracula’s victims all go up in fiery flames and burn to ashes, including Anna, a stowaway who turns out to be one of the vampire’s intended brides. She escapes her coffin, narrowly evades her own annihilation, and helps the crew to defeat the enemy. One day away from the coast of England, the handful of crew members still alive decide to sink the ship and send the beast to a watery grave, but they don’t

know Dracula.

As the only living survivor when the ship finally reaches port, a man named Hawkins follows the vampire, garbed in a long black cloak like Jack the Ripper, through the murky cobblestone alleys of London, determined to spend the rest of his life tracking down the maniac and driving a stake through his heart.

It’s all vigorously detailed and hairraisingly enhanced with extraordinary computer-generated special effects. The cast is unknown (to me, anyway) but under the guidance of Andre Ovredal, the Norwegian director of the cult films Trollhunter and The Autopsy of Jane Doe , they all excel in complex and physically demanding roles, including Corey Hawkins as Clemens, Aisling Franciosi as Anna, and Liam Cunningham as the captain.

Special effects are excellent and the clammy cinematography by Tom Stern is enough to give you nightmares. And it was filmed in Malta, a rare location I’d like to see more of.

This foreboding film based on a Bram Stoker classic tells the horror story of what happened to a tanker on its way from Transylvania.

EDITED BY DUSTIN O'REGAN ILLUSTRATION BY TOM BACHTELL

Schneider Deli (600 N. La Salle Drive), which opened in early August in Chicago’s River North neighborhood, blends both traditionaland modern ideologies in a 21-seat, counter service Jewish delicatessen. For the past year, executive chef/owner JAKE SCHNEIDER has made a name for himself under his brand Schneider Provisions, which is known for its pickled veggies, homemade jams, and cured meats. Schneider Deli is the culmination of the Highland Park native’s culinary dreams. The menu will feature Jewish deli favorites, including bagels and lox; matzah ball soup; latkes; and a variety of handcrafted sandwiches, including Schneider’s famous corned beef. Fueled by Schneider’s love of Jewish food and a longing for delis of the past—and drawing inspiration from the strong Jewish women in his life who have always cooked with passion and joy—the menu will feature recipes passed down through generations with a contemporary spin. Here is how this busy gourmand stays current between dishes.

#ON MY NIGHTSTAND

Come As You Are by Emily Nagoski

… my wife, Ariel, and I are both reading this right now. It’s turning everything I learned (or didn’t learn) in health class on its head. It explains everything about why and how we experience pleasure and the contexts that determine it. Fascinating stuff. I’m also spending a lot of time on my Jewish food cook books.

#ON MY MOBILE

I follow everything food related in Chicago. Bloggers, influencers, chefs, restaurants, publications … it’s important to stay up to date on what is happening in Chicago and nationally, both in the deli space and in the hospitality industry as a whole. I really enjoy, The Hunger. He says whatever he wants and I love his takes on the Chicago dining scene. When it comes to food Instagram influencers, I’m always following what @chicityfoodie (Seth Marcus) is eating. He gets everywhere in the city and suburbs.

#IN MY EARBUDS

I’ve been really interested in the Joiners podcast, a Chicago-centric hospitality podcast hosted by Tim Tierney and Danny Shapiro. Some of my favorite episodes so far have been Ronnie “Suburban” Kaplan of LTH Forum fame, Danny Raskin of Manny’s and (my old boss) Paul Virant.

GLASS NOODLE, SHRIMP & VEGGIE BOWL

BY MONICA KASS ROGERS THE NORTH SHORE WEEKEND

One of my dear friends, Becky, who grew up in Thailand, introduced me to Thai cuisine. As she cooked me my first Thai meal, she explained that there is no actual Thai word for “salad,” but tossing fresh vegetables, proteins, and noodles together with a dressing is the commonplace equivalent, called “yam.” (I quickly learned to say, “Yum!” to yam.) This dish—glass noodles with shrimp, cilantro, Thai chilies, a bit of ground pork, fresh matchstick vegetables, and sugared chililime-garlic-fish sauce dressing—is a classic known as Yam Woon Sen

It is very customizable; you can leave out the shrimp and pork if you like, or add in some fried tofu and more veggies, and eat it warm or cool. For the dressing, I like to add tamarind for extra pucker, and you can add a bit more sugar and less fish sauce if you prefer but be sure not to skip any of the basic ingredients. The spicy sweet/sour/salty flavor profile of the dressing is what makes this recipe sing.

Yam is a great use for the garden vegetables you’ve been nurturing all summer or those you find at the farmers market.

Serves: 2 to 3 people

INGREDIENTS

For the glass noodle shrimp bowl:

• 2, 1.8 to 2-ounce bundles mung bean starch noodles (glass noodles)

• 8 to 10 large fresh shrimp, heads, tails, and shells removed, cleaned well

• 1/2 pound ground pork

• 1 Thai red chili, minced (optional)

• 1/2 cup red bell pepper, core, stem, and seeds discarded, finely diced

• 2 green onions, (roots discarded) cut into 1-inch lengths and slivered

• 1 cup loosely packed cilantro leaves (save the stems for the dressing)

• 1/2 cup cucumber, peeled, cut into 2-inch matchsticks

• 1/2 cup carrot, peeled, cut into 2-inch matchsticks

For the dressing:

• 1/4 cup cilantro stems, snipped fine

• 1 small Thai red chili, minced (NOTE: depending on your heat tolerance, you can add an extra chili)

• 1 clove garlic, minced to make 1 tablespoon

• 1 1/2 tablespoon palm sugar

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• Fresh lime juice to make 1/4 cup

• 2 to 3 tablespoons Thai fish sauce (Fish sauce is funky deliciousness; add at least 2 tablespoons, more if you like)

• 1 tablespoon tamarind concentrate

For garnish:

• 1/2 cup unsalted roasted peanuts, finely chopped

• Lime wedges

• Extra cilantro leaves

METHOD:

Soak 2 of the 2-ounce glass noodle bundles in a bowl of warm water.

Prep and measure vegetables. Peel and clean shrimp. Use a marble or stone mortar and pestle to mash the cilantro stems, minced chili, garlic, salt, and palm sugar into a paste. Stir in lime juice, fish sauce, and tamarind concentrate. Move dressing to a large bowl. Set aside.

In a medium-sized pot, heat 4 cups of water mixed with 1 teaspoon salt to boiling over high heat. Add shrimp. Poach shrimp for a scant minute or two until pink and cooked firm. Using a slotted spoon, scoop shrimp into the dressing in the large bowl. Leave pot of water boiling on your stove. Add the pork to the pot and poach until no longer pink. Scoop pork out of the water and add to the shrimp and dressing. Leave pot of boiling water on stove— add more water if depleted. (Don’t worry about any bits of pork still in the water.) Add the soaked glass noodles to the boiling water; boil 2 minutes until plumped and translucent. Drain noodles in a colander. Add noodles to the shrimp/pork/dressing. Add matchstick vegetables and cilantro, pulling noodles apart in order to mix better. Transfer to serving bowls. Top with chopped peanuts. Garnish with additional sprinkling of cilantro leaves. Serve hot or at room temperature with lime wedges.

Photography by Monica Kass Rogers

BRING YOUR COLLECTIBLES FOR APPRAISAL

Potential Cash Offers On The Spot!

northshoreexchange.org

Gold Standard Auctions is partnering with the non-profit North Shore Exchange to invite clients to bring in their gold and silver coins and other collectibles for appraisal and potential cash offers. We will be paying the highest prices for these items.

We are interested in:

• Gold and Silver Coins

• Fine Art

• Fine Watches

• Fine Jewelry

A percentage of all sales will be donated to North Shore Exchange

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2023 10-4 North Shore Exchange 1100 Central Ave, Wilmette, IL 60091

FRIDAY & SATURDAY

SEPTEMBER 8-9, 2023 10-4 North Shore Exchange

372 Hazel Avenue, Glencoe, IL 60022

HOME RUN

Jason Cannon pens a biography about former Chicago Cubs owner Charlie Murphy and wins the prestigious Larry Ritter Book Award—as a first-time author.

BY BILL MCLEAN ILLUSTRATION BY BARRY BLITT

A professional baseball scout arrives at a high school game and focuses his attention on the home team’s star pitcher but becomes smitten with the shortstop instead.

Jason Cannon, a native of Visalia, California, experienced a similar shift in the literary field as he researched Orval Overall, a Visalia High School graduate who helped the Chicago Cubs win World Series titles in 1907 and 1908.

“As I discovered that Orval was one of the first big star athletes from the Bay Area— in baseball, as well as in football—and an outstanding pitcher for many early, great Cubs teams, the name Charlie Murphy kept popping up,” Cannon recalls. “He owned the Cubs (from 1906-1913). I’d never heard of him, but his teams won four pennants and two World Series during an incredible run of success. Charlie was an interesting, brilliant, complicated character involved in so many things, from business to PR to journalism, before he bought the Cubs. His story captivated me.

“I thought, ‘There’s something here.’”

Something turned into a book by Cannon, Charlie Murphy: The Iconoclastic Showman

Behind the Chicago Cubs (The University of Nebraska Press, 2022). It took the middle school English teacher four-and-a-half years to complete it, with the first two-and-a-half devoted to research only. The biography won the 2023 Larry Ritter Book Award, presented annually by the Society for American Baseball Research’s Deadball Era Committee to the author of the best book about baseball (covering the years between 1901 and 1919) published during the previous calendar year.

The winner’s work must demonstrate original research or analysis, a fresh perspective, compelling thesis, impressive insight, accuracy, and clear, graceful prose.

All the more impressive was that the 44-year-old Cannon, before the publication of Charlie Murphy, had written as many baseball books as the Cubs had won World Series championships between 1908 and 2016. Zero, to be exact.

“Learning all about the dynamic and colorful Charlie Murphy should intrigue your North Shore readers,” says Cannon, now a high school English teacher in Colorado.

“I’m guessing he’s the only drug store clerk who ever became an owner of a National League baseball team. He was an incredibly hard worker, no matter where he worked, and driven to succeed, but he left bodies in his wake as a result of that relentlessness. There’s a survival aspect to Charlie Murphy’s story.

“The early 1900s was an interest ing period of time, when the Cubs were at the center of the baseball universe,” Cannon continues. “I hope readers grow to appreciate what Murphy did during his short but spectacular ten ure as owner of the Cubs.”

The late National Baseball Hall of Fame sportswriter Hugh Ful lerton befriended Murphy when the two were teenagers in Ohio. Murphy lived in Wilmington, while Fullerton grew up 20 miles away, in Hillsboro. A journalist in Cincinnati—where Murphy worked as a newspaper reporter and sportswriter for 13 years—and later Chicago, Fullerton covered

New York Giants— a fierce rival team of the Cubs at the time—before receiving a loan from Charles Phelps Taft to purchase the Cubs. Charles’ brother William Howard Taft was elected President of the United States in 1908. In 1906, Murphy’s first full season as owner, the Cubs won a record 116 games but lost to the White Sox in the World

The Cubs then won consecutive World Series championships and reached another World Series in 1910, when they lost to the Philadelphia Athletics in five games, capping off a remarkable five-year run of 500-plus victories. But contentious players’ contract negotiations, a lingering ticket scandal, and Murphy letting his relationship with popular player-manager Frank Chance deteriorate combined to sully the final few innings of Murphy’s up-and-down stretch as owner.

And his fractious relationships with other team owners and baseball hierarchy, American League President Ban Johnson in particular, made him a target of his peers’ ire.

“In 1914,” Cannon

exit from baseball. Doubling as a monument to his family and gift to his hometown, it cost $250,000 (the equivalent of $4.7 million in today’s dollars) to build the theater in 1918.

Murphy died at his Sheridan Road home in Chicago at the age of 63 in 1931.

“The life of Charlie Murphy fascinates me,” says Cannon, who lives in Castle Rock, Colorado, with his wife, Reagan. “When he wrote about baseball for Cincinnati newspapers, he didn’t just write game stories; he also wrote about what went on behind the scenes. People loved reading about baseball but couldn’t get enough of it. Literacy in the U.S. improved back then, in part because there was a lot of interest in reading about baseball.

“History remembers Murphy’s faults all too thoroughly while ignorantly belittling his successes as the accidental results of consistently being in the right place at the right time,” he adds. “Charlie Murphy was an unfairly forgotten figure who was independence personified with audacity to spare.”

Cannon attended Golden West High School in Visalia and wrote for the school newspaper, The Pathfinder. He earned one varsity letter in tennis, an achievement that allowed him to skip P.E. class for a few months. The school’s baseball team, he remembers, featured at least seven Division I players.

Cannon got his degree in English from Azusa Pacific University in California and his “Ph.D.” in Authoritative Biography Writing after finishing his Murphy book.

“Writing about someone’s life is a great responsibility,” says Cannon, who has visited Wrigley Field at least six times and the North Shore several times. “I took the project seriously. I had a fear of missing something while researching, so I found out as much as possible about my subject.”

early Cubs and White Sox teams and was portrayed by Pulitzer Prize winner Studs Terkel in the 1988 movie Eight Men Out

“He was a showman, a baseball fanatic, a quick-thinking, quicker-acting fellow, whose fiery, impulsive temperament kept the entire baseball world bubbling,” Fullerton, cited in Cannon’s book, said of Murphy.

Murphy served as assistant secretary of the

writes, “Murphy’s unwillingness to elevate league loyalty above his interest in the Cubs during Organized Baseball’s hostilities with the Federal League threatened the establishment and led to his ouster.”

But Cannon zooms out and chronicles the good associated with Charlie Murphy, including the state-of-the-art theater he constructed in Wilmington, Ohio, after his

His next project is a book about the relationship between Cubs great Billy Williams and former San Francisco Giants slugger Willie McCovey. The future Hall of Famers grew up in close proximity in Alabama. Each played the bulk of his career in the shadow of a superstar—Williams in Ernie Banks’, and McCovey in Willie Mays’.

“I’m not a Cubs fan, but my eyes often wander to the Cubs’ box score when I’m looking at box scores,” Cannon says.

Jason

Cannon’s debut book, Charlie Murphy: The Iconoclastic Showman Behind the Chicago Cubs, is available at amazon.com.

I hope readers grow to appreciate what Murphy did during his short but spectacular tenure as owner of the Cubs.

Jason Cannon

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