River Cities' Reader - Issue 897 - December 10, 2015

8/20/2019 River Cities' Reader - Issue 897 - December 10, 2015

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River Cities’ Reader • Vol. 23 No. 897 • December 10 - 23, 20152 Business • Politics • Arts • Culture • Now You Know • RiverCitiesReader.com

Beware Dangerous Weed, Unless You Have Paid Permissionby Todd McGreevy

T

his issue’s cover story on the busi-

ness of medical marijuana bringsinto focus just how hypocritical

and duplicitous state government can bewhen donning its cloak of benevolence.Many people I know were cheering aboutIllinois making “pot legal for medicinalpurposes,” seeing the move as a harbingerof more state-government largesse tocome. Re-legalizing self-medicating witha plant that one can grow on one’s kitchenwindowsill, anywhere in America, is re-

ally the auctioning of privilege that politi-cians and bureaucrats will use to fortifytheir fiefdoms and power structures.

Since 1972, when President Nixon jettisoned his own blue-ribboncommittee’s report (RCReader.com/y/pot1) that found marijuana no threatwhatsoever to Americans, the fearand propaganda perpetuated againstthe natural herb has been legion. Asthe Atlantic penned in 2012: “Nixonlaunched a drug war that framed drugusers not as alienated youths whoseaddiction was caused by inhabiting afundamentally inequitable society, butas criminals attacking the moral f iberof the nation, people who deserved

only incarceration and punishment”

(RCReader.com/y/pot2).How does the state reconcile a half-

century-long failedwar on drugs that has jailed tens of millions ofnonviolent pot smokers,costing taxpayershundreds of billions ofdollars and maimingand killing hundredsof innocent bystanders,

with a medical-marijuanapilot project such as theone in Illinois?

Well, you regulate itheavily, of course.

Marijuana was sodangerous before that wehad to outfit our locallaw enforcement withmilitary-grade weaponry.But now we’re going toallow limited usage of the weed, afterwe’ve capriciously determined the variousprices of admission. What a racket – anall-too-familiar racket perpetuating thetaxpayer-funded intrusiveness of the statein Americans’ lives. Continued On Page 8

Consider that in Illinois one must

not only get a prescription from aphysician class that has no training on

the benefits of cannabisas medicine, but onemust also pay $100and be fingerprintedfor a backgroundcheck and logged intoa database, in orderto pay a premium forthe plant, at a limited

number of dispensaries.And one can onlybuy this medicine at asingle dispensary. Youcan’t use your newlypurchased privilege atmore than one locationin the state.

Now take thoseparameters andapply them to

the pharmaceutical industry. Whyare the rules different for getting aprescription filled for a cholesterol-managing medicine? “Those drugs aren’taddictive” is the conventional response.Fair enough. What about addictive

opiate-based prescriptions? Haven’t

those prescription drugs ruined manya life, including those of high-profilecelebrities and pro athletes? Where’s thegovernment’s cloak of benevolence toprotect us from these?

Why are the rules different? A prettynaïve rhetorical question, really. Theanswer lies in this cover story’s citation ofa 2014 U.S. Department of Justice-fundedstudy that reported that more than 90percent of medical-marijuana users (in

the seven states studied) use it to alleviatesevere or chronic pain.Pain-management is the

pharmaceutical industry’s wheelhouse.As are SSRIs (selective serotoninreuptake inhibitors) such as Zoloft,Paxil, and Prozac often prescribed torelieve symptoms of post-traumaticstress disorder (PTSD) for combat-war veterans. Thus, heavily regulated industrydoes not like competition. It has investedtoo much in too many politicians and judges to get the rules the way they likethem.

Which may explain why, as the coverstory reports, Illinois Governor Bruce

WORDS FROM THE PUBLISHER

While SSRIs have

been known to cause

veterans suffering

from PTSD to become

suicidal, Illinois’

governor “just says no”

to allowing those same

veterans to smoke or

ingest a plant to get

relief.


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River Cities’ Reader • Vol. 23 No. 897 • December 10 - 23, 2015 3Business • Politics • Arts • Culture • Now You Know • RiverCitiesReader.com

that “she may well turn outto be the next important jazzsinger.” They’ll also no doubtunderstand a great deal moreabout what, to Gazarek, linksquiet cabaret numbers to big-band anthems to Broadwaymusicals to, yes, Saturday-morning children’s fare.

“I have a really hard timesinging songs that I don’thave a relationship with,” saysGazarek. “So for me, I have

to relate to the lyrics, and feellike there’s something in mylife that speaks to whateverthe concept is behind thecomposition. And then, youknow, it only goes deeperfrom there.”

Happy Instead ofNervous

Born and raised in Seattle,Gazarek says that as a youth“I was always really interestedin music and the arts ingeneral,” but that she didn’treceive her first jazz initiationuntil she was a senior in highschool.

“I went to Roosevelt Highin Seattle,” she says, “which

wasn’t a performing-arts-focused

school, but which had a strong theatreprogram and strong music program. SoI was exposed to some really wonderfulthings and did as many differentextracurriculars as possible – and oneof the things I stumbled on was the jazzchoir.

“Lucky for us,” she continues, “the jazz-choir director, Scott Brown, wasalso the guy who led our award-winning

jazz band, and he was just incrediblypassionate about jazz and a phenomenaleducator. We all performed at a lot ofdifferent jazz festivals and had a lot ofwonderful touring opportunities, andone of those was to compete at the

Vol. 23 · No. 897 December 10 - 23, 2015

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S i n c e 1

9 9 3

Award-winning jazz

vocalist Sara Gazarekhas released three stu-

dio albums, plus one limited-release live album, since 2005,and just glancing at their songlists gives you a strong idea ofthe varied styles in which shefinds inspiration.

Take, for example, Gazarek’s2012 album Blossom &Bee, which CriticalJazz.com called “one of the most

impressive releases of theyear.” You’ll find “Some ofThese Days,” a signature hitfor the legendary SophieTucker; “Down with Love,”a jazz standard popularizedby the likes of Judy Garlandand Barbra Streisand; “Teafor Two,” the genre stapleheard in 67 separate episodesof The Lawrence Welk Show;

“Ev’rything I’ve Got” and“Lucky to Be Me,” by therespective show-tune teams ofRodgers & Hart and Comden& Green; “Unpack YourAdjectives” from SchoolhouseRock ... .

Hold on. “Unpack YourAdjectives”?!

“That was originally sungby Blossom Dearie,” says Gazarek,

referencing the late jazz singer andpianist whose artistic output inspiredBlossom & Bee, and who originallyperformed seven of the album’s 12tracks. “She was really active in the ’60sand ’70s, and her voice is often describedas kind of girlish and cute. But her musicis witty and sharp, and I think mostinstrumentalists and singers would agreethat it has this veiled simplicity to it, andwhen you really look at it, it’s incrediblymusical and sophisticated.”

The same could certainly be saidof Gazarek’s own talents. Currentlyin residence as Quad City Arts’ latest

visiting artist, the 33-year-old has,over the past 10 years, recorded both

by Mike Schulz

[email protected]

Unpack Your SuperlativesQuad City Arts Visiting Artist Sara Gazarek, December 12 at the Central Performing Arts Center

original compositions and covers ofsongs made famous by such disparate

artists as Irving Berlin, Duke Ellington,Joni Mitchell, Billy Joel, and the Beatles.Yet what unites them all are Gazarek’scrystal-clear vocals, intelligent phrasing,and honest, unforced emotionalism,qualities that turn even a tune asfamiliar as “You Are My Sunshine” – theclosing track on Gazarek’s 2005 debutYours – into something warm, rich, andunpredictable.

When audiences attend her residency-ending public concert at DeWitt’s

Central Performing Arts Center onDecember 12, they’ll understand whythe Winnipeg Free Press wrote, “SaraGazarek’s singing is impeccable,” andwhy the Los Angeles Times predicted

MUSIC

Continued On Page 13


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Dems Should Re-ThinkApproach in Prosecutor Race

by Rich Miller

CapitolFax.comILLINOIS POLITICS

With growing numbers of African-American and Latino politicians call-ing for Cook County State’s Attorney

Anita Alvarez to resign, it’s probably time for thecounty’s Democratic Party leaders to rethink theirsummertime decision to not endorse anyone inthe primary.

The incumbent state’sattorney is facing twoDemocratic primary

challengers, Kim Foxx andDonna More.Foxx, an African-

American woman andformer prosecutor, is theformer chief of staff to CookCounty Board President ToniPreckwinkle and is backedby other African-Americanand liberal leaders, plus somelabor unions.

More is white, is a former county prosecutor,and has represented casino interests since sheleft the Illinois Gaming Board decades ago. Shealso contributed to Republican Governor BruceRauner’s campaign – one of only a handful ofcontributions she’s ever made. The first-timecandidate has demonstrated an ability to raiseenough money to compete.

The general rule of thumb for incumbentsfacing primaries is the more, the merrier. Multiplecandidates can split the “anti” vote against theincumbent, which means Alvarez won’t need to

receive 50 percent plus one to win.The Chicago media is currently in an uproar

about police-involved shootings, and Alvarez istaking big heat for her alleged slow-walking ofmurder charges against the police officer whoshot 17-year-old LaQuan McDonald 16 timeslast year.

Alvarez has always been very friendly to policeinterests, once charging a woman with a felonyfor recording two Chicago police officers as theywere trying to convince her to drop sexual-

harassment charges against another police officer.So when the state’s lone Latino in the U.S.

Congress, Luiz Gutierrez, withdrew his Alvarezendorsement and other major Cook CountyLatino figures called on her to resign, the pressurebuilt to a full-on boil.

But as we’ve seen elsewhere, a racial backlashcould easily develop in this contest. Racial politicsare a hard fact of life in Cook County (as theyare most places), so what follows may seeminsensitive.

The hard fact is that suburban Cook County just isn’t as racially diverse or as liberal asChicago. It was just 24 percent African-Americanand 25 percent Latino in the last census,compared with 32 percent white in the city.The suburbs have quite a lot of people who fled

Chicago or who refuse to live there.It’s also not a stretch to imagine that the

reaction by suburban whites to the “Black Friday”protests on Chicago’s famed Michigan Avenuewere probably a bit different from what they wereon the south and west sides.

Alvarez has repeatedly and quite angrilyinsisted that she won’tlet “the politicians” with“political agendas” force her

out of office or out of therace.So the question has to

be asked: What if Alvarezactually wins the nominationas a pro-police, law-and-order candidate? The uproarfrom the Democratic basewould be deafening, and theconsequences in the state’s

largest and most important Democratic countymight be substantial.

On the other hand, House Speaker MichaelMadigan and Chicago Alderman Ed Burkesupport Alvarez. Those two have a lot of swayin Cook County, so as long as they are with theincumbent, the party likely won’t back anyoneelse.

Both men represent majority Latino areas.Madigan is himself facing a Latino primaryopponent (which is probably no big deal, butMadigan hates taking chances). When askedlast week if it was time to reconsider the county

party’s non-endorsement, Madigan said he wastoo busy focusing on the state budget – which issimply not believable if you know the multi-tasking Madigan even a little bit.

And Burke flatly refused to back away fromAlvarez last week.

Madigan also has quite a few contestedsuburban general-election House campaigns, sothe opinions of those voters have to be factoredin as well.

It’s always possible, perhaps even probable,

that Alvarez and More will cancel each other out,allowing Foxx to win.

But Chicago Democrats have enoughproblems these days (impending school strike,huge budget deficits, a murder spike, taxes risingeverywhere) without piling an Alvarez primary

victory on top of that gigantic mountain.The Democratic Party showed it could adapt

when it stripped Cook County Circuit CourtClerk Dorothy Brown of her slating because of afederal investigation and then handed it to one ofher opponents.

The same sort of rethinking should be donewith the Alvarez contest.

Rich Miller also publishes Capitol Fax (a daily political newsletter) and CapitolFax.com.

What if Alvarez

actually wins theDemocratic nomination

as a pro-police, law-

and-order candidate in

Cook County?


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with suspiciouslystoic discipline.Not Max’s visitingaunt (AllisonTolman) orloutish uncle(David Koechner)or ceaselessly

rude great-aunt(Conchata Ferrell). And certainly notMax’s cretinous, mouth-breathing cousins(Maverick Flack, Lolo Owen, and QueenieSamuel), one of whom, during dinner,confiscates Max’s letter and is mercilessin her teasing. Max grabs the missive and,his belief in Christmas shattered, tears it toshreds and tosses it out the window. It turnsout, however, that Santa isn’t the only one forwhom you’d better watch out ... .

Clearly this clan needs to learn The TrueMeaning of Christmas, and the lesson issubsequently taught not by St. Nicholas,but by the nightmarish folklore figureKrampus: a horned monstrosity hell-benton punishing those who’ve lost their holidaycheer. At first, he sends a crippling blizzardthat traps the family at Max’s home withoutelectricity or phone or Internet service. Butthen he sends his minions – among themburrowing worms out of Tremors, fangedclown dolls, and devilish gingerbread men

– and Krampus, finally, really takes off.Barring one evocatively spooky scene ofKrampus jumping from rooftop to rooftopand an unexpectedly beautiful animatedre-telling of his origin, Dougherty’s film iscompositionally and visually blah. (Giventhe creepy, unnerving scampering oftentimesheard in the family attic, the movie soundsmuch better than it looks.) Yet his artless, in-your-face style proves perfectly appropriatefor the movie’s crude jolts and satisfyingly

unsubtlepunchlines.Dougherty’stone is clearlytongue-in-cheekthroughout,never more sothan when those

ambulatoryChristmas cookies get their sugary mitts on anail gun, but the melees are also swift, brutal,and sometimes shockingly mean-spirited fora PG-13 release. While the only blood on-screen is from some scratches on Koechner’sleg, the movie is still Gremlins with a healthydash of Silent Night, Deadly Night .

It’s also quite nicely acted, with Scottand Collette exuding particularly welcomeemotional gravitas, and Ferrell, as was her

stock-in-trade on Two & a Half Men, sellinglame wisecracks through sheer force ofpersonality. And just when you think themovie is going to crap out and climax withsome awkwardly tacked-on sentiment,Dougherty and company have one last trickup their sleeves: a haunting, queasy kickerthat makes Krampus the rare modern horrorfilm that doesn’t, at the end, feel like a cheat.It turns out that when this cinematic jack-in-the-box pops open, it isn’t a clown inside. It’sRod Serling.

THE GOOD DINOSAURWe’ve come to expect Pixar releases to be

accompanied by wonderful animated shorts,and the new 10-minute entertainmentSanjay’s Super Team is indeed lovely. DirectorSanjay Patel’s autobiographical ode to Hinduculture and childhood imagination concernsa young Indian boy who fantasizes that thegods worshiped by his devout father are

crime-fighting superheroes, and it’s acolorful, fast-moving, lightly touching taleof generational conflict and connection.So Pixar’s short-film track record remainsintact. Yet one thing we’re not accustomedto is appetizers of this sort proving moresatisfying than the main events, andunfortunately, for my money, The Good

Dinosaur doesn’t hold a candle to Sanjay’sSuper Team. It also doesn’t hold a candleto any of Pixar’s 15 previous feature-length films, and I’m including the onethat was almost nonstop Larry the CableGuy.

It’s now been more than a week sinceI saw the film, so I’m no longer angryat it the way I originally was. But whiledirector Peter Sohn’s adventure opens ona charming conceit, with the asteroid that

purportedly caused dinosaur extinctioninstead whizzing past our planet andenabling the creatures to survive, TheGood Dinosaur is a real letdown, itsgorgeously animated vistas of far moreinterest than the story or characters. Thisis admittedly a jaded adult’s opinion, asthe littlest of kids – the movie’s obviousdemographic – will likely be tickled byits tale of the ’fraidy-cat apatosaur Arlo(successively voiced by Jack McGraw andRaymond Ochoa) who attempts a long,

dangerous trek home after a torrentialstorm separates him from his family. Yetthis jaded adult also adores at least threequarters of the Pixar oeuvre withoutreservation, so I hardly feel like a Grinchfor pointing out a few things. Such asthe über-bland conception of the movie’smany dinosaurs, their lack of visualdetail and personality almost shocking

Movie Re views by Mike Schulz • [email protected]

KRAMPUSWhat kind of sick bastard invented the

jack-in-the-box? I mean, really: You turna crank and hear an off-key rendition of“Pop Goes the Weasel,” and, the momentyou’re most lulled into its creaky sing-song,a freaking clown jumps out at you?! Aschildren’s toys go, this one’s just the worst– and, in its scary/funny way, also kind ofthe best. The same could be said for thenew horror comedy Krampus, which, in onememorable scene, employs a jack-in-the-boxfor maximum giggles and shrieks. It’s a bluntand mostly clumsy piece of work, but alsoadmirably creepy and sometimes very funny,and definitely one of the livelier yuletide-themed films of its type since Gremlins.

Director/co-writer Michael Dougherty’ssick-joke trifle opens with Bing Crosby

gently crooning “It’s Beginning to Looka Lot Like Christmas” to slow-motionimages of slapstick pandemonium: violentlydesperate customers waging war withharried salespeople, and each other, duringa mega-store sale. It’s an amusing sequence,if one with an overly blatant message aboutour collective loss of holiday spirit, and afterlanding on Krampus’ narrative setup – withtesty family members reuniting for threetraditionally unhappy days together – you

prepare for further obviousness. Whilepreteen Max (Emjay Anthony) still believesin Santa Claus, and has a ready-to-be-mailedletter in his back pocket to prove it, noone else is feeling festive. Not Dad (AdamScott), who fills his cocoa mug with Scotch,or Mom (Toni Collette), who pops Xanaxin dread of her guests’ arrivals. Not Max’ssullen teen sister (Stefania LaVie Own) orbeloved German grandma (Krista Stadler),the latter of whom bakes Christmas treats

Slashing through the Snow, or: A One-House Open Slay

Krista Stadler in Krampus

by Mike Schulz • [email protected] Mike Schulz • [email protected]

Continued On Page 8


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With a Restrictive Pilot Project, Dispensaries and Cultivators Are Betting on the Program’s Expansion

The Business of Medical Marijuana in Illinois

Just to the south of the hulking SternBeverage beer-distribution warehousein Milan sits a relatively tiny and

decidedly nondescript building. It has mas-sive rocks between the parking lot and thestructure that look decorative but are actu-ally a low-tech security measure designed toprevent a smash-and-grab theft.

This is the future home of Nature’sTreatment of Illinois, a medical-cannabisdispensary run by Stern Beverage President

Matt Stern. It received conditional approvalfrom the State of Illinois last week and nowrequires an inspection and the approval ofemployees before it can receive an operatinglicense.

“If everything went great, [we could beopen] right around Christmas,” Stern said.“But it’s the State of Illinois, so I’m guessingwe’re probably going to float into the first orsecond week of January.”

Every inch of the 2,700-square-foot

facility, Stern said, can be seen by camera,and feeds are sent to the state as well as totwo off-site locations where they’re stored for180 days. The glass is bullet-proof, of course,but so are the walls. “I don’t know reallywhat it is or how it works,” Stern said of thewall material, “but I know it’s expensive.”

With these and other security measuresinside the building, Stern said, it would beexceedingly difficult for somebody to robNature’s Treatment, and an internal theft

would be detected when inventory and salesare reconciled at the end of each day: “Itwould be virtually impossible for someone toget something out of here unless they werewilling to get fired. ... It’ll be very, very easyto catch.”

And those rocks would prevent somebodyfrom trying to ram a vehicle into thedispensary.

Stern said he and his six business partnersin the dispensary have put a million dollarsinto the project before they’ve purchased anyproduct or hired any employees.

That’s a big investment considering thatIllinois’ medical-cannabis pilot project isscheduled to sunset at the end of 2017.

It’s also one of the more-restrictiveprograms among the 23 states that havelegalized cannabis for medicinal use. Theproject forbids home-grown marijuana,requires fingerprint-based criminal-background checks for patients, andexcludes pain conditions from the list of 39

ailments eligible for treatment with medicalcannabis.

Stern said he and his partners won’t makeback their money in the next two years, sothey – and everybody else who’s entered the

legal-marijuana business in recent months –are taking a chance.

“It’s a risk,” Stern said. “No doubt aboutthat. But it’s something we strongly believein, and we think that the pilot project willbecome law permanently. If it doesn’t, thenwe’re going to have a really fancy buildingover here to do something with.”

But Stern, like many in the medical-cannabis business, doubts the program willbe allowed to expire after 2017. With “the

momentum that will be created, and the casestudies and benefits for the patients that arecoming out, I think it’ll be hard to stop it.”

Green Thumb Industries (GTI) has alsomade a major capital investment in the QuadCities, with its cannabis-cultivation centerin southwest Rock Island. The companyalso has an Oglesby cultivation center (inLaSalle County) and the Clinic Mundeleindispensary (in Lake County).

Ben Kovler, founder and CEO of GTI, said

his company has invested more than $10million in those three facilities.

“We’re business operators. We understandthe risk going into a business like this,”he said. “Nothing’s a given in this world,particularly when you’re dealing withpolitics and particularly in Illinois. However,we strongly believe that as thousandsand thousands of patients are seeingdemonstrated relief and positive benefitsfrom the medicine, the program will

continue ... .”Mark Passerini, president of the Illinois

Cannabis Industry Association, said that fewif any medical-cannabis businesses in Illinoiswill recoup their investments over the nexttwo years, but he expressed confidence thatthe program will eventually be extended.

“I think most of the people that are in theindustry now kind of see this as a long-termplay, and realize that this is not going togo away,” he said. “Too much toothpastehas been squeezed out of the tube at thispoint to put it back in. ... There would be somuch backlash at that point. There wouldbe really too much political pressure on theadministration to continue it. I just don’t seeit happening.”

Yet there’s still the potential – howeverremote – that the pilot project won’t bemade permanent. “That’s the concern ofevery licensee in the state, with the amountof money and time that they’ve poured intothis,” Passerini said.

And he expressed concern that somebusinesses will struggle to survive given thelimited scope of the Illinois program: “Wedefinitely see a lot of work that needs tobe done for the program to be successful,

because right now it’s not really viablefor a lot of these businesses. People arepouring in hundreds of thousands if not amillion dollars into their facilities and theiroperations, and with only 3,500 patientssigned up, that’s just not going to be asustainable system for them.”

Putting the Brakes

on ExpansionAt the end of October, 15 cultivationcenters had been authorized by the IllinoisDepartment of Agriculture to commencecultivation. As of December 1, 15dispensaries had been licensed by the IllinoisDepartment of Financial & ProfessionalRegulation.

Eventually under the pilot project, therewill be fewer than 20 cultivation centersaround the state and nearly 60 dispensaries.

The four-year medical-cannabis project

was signed into law in August 2013, yetsales only began on November 9 of this year.With the program’s scheduled expiration onJanuary 1, 2018, those legally growing andselling medical marijuana in Illinois are onlyguaranteed roughly two years to sell theirproducts.

And Governor Bruce Rauner has thusfar been unwilling to make that windowof opportunity larger by extending orexpanding the program.

Rauner in August vetoed legislationextending the program into August 2019,suggesting instead an extension throughApril 2018. The bill was intended to givegrowers and sellers something closer tothe four years the pilot project originallyenvisioned.

And in September, Rauner vetoedlegislation to add post-traumatic stressdisorder (PTSD) to the list of conditionseligible for treatment with medical

marijuana.Quad Cities-area Representatives MikeSmiddy (D-Hillsdale) and Pat Verschoore(D-Milan) voted for both bills; Senator NeilAnderson (R-Rock Island) did not vote onthe pilot-project extension and voted againstadding PTSD.

Both bills are now dead.Also in September, the Illinois

Department of Public Health refusedto expand the list of eligible medicalconditions for the pilot project. TheIllinois Medical Cannabis Advisory Boardhad recommended adding 11 diagnoses,including PTSD.

Since then, that advisory board hasrecommended that the Illinois Department

of Public Health add eight conditions to thelist of eligible ailments. Four of those (PTSD,chronic post-operative pain, irritable bowelsyndrome, and osteoarthritis) were amongthose recommendations previously rejectedby the department, while four (autism,chronic pain due to trauma, chronic painsyndrome, and intractable pain) are new.

Rauner has not indicated that he’sopposed to eventual expansion or extension.But his September veto message made

clear he wants to consider changes to theprogram only after it’s been up and running:“No patients have yet been served, and,consequently, the state has not had theopportunity to evaluate the benefits andcosts of the pilot program or determine areasfor improvement or even whether to extendthe program beyond its pilot period.”

Barriers and AdvantagesThe viability of the Milan dispensarycan be reduced to simple math. “For us

to break even,” Stern said, “we’re going toneed probably 600” customers spending$100 weekly. Under the law, patients areallowed to buy up to 2.5 ounces of medicinalcannabis every 14 days.

But only 3,600 patients have gottenapproval from the Illinois Department ofPublic Health to buy medical cannabis at thispoint.

And by June 30 – when 2,600 patientshad received approval – only 57 came fromthe district (covering Rock Island, Henry,Mercer, and Knox counties) that Nature’sTreatment will logically serve. Patients canregister with only one dispensary, but it canbe anywhere in the state.

If that proportion is representative of theprogram moving forward, Illinois wouldneed more than 27,000 medical-cannabispatients for Stern to get to 600 regularpatients from those four counties. The

Illinois Cannabis Industry Association’sPasserini guessed that Illinois might get to20,000 approved patients by the end of 2017under the program’s current restrictions.

“I’m not worried about that,” Stern saidlast week about the number of approvedpatients. “For one, the first sale was only[three-plus] weeks ago in the state.” Inaddition, only a handful of dispensaries wereoperating in the program’s early days, andthe application fee for patients is $100.

Stern said that patients are thinking that“I’m not going to get that card early. I’mgoing to wait until there’s actually productfor sale.”

Passerini agreed: “Nothing has really beenopen. Why would anybody sign up when

COVER STORY


7/20


by Jeff Ignatius

jef [email protected]

you really can’t access cannabis?”Stern added: “Now that the sales have

started, and once the other dispensaries openup, I think you’ll see a pretty big boom.”

But there are concerns.Passerini said that Illinois is rare among

states that allow medical cannabis inrequiring a fingerprint background check.(California earlier this year added a similarclause to its medical-marijuana program.)That, he said, “makes people feel like

criminals right off the bat” and likely hasreduced the number of people applying formedical-marijuana cards.

He added that the provision is “prettyludicrous if you think about it. There’s reallynothing else that a doctor would recommendthat you would need to get fingerprinted inorder to get a prescription for.” For example,he said, people getting prescriptions forwidely abused opioid pain medications(such as OxyContin) aren’t required to get

fingerprint-based criminal-backgroundchecks.

A larger issue cited by nearly everybody inthe medical-cannabis industry in Illinois isthe restrictive list of qualifying conditions –specifically the exclusion of pain without anidentified underlying medical condition.

The Journal of Global Drug Policy &Practice – which is funded by the U.S.Department of Justice – last year studiedmedical-cannabis users in seven states. The

report said: “Our findings suggest that a very small proportion of medical-marijuanapatients report having serious medicalconditions (i.e., HIV/AIDS, glaucoma,cancer, Alzheimer’s), while almost all (91percent) of medical-marijuana users reportusing marijuana to alleviate severe orchronic pain.”

The study has a clear bias against usingmedical marijuana for pain, but Passeriniconfirmed the basic conclusion: “Probablythe most certifications around the countryare written up for chronic pain.”

He advocated including chronic painamong the eligible conditions along withPTSD. He also said that it’s disingenuousfor the Rauner administration to nix theaddition of various conditions related to paingiven the history of medical cannabis: “Theproblem with that thinking is that there’vebeen medical [cannabis for pain] programsin the United States for almost 20 years. Justbecause Illinois was late to get on-board

with it doesn’t mean there’s not a history ofmedical efficacy.”

Another likely issue in the low number ofapproved patients in Illinois is the medicalcommunity, both Passerini and Stern said.

Illinois’ law requires medical-cannabispatients to get a written certification froma physician with whom they have anestablished relationship.

“Not once has cannabis ever beenmentioned in their schooling,” Passerini said.“So it’s difficult for doctors to recommend itwithout really the education and knowledgeof cannabinoid therapy.”

“Here’s where you get a lot of politics,”Stern added. “Your major hospitals,

especially around here, are very, very tiedinto the big pharmaceutical companies. And[with] big pharmaceutical companies, youcan imagine this is their worst nightmare – anatural, holistic remedy that will replacetheir drugs. They are putting a lot ofpressure on the big corporate hospitals andinstitutions ... .”

Passerini said his association will bedoing advocacy with doctors, and Stern saidthat “as we do find doctors that are willing

to prescribe [medical cannabis], we will ofcourse publicize the list.”

Despite those obstacles and Rauner’scoolness, Stern remains confident that theprogram will eventually be extended beyondthe pilot project.

And there’s also the geographic monopolyafforded to dispensaries outside of theChicago area. Although patients mayregister with any dispensary – and changingdispensaries is relatively simple and quick

– patients are going to naturally gravitate tothe vendor closest to them. And Stern notedthat the closest dispensary to his will be inFulton – nearly an hour’s drive away.

Nature’s Treatment was the only applicantfor this district’s dispensary license, butStern likely would have had a hand up in anycompetition considering his experience withthe tightly regulated alcohol industry.

He also said the rules and bureaucracyassociated with the roll-out of medicalcannabis didn’t give him much pause –but they might have spooked potentialcompetitors.

“The political winds are a concern notonly for that business but for our beerbusiness here, too. It’s just something we’vedealt with forever ... .

“The parallels between the businessesare surprisingly numerous. We weren’tworried about dealing with the red tapeand the regulation and the government andthe taxes. We do that here. The security is

something that of course we are used to;we have to do that here. So things that werescaring a lot of people about getting into thisbusiness didn’t scare us at all.”

And getting in on the ground floor

should prove beneficial if the pilot projectis made permanent and expanded – and ifrecreational use of marijuana is ultimatelylegalized in the state.

“If and when it does open up and theymake the pilot program law, we’ll havethat big first-move advantage ... ,” Sternsaid. “I think that if they expand after thepilot program ... the dispensaries that haveoperated the best will have the first chance atnew locations.”

He later noted in an e-mail that Nature’sTreatment could double its size “quickly.”

The Learning ProcessWhen Nature’s Treatment opens, Stern

said, it will mark the beginning of a steeplearning curve.

He knows he’ll start with roughly 15employees. He knows that because ofgeographic proximity, GTI’s Rock Island

cultivation center will almost certainly be“one of our key suppliers.”But he doesn’t yet know the mix of

products he’ll offer, what they’ll cost patients,or from where he’ll get them. All of that willhinge on the types of patients who come tothe dispensary and what they need.

It’s unlikely, Stern said, that patients willget much direction from their physiciansabout precisely what type of cannabiswould help most: “It’s 90 percent with us. Idon’t think a lot of the doctors will have a

knowledge on that yet. I think they’ll get upto speed as time goes on.”

He said patients will likely pay more thanthey’d pay on the street for similar quantitiesof marijuana, but that premium comes withbenefits. There’s the peace of mind that it’slegal – by state if not federal law – and alsothat “you’re getting something that’s beentested. You know exactly the componentsof the product. You know exactly the THC/CBD level[s]. So it is consistent, it is safe. It’s

not buying from somebody on the street;you don’t know what was in it. I think thatmakes a huge difference.”

As for his inventory, he said that “costis definitely one [factor in choosing whatproducts to offer and their suppliers], butmore importantly will be the different strainsof marijuana that each of these suppliersoffers. Not only strains, but varietals, oils,edibles, creams. So there may be a cultivationout in Chicago that has a really great oil for

patients, and so ... they’ll bring it here. ...“That’s going to be kind of a learning

process. As we get up and running, andwe get feedback from patients and otherdispensaries around the state, I think we’llbe changing that up. [For example,] there’ll

be some strain that’s very effective for

glaucoma ... .

“Certain conditions will dictate which

varietal,” Stern continued. Some illnesses

might have symptoms best alleviated with

marijuana with a high level of THC, while

some patients might benefit from a strain

with high CBD levels and little or no THC:

“Some of this will have ... no psychoactive

components at all.”

Cultivation centers, he added, “will giveus literature and teach us about the varietals

and what those varietals are best suited for.”

But there’s no substitute for patient

experience, he said: “We’re going to learn as

much from the patient as they’re going to

learn from us. ‘How’d that work?’ ‘How do

you feel?’ ‘Are your symptoms better?’”

With a dispensary and two cultivation

centers up and running, GTI has already

begun that process. Kovler said his

company’s cultivation centers are producing

20 different strains of marijuana; planting in

Rock Island began in July.

Right now, he added, the company is only

shipping dry flower, but by the end of the

month the Rock Island extraction lab will

be producing concentrates, oils, edibles,

and vape pens: “We’re in the eighth or ninth

inning in getting those out the door.”

And “we’re learning every day from the

patients. ... One certain strain seems to beworking excellently, and we’re dramatically

scaling up production of that strain.”

Whether the pilot program is extended

and expanded, Kovler said, will depend on

the nascent industry meeting three goals:

a “safe and consistent product,” a “secure

and safe supply chain,” and “demonstrated,

measurable results from patients.”

That last one will likely be most

important, he said, and anecdotal evidence

is already encouraging: “We have hundredsof patients coming and telling us they got

the best night’s sleep they’ve had in many

years. They’ve reduced their intake of Norco,

or Vicodin, or Valium, or whatever the

pharmaceutical drug that they were taking

that they’re able to wean themselves off of

and feel better. We have cancer patients who

have energy even though they’re on chemo

... . We have fibromyalgia patients who

have reduced pain, MS [multiple sclerosis]

patients who feel major relief.

“And we think [that], over time, telling

those stories and demonstrating those results

gives us confidence that the program will not

go away.”


8/20


screw-up: resentful toward a profession

that won’t give him a fair shake; angry at afather who died before he was born. Andno matter the improbable circumstances,Coogler and the wondrously charismaticJordan keep the proceedings here lifelikeand specific; the pair last worked together on2013’s marvelous Fruitvale Station (Coogler’sfeature-film debut), and, amazingly, theirRocky continuation feels like it exists in aworld as real as Fruitvale Station’s.

This isn’t to imply that Creed isn’t also

a sensational entertainment. I becameincreasingly, giddily slack-jawed whilerealizing that Coogler was staging a mid-film bout in one continuous take, the cameradancing right alongside the boxers, and theemotional wallops and “Oh, poor lovableRock!” gags all land. (So do all of Jordan’sgags, his humorous bits including a quick,unexpected Don Corleone impressionand an agreeably sorry attempt at rappingin front of a new girlfriend played by theravishing Tessa Thompson.) Happily,

too, Adonis has been given an adversarywho’s amusingly easy to root against: theLiverpudlian bruiser and reigning champRicky Conlan (a fearsome Tony Bellew),who’s about to be sent to prison and,you sense, wouldn’t necessarily mind if aboxing-ring manslaughter conviction uppedhis sentence by a few years. But Creed isremarkably effective – more so than anyfranchise entry since at least Rocky II –principally for the down-and-dirty realness

of its execution, and the Philadelphia milieuthat’s both human-scale and instantly,thrillingly iconic. Who knows if this movie,like Rocky, will inspire six sequels. But basedon this one, I’ll be happy to follow Adonis atleast until he tangles with a Russian brick-shithouse of his own.

THE LETTERSWriter/director William Riead’s The

Letters is a bio-pic that follows MotherTeresa (Juliet Stevenson) through herearly years – roughly 1946 through 1954– attending to the sick and impoverishedin Calcutta and eventually establishingher Missionaries of Charity congregation.And while it clearly has the noblest ofintentions, I have to ask: Aren’t I, by dintof being a movie reviewer, already indanger of going to Hell without stating

that Riead’s film is a dull, unconvincing,horribly executed waste of talent andtime? The talent is that of the usuallyradiant Stevenson, hunched and one-dimensionally pious here, and the greatMax von Sydow, whose sole purpose isto deliver wretchedly written expositionto a priest played by Rutger Hauer.(Yes. Rutger Hauer. That’s not a typo.)The time, sadly, is all of ours, from theon-screen Indian extras who can’t stop

staring directly into the camera to thepoor patrons who certainly must haveexpected a more enlightening, inspiringexperience than two hours of deadening“tell, don’t show” filmmaking. Plodding,graceless, resolutely cheap-looking,and in no way worthy of its inarguablyfascinating subject, The Letters is a movieonly a mother could love. Even thisfilm’s Mother, however, might find that achallenge.

For reviews of Brooklyn, VictorFrankenstein, Trumbo, Room, and othercurrent releases, visit RiverCitiesReader.com.

Follow Mike on Twitter at Twitter.com/ MikeSchulzNow.

for Pixar. (The year of Jurassic World is

not the year to boast T. rexes this boring.)And the depressing formula of the Disneystudio’s millionth “make your mark” and“face your fears” narratives. And Arlo beingthe millionth Disney animal to suffer theloss of a parent. And the irritation of Arlo’sconstant whining and shrieking, with eventhe most minor of frights eliciting screams toshame the Macaulay Culkin of Home Alone.And vocal talents Jeffrey Wright, FrancesMcDormand, Steve Zahn, Anna Paquin, Sam

Elliott, and the inevitable John Ratzenbergerbeing given nothing interesting or funnyto say. And the overriding, distractingweirdness of the film’s design as a prehistoricWestern, suggesting that if that asteroid hadindeed missed us, dinosaurs would haveevolved into cart-toting, cliché-spouting dayplayers in lackluster John Ford movies.

Happily, there’s some slapstick amusementin the antics of Arlo’s feral-child “pet” Spot(Jack Bright), an orphaned human wholooks like a crazed Mowgli and, in onequickly hilarious bit, bites the head off a livebeetle twice his size. There are also plentyof arresting images: a cascading waterfall; ascary thunderstorm; the wings of a trio ofPterodactyls poking out of the clouds, subtlysuggesting dorsal fins. But those welcomediversions probably aren’t enough to makeme ever want to re-visit The Good Dinosaur ,the first Pixar to leave me feeling a fewmillion years old, too.

CREEDI experienced something of a miracle

during Thanksgiving week, because for thefirst time since 1979, I found myself close toloving a Rocky movie. Of course, technicallyspeaking, Creed is only peripherally a Rockymovie; it’s more accurately a showcase for

Slashing through the Snow, or: A One-House Open SlayMichael B. Jordan, whose up-and-coming

fighter Adonis Johnson is the illegitimateson of Rocky Balboa’s boxing-ring-nemesis-turned-best-friend Apollo. But SylvesterStallone is again on hand, in a substantialrole, as the Italian Stallion, this time actingas Jordan’s very own Burgess Meredith.And I’m thrilled to report that any eye-rolling that may have accompanied news ofStallone’s latest refusal to just leave his justlyadored character alone already was whollyunwarranted. Not only is Stallone better here

– more honest, more instinctual – than hehas been since 1976’s original Rocky , but thatseemingly absurd online rumor that Creedmight be the man’s ticket to an Oscar provesto be not the least bit absurd. Plenty of actorshave enjoyed Academy recognition withoutdelivering anywhere near the pathos,poignancy, and emotionalism of Stallone’sfinest moments here. Besides, has any Oscarwin ever seemed so tailor-made as the onethat would allow Sly, at age 69, to ascend

the steps to the podium to the victoriousaccompaniment of “Gonna Fly Now”?

That, however, is a potential discussion forFebruary. What can be discussed at present ishow completely, and impressively, director/co-writer Ryan Coogler has overhauled this

venerated franchise without excising theelements – including the contrivance andcorniness and shamelessness – that havecontributed to its mass appeal. Like all Rocky movies, Creed is essentially a hardscrabblefairytale in which the most under ofunderdogs gets his shot at greatness. Butwhile Stallone’s sequels became increasinglyridiculous partly because they were about aproven winner (the Heavyweight Championof the World, no less!) who kept gettingre-cast as a loser, Coogler brings the seriesback down to Earth. Adonis is a recognizable

MOVIES By Mike [email protected]

Continued From Page 5

Beware Dangerous Weed, Unless You Have Paid Permission

by Todd McGreevy

Rauner vetoed Senate Bill 33, whichwould have allowed prescriptions formedical cannabis to be written for thetreatment of PTSD. While SSRIs havebeen known to cause veterans sufferingfrom PTSD to become suicidal, Illinois’governor “just says no” to allowing thosesame veterans to smoke or ingest a plantto get relief.

“It’s a pilot project, and we gotta seehow this works out” is the retort to criticsof such moves. Never mind that for 20years in other states, medical cannabishas been used successfully to relieve

symptoms of PTSD and chronic pain.This “slow burn” approach to

developing the big business ofmedical marijuana in Illinois is worthscrutinizing. Many are crossing theirfingers that this pilot project will be thedoor-opener to re-legalizing recreationaluse.

But what if the Illinois policymakers

(think about that: policies beingmade on how one can utilize a weedthat grows in many a ditch acrossthe Prairie State) are waiting for bigpharma to catch up on patenting


and profiting from cannabis to treatchronic pain and PTSD? According toa 2013 report in High Times magazine:“A pharmaceutical company in theUnited Kingdom, specializing in theresearch and development of pot-baseddrugs, recently obtained early approvalon a patent covering two specificcannabinoids found in marijuana to

be used as treatment for brain cancer”(RCReader.com/y/pot3).

If you are interested in holding Illinoisofficials accountable to common sensewith regards to “allowing” chronic-pain

and PTSD sufferers the option of a non-pharmaceutical treatment, then pick upthe phone to your local state legislatorand demand information about theIllinois Department of Public Health. Letyour legislator know that you supportthe re-legalization of cannabis, especiallyfor medicinal purposes, and demand toknow what they are going to do to force

the Department of Public Health to quitcarrying water for the pharmaceuticalindustry. If they don’t hear from you, thebusiness of medical marijuana won’t be apublic benefit in Illinois.

WORDS FROM THE PUBLISHER


9/20


in manual mode at f/2.8, 1/3,000 of a second,and ISO 200. She shot it in raw format thenused Lightroom for processing, includingnoise reduction and sky enhancement. Theedit was finished in Photoshop with a cropand sharpening.

The Quad Cities Photography Club welcomes

visitors and new members. The club sponsorsnumerous activities encompassing many typesand aspects of photography. It holds digitaland print competitions most months. At itsmeetings, members discuss the images, helpeach other to improve, and socialize. Theclub also holds special learning workshopsand small groups that meet on specific

photography topics, and occasionally offersinteresting shooting opportunities. The clubmeets at 6:30 p.m. the first Thursday of

the month September through June at theButterworth Center, 1105 Eighth Street in Moline.

For more information on the club, visitQCPhotoClub.com.

(The River Cities’ Reader each month will feature an image or images from the QuadCities Photography Club.)

The Quad Cities Photography Clubcontinues to have many interestingphotos submitted in the monthly com-

petitions. One of the high-scoring images

in a recent competition was created by clubmember Laura Mullen. Laura shot her imageduring a mid-October sunset at the CreditIsland bike-path bridge. She explained thather model had requested some yoga posesin his senior portfolio, and Laura knewthat the timing of the shoot at this locationwould be right for this. She added that shewanted the lines of the bridge to draw intohim, and also that he be a silhouette in thesunset-colored sky. She positioned herself on

the ground to be as low as possible and senthim to a higher point on the bridge to get hisfull form.

Laura shot this with her Canon 7D MarkII with a Tamron 24-70-millimeter lens at 46millimeters with partial metering. It was shot

PHOTOGRAPHY

Featured Image from theQuad Cities Photography Club

THEATRE

musical director RachelleWalljasper effectively employtheir great cast and, aided

by composer John Spencer’smusic, deliver a familymusical that’s entertainingwithout being heavy-handed,the dance numbers simple

yet energetic. The onlynumber that doesn’t seem

to fit is “Rockin’ Reindeer.”All of the other songs arepertinent to the story and

some help reinforce theaforementioned lessons, but the “Rockin’”number, although performed well by Cramer,Roelandt, and Rogers, just seems like filler.

Santa, his elves, and his reindeer are instandard-issue costumes ... but designerGregory Hiatt pulls out all the stops for theIce Witch. Her full-length, silver, shimmeringdress trimmed in white fur and topped with a

Glinda-like crown – one brightly illuminatedwith tiny white lights – gives actress MirandaJane a look that any Disney villainess wouldenvy. (When she made her first entrance,I heard audience members gasp.) Jane’s

performance as the Ice Witch is similarlymasterful, while not being too scary for theyoungest audience members.

The production’s best use of tech comeswhen the Ice Witch creates a snowstorm, and

a large projection screen, hanging as a centerbackdrop, shows snow falling. (Until then, the

screen had only shown static images of trees.)However, the projector and screen could’ve

been used more creatively and effectively,considering the sparse scenery consistedmerely of three small, flat, painted pine treesflanking each side of the stage.

The Most Famous Reindeer of All ends

with Sammy the Snowflake finally getting hischance to sing in the show (plus an audiencesing-along to, of course, “Rudolph the RedNosed Reindeer”), and adheres to the Disneyformula: a character trying to find his way;

friends who help him; a troublesome villain; alove interest saved from harm; lessons; humor;songs; a happy ending. But this is a chance forchildren to see a familiar story in a differentway, and Circa ’21’s cast and crew have crafted

a production that’s smart, entertaining, andwell-done. When I asked my granddaughterwhat she would say to people about theexperience, she said, “It is a good show for kids

to see because they can use their imaginations.”That’s the magic of live theatre!

The Most Famous Reindeer of All runs at the

Circa ’21 Dinner Playhouse (1828 Third Avenue,

Rock Island) through December 27, and more

information and tickets are available by calling

(309)786-7733 extension 2 or visiting Circa21.com.

My husband and Ihave been takingour granddaughter

Ava to stage presentationssince she was three. She isnow eight and has her ownopinions about what makesgood theatre, and one of her

complaints about some pro-ductions is that they require

adult actors to play children.As Ava insists, “It just isn’tbelievable.” I agree. It often

seems forced.So after I was asked to review the Circa

’21 Dinner Playhouse’s children’s musicalThe Most Famous Reindeer of All , I invited

Ava along. She reluctantly agreed. But at theNovember 27 show, there were no adultsplaying kids. Instead, the cast boasted elves,reindeer, Santa, a witch, and a snowflake …and my granddaughter totally bought it and

loved it. Go figure!Author Greylyn Gregory’s version of

the Rudolph story is a play-within-a-playfeaturing Nicholas Munson’s narrator Sammythe Snowflake. Munson’s performance does

sparkle as he attempts to be the show’s star,although he’s kept in supporting-actor line bystage manager Heather Reid (the show’s actualstage manager). At times, Munson effectivelyengages the audience members by talking

directly to them and eliciting responses, andon Friday, even some of the youngest theatre-

goers weren’t bashful about chiming in. AsAva said, “I like him, he’s funny” – high praise

from The Most Famous Reindeer of All ’s targetdemographic. (And, again, I agree.) My onlydistraction concerning Sammy was that hiscostume could’ve been so much more than asport jacket with large felt snowflakes sewn

on. Making him look like one big snowflakewould’ve made more sense and bumped up thecomedic factor.

Ben Cramer’s Rudolph is endearing, hisinnocence likely helping young patrons relate

to the reindeer’s feelings of inadequacy. JanosHorvath as Santa, and Brad Hauskins asIke the elf, wholly embody their charactersand give strong performances. And woventhroughout the story are lessons that include

“It’s okay to be different, “Believe in yourself,”“Have a big heart,” “Don’t be a bully,” and“Work hard to achieve your goals.” A lessonabout love is also learned by Rudolph when he

overcomes the taunts from Rocket (SheldonRogers) and tries to befriend Doe-e, played by

Cydney Roelandt. The duet “Rain Dear,” sungby Cramer and Roelandt, was an especiallysweet moment and a favorite scene of Ava’s and

the two tweens at the next table (who sharedthis info with me after the show).

Director/choreographer Andrea Moore and

A Twist of a Reindeer Tail (/Tale)By Victoria Navarro

The Most Famous Reindeer of All , at the Circa ’21 Dinner Playhouse

through December 27

Cydney Roelandt, Sheldon

Rogers, and Ben Cramer


10/20


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TheatreGashlycrumb Orphanageand Chicago ShortiesRockridge High School

Thursday, December 17, 7 p.m.

The Center for Living Arts

Friday, December 18, 7 p.m.

Nearly every local friend I have is antsyfor that eternally promised passenger-rail service to and from Chicago, and amongthose friends, all the ones who are also activein stage productions say variants of the samething: “It’d make seeing Chicago theatreso-o-o much easier.” Well, we still don’t havethat train. But the week before Christmas,we’ll at least get a momentary respite fromour complaining, because Chicago theatre iscoming to us.

Specifically, what’s coming is a pairproductions courtesy of the touring companyA.O. the Traveling Trunk Show composedof Windy City performers Michele Stine andScott Ray Merchant (pictured). They’ll bepresenting their two-person entertainmentsGashlycrumb Orphanage and ChicagoShorties at Rock Island’s Center for LivingArts on December 18, with Gashlycrumb alsobeing performed as a one-act event at TaylorRidge’s Rockridge High School on December17. The area stops constitute something ofa homecoming for Stine, as the Andalusianative was a student at both.

“Rockridge is my alma mater,” says Stineduring out recent phone interview, “and Iwas at the Center six or seven years ago. I did

High School Musical there with them, andit was an amazing experience. [Co-owners]Dino and Tina Hayz are such lovely humanbeings, and they really know how to talk tostudents and educate them and inspire themto continue their education the arts.”

Stine’s own theatrical education iscertainly continuing via A.O. (which

stands for “American Odyssey”), as she andMerchant – “romantic partners as well asbusiness partners,” she says – officially beganthis performance-based touring endeavoronly a few months ago.

“Scott and I have been together forcoming up on two years,” she says, “and inabout March of this year, we started reallybrainstorming about things we wanted todo. We were going, ‘What if we traveled thecountry? Wait, what if we got to performandtravel the country? What if we got to do all ofthis amazing art that we admire and respectwhile we perform and travel the country?’”

As Gashlycrumb and Chicago Shorties willdemonstrate, the art that Stine and Merchantwanted to explore included a little bit of

everything – acting, storytelling, dance,

music, puppetry, pantomime, clowning,sketch comedy – blended into an immersiveexperience for audiences. “And we reallyhoped to create a cross-country conversationof theatre,” says Stine. “So most of Augustand September was me in a coffee shoplooking at the cities we knew we wanted togo, and researching what their theatre sceneswere like, and trying to decide the bestmatches for what we had to offer. This wholeproject has been very do-it-yourself.

“Of course, we couldn’t afford to pay rentalcosts,” she continues. “And our goal was justto make a little bit of money to help fuel ourgas tank and get us to the next city. What wehoped was that these places would do door-splits with us – and that’s pretty much whatwe’ve been doing this whole time.”

As Stine’s and Merchant’s first A.O. theTraveling Trunk Show engagement tookplace on September 27, they’ve also beendoing remarkably well, considering they’vethus far performed in Detroit, Philadelphia,Washington, D.C., San Antonio, Denver, andRichmond, among other major Americancities. “It’s a very fresh, new experience,that’s for sure,” says Stine. “It was one ofthose things that started small and kind ofsnowballed into this big project.”

Describing their Quad Cities shows,Stine says that the 50-minute Gashlycrumb,as its title implies, “is loosely based on TheGashlycrumb Tinies by Edward Gorey,”the darkly satirical 1963 book that tells

of children’s untimely deaths in rhymingcouplets. “It was created by Chicago artistsLacy Katherine Campbell and Scott RayMerchant, and it’s about two orphans –Rowena and Thaddeus – who’ve taken over

their orphanage. It uses a lot of different

mediums as far as puppetry and dance andpoetry. It’s dark, kind of Tim Burton-esque,but also high-energy and a lot of fun.”

As for Chicago Shorties, “that was createdby Aileen McGroddy, Scott, and myself, andit’s kind of the brainchild of all the weirdthings we’ve always wanted to do on a stagewhile still creating a cohesive story. It followsthe general trajectory of a relationship – likehow you first meet, and then you’re attractedto each other, and then you have your

first fight, and then you know each other’skitchen routines and how to maneuveraround each other ... .

“But then, while this relationship is beingdiscovered, it’s being intercepted by anotherrelationship – the one between the charactersand the audience. One of the humans reallyloves the audience, and the other is terrifiedof them. And the whole thing is done with alot of high-octane energy and pantomime.”

Stine adds that the productions are bestsuited for middle-school-aged viewers andolder, which makes them ideally housed atthe local schools in which she herself foundearly theatrical inspiration. “I just hopewhen audiences see the show,” she says,“they realize and remember how fun it is tobe inside a story and to be engaged in thestorytelling. And I hope they walk away withbig ol’ smiles on their faces.”

The A.O. the Traveling Trunk Showperformances will begin at 7 p.m. for bothRockridge’s December 17 Gashlycrumb

Orphanage and the Center for Living Arts’December 18 two-fer of Gashlycrumb andChicago Shorties, and more information isavailable by calling (309)798-6834 or visitingAOTheTrunkShow.com. t l e


11/20


MUSICFriday, December 11 – Denial 3: A

Tribute to Trans-Siberian Orchestra.

Touring progressive-rock musiciansperforming in their Prophecy Tour.Quad-Cities Waterfront ConventionCenter (2021 State Street, Bettendorf).7:30 p.m. $25. For information, call(800)843-4753 or visit QCWCC.com.

Friday, December 11 – Bongzilla.

Concert with the Madison-basedstoner-metal band, with opening sets

by Obsidian Sword and MorphineDream. Rock Island Brewing Company(1815 Second Avenue, Rock Island).9 p.m. $15 advance tickets. Forinformation, call (309)793-1999 or visitRIBCO.com.

Friday, December 11 – An

Ambrosian Christmas. Holidayconcert featuring the St. AmbroseUniversity Chorale and ChamberSingers, featuring the premiere

of a new composition by WilliamCampbell. St. Ambrose University’sGalvin Fine Arts Center (2101 NorthGaines Street, Davenport). 7:30 p.m.Free. For information, call (563)333-6251 or visit SAU.edu/galvin.

Friday, December 11 – Celebrate

the Holidays. Seasonal concertwith the local barbershop chorusthe Davenport Chordbusters, plusadditional performances by theBend of the River Chorus, Hersong,Riverbend Bronze, Crimson River,Schrader Duet, Jonathan Turner, theQuad City Music Guild Youth Chorus,

What ElseIs Happenin’

by Mike Schulz

[email protected]

Continued On Page 12

usicIETox

day, December 10, 8 p.m.

ielle Nicoleedstone Room

day, December 19, 8 p.m.

ou checked out the Reader ’s recentinter Guide edition, you may have runs an article detailing just how manyay concerts were taking place this

th – roughly 700 words worth of ’em, inBut if you’re a music lover who’s actuallyng for some respite from seasonal, you still have plenty of excellent areans, including two concerts by artistsreleased their debut albums in 2015:-Tox’s December 10 engagement with the

/pop duo of DICKIE, and the Redstone’s December 19 booking with formerpled Under Foot performer Daniellele. Of course, you can’t spell “Nicole”ut “noel,” and at Christmas parties, myas been known to occasionally wear a

e ... .is capitalized DICKIE, however, isosed of songwriter/guitarist Dick Pralliolinist Kristina Priceman, and the pair’sitled CD was released in early August.ing gorgeous instrumentals with Prall’s

ture storytelling technique, DICKIE – ast reviews have underscored – is quickly

ming well-regarded for exquisitely

evocative alt-pop arrangements as lyricallybrilliant as they are musically satisfying.MusicExistence.com raves that DICKIE is

“full of supremely crafted and masterfullyexecuted tunes” and “one of the finest debutalbums of this year,” and the Chicago Sun-Times called the duo’s stylings “a brand ofrootsy power-pop that is smart, introspective,and filled with great hooks.”

As the lead vocalist and bass player for thechart-topping soul and blues outfit TrampledUnder Foot, Danielle Nicole is certainly nostranger to outstanding notices, either – norto the awards circuit. Her tenure with the

band found Nicole and her fellow musicianswinning the 2008 International BluesChallenge and the “Contemporary Blues

Album of the Year” category at the 2014 Blues

Music Awards. And if reviews for the artist’sMarch EP Danielle Nicole and September soloCD Wolf Den are any indication, she mayhave to clear wall or mantle space to makeway for a few more citations. According toBlues Blast magazine, Danielle Nicole is “alltop-shelf stuff” that proves the artist “one ofthe best blues singers out there today,” whileBluesRockReview.Bandcamp.com states thatWolf Den “gives Nicole a chance to showcaseher soulful vocals atop an undercurrent of

funky guitar.”So them’s our players – how well do youknow their output? Let’s find out! Whichof the following six songs can be found onDICKIE’s self-titled debut, and which onDanielle Nicole’s Wolf Den debut?

1) “Back to the Moon”2) “Just Give Me Tonight”3) “Pop Pop Pop”4) “Unbelievable”5) “In My Dreams”6) “Didn’t Do You No Good”

A) DICKIEB) Danielle Nicole

DICKIE’s December 10 show opens with aset by Dave Tamkin, and more informationon the 8 p.m. concert is available by calling(309)200-0978 or visiting RozzTox.com.

Danielle Nicole’s December 19 RedstoneRoom engagement begins with an 8 p.m.

set featuring Dan Tedesco, and for moreinformation and tickets, call (563)326-1333 or visit RiverMusicExperience.com.

A n s w e r s : 1 – A , 2 – B , 3 – A , 4 – A , 5 – B , 6 – B . T h a t l a s t s o n g t i t l e w a s a l s o w h a t I w a s t o l d w h e n I a s k e d f o r a r a i s e . A c t u a l l y , s o w a s t h e s o n g ti b e f o r e t h a t . A n d t h e o n e b e f o r e t h a t .


12/20


and Laila Haley. Heritage Church (4801

44th Street, Rock Island). 7 p.m. Free. Forinformation, call (309)788-2030 or visitHeritageQC.com.

Friday, December 11, and December

12 – Christmas with the Quad City

Singers.Local vocal ensemble performsarrangements of “Jingle Bells,” “Upon the Housetop,” and other festivefavorites under the direction of LoriPotts. Lavender Crest Winery (5401U.S. Highway 6, Colona). 6 p.m. cocktailhour, 7 p.m. dinner and concert. $45.

For tickets andinformation,call (309)781-7266 or visitQuadCitySingers.org.

Saturday,

December 12,

and Sunday,December 13

– A Christmas

Messiah.Annual presentation of Handel’sholiday masterpiece by the HandelOratorio Society, with solos by sopranoJamie Rose Guarrine, mezzo sopranoAmanda Crider, tenor Tyler Nelson,and baritone Corey Crider. AugustanaCollege’s Centennial Hall (3703 SeventhAvenue, Rock Island). Saturday 8 p.m.,Sunday 2 p.m. $10-20. For tickets andinformation, call (309)794-7306 or visitAugustana.edu/arts.

Saturday, December 12 – Sara

Gazarek.Concert with the jazz vocalist,faculty member at the University ofSouthern California, and Quad City Artsvisiting artist. Central Performing ArtsCenter (519 East 11th Street, DeWitt).7 p.m. Donations encouraged. Forinformation, call (309)793-1213 or visitQuadCityArts.com.

Sunday, December 13 – Quad

City Wind Ensemble. Area musicians

perform in their annual holiday concert,conducted by Brian L. Hughes. St.Ambrose University’s Galvin Fine ArtsCenter (2101 North Gaines Street,Davenport). 3 p.m. Free. For information,visit QCWindEnsemble.org.

Thursday, December 17 – Frank

Sinatra Jr.: Sinatra Sings Sinatra.

Multimedia experience in which FrankJr. delivers recollections of life on- andoff-stage with his iconic father, in a

Broadway at the Adler presentation.Adler Theatre (136 East Third Street,Davenport). 7:30 p.m. $37-62. Fortickets, call (800)745-3000 or visitAdlerTheatre.com.

Thursday, December

17 – Moeller’s HolidayMystery Show. Daytrotter’sSean Moeller hosts someof his favorite independentmusicians in a pre-holidaycelebration. Village Theatre(2113 East 11th Street,Davenport). 8 p.m. $12-15. For information, visitFacebook.com/MoellerMondays.

Thursday, December 17 – Lessons &

Carols. Annual presentations in which

the AugustanaChamber Singersand CampusMinistries presentthe story ofChrist’s birth inreadings and song.Augustana College’sAscension Chapel(3701 SeventhAvenue, Rock

Island). 4 and 8 p.m.Free. For information, call (309)794-7306or visit Augustana.edu/arts.

Friday, December 18, and Saturday,

December 19 – A Nova Christmas.

The professional vocal ensemble theNova Singers performs familiar carols intraditional and debuting arrangementsunder the direction of Laura Lane. Friday:St. Paul Lutheran Church of Davenport(2136 Brady Street). Saturday: FirstLutheran Church of Galesburg (364East Water Street). 7:30 p.m. $15-18. Forinformation and tickets, call (309)341-7038 or visit NovaSingers.com.

Friday, December 18 – Bucktown

Revue. Holiday celebration of MississippiRiver Valley culture through music,storytelling, poetry and humor, featuringemcee Scott Tunnicliff and special guests.Nighswander Theatre (2822 EasternAvenue, Davenport). 7 p.m. $13 at thedoor. For information, call (563)940-0508

or visit BucktownRevue.com.Saturday, January 2 – Man in Black:

The Music of Johnny Cash. Concerttribute to the country legend withimpersonator Robert Shaw and his band.Circa ’21 Dinner Playhouse (1828 ThirdAvenue, Rock Island). 7 p.m. $20-25. Fortickets and information, call (309)786-7733 extension 2 or visit Circa21.com.

THEATRE

Thursday, December 10, throughSunday, December 20 – A Christmas

Carol . Annual presentation of Tristan Tapscott’s and Danny White’s musicalbased on Charles Dickens’ holiday

classic, directed by James Fairchild.District Theatre (1724 Fourth Avenue,Rock Island). Thursday throughSaturday and December 9 and 20: 8p.m. Sunday: 2 p.m. $20. For tickets andinformation, call (309)235-1654 or visitDistrictTheatre.com.

Saturday, December 12, andSunday, December 13 – Trifles. SusanGlaspell’s one-act drama based onan early-20th-Century murder case,directed by Augustana junior JacobKilburg. Augustana College Black Box

Theatre (Bergendoff Hall of Fine Arts,3701 Seventh Avenue, Rock Island).

Saturday 7:30 p.m., Sunday 1:30 p.m.$3-5. For tickets and information, call(309)794-7306 or visit Augustana.edu/theatre.

Tuesday, December 15 – An

Evening to Remember: A Celebra-

tion for Dianne Dye. Fundraiser for

the longtime costume designer, with

performances by Philip Wm.McKinley, Kimberly Furness,

Michael Kennedy, Jim Hessel-

man, Daniel Sheridan, AaronRandolph III, and more. St.

Ambrose University’s Galvin

Fine Arts Center (2101 NorthGaines Street, Davenport).

5:30 p.m. cash bar, appetizers,

silent auction; 7 p.m. perfor-mance. $25. For tickets and

information, call (563)333-6251 or visit

SAU.edu/galvin.Friday, December 18 – Lightwire

Theater: A Very Electric Christmas.

The electro-luminescent touring artistsperform a holiday tale set to familiarpop-music favorites. Adler Theatre (136East Third Street, Davenport). 7:30 p.m.$21-38. For tickets, call (800)745-3000or visit AdlerTheatre.com.

Friday, December 25, and

Saturday, December 26 – The

Santaland Diaries. Joe Mantello’s stageadaptation of David Sedaris’ comedicholiday tale, directed by Tristan

Tapscott. District Theatre (1724 FourthAvenue, Rock Island). 8 p.m. $10. Fortickets and information, call (309)235-1654 or visit DistrictTheatre.com.

DANCESaturday, December 12,

and Sunday, December 13 –

The Nutcracker . Ballet Quad

Cities’ annual presentation of Tchaikovsky’s holiday classic,

with live music by Orchestra

Iowa and guest appearancesby the Quad City Symphony’s

Children’s Choir. Adler Theatre

(136 East Third Street, Davenport).Saturday 1:30 and 7:30 p.m., Sunday 1:30

p.m. $10.50-36. For tickets, call (800)745-3000 or visit AdlerTheatre.com.

COMEDY Friday, December 11 – The After

Hour . Andrew King hosts a live, late-night talk show with guests Travis Bails,

Dan Bush, and Donnie Bobb. Circa ’21

Speakeasy (1818 Third Avenue, RockIsland). 10:30 p.m. $8-10. For tickets and

information, call (309)786-7733 extension

2 or visit Circa21.com.

Saturday, December 19 – Show UsYour Pokeballs. Celebration of nerd

culture with comedians Nikki Gillette andJoshua Kahn. Circa ’21 Speakeasy (1818

Third Avenue, Rock Island). 8 p.m. $10-12.

For tickets and information, call (309)786-7733 extension 2 or visit Circa21.com.

EVENTSFriday, December 11 –

Gallery Hop! Demonstrations,

performances, works for sale,and more with local artists at a

variety of different downtown

venues, co-presented byMidcoast Fine Arts. The District

of Rock Island. 6-10 p.m. Free.

For information, call (563)424-1210 or visit Midcoast.org.

Tuesday, December 22 – Winter

Solstice featuring Dixon’s Violin.

Celebrate the solstice with breakout

sessions including Reiki self-healing withLars Rehnberg, music therapy with EmJay,“The Shamanic Journey” with Kathleen

Collins, and music by Dixon’s Violin.

The Redstone Room (129 Main Street,Davenport). 6:30 p.m. $20. For tickets and

information, call (563)326-1333 or visit

RiverMusicExperience.org.

Thursday, December 31 – Bottom’s

Up Quad City Burlesque: Best of Show.

New Year’s Eve performance featuringthe area burlesque artists’ and comedians’

greatest hits. Circa ’21 Speakeasy (1818 Third Avenue, Rock Island). 10 p.m. $25.For tickets and information, call (309)786-

7733 extension 2 or visit Circa21.com.


What Else Is Happenin’

A Nova Christmas - December 18 and 19

Christmas with the Quad City Singers - December 11 and 12

Frank Sinatra Jr. @

the Adler Theatre -

December 17


13/20


has to speak to experience. If your goal

with music is to express something,that’s really hard to do if there’s noconnection.”

As a Quad City Arts visiting artist,Gazarek and her pianist Nelson – withwhom she’s collaborated for the past11 years – are enjoying the chance to

share that sense of connection with areastudents.

“At first,” says Gazarek about theirelementary-school engagements, “we

talk to the kids about basic jazz conceptslike jazz rhythms and jazz instrumentsand improvisation. And then, as quicklyas possible, we get them up singing.

“We have them learn how to count

off a jazz song,” she continues, “andthen we teach them a little jazz songand have them improvise on it. We’ll dosomething like ‘You Are My Sunshine,’

because they usually know that onealready, or a jazz standard like ‘On the

Sunny Side of the Street,’ and then we just make stuff up and play around. Of

course, we perform a couple songs forthem, as well. But I really feel like thebest way to ignite that curiosity in kidsand make those connections is to be asinteractive as possible.”

Gazarek’s December 12 concert,meanwhile, will find the artist andher trio performing “some brand-newarrangements that we’re very excited to

share, plus a selection of songs from thethree different CDs that we’ve got.”

Including, perhaps, that jazzy renditionof “Unpack Your Adjectives” that couldeasily prompt patrons to beg for an entirealbum devoted to Schoolhouse Rock. “Imight have to do that,” says Gazarek, with

a chuckle, when the suggestion is made.“I might have to.”

Sara Gazarek will complete her Quad

City Arts Visiting Artist residency witha public concert at DeWitt’s CentralPerforming Arts Center (519 East 11thStreet) on Saturday, December 12.

Admission to the 7 p.m. event is free,

with donations encouraged, and moreinformation is available by calling(309)793-1213 or visiting QuadCityArts.com.

Gazarek will also perform a recital at Moline’s Deere-Wiman House (817 11th Avenue) on Friday, December 11, at 3 p.m.

For more information on the artist, visitSaraGazarek.com.

Unpack Your Superlativesby Mike Schulz

[email protected]

Essentially Ellington [High School Jazz

Band] Competition in New York City.It’s this incredible big-band competitionthat’s hosted by the Lincoln Center JazzOrchestra, which is directed by WyntonMarsalis, and that year was the first yearthey had a vocal-soloist competition. Somy choir director invited me to go alongwith the band and compete.”

One would think this would be anerve-racking experience for a high-school senior. Yet Gazarek says, “I

remember having a really inspiringconversation with Wynton Marsalisright before I walked on-stage, and thenwalking out in front of thousands ofpeople at Avery Fisher Hall at LincolnCenter, and feeling ... comfortable.

“We’d attended other jazz festivals,and I’d had conversations with somereally heavy-hitting jazz musicians,and I was always taken with howapproachable and kind and humble

everyone seemed to be. How there wasan element of sincerity kind of pulsingthrough the music, and how thattranslated off-stage, as well. Most of the

jazz musicians I came across wanted tospeak to young people to help ignite theflame and pass along the message of thegenre.

“So at Lincoln Center, I felt, youknow, happy , instead of nervous.” Andwhen her performance of the eventualBlossom & Bee track “Some of TheseDays” found Gazarek winning thecompetition’s inaugural Ella FitzgeraldCharitable Foundation OutstandingVocal Soloist Award, the artist says, “Ithink that was definitely the momentwhen I realized this was something Iwanted to continue to pursue. Feelingreally happy and comfortable with howexposed I felt. I wanted more of that.”

While still in high school, Gazarekbegan immersing herself in the works of

jazz artists who would quickly emergeas inspirations. “It started with EllaFitzgerald,” she says, “and then it movedon to Sarah Vaughan and CarmenMcRae. And then I started to discoversome more contemporary singers. KurtElling was a huge influence early on,and a woman named Tierney Sutton –they all kept the inspiration going, forsure.”

Gazarek’s newfound love for jazz

continued with her enrollment at theUniversity of Southern California’sThornton School of Music (fromwhich she graduated in 2004), whereshe studied with vocalist Carmen

Bradford, pianist Shelly Berg, and

bassist/arranger John Clayton, thelatter of whom would go on to producehis student’s first album. Yet while shewas receiving numerous performanceopportunities at USC – winning 2003’sDownbeat Student Music Award for BestCollegiate Vocalist – Gazarek also foundher musical interests dovetailing witheducational ones.

“I was always grateful to have hadsuch a passionate educator as Scott

Brown,” she says, “and I always thought,‘If I could have that opportunity, howmany other kids might fall in love withthis genre once they really know whatit is?’

“So pretty much right aftercollege, I partnered with a nonprofitorganization called Music for All thatdistributes money to public-schoolmusic programs. I would tour and raiseawareness for the organization by going

into schools and doing workshops.And I helped write the curriculumfor a jazz-outreach program at USCcalled JazzReach that sends college kidsout into the public schools for privatelessons and to lead different ensembles– basically just spreading the wordabout jazz.”

For the past five years, Gazarek hasalso served as a Vocal Arts adjunctprofessor for her alma mater’s JazzStudies department. “Going back toUSC has been a totally different thing,because these are young people thathave already chosen this path forthemselves. So I don’t really get to seethe light bulbs go off, because they’vealready gone off,” she says with a laugh.“But it’s so thrill ing to be there withthem as they make strides in their ownpaths as musicians.”

A Joyful, OrganicExperienceAs for Gazarek’s path toward a

successful recording career, it beganwith her debut album Yours, whichalso boasted the Sara Gazarek Bandcomposed, at the time, of bassist ErikKertes, drummer Eric Slocum, andpianist Josh Nelson.

“I had just graduated from USC,” shesays, “and had already landed a booking

agent at William Morris, and hadauditioned for some major labels. Butthe band and I just knew that we wantedto make a record that was a statementabout who we were at the time. So we

signed with this smaller independent

jazz label that would allow us thefreedom to make the debut we wantedto make. Instead of being told, as youngpeople, what to do by a high-poweredproducer and a high-powered arranger– and then, after that first record, stillnot really knowing anything more aboutwho we were as musicians, you know?

“So that was really beautiful andfun,” says Gazarek of Yours’ creation.“Getting together with the band a

couple times a week, coming up withthe arrangements together, meeting withour producer John Clayton, who gaveus some really phenomenal feedback,going into Capitol Studios for three daysand recording ... . It was a very joyful,organic experience.”

In addition to numbers by legendarycomposers such as Irving Berlin, ColePorter, Harold Arlen, and JohnnyMercer, plus more-contemporary

talents such as Joni Mitchell and PaulMcCartney, Gazarek and her banddecided to add a couple of originalsto the mix: Nelson’s nostalgia-tingedtitle track, and “You Got by,” Gazarek’sand Kertes’ wistful yet resolute ode tosurviving heartbreak. And when askedif she felt at all hesitant about includingone of her first-ever compositionsalongside the likes of Berlin andMitchell, the artist says, with a laugh,“Yes, of course. Those are some reallyheavy songwriters.

“But I think that the beauty

Documents

River Cities' Reader - Issue 897 - December 10, 2015