Richard O'Donnell (playwright)
Encyclopedia
Richard O'Donnell is a census-designated place in Lower Merion Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, just west of Philadelphia along Lancaster Avenue and the border with Delaware County...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
) is a playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
, poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
, journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
, producer, actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
, and stand-up comic living in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. He has worked and lived in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
City and Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
where he has written and performed for the stage and television. O'Donnell wrote the award-winning Off Broadway show One & One, Radio City Music Hall
Radio City Music Hall
Radio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue located in New York City's Rockefeller Center. Its nickname is the Showplace of the Nation, and it was for a time the leading tourist destination in the city...
's A Manhattan Showboat, and co-founded the New Age Vaudeville
New Age Vaudeville
New Age Vaudeville was a professional theatre troupe that was part of the Chicago comedy boom of the 1980s.-History:In March 1983 while in New York, Peninsula Players’ Tony award-winning producer, James B...
theatre company, the New Variety
New Variety
The New Variety was a Chicago-based cabaret produced by Thom Goodman and Richard O’Donnell in the 1990s. It was a fast-paced, ever-changing volley of acts that included award-winning jugglers, fire-eaters, stand-up comedy, singers, musicians, and sketch comedy troupes.-History:In February 1992,...
cabaret, and the R. Rated
R. Rated
R. Rated consisted of four, half-hour, alternative, variety, television shows, which aired in 1999, on Fridays at midnight in Chicago on WFLD Fox 32, and featured film and video shorts from sketch comedy troupes, theatre companies, musicians, stand-up comics and other independent film and video...
Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
television show.
Early life
Richard O'Donnell began in the entertainment industry as a professional ventriloquist. He ran away with the Sells & Gray 3-ring tent circusCircus
A circus is commonly a travelling company of performers that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, unicyclists and other stunt-oriented artists...
at the age of 15, sleeping in the back of the elephant truck that transported their sole elephant, Bessie. O'Donnell was eventually forced to return home to finish high school, earning a scholarship to attend the Pennsylvania Governor's School for the Arts
Pennsylvania Governor's School for the Arts
The Pennsylvania Governor's School for the Arts was one of the Pennsylvania Governor's Schools of Excellence, a group of five-week summer academies for gifted high school students in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The school was hosted each summer by Mercyhurst College...
where he studied theatre alongside classmate Kevin Bacon
Kevin Bacon
Kevin Norwood Bacon is an American film and theater actor whose notable roles include Animal House, Diner, Footloose, Flatliners, Wild Things, A Few Good Men, JFK, Apollo 13, Mystic River, The Woodsman, Trapped, Friday the 13th, Hollow Man, Tremors, Death Sentence, Frost/Nixon, Crazy, Stupid, Love....
.
New York City
In 1978, at 22 years-old, Richard O'Donnell co-authored the book (with Fred Bennett) and the music and lyrics (with Dianne Adams) for One & One (musical comedy)One & One (musical comedy)
One & One is a 1970s award-winning original off-Broadway musical comedy by Dianne Adams , Fred Bennett , and Richard O'Donnell ....
that played The Carter Theatre, in the Carter Hotel, 250 West 43rd street. It opened Off Broadway, November 15, 1978 received three ASCAP Awards, and was later recorded by actor Nathan Lane
Nathan Lane
Nathan Lane is an American actor of stage and screen. He is best known for his roles as Mendy in The Lisbon Traviata, Albert in The Birdcage, Max Bialystock in the musical The Producers, Ernie Smuntz in MouseHunt, Nathan Detroit in Guys and Dolls, Pseudolus in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to...
(The Producers
The Producers (musical)
The Producers is a musical adapted by Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan from Brooks' 1968 film of the same name, with lyrics written by Brooks and music composed by Brooks and arranged by Glen Kelly and Doug Besterman. As in the film, the story concerns two theatrical producers who scheme to get rich...
) for the Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
Backers Audition.
For Showplace of the Nation, Radio City Music Hall
Radio City Music Hall
Radio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue located in New York City's Rockefeller Center. Its nickname is the Showplace of the Nation, and it was for a time the leading tourist destination in the city...
, O'Donnell co-wrote a hit mega-review entitled, A Manhattan Showboat in 1979 that celebrated over 100 years of American entertainment.
He was invited to participate in the American Film Institute
American Film Institute
The American Film Institute is an independent non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act...
's "New Directors" program based on the merits of an original screenplay
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
Closet Lovers, directed by tap-legend Miriam Nelson and scored by Henry Mancini
Henry Mancini
Henry Mancini was an American composer, conductor and arranger, best remembered for his film and television scores. He won a record number of Grammy Awards , plus a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award posthumously in 1995...
.
In the 1980s, billed as "The Double R" comedy duo, in collaboration with writer Richard LaGravenese
Richard LaGravenese
Richard LaGravenese is an American screenwriter and occasional film director. He is best known as the writer of The Fisher King.-Personal life:...
, O'Donnell co-penned and consecutively performed in several Off-Off-Broadway
Off-Off-Broadway
Off-Off-Broadway theatrical productions in New York City are those in theatres that are smaller than Broadway and Off-Broadway theatres. Off-Off-Broadway theaters are often defined as theaters that have fewer than 100 seats, though the term can be used for any show in the New York City area that...
productions including Spare Parts, Blood-brothers, and Entrees at The 78th Street Theatre Lab, The Lion Theatre, and West Bank Cafe. The Double R were regular guests on the Linda Lichtman Comedy hour, WNBC Radio, 30 Rockefeller Plaza. On the college circuit they opened for Leon Redbone
Leon Redbone
Leon Redbone is a singer and guitarist specializing in interpretations of early 20th-century music, including jazz and blues standards and Tin Pan Alley classics....
and further developed their work in stand-up comedy
Stand-up comedy
Stand-up comedy is a comedic art form. Usually, a comedian performs in front of a live audience, speaking directly to them. Their performances are sometimes filmed for later release via DVD, the internet, and television...
clubs such as New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
's Comedy Cellar
Comedy Cellar
The Comedy Cellar is a comedy club in Manhattan, where many top New York comedians perform. It was founded in 1982 by then standup comedian, and current television writer/producer Bill Grundfest...
and Yuk Yuk's
Yuk Yuk's
Yuk Yuk's is a national comedy club chain in Canada, owned by former stand-up comedian Mark Breslin and established in 1977 by Breslin and Joel Axler...
in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
. While working with O'Donnell, LaGravenese discovered he had a knack for writing dialogue.
Fish Creek, Wisconsin
In 1983 Richard O'Donnell was contracted by Tony AwardTony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
-winning producer James B. McKenzie to create an after-show review to complement evening performances of the Peninsula Players
Peninsula Players
Peninsula Players is a summer theater program located in Fish Creek, Wisconsin. Founded in 1935 by Richard and Caroline Fisher, it is known as "America's Oldest Professional Resident Summer Theatre."- History :...
in Fish Creek, Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
. The Comedy Cabaret
Cabaret
Cabaret is a form, or place, of entertainment featuring comedy, song, dance, and theatre, distinguished mainly by the performance venue: a restaurant or nightclub with a stage for performances and the audience sitting at tables watching the performance, as introduced by a master of ceremonies or...
, as it came to be known, was an immediate success and returned to Door County
Door County, Wisconsin
Door County is a county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of 2000, the population was 27,961. Its county seat is Sturgeon Bay. Door County is a popular vacation and tourist destination, especially for residents of Wisconsin and Illinois....
for a follow-up season in 1984 as New Age Vaudeville
New Age Vaudeville
New Age Vaudeville was a professional theatre troupe that was part of the Chicago comedy boom of the 1980s.-History:In March 1983 while in New York, Peninsula Players’ Tony award-winning producer, James B...
in its own 100-seat theater in Baileys Harbor. O'Donnell also took to the main stage at Peninsula Players
Peninsula Players
Peninsula Players is a summer theater program located in Fish Creek, Wisconsin. Founded in 1935 by Richard and Caroline Fisher, it is known as "America's Oldest Professional Resident Summer Theatre."- History :...
, starring in two highly acclaimed title roles in Larry Shue
Larry Shue
Larry Shue was an American playwright and actor, best known for writing two often-performed farces, The Nerd and The Foreigner.-Early life:...
's The Nerd
The Nerd
The Nerd is a two-act comedy written by American actor/playwright Larry Shue.-Plot:Set in Terre Haute, Indiana in late 1979, The Nerd presents the story of Willum Cubbert, an unassuming young architect, friends Tansy and Axel and unexpected houseguest Rick, who had saved Willum's life in Vietnam...
and The Foreigner
The Foreigner (play)
The Foreigner is a play by Larry Shue.Set in a resort-style fishing lodge in rural Georgia, the comedy revolves around two of its guests, Englishman Charlie Baker and Staff Sergeant Froggy LeSueur. Charlie is so pathologically shy that he is unable to speak...
, O'Donnell was featured on the cover of the Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
Arts Section, The Summer Stock Life.
In 1998, O'Donnell was commissioned to write the book, music, and lyrics for a new musical play entitled Wish Wisconsin, to celebrate the state's 150th birthday. Directed and produced by Amy McKenzie, it opened Friday January 2, in the Fish Creek Town Hall Auditorium. Songs of merit included Wish, So Blessed, and the show-stopper Oh!, Wisconsin.
Chicago, Illinois
Following the summer-stock season in 1983 Richard O'Donnell co-founded (with Amy McKenzie) the highly acclaimed Chicago theater company New Age VaudevilleNew Age Vaudeville
New Age Vaudeville was a professional theatre troupe that was part of the Chicago comedy boom of the 1980s.-History:In March 1983 while in New York, Peninsula Players’ Tony award-winning producer, James B...
(1984–1987). Throughout its run, O'Donnell produced, wrote, composed, choreographed, and acted in numerous productions with actors Megan Cavanagh
Megan Cavanagh
Megan Cavanagh is an American actress who portrayed the roles of Marla Hooch in A League of Their Own , Broomhilde in Robin Hood: Men in Tights , Essie in Dracula: Dead and Loving It and was the voice of Judy Neutron in Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, Hilary Higgenbottom in The Mighty B!...
, Amy McKenzie, Todd Erickson, Bobby McGuire, Peter Neville, Michael Dempsey, Lisa Keefe, Caroline Schless and Tom Purcell (head writer The Colbert Report). Productions included the cult-hits An Evening with Elmore & Gwendolyn Putts - The Neighbors Next Door and The TV Dinner Hour (the later featured iO
IO
Io, IO, I/O, i/o, or i.o. may refer to:-An abbreviation:* I.O., a theater in Chicago, Illinois dedicated to improvisational comedy* i.o., "in illo ordine", Latin phrase meaning "respectively"...
, formerly ImrovOlympic, founder Del Close
Del Close
Del Close was an actor, improviser, writer, and teacher. Considered one of the premier influences on modern improvisational theater, Close had a prolific career, appearing in a number of films and television shows...
). Rick Kogan of the Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
hailed both productions as "Among the most polished and clever productions of the season, a pair of devilishly inventive shows that won over critics and audiences alike."
Stand-up and variety
As a stand-up comic billed as R. O'Donnell, he played numerous clubs including Zanies, The Chicago Improv, the Funny Firm, Catch A Rising Star, as well as featuring for celebrated comics Chris RockChris Rock
Christopher Julius "Chris" Rock III is an American comedian, actor, screenwriter, television producer, film producer and director. He was voted in the US as the 5th greatest stand-up comedian of all time by Comedy Central...
, Bill Maher
Bill Maher
William "Bill" Maher, Jr. is an American stand-up comedian, television host, political commentator, author and actor. Before his current role as the host of HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher, Maher hosted a similar late-night talk show called Politically Incorrect originally on Comedy Central and...
, Brian Regan
Brian Regan
Brian Regan is a stand-up comedian who uses observational, sarcastic, and self-deprecating humor. His performances are relatively "clean" as he refrains from profanity and off-color humor. Regan's material typically covers everyday events, such as shipping a package with UPS and a visit to an...
, Rick Overton
Rick Overton
Richard "Rick" Overton is an American screenwriter, actor and comedian. His writing credits include Dennis Miller Live, and his acting credits include Willow and The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne.-Life and career:...
and Bill Hicks
Bill Hicks
William Melvin "Bill" Hicks was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, satirist, and musician. His material largely consisted of general discussions about society, religion, politics, philosophy, and personal issues. Hicks' material was often controversial and steeped in dark comedy...
.
O'Donnell co-produced the New Variety
New Variety
The New Variety was a Chicago-based cabaret produced by Thom Goodman and Richard O’Donnell in the 1990s. It was a fast-paced, ever-changing volley of acts that included award-winning jugglers, fire-eaters, stand-up comedy, singers, musicians, and sketch comedy troupes.-History:In February 1992,...
, which played, among other venues, at the 500-seat Chicago Improv Comedy Club for over 2 years. He was responsible for changing a faltering 3-ring comedy presentation into a successful variety format. The New Variety
New Variety
The New Variety was a Chicago-based cabaret produced by Thom Goodman and Richard O’Donnell in the 1990s. It was a fast-paced, ever-changing volley of acts that included award-winning jugglers, fire-eaters, stand-up comedy, singers, musicians, and sketch comedy troupes.-History:In February 1992,...
, which was hailed by the Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
as "A cabaret for the 90's!" was a fast-paced, ever-changing volley of acts that included award-winning jugglers, fire-eaters, comics, and sketch comedy
Sketch comedy
A sketch comedy consists of a series of short comedy scenes or vignettes, called "sketches," commonly between one and ten minutes long. Such sketches are performed by a group of comic actors or comedians, either on stage or through an audio and/or visual medium such as broadcasting...
groups including the all-girl Nude Coffee, the all-gay The Boys in the Bathroom, and the all-improv Upright Citizens Brigade
Upright Citizens Brigade
The Upright Citizens Brigade is an improvisational comedy and sketch comedy group that emerged from Chicago's ImprovOlympic in 1990. The most recent incarnation consists of Matt Besser, Amy Poehler, Ian Roberts, and Matt Walsh...
. Dr. Boom (who literally blew things up on stage) was the highlight of the evening.
Fox TV shows
O'Donnell produced and directed comedy segments for the 1998 New Year's Eve special Twisted, which aired on Fox TV, ChicagoChicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
featuring Matt Besser
Matt Besser
Matthew Gregory "Matt" Besser is an American actor and comedian best known as one of the founding members of the Upright Citizens Brigade sketch comedy troupe who also had their own show on Comedy Central from 1998-2000....
(Comedy Central
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....
's Upright Citizens Brigade
Upright Citizens Brigade
The Upright Citizens Brigade is an improvisational comedy and sketch comedy group that emerged from Chicago's ImprovOlympic in 1990. The most recent incarnation consists of Matt Besser, Amy Poehler, Ian Roberts, and Matt Walsh...
) as well as writing and directing commercials for McDonald's
McDonald's
McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving around 64 million customers daily in 119 countries. Headquartered in the United States, the company began in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant operated by the eponymous Richard and Maurice McDonald; in 1948...
, Toyota, Jiffy Lube
Jiffy Lube
Jiffy Lube is a chain of over 2,000 businesses in North America offering oil changes and other automotive services. The company is based in Houston, Texas, and is a subsidiary of Shell Oil.-History:...
, and Ameritech
Ameritech
AT&T Teleholdings, Inc., formerly known as Ameritech Corporation , was a U.S. telecommunications company that arose out of the 1984 AT&T divestiture. Ameritech was one of the seven Regional Bell Operating Companies that was created following the breakup of the Bell System...
starring Besser and stand-up comic Michelle Garb in a stylistic homage to the works of Ernie Kovacs
Ernie Kovacs
Ernie Kovacs was a Hungarian American comedian and actor.Kovacs' uninhibited, often ad-libbed, and visually experimental comedic style came to influence numerous television comedy programs for years after his death in an automobile accident...
.
In 1999, O'Donnell went on to Executive Produce and host R. Rated
R. Rated
R. Rated consisted of four, half-hour, alternative, variety, television shows, which aired in 1999, on Fridays at midnight in Chicago on WFLD Fox 32, and featured film and video shorts from sketch comedy troupes, theatre companies, musicians, stand-up comics and other independent film and video...
which also aired on Fox TV, Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, a comedy anthology featuring short works by The Annoyance Theatre
Annoyance Theatre
The Annoyance Theatre, or Annoyance Productions as it is sometimes called, is a theater and associated ensemble based in Chicago that deals mainly in absurd, pretentious and outrageous humor. Many people that have performed with the ensemble have gone on to become successful stage and screen actors...
featuring Rachel Dratch
Rachel Dratch
Rachel Susan Dratch is an American comic actress best known for her roles as a cast member of Saturday Night Live from 1999 to 2006.-Early life:...
(Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
), Mick Napier
Mick Napier
Mick Napier is an actor, director, teacher and author living in Chicago. He is the founder and artistic director of the Annoyance Theatre and an award-winning director at The Second City. He has worked with people such as Stephen Colbert, Tina Fey, Rachel Dratch, Horatio Sanz, Nia Vardalos, Andy...
(The Second City
The Second City
The Second City is a improvisational comedy enterprise which originated in Chicago's Old Town neighborhood.The Second City Theatre opened on December 16, 1959 and has since expanded its presence to several other cities, including Toronto and Los Angeles...
), and Stephnie Weir
Stephnie Weir
Stephnie Carmel Weir is an American actress and comedian, best known for her membership in the recurring cast on MADtv.-Early life:...
(MADtv
MADtv
MADtv is an American sketch comedy television series. It licensed the name and logo of Mad, but otherwise had no connection with the humor magazine outside the animated Spy vs. Spy and Don Martin cartoon shorts and images of Alfred E. Neuman that the show featured during the late 1990s. Its first...
), along with Tim Kazurinsky
Tim Kazurinsky
Timothy J. Kazurinsky is an American actor, comedian and writer best known as a cast member on Saturday Night Live and for his role as Carl Sweetchuck in the Police Academy films...
(Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
), among many other independent film and video makers. It is said that O'Donnell hoped his new comedy series would shift the LA and NYC comedy spotlights to Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
talent.
Writing
R. O’Donnell has written for such national publications as Entertainment WeeklyEntertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
and Stop Smiling
Stop Smiling (magazine)
Stop Smiling was an arts and culture magazine founded in Chicago in the mid-1990s. Each issue followed a theme and consisted of feature-length interviews, essays and oral histories. With a focus on preservation, Stop Smiling published some of the last in-depth conversations with Kurt Vonnegut,...
as well as serving as Editor-at-Large for the latter, and for cultural ezine Static Multimedia. He has a syndicated weekly column entitled The Kreep, published by Static Networx on ezine 100% of Nothing which is linked to a weekly podcast
Podcast
A podcast is a series of digital media files that are released episodically and often downloaded through web syndication...
on iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
. The Kreep, according to Robert K. Elder
Robert K. Elder
Robert K. Elder is an American journalist, author and film columnist.- Early life and education :A Montana native, Elder interviewed Ken Kesey for his high school newspaper. The author encouraged Elder to attend his alma mater, the University of Oregon, which Elder did two years later...
of the Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
, is, “…a Gothic
Goth subculture
The goth subculture is a contemporary subculture found in many countries. It began in England during the early 1980s in the gothic rock scene, an offshoot of the post-punk genre. The goth subculture has survived much longer than others of the same era, and has continued to diversify...
poet and illustrator in the tradition of Edward Gorey
Edward Gorey
Edward St. John Gorey was an American writer and artist noted for his macabre illustrated books.-Early life:...
.”