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The Playcrafters Barn Theatre's presentation of The Boxcar Children opened on Friday with a simple, wholesome journey of four Depression-era youngsters and their adventures as recent orphans. Knowing that they will likely go to different foster homes, the Alden children escape into the woods and find a boxcar in which they begin to live, and while the set design was sparse, the actors, for the most part, were excellent – I found myself carefully listening to each character as they expressed their innermost thoughts and feelings. Like the old saying goes, "Less is more," and in this show, I found that to be particularly true.

Wrapping up my pan of DC Films' Suicide Squad in the summer of 2016, I wrote, “The inevitable sequel to this franchise-starter can only be better. I say that all the time, and one of these days, damn it, I'm gonna be right.” Hey, whattaya know! I was finally right!

Lauded by Theatre Mania as a “mean and marvelous” play that “has more surprises than a case full of Cracker Jack boxes,” author Neil LaBute's biting and evocative drama The Shape of Things serves as the latest student production in St. Ambrose University's Black Box Theatre, its February 13 through 15 run signifying why CurtainUp deemed it a “must-see” that “leaves the audience with much to talk about.”

Thorough and fascinating discussion on all facets of the artistic process is scheduled to take place at the Figge Art Museum on February 13, with the Davenport venue hosting 10 gifted visual artists in its presentation Rock Island Art Guild Artist Talks, a chance to meet and learn from Guild members whose works are currently on display in the Figge's 41st Rock Island Art Guild Fine Arts Exhibition.

The legendary Brooklyn-based MC and Black Star member Talib Kweli drops into East Moline venue the Rust Belt for a show on February 14.

Touring in support of his 2019 album State I'm In, Aaron Lewis – the chart-topping outlaw-county singer/songwriter and co-founder of rock outfit Staind – headlines an acoustic February 15 concert at Davenport's Rhythm City Casino Resort Event Center, treating fans to a repertoire that inspired Saving Country Music to rave, “Aaron's voice comes with a familiarity and richness of tone that endears itself to the songs he writes.”

A musical showcase held in support of Black History Month, the latest presentation in Polyrhythms' Third Sunday Jazz Workshop and Matinée Series finds the Midwestern greats of the Peter Callaway Quartet bringing their significant talents and deep love of jazz to Davenport's Redstone Room on February 16, offering a celebration of African-American jazz composers and musicians including Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, George Benson, Duke Ellington, and many others.

What follows is a subjective list of my 10 favorite releases of 2019, as well as some honorable mentions. My personal tastes tend toward rock and metal, and this list reflects that, with a few exceptions. There's much good music that I've either missed or haven't fully appreciated. You are probably in the same boat. So read on – and feel free to recommend anything I may have overlooked.