Relaunch

We are relaunching the blog. You can find the new posts at https://playlisthq.game.blog.

 

A Legend! Celine Dion at the United Center (December 1, 2019)

“I was locked up in the Nevada desert for 10 years!” exclaims Celine Dion. “But, I escaped!” She is of course referring to her Las Vegas residency in which she did 1,141 shows. During this time, she honed and crafted her live performances into a big spectacle. The show has that big Las Vegas feel. This is a precursor of sorts as PlaylistHQ is heading to Las Vegas to review shows in late January. This will include the beginning of Aerosmith’s residency.

To make a grand entrance, Celine rises up from below the stage on a moving platform. After greeting the audience, she launches into the Pandora’s Box cover, “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now”. “When I touch you like this, when I hold you like that, it’s so hard to believe but it’s all coming back to me!” This is a fantastic ballad and a great choice to open up her return tour.

She keeps the ballads going with “The Power of Love”, a Jennifer Rush cover. “Cause I‘m your lady, and you are my man!” This song really shows off her vocal talents and her ability to put so much emotion into her voice.

This is the Courage tour, the name of her new album. She sings the title track and also “Imperfections”. This song was produced by DallasK, a DJ based in LA. It has a very modern dance pop feel. It may be very different from her other songs, but it sounds excellent.

For the encore, she returns to the stage in a gigantic white dress and sings the theme from the 1997 film Titanic, “My Heart Will Go On”. The entire audience is all smiles as they sing along to this very romantic ballad. About 30 small drones light up and rise up from the stage. They take a few different positions in a very cool display. At the end, one of them hovers right above her hands.

 

She says she wants to leave us with a message of world peace. So, to close out the night, she beautifully sings “Imagine” by John Lennon.

See the full setlist here.

Quinn Delaney

Wacky and Funny! Eclipse Theatre Company Presents Why Torture is Wrong and the People Who Love Them at Athenaeum Theatre (Through December 15, 2019)

Felicity wakes up in a strange bed next to a man she doesn’t recognize. She attempts to sneak out, but he awakens before she can leave. He explains to her that she was really drunk last night and that they got married! After getting to know him a bit, she gets really worried that she has married a terrorist! Her father thinks so also and is determined to stop his next attack with the help of his sidekick, Scooby Doo.

The whole play is wacky and funny like the two previous Christopher Durang plays produced by Eclipse Theatre Company, Baby with the Bathwater and Beyond Therapy. However, this one also contains a message about how torture is ineffective. It’s a wild ride trying to figure out what is going on and predicting what will happen next.

Tracey Green is great as Felicity, who is very overwhelmed by the situation she has found herself in. Siddhartha Rajan (Beyond Therapy) is hilarious as her husband. He does great playing the line between being a terrorist or just lazy and unemployed. Patrick Thornton (Requiem for a Heavyweight) is solid as her father, a conspiracy believing right winger. Elaine Carlson is charming as her mother always wanting to talk about theatre. John Arthur Lewis is very funny as the person who married the young couple who also directs porn on the side. Elizabeth Birnkrant is solid as the father’s right hand woman. Lastly, Devon Nimefroh is absolutely hilarious as the narrator who at one point comes on stage saying “I am the waiter in this scene.”

Get tickets now for Why Torture is Wrong and the People Who Love Them at Athenaeum Theatre through December 15!

Cost of a ticket: $35

PlaylistHQ Economic Rating: Worth It –

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

Quinn Delaney