Singer Megon McDonough is embracing Leap Year 2024.
Lake Forest resident McDonough performs her show, “Leap of Love: The Burt Bacharach Songbook,” at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 29 in The Alley room at Carnivale in Chicago.
A native of Crystal Lake, she knew she wanted to be an entertainer from a young age.
“I was so enamored with Sammy Davis Jr. and Phyllis Diller. I saw The Beatles on the ‘Ed Sullivan Show’ when I was 10 and it absolutely changed my life,” she said. “From the time I was five, I knew what I wanted to do. I sang. I practically slept in my tap shoes. I loved singing and hamming it up.”
The seventh of nine children, she and her siblings starred in their home variety shows.
“I loved TV and singing and watching cartoons and being outside,” she said. “My parents were very encouraging.”
When she was 14, she won radio station WLS 890-AM’s singing competition with an original folk song. One of the prizes was a recording contract with Mercury Records.
“I beat out bands and other established singers,” she said. “It was very whirlwind. I got to be onstage with Clark Weber, who was the famous DJ at the time. And I won Ludwig drums like Ringo’s.” Weber introduced The Beatles at Comiskey Park in 1965.
She went onto tour with John Denver, Steve Martin and Harry Chapin.
“In the mind of a 19-year-old, you think it’s always going to be like this. It’s always going to be really easy,” she said. “But things happen and life changes.”
Those changes included her father and sister dying within three months of each other and her returning to Crystal Lake.
After that, she continued to record albums and gig around town. She started playing around Chicago with a “great band” called Mada Rue, performing to sold-out houses on Lincoln Avenue.
“Many times in my life, you can only see as far as the headlights go but you keep going,” she said. “We meet the right people by divine appointment. People come into our lives for a reason, a season or a lifetime and the people I met were fantastic.”
McDonough also is a founding member of the satirical folk group The Four Bitchin’ Babes, which she performed with from 1990 to 2001.
It was when she was doing an appearance at the Music Institute of Chicago – where she taught songwriting and voice – that her life took another turn. Her friend Fred Simon was playing piano and she started singing along – and the lightbulb went on over their heads.
“I said, you know what songbook I love, the Burt Bacharach songbook,” she said. “He said, ‘Let’s run some songs.’”
Growing up, she was a rabid music aficionado and noticed a common thread on the backs of LPs – songs were written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David.
“Sophisticated, heartfelt … Burt Bacharach was a brilliant composer,” she said. “So romantic, so clever, so cool. Handsome his whole life.”
She put the show together in the fall of 2019, performing it for the first time at Sudio5 in Evanston.
“It was originally called ‘What the World Needs Now,’” she said. “On this performance on Leap Year, we’re calling it Leap of Love.”
The set list features some of Bacharach’s most famous songs, including “The Look of Love,” “I Say a Little Prayer,” “Walk on By,” “Close to You,” “Raindrops Keep Fallin’,” “What the World Needs Now,” “Alfie” and “I’ll Never Fall In Love Again.”
McDonough and Simon are joined by bassist Jon Paul. In the second half of the show, McDonough will perform some of her own original songs, including “Amazing Things,” as well as several covers such as “Spirits in the Material World” by The Police and “1,000 Beautiful Things” by Annie Lennox.
People love the show’s vibe, she said.
“Expect to have a good time,” she said. “Relax, have a great time, see a wonderful club in Chicago – I know it’s difficult getting out, especially in February – but I promise, if you come you will have a good time.”
Megon McDonough
When: 7:30 p.m. Feb. 29
Where: Carnivale, 702 W. Fulton Market, Chicago
Tickets: $50
Information: 312-850-5005; carnivalechicago.com
Annie Alleman is a freelance reporter for the News Sun.