Chicago On the Aisle presents news and reviews of the performing arts and other splendors — best bets for cultural travelers and local enthusiasts. If you are visiting Chicago and love theater, music and other arts events, we’d like to help you feel at home. If you live here, we encourage you to explore this great arts town with us like a visitor.

Lawrence B. Johnson, Editor

Lawrence B. Johnson is a performing arts critic specializing in classical music, theater and jazz. The recipient of many journalism awards, Johnson has written for The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Detroit News, The Milwaukee Sentinel and magazines running the gamut from Musical America and Opera News to Playboy. Johnson, who grew up in Indiana, is a graduate of Indiana State University, where he received a degree in humanistic studies with concentrations in French literature, philosophy and music history. In 1975, he was awarded a mid-career journalism fellowship by the National Endowment for the Humanities for study at the University of Michigan, where he focused on classical Greek drama, Shakespeare and modern playwrights. He has taught journalism, criticism and music history at Marquette University, the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee, Wayne State University and the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music.

Nancy Malitz, Publisher

Nancy Malitz is the founding music critic at USA Today and a pioneer in journalism on the internet. She grew up in Chicago, wrote her first music and arts reviews for the Chicago Sun-Times, and carries vivid memories of her mentors in music and the humanities at the University of Chicago. Writing as the cultural columnist for The Detroit News, she concentrated on the intersection of the arts and technology, and she was tapped to create the newspaper’s first websites. She subsequently worked on strategic planning for media change with Gannett publications. She has written about the arts and technology for the New York Times, Washington Post and dozens of other publications. Also active as a commentator, she has appeared on PBS, NPR, the CBC and various regional radio and TV outlets. She is thrilled to be back in Chicago, where arts old and new strike an exciting balance, and even the most traditional arts institutions function at culture’s cutting edge.

Have a question or comment? We’d love to hear from you!