Victoria Noe has been a writer most of her life, but didn’t admit it until 2009. After earning a Masters from the University of Iowa in Speech and Dramatic Art, she moved to Chicago, where she worked professionally as a stage manager, director and administrator in addition to being a founding board member of the League of Chicago Theatres. She was a professional fundraiser, raising money for arts, educational and AIDS service organizations, and an award-winning sales consultant of children’s books. She also trained hundreds of people around the country in marketing, event planning and grant writing. But after a concussion impacted her ability to continue in sales, she switched gears to keep a promise to a friend to write a book. That book became the Friend Grief series of six small books of stories about people grieving the death of a friend. Her articles have appeared in Windy City Times, Chicago Tribune and Huffington Post.
Her writing brought her back to the AIDS community. Noe is a member of ACT UP NY and has written for Positively Aware and other AIDS-related publications. Her essay, "Long-Term Companion" won the 2015 Christopher Hewitt Award for Creative Nonfiction.
Noe is currently working on Fag Hags, Divas and Moms: The Legacy of Straight Women in the AIDS Community, to be published in late 2017.
In addition, she was named Library Journal's first SELF-e Ambassador, promoting LJ's program to include self-published ebooks in public libraries. She's in demand as a speaker, and especially enjoys training authors in public speaking techniques.
A native St. Louisan, she’s a lifelong Cardinals fan and will gladly take on any comers in musical theatre trivia.
Her dream job is stage managing Broadway Bares.
September 27, 2016
Hamilton: The Revolution is not just a book: it's a whole shelf in a library or bookstore.
June 22, 2016
AIDS is no big deal anymore.
March 13, 2014
Body Counts is not the story of a victim or even a hero. It's the story of a man at a unique time and place, a man with personal demons and challenges he used to fuel a quite remarkable life.
January 30, 2014
Miller has crafted a real page-turner. I thought I would read this in a leisurely way, but instead I stayed up late, unable to put it away until I knew how it ended. You will, too.
December 20, 2013
Not a Jane Austen fan? That's no reason to skip Undressing Mr. Darcy. I guarantee, like Vanessa Roberts, you will find yourself quickly succumbing to the charms of Austen's storytelling, and Doornebos' as well.
December 2, 2013
If you read only one theatre book this year, make it 'Fosse'.
October 22, 2013
Wild Tales is a remarkably intelligent and entertaining book, a must-read for anyone who loves rock and roll.
September 18, 2013
It happens to everyone who works in the theatre, especially those who work on Broadway. Someone who thinks nothing of shelling out $20 for a 3D movie or $400 for a new phone will demand of you: “Why are theater tickets so expensive?” Journalist Peter Wayner has given you a terrific little book with all the ammunition you need.
June 28, 2013
What more can be said about 9/11 and the families who lost loved ones on that horrific day? Well, as it turns out, there is a lot more to learn.
May 29, 2013
Letting it be is something that does not come naturally for the characters in this book. More than one refuses to back down emotionally or physically. And that leads to a tragedy that no one could've foreseen: a tragedy that changes everyone forever.
April 30, 2013
Murder Below Montparnasse is the 13th installment of Cara Black's series about Parisian private investigator Aimee Leduc. Not only was I sad when it ended, but I wanted to read more.
April 4, 2013
Fortune in My Eyes is a fascinating chronicle of how one man, over six decades, moved easily between the glamorous world of theatre and the gritty world of the disenfranchised (gays, prisoners, ex-cons, AIDS patients). And if it seems at times as if he's lived a Forrest Gump-like life, well, that's not a criticism.
March 4, 2013
What looks deceptively like just a pretty book is love letter to the talented artists who brought Victor Hugo's tale to life. Nightingale and Palmer have created a fitting homage to one of the most important musicals in theatre history and its ground-breaking film version.
February 1, 2013
In an age where union-bashing is all the rage, Performance of the Century: 100 Years of Actors' Equity Association and the Rise of Professional American Theater by Robert Simonson is a powerful chronicle of excellence achieved by union professionals.
January 20, 2013
No matter how much you think you know about musical theatre, this book will delight and enlighten you. It might also make you scream.
December 17, 2012
A lot of musicians have written books lately: Pete Townsend, Neil Young, Patti Smith, among others. They tend to be memoirs filled with tales of past debaucheries and feuds, creative process and awards. But Love is the Cure: On Life, Loss and the End of AIDS by Elton John is a very different kind of celebrity tell-all.
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