A seasoned freelance journalist, Marla Seidell has contributed features, profiles, reviews and interviews to over 20 publications. She has been a correspondent for The Daily Herald and an arts critic for Newcity Chicago, Chicago Artists’ News, and ARTslant.com. She has covered dining for Citysearch.com, Centerstage Chicago (Sun-times Media) and is currently a theatre critic for Centerstage and other outlets. She has written about fashion, finance, health, food, business, technology, the arts, music, and travel. She has interviewed dozens of prominent artists and innovators such as Lois Weisberg, Bill Kurtis, John Fluevog, Bill Zwecker, Jason Pierce, and Juliana Hatfield.
CLIENTS
The New York Post
ALARM PRESS
Chicago Artists’s News
Today’s Chicago Woman
Vegetarian Times
ART News
ARTslant.com
Citysearch.com
Newcity Chicago Magazine
Cafe Magazine
Chicago Artists’ News
Timeout Chicago
The A.V. Club
Cafe Magazine
TheatreinChicago.com
Picktainment.com
Travelingmom.com
Totem Communications
BREAKING NEWS / TRENDS
Stranger Than Fiction: What’s Going on at Columbia College? Newcity Chicago Magazine, March 2012
Friday afternoon, I arrive at a Columbia College Chicago building on South Michigan Avenue to talk with Fiction Writing Department Chair Dr. Randall Albers. Dressed elegantly in jeans and a French blue shirt with black stripes covered with a brown corduroy blazer, Albers’ height and distinguished presence make him slightly intimidating. Yet he smiles and greets me warmly, ushering me into his spacious office with a killer twelfth-floor view of the lake, and floor-to-ceiling bookshelves.
Raising the Bars: The growing trend of art in bars, Newcity Chicago Magazine, December 2009
It’s almost 8pm on a freezing Thursday evening at Logan Square’s two-month-old hipster haven Whistler. Outside, Nicole Dudik’s mixed media installation, “Get Out Your Blue Mittens”—an abstract compilation of blue horizontal lines—lights up the storefront window gallery on an otherwise dark street.
With a Little Help from My Friends, Gapersblock.com, October 2007
For Chicago illustrator and graphic artist Mike Segawa, joining a blogging community afforded the opportunity for immediate feedback and recognition.
The Stars Go Out on Lincoln, Gapersblock.com, September 2006
Another one bites the dust. It’s Sept. 1, and the demolition has begun. Bulldozers are charging in, pulverizing the seedy rooms of the Stars Motel, which has stood at 6100 N. Lincoln Ave. for more than four decades.
Art Not Necessarily for Sale, Newcity Chicago Magazine, August 2008
Many new and established art galleries function as gallery spaces and homes. Outside the clusters of galleries, these spaces, such as Pilsen’s Antena, Oak Park’s Suburban and Albany Park’s Swimming Pool Project Space make room for art beside the furniture.
TRAVEL
10 things to do in Amsterdam BESIDES Smoking Pot, Matador Trips, June 2008
Contrary to Pulp Fiction lore, there’s more to Amsterdam than hash bars. Coffee shops are the shit for many an Amsterdam virgin, yet locals view them as tourist traps lacking in “gezelligheid,” or coziness, the cornerstone of Dutch culture. Smoking yourself into a coma at the Bulldog is just fine, but you’re going to miss out.
Soul and the City, CenterstageChicago.com, September 2009
Think you know every inch of the Windy City? That you’ve been there, done that? Well, know-it-all, unless you’ve tasted the spirit of soul, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.
Art Viewing Made Easy, CenterstageChicago.com, August 2009
Love art but intimated by the gallery scene? Luckily, there’s a wealth of art on display in unlikely locations throughout Chicago, from sushi restaurants to dive bars and public murals.
International Itineraries, CenterstageChicago.com, August 2009
It can be hard to tell among all the cover bands and light-beer vendors, but Chicago festival season is actually a very cosmopolitan time. For every manifestation of American gluttony, there’s a worldly event offering a glimpse into the colorful cuisines and diverse neighborhoods of the city.
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
NY ticket prices plummet after Sheen show bombs in Detroit, New York Post, April 5, 2011
Charlie’s “Torpedo of Truth” is all but blowing him out of the water in New York.
Who is her final guest? Only Oprah, New York Post, May 26, 2011
It ended with the ugly cry. Oprah Winfrey taped her final show — number 4,561 — yesterday with Oprah as her one and only guest.
How do Chicago Actors Survive? Theatreinchicago.com, October 2011
Being an actor is akin to being a clown in the circus. You need to get into character for every performance, and juggling is a must for survival.
Eskmo: Hypnotic Electronics Guided by Intuition, Alarm Press, April 2011
Brendan Angelides, the San Francisco-based electronic producer known as Eskmo, is not holding back anymore.
Matana Roberts, Alarm Press, October 2009
Lush and expressive, The Chicago Project is a definitive album of Matana Roberts’ 15-year career as jazz tenor saxophonist.
Open Sound New Orleans: Revising a City, Alarm Press, December 2010
Storytellers abound in New Orleans. Take, for example, a 95-year-old man dragging a suitcase down St. Claude Avenue in midday heat.
Locrian: Confronting Urban Decay with Ambient Metal, Alarm Press, March 2009
Andre Foisy and Terence Hannum are pleased that their band Locrian defies musical categorization.
Nonfiction Review: “Pleasure Bound: Victorian Sex Rebels and the New Eroticism” by Deborah Lutz, Newcity Chicago Magazine, February 2011
“Pleasure Bound: Victorian Sex Rebels and the New Eroticism” eschews your preconceived notions of mid-nineteenth-century English repressiveness.
ARSLANT.com 2009-10
Reviews and “Flavor Picks”
FOOD
Local Feasting: Prep Your Holiday Meals with Green City Market Finds, Newcity Chicago Magazine, November 2011
This past Saturday morning I made a startling discovery. I took a walk to the Green City Market, which, happily, does not close up shop with summer.
Schaumburg’s Sushi Ya exudes sense of calm, touch of Korea, Daily Herald, March 2010
Japanese fare dished up by Koreans is not as strange as it sounds.
Chef Ping in Rolling Meadows makes eating well easy, Daily Herald, December 2009
When a Chinese restaurant is packed to the gills by 6 p.m. on a Saturday, you know you’re in good hands.
A Great Taste of Rome in Hoffman Estates, Daily Herald, July 2009
When out of Rome, do as Romans would do: Serve authentic Italian that bespeaks Old World at every inch.
The big cheese, The A.V. Club, February 2008
Can America’s obesity problem be linked to cheese’s recent spike in popularity? Perhaps, but there’s more to the fattening dairy product than just being riddled with flavorful bacteria.
Pinot Noir: Thanksgiving Wine of Champions, The A.V. Club, November 2007
Thanksgiving has long implied not only eating well, but also drinking well. In other words, people expect to get stuffed and sloshed, and in that order.
CITYSEARCH.COM 2008-09
Over 50 reviews and roundups of restaurants, boutiques, and nightclubs
HUMOR / PERSONAL ESSAYS
New Year’s Eve on the cheap, The A.V. Club, December 2007
New Year’s Eve isn’t only an opportunity to make unrealistic resolutions; it’s also a customary time of laying down a wad of cash to attend a fabricated evening of fun where the food, entertainment and guests are mandated by tradition.
Love and Sex: Pounded, Newcity Chicago Magazine, February 2009
I must confess that I despise Valentine’s Day with all my heart.
PERSONALITIES
Chicago’s Cultural Queen: Lois Weisberg, Today’s Chicago Woman, March 2009
Lois Weisberg has an uncanny sense for taking a creative idea and turning it into a stellar event.
Bill Kurtis, Today’s Chicago Woman, December 2008
The extraordinary career of award-winning journalist, documentary producer and humanitarian Bill Kurtis spans over 40 years.
A Fresh and Seasonal Approach: Chef Michael Shrader brings seasonal quality to N9NE Steakhouse, Today’s Chicago Woman, October 2008
Michael Shrader is a stickler about food being fresh and of highest quality. As executive chef of the West Loop’s upscale steakhouse N9NE, Chef Shrader oversees a staff of 100, in addition to a seasonally focused menu.
The Entrepreneurial Edge: Margo Ten Eyck, Today’s Chicago Woman, July 2008
In business for just two years, Sansapelle owner Margo Ten Eyck’s secret for success is a combination of old world service and devotion to accentuating her clients’ best features.
Dream Angel: The inspirations of iconic shoe designer John Fluevog, Newcity Chicago Magazine, July 2009
John Fluevog has angels on the soles of his shoes. Urban Angels, that’s the name of this particular mid-calf boot, which like the Fluevog stores, hit their twentieth anniversary this year.
The Art of Letting Go: Profile of Juliana Hatfield, UR Chicago Magazine, September 2008
According to Juliana Hatfield, letting go is a process you learn only by mastering the art of it.
