It’s 1964 in Montgomery, Alabama. The Nacirema Society is preparing for their 100 year celebration. The grande dame is incredibly excited preparing for the event. The children are not that interested in the event or the plans that their parents have laid out for them. Gracie isn’t interested in attending Fisk in Nashville. Instead, she wants to go to school in NY to become a writer. Bobby doesn’t want to be with Gracie. Instead, he wants to marry another woman. Also, Alpha is blackmailing the grande dame. She is claiming that Dunbar is her father. The tensions continue to rise as further developments surface.

Similar to Pearl Cleage’s other play, Blues for an Alabama Sky, currently running at Theatre Wit, this play starts out a bit slow as the characters and plot are introduced. In the second half, the action does increase as it becomes a farce and the laughs start rolling in.

The set is very impressive. They built the inside of a large mansion which then slides out of the way as a smaller kitchen set moves in. This matches the extravagance of the costumes.

E. Faye Butler (Gypsy) is extraordinary as the larger than life grande dame who loves to be in control of everything. Demetra Dee (STEW, Be Here Now) is so sweet and funny as Gracie, intent on chasing her dreams. Eric Gerard is so charming as Bobby, who has fallen deeply in love. Ora Jones (The Children, Familiar, The Roommate) is hilarious as Bobby’s overwhelmed mother. Jaye Ladymore (Relentless) is so funny as the reporter from the NY Times. Tyla Abercumbie (Sweat, writer of Relentless) is great as Alpha, stumbling through a blackmail attempt. Lastly, Sharriese Hamilton (A Gentleman’s Guide To Love and Murder) and Shariba W. Rivers are great in their supporting roles.

Cost of a ticket: $65 (Back Main Floor)

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Get tickets now for The Nacirema Society through October 22^nd!

Quinn Delaney

The Darkness formed in Lowestoft, England and tonight they are playing at the Vic Theatre in Chicago. To celebrate the 20^th anniversary of Permission to Land, they are playing the entire album.  

For the second song of the night, they play “Get Your Hands off My Woman”.  Midway into the song, there is a part where he sings “Mother” and then gestures for the audience to repeat. The lead singer, Justin Hawkins, does this a few times with different styles of singing. He then halts the song and explains that, because of his lighting engineer, he can see the crowd when they are supposed to sing. He calls out one specific audience member, Billy, who is not participating, and invites him to sing solo. Billy agrees and then proceeds to sing call and response style with Hawkins to the audience’s delight. It is moments like this that make the experience of a Darkness concert grand and form a community among the fans.

Hawkins is a master of falsetto. “Growing on Me” is an excellent showcase of this skill. It also features some sizzling guitar riffs.

He is also a great showman. A great example of this is on “Love Is Only a Feeling” as he dances all around the stage and sings with great passion. Also, during another track, he is carried through the audience while playing guitar.

Before starting “I Believe in a Thing Called Love”, he requests that audience members put away their phones and just live in the moment. He says YouTube doesn’t need any more shaky videos of the song.  It is very effective and leads to a mostly phone free grand finale to their set.

See the full setlist here.

Cost of a ticket: $49

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Quinn Delaney

Grace Potter married Matt Burr, the drummer of her band, in 2013. Two years later they divorced and Grace Potter & the Nocturnals disbanded. Even though the band is no longer together, she still plays many of the songs from that time. Tonight, she takes the stage will great enthusiasm and positive energy. This is a great sign that it will be a fantastic set.

In the middle of the set, the band leaves the stage and just Grace Potter remains at they keyboards for “Big White Gate”. “So Saint Peter, won’t you open up the big white gate / Cause I heard about forgiveness and I hope it ain’t too late / No, I ain’t no holy roller but you go tell your King / That all the folks up in heaven might like to hear me sing”. It’s a beautiful tribute to her grandmother and an intimate moment.

At the end of the set, she asks the crowd if they want to hear a barn-burner or a tearjerker. Barn-burner wins and she launches into a song that definitely fits that description, “Paris (Ooh La La)”. “If I was a man I’d make my move / If I was a blade I’d shave you smooth / If I was a judge I’d break the law / And if I was from Paris / If I was from Paris / I would say / Oh la la la la la la la”. This rocker has the entire crowd dancing and they continue right into “The Lion The Beast The Beat”. “Can’t stop the beat, can’t stop the beat / Run, but you can’t hide from the heat / When life is a record, playing on repeat / I’m running wild with the lion, the beast, the beat”! This is an epic rock song that belongs in the same category as Fleetwood Mac’s greatest hits.

She ends the night with “Stars”, which has over 17 million streams on Spotify. She sings it with such great emotional intensity. “And I can’t look at the stars / They make me wonder where you are / Stars, up on Heaven’s boulevard / And if I know you at all / I know you’ve gone too far / So I, I can’t look at the stars”. It’s a beautiful end to a great night of music.

See the full setlist here.

See our past review of Grace Potter from 2015 here.

Cost of a ticket: $66

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Quinn Delaney

In 1991, the novel version by Bret Easton Ellis was first released. In 2000, the film version staring Christian Bale was released. The musical’s world premiere was in London in 2013. It premiered on Broadway in 2016. And now, in September 2023, it has it’s Chicago Premiere at The Chopin Theatre.  

Patrick Bateman is a Wall Street banker who wants the best of everything. He wants to have the best technology available. He wants all the top designer brands. He wants to get the biggest account at work. He’ll do anything to get it, including murder.

This musical is very well done. It is smart, sleek, and sexy. It also has a great balance of dialog and music. It features many popular songs mixed in with originals. One of the pop songs is “in The Air Tonight” by Phi Collins. However, in their version, they don’t include the famous drum sequence. They really should add it as it just feels so incomplete without it.

Kyle Patrick (Sons of Hollywood, The Boys in the Band) is stellar as Bateman, who slowly loses touch with his sanity. Ryan Armstrong is excellent as the detective confronting Bateman. John Drea (Chagall In School) is fantastic as the coworker who Bateman is most jealous of, Paul Owen. Sonia Goldberg is great as Bateman’s secretary, who gets very close to him. Quinn Kelch (Spring Awakening) is hilarious as the coworker who keeps pursuing Patrick. Caleigh Pan-Kita is excellent as Bateman’s girlfriend, intent on getting married.  The rest of the supporting cast is fantastic as well.

See the full program here.

Cost of a ticket: $55 (Reserved Seating)

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Get tickets now for American Psycho through November 26^th!

Quinn Delaney

For tonight’s show, Brett Dennen is playing solo with just an acoustic guitar. It’s a stripped down intimate show. When he plays with a full band, the songs are much bigger and fuller. 

Early on, an audience member requests “Sydney” from his 2011 album, Loverboy. Brett replies, “Sure, I was going to play that one anyways. It didn’t take long to become a request show!” “Bust down the courthouse doors / (I’ll come running) / Sydney I will testify / (I’ll come running)”. This is such a fun song. It’s no surprise that it is requested.

Later on, he plays “She’s Mine” from his 2006 album, So Much More. “And she’s mine, she’s mine, she’s mine, all mine. Yeah she’s mine, mine, mine, mmm”. This is such a beautiful love song. The soft guitar playing perfectly matches the lyrics.

Towards the end of the night, one likely intoxicated audience member interrupted for about the fourth time to request “Sydney”. She had apparently missed the song while in the bathroom. Brett and the staff have had enough of her interruptions and she was kindly escorted out the door.

To close out his set, Dennen plays “Wild Child” from his 2013 album, Smoke and Mirrors.  “I am a wild child, momma / You can, you can, you can, you can / You can hold me tight if you wanna / If you wanna hold me tonight”. This is a very upbeat song that is great for a singalong. It’s a great choice for the last song.

Cost of a ticket: $50 (Orchestra Row)

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Quinn Delaney

Dubbest (pronounced duh-best) formed in a small town outside of Boston in 2009. They relocated to San Diego in 2016. The leader singer, Ryan Thaxter, is more clean cut that a typical lead for a reggae band. However, all doubts disappear as soon as he begins singing.

Early in their set, they play “Better with Words” from their 2019 album, Gold Fever. “Try to keep my composure, feel me losing it over and over. Try to speak, but I wish I was better with words.” This is a beautiful reggae song about stumbling with speaking in front of a romantic interest. It’s their most popular song on Spotify with almost 600,000 streams.

They also play many songs from their 2015 album, Light Flashes. One of those songs is “Spend the Day”. This track features such a smooth reggae groove as Thaxter sings “Maybe come for the evening, and tomorrow we can spend the day.” Everyone was swaying along to the music.  

Their short set was only 30 minutes and definitely left the audience wanting more. See a recent setlist here.

Cost of a ticket: $30

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Quinn Delaney

Also, Kash’d Out followed with a great set. Check out our past review of them here.