Ana Popović is on tour promoting her latest album, Like It On Top. It was released in 2018 and features Keb’ Mo’, Robben Ford, and Kenny Wayne Shepherd. Tonight she shows why those are her peers with her virtuosic guitar playing.

Early on she plays “Lasting Kind of Love”. “It’s not a lasting kind of love, it’s temporary.” “And baby, I don’t mind”. It’s a groovy track about casual relationships.

A highlight of her set is “Johnnie Ray”. It is a fantastic blues song that really showcases her vocal talent as well as her guitar skills.

Fans of the performance should definitely not miss Chicago Blues Fest in June!

See her past setlists here.

Cost of a ticket: $28

PlaylistHQ Economic Rating: Worth It –

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Quinn Delaney

The evening begins with all the actors coming out to greet the audience. They are shaking hands and walking up and down the aisles. It is more like a concert beginning than a play. This production is being presented as a staged reading. The four actors are positioned at stands with the script in front of them from which they will read. This technique is usually used a step in the development process to see how an audience responds early on. In this case, it is presented as the final product. The playwright wanted to keep it simple that way.

Middletown is the story of two couple’s lives together. The couples are looking back of their lives together as friends. It starts with how they met, got married, and had kids. It continues through the kids growing older as they also age and face medical issues. There are great highs and tragic lows in their roller coaster lives.

The actors have great chemistry with each other and convey the friendship well. The cast includes Sandy Duncan, Adrian Zmed, Kate Buddeke, and Danny Most. This play will appeal mostly an older audience.

Get tickets now for Middletown through March 22^nd!

Cost of a ticket: $72

PlaylistHQ Economic Rating: Half Price –

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Quinn Delaney

Three sisters are living in Dallas. One of these sisters (Elizabeth Birnkrant) is dating a man named Juan who she calls John (Christopher Acevedo). He is oddly always heading off to Plano. One of the sisters (Ashley Neal) is married to Steve (Andrew Cutler). It turns out there are multiple Steves. This leads to some really funny scenes where the actor leaves the stage in one spot and then reappears in another. The last sister (Amanda Fink) is seeing a man with no face (Andrew Lund). It is a very artistic piece that is open to the audience’s interpretation.

A possible interpretation is that the characters are dealing with mental illness. For example, the multiple Steves could represent a multiple personality disorder. It’s also clear that none of the sister’s is having good luck with men

The entire cast does a great job with this fast paced and funny play. The dialog is quick and the time changes rapidly. A character will say “I’ll see you later. It is later.” In an instant, a few days has passed. It can be a bit disorientating but in a good way. The audience is fully engaged trying to figure out just exactly what is happening. It’s the kind of play you’ll want to see twice!

Get tickets now for Plano through March 28^th!

Cost of a ticket: $28

PlaylistHQ Economic Rating: Worth It +

Rating Scale: Exceptional Value > Worth It > Half Price > Go for Free > Don’t Bother

Quinn Delaney

A pair of hair stylists are working at a salon named Shear Madness. One of them is comically bad at his job. They often complain about the woman who lives upstairs. Two policemen arrive and announce that the woman upstairs was murdered. They have been casing the place and know that the killer must be either of one of the hair stylists or one of their customers. In the second half of the show, the audience must question the suspect to determine what happened.

The Mercury Theatre is best known for doing big Broadway worth shows such as Avenue Q and Spamalot. So, this is a little bit out of their style and it shows. The Chicago references come off as corny and touristy. The jokes feel old fashioned. Perhaps it was because the audience was small, but the energy level was very low. It felt more like a small iO show than a big great production that Mercury Theatre is capable of making.

Get tickets now for Shear Madness through April 26^th.

Cost of a ticket: $44 and up

PlaylistHQ Economic Rating: Go for Free

Rating Scale: Exceptional Value > Worth It > Half Price > Go for Free > Don’t Bother

While this show doesn’t rate high, I still look forward to their next production starting on March 20th, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.

Quinn Delaney