St Lucia may be from New York, but they create a vibrant Caribbean style sound that appropriately reflects their name. The tropics are displayed on stage with plants, neon lights, and Grobler’s island style shirt. The fan blowing his shirt and hair adds to the beachy atmosphere.

Early in the set, they play “Closer Than This”. It starts slowly with three chords on the synthesizer. Then, the vocals come in smoothly. Next, the drums and bass. Finally the chorus comes and everyone in the building is dancing and singing: “I’ve got a feeling we will never closer than this! I can’t image there’s a way to get closer than this!” This slow build to a very catchy chorus is the perfect recipe for a dance party. 

Later on, the same formula applies to “September” which whips the crowd into a frenzy. “I just want you to remember, before you get carried away. What happened just this September, if you know you want it, baby.” It’s an excellently crafted song.

The show started at 8:30pm, three hours ago and the crowd is exhausted. However, when they start to play their biggest song to date, “Elevate”, to close out the night, everyone uses their last bit of energy to dance out one more time. “And no one elevates you, elevates you now!  And no one’s gonna take you, gonna take you there!” Everyone leaves with a giant smile on their face. St Lucia has a bright future ahead of them. Catch them on tour now across the US!

See the full setlist here.

Cost of a ticket: $39

PlaylistHQ Economic Rating: Worth It

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Quinn Delaney

Dayglow is Sloan Struble’s musical identity. This project began when he created his first album, Fuzzybrain, in his bedroom at age 17. Now, at just 23, he is on a big headliner tour where he played at The Riviera in Chicago and now at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. The Ryman has absolutely fantastic acoustics and it sounds great from every seat in the house.

Early in the set, he plays “Something” from his second album, Harmony House. It’s a great example of his upbeat and happy style.

His cover of the 80’s disco hit “Funkytown” by Lipps Inc. was excellent and fit in perfectly into his dance pop setlist.

Another very fun moment was his cover of “You Can Call Me Al”. He danced all over the stage in pure joy. Everyone sang along: “If you’ll be my bodyguard / I can be your long lost pal / I can call you Betty /And Betty, when you call me, you can call me Al”!

For the third to last song, they play “Can I Call You Tonight?”, which is his biggest hit so far with over 419 million streams on Spotify.

He plays “Close To You” to end the set. It’s such a enthusiastic dance song that is very similar to the style of The Naked And Famous and Passion Pit. Everyone is up and dancing along.

See the full setlist here.

Cost of a ticket: $43

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Quinn Delaney

It is the 1960s in Paris, France. Bernard is engaged to three air hostesses. This is possible because they all work on international routes and they are only in town for two days per week. He also employs a maid who helps him greatly to pull this off. Robert, a good old friend of Bernard’s, drops in unexpectly on an exciting day when all three of them are expected at the house at different times. Things don’t quite go as planned and Robert becomes essential in keeping them all from meeting each other.

Marc Camoletti has written a fantastic farcical play. It absolutely hilarious as the situation gets more and more ridiculous in what they must do to avoid the fiancés from meeting.

The entire cast is excellent. Garrett Wiegel is so charming as Bernard. Joshua Paul Wright (Born Yesterday, The Shady Lady) is very funny and Midwestern nice as Robert. Claire Rutkowski (The Shady Lady, The Real Inspector Hound) is so cocky and confident as the American. Valerie Gerlock (The Shady Lady, The Real Inspector Hound) is great as the strict German. Allison Zanolli nails the accent as the Italian. Lauren Miller is so snarky and comical as the maid.

Cost of a ticket: $30

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Get tickets now for Boeing Boeing through November 20^th!

Quinn Delaney

In 1996, Rent first opened on Broadway. It ran for 12 straight years. In 2005, the film version was released featuring most of the original cast members. A touring production has played in Chicago many times, including in May of 2017. And now, in November of 2022, the Porchlight Music Theatre versions opens at the Ruth Page Center.

Rent is an ensemble musical about a group of young artists struggling to survive in New York City. This production feels very toned down compared to others. The music is not very loud. The songs are very clean and not gritty or very sexual. It matches the feeling of the videos Porchlight put up on YouTube, which sound like an official guide at an old museum.

Still, there were some highlights including the fantastic “Seasons of Love” to open the second act and “Take Me or Leave Me”.

Pronoun Key: + (he/him/his); * (she/her/hers); ^ (they, them, theirs);  = (any with respect)

The cast for RENT includes Bridget Adams-King* (If/Then); Wesly Anthony Clergé+; Naphtali Curry+;  Leah Davis* (In The Heights, Lizzie); Caitlin Dobbins* (Notes and Letters); Lucy Godínez* (In The Heights); Nick Johnson+; Chris Khoshaba+; Nik Kmiecik+; Teressa LaGamba*; Eric Lewis+ (Dreamgirls); David Moreland+ (Cruel Intentions: The 90’s Musical); Ziare Paul-Emile*, Alix Rhode* (La Havana Madrid); Abraham Shaw+; Josh Pablo Szabo+/^ (Cruel Intentions: The 90’s Musical); TJ Tapp* (Cruel Intentions: The 90’s Musical); Brennan Urbi^/+ (Hundred Days) and Shraga D. Wasserman^.

Cost of a ticket: $58 (Main Floor)

PlaylistHQ Economic Rating: Half Price –

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Get tickets now for Rent through November 27!

Quinn

Tonight is the last stop of Panic! at the Disco’s tour. It almost didn’t happen after they had to cancel their earlier performance due to COVID. They also had to cancel their Milwaukee performance and were unable to reschedule it at the Fiserv Forum. This tour has a very massive stage, complete with a U-shaped piece at the front that allows the band to walk around it. The fireworks and flamethrowers are very impressive.

This tour is unique in that they are playing their entire new album, Viva Las Vengeance, which was released this year. Usually a band only plays a few songs from their new album. But they have a reason to play it all, it’s fantastic. The second song is “Middle Of A Breakup”. “Oh shit, you’re kissin’ my neck, kissin’ my chest / Now I remember why we fell in love / Hot smoke, feels like we just met, lips I couldn’t kick / Honey, honey, you’re my favorite drug”. These lyrics perfectly capture this magical moment and the audience eats it up.

Later on they play “God Killed Rock And Roll”. “God killed rock ‘n’ roll / No blood on the stage, no Plant, no Paige / Kiss ’em all goodbye”. Wow, this is really arena rocker that would make Queen proud.

On “Say It Louder”, Brendon Urie sings “When this song comes on the radio / When you’re headed home after the show (headed home after the show) / Remember what it’s like to be there / You definitely had to be there (remember what it’s like)”. It’s true, you really did have to be there to fully experience this huge performance.

During “I Write Sins Not Tragedies”, Brenden lets the audience sing without him. “Haven’t you people ever heard of closing the goddamn door? / No, it’s much better to face these kinds of things / with a sense of poise and rationality”. This huge hit from their first album in 2005 still rocks.

To close out the night, they play their mega hit, “High Hopes”, which has over 1.2 billion streams on Spotify. The packed crowd at the United Center gleefully sings along “Had to have high, high hopes for a living / Shooting for the stars when I couldn’t make a killing / Didn’t have a dime but I always had a vision!” It’s such a joyous song a fantastic way to end the evening!

See the full setlist here.

Cost of a ticket: $158 – (Floor and 100 Level Seats)

PlaylistHQ Economic Rating: Half Price + (But sometimes you have to splurge)

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Quinn Delaney

Sandro Botticelli was an Italian Renaissance painter. He was born in 1445 and died in 1510. In this play, he is commissioned by Lorenzo de Medici to paint a portrait of his wife, Venus. His apprentice, Leonardo da Vinci provides input and help with the painting.

Jordan Tannahill’s play isn’t for everyone. The plot was a bit thin and the characters weren’t developed enough for the audience to have an emotional connection.

The cast includes Neala Barron (Adding Machine) as Clarice, Yuchi Chiu (It’s a Wonderful Life), Andrew Cutler (Plano) as Medici, Christopher Meister, Alex Benito Rodriguez as Botticelli, John Payne as Da Vinci, and Jenece Upton.

Cost of a ticket: $41

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Get tickets now for Botticelli in The Fire through November 5^th.

See the program here.

Quinn

Megan Sullivan McInerney, known by her stage name Meg Mac, is an Australian singer-songwriter and musician. This past weekend, she was the opener for Jacob Banks at the House of Blues in Chicago and with her first song, she instantly grew her fan base as the audience was enthralled by her voice.

During this performance, Meg Mac mainly promoted her new album, Matter of Time, which was released September 16, 2022. She also included previous work from her debut album, Meg Mac with songs, “Every Lie” and “Roll Up Your Sleeps,” along with, “Give Me Back my Name” from her second album, Hope.

Her song-writing is deep and meaningful, and beautifully depicts the versatility in her voice. This was especially evident during her performance of “Give Me Back My Name” and “Understand” where her singing is effortless and her stage presence is captivating as she sings with conviction which resonates with the audience. In addition, her cover of “Grandma’s Hands” by Billy Withers had fans wanting more and is a testament to her continued and growing success. 

Setlist:
1. Every lie
3. Roll up your sleeves 
4. Give me my name back
5. Something in the water
6. Matter of time
7. Letter 
8. Grandma’s hands
9. Never be 
10. Understand
11. Is it worth being sad

Cost of a ticket: $38
PlaylistHQ Economic Rating: Worth It +
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D

The board game version of Clue was first created in 1943 by British board game designer Anthony E. Pratt. The film version was released in 1985. The musical version had tryouts in Baltimore in 1995 and Chicago in 1996 before opening Off-Broadway in 1997. The first productions of this play version were in 2018. And now, in October 2022, it opens at The Mercury Theatre.

Six people are mysteriously summoned to a remote mansion to play a game. It is eventually revealed that they were all blackmailed to attend. It’s not long until someone turns up dead and they have to figure out who is the killer.

This is a hilarious farce full of physical comedy, satire, and movie references. They reference Citizen Kane, Gone with the Wind, and many others. The only change I’d recommend is adding an intermission before they begin to solve the case

The entire cast over acts in a hilarious manner. Mark David Kaplan (Little Shop of Horrors) is outrageous as the butler, especially with his long winded recap towards the end. Tiffany T. Taylor (Spring Awakening) is sweet and funny as the maid. Honey West (Priscilla Queen of the Desert) is very hilarious as the cook and the singing telegram girl. Jonah D. Winston (Avenue Q, Spamalot) is so silly and stupid as Colonel Mustard. He also starred recently in The Play That Goes Wrong which shares a lot in common stylistically with Clue and was just as funny.

McKinley Carter (Spring Awakening, Fun Home) is devilishly good as Mrs. White. Nancy Wagner (Sister Act) is fantastically pompous as Mrs. Peacock. Kelvin Roston, Jr. is surprising as Mr. Green. Andrew Jessop (Mr. Burns) is excellent as Professor Plum. Erica Stephan is very seductive as Miss Scarlet. Finally, Patrick Byrnes and Andrew MacNaughton are solid in their many roles.

Cost of a ticket: $55 (Middle of the Main Floor)

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Get tickets now for Clue through January 1^st!

Quinn Delaney

Ella returns to her hometown of Vero Beach, FL, to help find a serial killer. She normally works as a researcher and profiler, but she is sent into the field for this case because of her familiarity with the city. While she is there, the death toll keeps rising as clues slowly come to light.

Jennifer Rumberger has written a play that is not for the faint of heart. There are many greatly terrifying and gruesome stories told. Thus, it is very appropriate for the Halloween season. However, it is not all serious as there are surprisingly many great moments of comic relief.

The positioning of the stage and the seats could use some improvement. A lot of the action takes place very far away from most of the audience. So, when facing the longest row of seats, sit as far to the left as possible.

Cyd Blakewell is excellent as Ella, who is very smart and determined while also battling the dark history she has in her hometown Brittany Burch (The Minutes) is great as her sister, who is very worried about her daughter and upset that Ella left town. Mariah Sydnei Gordon is full of youthful energy as the daughter, who tells great horror stories to her grandmother. Renee Lockett is solid as the grandmother, who is so supportive of her granddaughter’s dreams. Jennifer Glasse is fierce as the sheriff of Vero Beach who wishes she could get more funding instead of having outsiders come in to help. Patrick Weber is superb as the new cop eager to prove himself and catch the killer.

Cost of a ticket: $38

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Get tickets now for The Locusts through November 19^th!

Quinn Delaney

Early in the set, they play “Kickin’ da Leaves” from 2014. They say the song started as a joke, but his mom enjoyed it so much that they decided to record it. The quick repeating of words is so fun. “So so so don’t don’t don’t wait wait wait for for for me me me me me me me me me me me”!

Later on, the National Parks come back out on the stage to join the band for a covers melody. They play “Since U Been Gone” by Kelly Clarkson and “Higher” by Creed, followed by a recording of “Snap Yo Fingers” by Lil Jon. It’s a very fun celebration of music in the middle of their set.

The mandolin player, Brian, is from Wheaton. So, this is a hometown show for him and his parents are in the audience tonight.

Soon afterwards, they play “Suit and Jacket”. Judah sings “I ain’t trading my youth for no suit and jacket / I ain’t giving my freedom for your money and status”. It’s a great song about doing what you want, and not just what is expected of you.

They close their set with their biggest hit, “Take It All Back 2.0”. It has over 90 millions streams on Spotify. The entire audience sings along: “And one day we might have a big house with nice cars and fancy clothes and a wife with a big ol’ diamond ring / ‘Cause the people they dancing along, they dancing along to the mando’ and some sort of hip-hop beat / But I’d take it all back, take it all back, take it all back /I’d take it all back just to have you”! It’s a fantastic love song about giving it all up for your love and an excellent set finale.

See the full setlist here.

Cost of a ticket: $50

PlaylistHQ Economic Rating: Worth It

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Quinn Delaney