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SOCIAL SCENE
Former Fox Chicago reporter Anne Kavanagh helps clients deal with the media. P38
Find out who attended a top North Shore benefit. P18
SPORTS
Stock is rising with New Trier High School pitcher Ben Brecht. P31 Follow us:
No. 146 | A JWC Media publication
Works of Shakespeare Water continue group voices to engage thoughts actress NEWS
on tunnel By HOLLY MARIHUGH
T
he two women sitting at the table have been seeking answers about managing stormwater in Winnetka for two years now. Given that Village of Winnetka trustees recently voted to look for alternatives to a stormwater tunnel with a price tag of $58.5 million, both women believe the time is ripe for a better way. A solution for stormwater management needs to be overarching, they say. “We’ve been emphasizing the need for a Plan B and are thrilled the village is seeking one,” says Anne Wilder of Protect Our Water Winnetka Continues on page 13
By Gregg Shapiro
H
ighland Park native and Evanston resident Melissa Carlson returns to First Folio Theater at Mayslake Peabody Estate Forest Preserve as Hermione in William Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale through Aug. 9. Carlson is a regular onstage with First Folio, as well as with numerous Chicago theater companies including Court Theater, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Victory Gardens, Raven Theater, Famous Door Theater and Red Hen, in addition to The Lyric Opera. She has also appeared as Meredith on the NBC series Chicago PD. Additionally, Carlson is an educator, specializing in teaching Shakespeare to Chicagoarea students. A member of Actor’s Equity, Carlson answered questions about
her career shared her memories of growing up on the North Shore. Gregg Shapiro: Melissa, you are a native of Highland Park. Was attending the theater part of your North Shore upbringing? Melissa Carlson: It was. My mother brought me downtown to see musicals, and her love of opera afforded my exposure to it at an early age. GS: Did you do theater while you were in high school in Highland Park? MC: I did. I would not have become an actor if not for the arts programs offered in school District 113. My first foray into playing Shakespeare happened in high school. I can honestly say that I owe my professional career to Barbara Patterson and Tim Conway, my theatre teachers at Highland Park. They introduced
Melissa Carlson
me to the art form with an intense passion — to me that is the key behind the birth of passion itself. It lies within the first touch, the first exposure the soul has to anything whether it is acting or otherwise. What a remarkable gift, to instill that emotion, that motivator within a child no matter what the medium. Passion is the stuff of life. I don’t think you are truly alive without passion. GS: When did you know that you wanted to be an actress? MC: I was cast as Cherrie in Bus Stop by William Inge at
Vote means genealogy room is history BY EMILY SPECTRE
T
he Winnetka-Northfield Public Library Board of Trustees voted unanimously at its July 20
meeting to close the library’s genealogy room, despite protests from residents and people from neighboring communities. While the genealogy collection
Highland Park High School, and we ended up taking it to a high school theatre competition downstate. Cherrie was a broken soul, a woman who had been used by life yet remained utterly devoted to the ideals of love. I was only 16 at the time and for me, the understanding of the psychological complexities of life and love were just beginning to bloom. But I found I could relate to her in ways that surprised me even then. It was the first time I was challenged to really connect with and fully embody those types of emotions
has been a fixture at the library since 1963, the library will close the room on July 30 with plans to relocate the collection outside of the library. The community of volunteers who have worked in that space for many years was dismayed by the board’s decision to repurpose the 492-squarefoot room into a meeting and programming room. Numerous volunteers and patrons spoke in support of the collection
on stage. To be emotionally vulnerable without fear, to trust the process, to become completely raw and to do it publically was an overwhelming and thrilling experience, like the embodiment of the saying “leap and the net will appear.” But more importantly, I learned that what we do when we are involved in art we are doing something that is bigger than ourselves, ideally. Creating this type of art is much more exciting Continues on page 12
during the public comment period. “You are taking something away from the children and future children of Winnetka,” said Winnetka resident Bernard Hammer. Winnetka resident Robert Leonard urged the board to delay any decision until after the Winnetka Caucus survey went out in the fall with questions concerning this issue. Continues on page 12
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