Chicago Tribune from Chicago, Illinois • 282

Arts Page 8 Section 13 Chicago Tribune, Sunday, July 12, 1987 ((I Pop A smashing American premiere by Remains Theatre-a social experience of dazzling power, a theatre event ot tremendous vitality. Christiansen, Tribune "SUPER! Unmellow fellow Dan Fogelberg: From gentle ballads to hard rock A superb ensemble, knocking down the theatre's walls with their screams tor escape, or taking one's breath away with the sudden simplicity ot a telling 1 gesture or a quiet song. Tribune "UIIFOnSETTABLE" A fiery, wildly Impassioned production directed by Robert haunting power and gut-wrenching beauty-unforgettable. Sun-Times YOU DONT WATCH ROAD. YOU LIVE IN IT.

it- -A mi 1 1 1 "v''fylvy by Jim Cartwright CALL NOW 327-5588 ,7. 71 Robert Falls' direction ol ROAD hts foetn made) powtWt by a generous contribution from Shelley Andrea CSA, and Jane Alderman, CSA. Jim Cartwright 'a accommodationt in Chicago are courtety ot the WrutenaM Hotel. Airfare courtesy of TWA, "I've always done rock and roll on my albums," says Fogelberg, but it's been my ballads that have been released as singles. "RAGS SHINES AT CANDLELIGHT This important production captures the sweep and beauty of 'RAGS' the power of its story, and the richness of its score." CHRISTIANSEN.

TRIBUNE By Lynn Van Matre Pop music ciltic an Fogelberg figures that a lot of people can identify with the theme of his new album, "Exiles." It's about suffering through the hurt and confusion of a divorce which Fogelberg did awhile back. "I don't want to say that pain creates art, because I don't totally believe that," says the Illinois-born singersongwriterguitarist, who has racked up seven million-selling albums and 10 Top 40 singles since 1974. "I didn't have any choice about writing these songs, really. When you're going through that kind of transition, it's difficult to think about anything else, so I wrote about the emotions that I was going through at the time the anger, the pain, the self-reproach, all of the phases that people go through in the process of healing. "And I have to say, as a casual observer, that there's gotta be some people out there who can relate to this adds Fogelberg with a laugh.

"When I was writing these songs, everybody I knew was splitting up with somebody." You might expect "Exiles," which just hit the pop charts, to be rife with tearful ballads. It's not. In fact, it's one of his hardest-rocking albums yet. And Fogelberg, a man who has had more than his share of hit ballads, is hoping that it will stop people from thinking of him as a mellow singer-songwriter type. "I've gotten kind of pigeonholed in that role, and I don't like it," says the singer, who headlines Tuesday at Poplar Creek backed by a band he describes as his "hardest-edged, most rocking" ever.

"I've always done rock and roll songs on all of my albums, but generally it's been my ballads that have been released as singles and gotten radio airplay, and I've ended up getting categorized that way. "Sure, I was very much influenced by people like Joni Mitchell and Gordon Light-foot," says Fogelberg. "But I was just as influenced by Eric Gapton and Muddy Waters. I've always thought of my music as equally divided between ballads and rock and roll. So with this album, I decided to take a little time and just say, I don't want to be typecast as a singer-songwriter.

I wanted to have fun with the music so that people won't think I'm so serious about everything." Frustration about typecasting aside, Fogelberg is" in a good mood these days. His love life is back in gear "I have a wonderful lady that I live with, and no immediate plans for marTiagr that can sec." The new album is selling Mm while attending the University of Illinois and later doing occasional solo dates at Chicago clubs such as the Quiet Knight. In 1970 he dropped out of college and headed for Los Angeles to look for a record deal because, he explains, "I just decided that music was a better way to make a living than painting." Given Fogelberg's background, it's hot surprising that he was drawn to music. "My mother and father were musicians, and I was always exposed to a lot of different sounds," says the singer, who grew up in Peoria. "My dad was into jazz, especially.

He gigged all around Chicago with jazz bands and dance orchestras during Prohibition, and he can tell you some pretty wild stories. Later he did a lot of USO tours with people like Lucille Ball and James Cagney and the Marx Brothers. Eventually he settled in Peoria as a teacher and ran the Bradley University marching band. "One of my favorite memories was when I was about 3 years old and he put me up in front of the band at the high school where he was teaching at the time and let me conduct some Sousa marches," recalls Fogelberg. "That was pretty awesome for a 3-year-old, having all of that power coming back in your face.

"But my parents were also very good about the fact that when rock and roll came NOW THRU AUGUST 2nd at the Organic Theatre Mainstage, 3319 N.Clark. A REMAINS THEATRE PRODUCTION MUSICAL well. A one-time art major who gave up painting for photography, he has just published a coffee table book of his photos "black and white prints of unusual things, very much influenced by Edward Weston and Edward Steichen which will be sold at his concerts. we get a good response, we'll put it in general Meanwhile, a home recording studio he's building at his ranch, in a remote, mountainous area of Colorado, promises to make Fogelberg's life much easier. "Before this, I've had to travel to record, because there's no place to do it around where I live," he says.

"And when I spend two weeks in a recording studio, working 12 hours a day, by the end of two weeks I'm physically exhausted. My body just can't take any more of sitting in a dark room being bombarded by loud music. Seriously. So then I have to go home for a couple of weeks and rest so that I can remain creative. I always feel more myself, and certainly a lot more energetic and creative, when I'm in the mountains." Fogelberg, who turns 36 in August, has lived in Colorado for the last 12 years.

Before that, he spent three years in Nashville. In the late 1960s he was a familiar face on the Illinois -club with bands around Champaign! "AN OUTSTANDING EXPERIENCE IN THE THEATRE Ann Arvia gives the best performance of the year by an actress in a musical." LEONARD. WON "CANDLELIGHT'S PRODUCTION ENDOWS 'RAGS' WITH can't imagine 'RAGS' will get a finer production than at Candlelight. The show stands as a shining example of loving, highly- polished stagecraft." Weiss, sun-times IT2 AO iBD ABIES THE BURLESQUE (MtilEfto to!.