The other day we received an email from Rob Lindley about his upcoming “Foiled Again” gig at Evanston’s S.P.A.C.E. on December 21, @8:00 pm. Rob told us that this was Foiled Again’s ninth annual holiday/winter solstice show and the second half of the evening would be a CD release party – a live recording made during the DARK CAFE DAYS: Foiled Again Sings Joni Mitchell show that Ageless North Shore saw last July.
Foiled Again in Holiday Regalia
So that sounded cool. Then I remembered Mira Temkin’s review on tripvine.com of Oh Coward! at the Writer’s Theatre in Glencoe. Here is some of what Mira had to say.
“Oh Coward!” entertains grandly with snippets of song, effervescent music, satirical quips and witty repartee that are poured as easily as the champagne.
But the show really belongs to the three performers Kate Fry, Rob Lindley and John Sanders, who along with accompanist Doug Peck, make the genius of Noel Coward come alive with style and grace. Don’t miss it!
(click here for Mira’s full article)
Rob Lindley and Doug Peck? Sounds familiar.
So I asked Rob if he we were talking about the same Rob Lindley (and Doug Peck).
We were indeed, and as Rob sat at a North Shore coffee shop waiting for his next performance at Glencoe’s Writer’s Theatre, we had this exchange:
John Sanders, Kate Fry and Rob Lindley/Photo: Michael Brosilow
Rob: O Coward! is kind of a perfect show for me and I feel lucky to be involved with it. The Writers’ Theatre has transformed their Books on Vernon space into a nightclub and for an actor who is a sometimes cabaret-artist, it is a perfect place to be.
I also feel lucky that I have so much experience singing not only in an intimate setting but in a group of three. The cast of Oh Coward! has 2 men and a woman, which is the opposite of the 2 woman/1 man combo of Foiled Again, but the dynamic of sharing a stage with 2 dear friends is the same in both.
How did you get the show?
Rob: In the Spring I was asked by Writers’ to do a preview of Oh Coward! for their annual gala. Not long after that they asked me to do the full production.
Favorite song(s)?
Rob: I love If Love Were All – although I don’t sing it in the production. The lines “for I believe that since my life began/The most I’ve had is just a talent to amuse/Heigh ho, if love were all” get me every time. My favorite song to sing is probably My Secret Heart or Mad Dogs and Englishmen.
Theatre versus cabaret?
Rob: In my life they are very, very close. Doing cabaret has its challenges and requires you to be very confident. You can’t hide behind a character, it is just you out there, no costumes or wigs or script to hide behind. I love both equally, and both of them have influenced the other. Acting has made me a better performer, and being a cabaret performer has given me so much confidence and a wonderful creative outlet that I feel like it truly “mine”
I love your voice. How did you get that happening? Lessons? Voice Training?
Rob: Never been much for voice training. I studied voice from around 7th-12th grade, although I had been singing in public since age 5. I worked with lots of great music directors in college, and in a fantastic a cappella group at Chicago’s Navy Pier (which is where I first met and started singing with Anne and Allison from Foiled Again), and then started doing cabaret and worked very closely with local musical directors Dan Stetzel, Beckie Menzie, Doug Peck and cabaret master classes with cabaret legend Julie Wilson.
Thank Rob, and keep warm! Here’s a video from Foiled Again that is particularly appropriate NOW!
Tickets anyone?
O Coward! @Glencoe’s Writer’s Theatre (runs through March 21) click here
Foiled Again: 9th Annual Holiday Wish List and CD release party @Evanston’s SPACE click here
