“Double Threat” Women To Launch New Bettendorf Musical Theater Studio

Seven months after launching their weekly “Double Threat” podcast about musical theater, choreographer/dance teacher Steph DeLacy and music director/vocal coach Megan Warren are extending their brand to the new Double Threat Studios.

Steph DeLacy (left) and Megan Warren release a new podcast episode every Monday.

The performing arts studio at 882 Middle Rd., Duck Creek Plaza, in Bettendorf, will open in January, aiming to provide high-quality, comprehensive musical theater instruction for young performers in grades 3rd-12th.

“We aim to encourage boldness, confidence, creativity, and community through performance,” the women posted Friday morning on Facebook. “Our offerings will include private voice lessons, private tap lessons, and theatrical programming for the QC community.”

The logo for Double Threat Studios.

“We are so incredibly excited to be in the middle of renovations of our 3,500-sq-foot dream studio space that will debut in January of 2021!” Warren and DeLacy posted.

Their free “Double Threat” podcast – which debuted in April 2020 on Apple, Spotify and SoundCloud – averages about 90 minutes, with a new episode each Monday (Nov. 30 will be number 31). The enthusiastic women each talk about a musical according to a theme for the week (like shows known for dance), and toward the end offer a “mixtape” of discussing songs from three other shows that fit the theme. Then they ask listeners to vote for which musical they prefer.

DeLacy, 33, and Warren, 26, have been closely connected with Moline’s Spotlight Theatre, and have offered dance and vocal lessons from there over the past year.

The new Double Threat Studios will open at Duck Creek Plaza, Bettendorf, in January 2021.

DeLacy and Warren (who met doing 2018’s “Shrek” at Quad City Music Guild) collaborated on Spotlight’s “Matilda” in summer 2019. Among the 18 shows DeLacy was to choreograph in 2020, she and Warren were to partner on “Tarzan,” “Evita,” “The Addams Family” and “The Sound of Music” at the Spotlight, which all were postponed due to Covid.

At the new Double Threat Studios, they plan to have two main classes – one for 4^th-8^th grade students on Mondays and Thursdays at 4-6 p.m., and one for 7^th-12^th grade students Mondays and Thursdays at 6-9 p.m. Warren also will offer private voice lessons and DeLacy will teach private tap lessons.

On the podcast page of their website, doublethreatstudios.com, it says the podcast is aimed towards older students and adults, and listener discretion is advised, as “language and sexual references are used frequently when discussing the content and themes of musicals.”

You can sign up for emails to receive studio news, updates, class information, and special promotions only for email subscribers, at doublethreatstudios.com/email-list-sign-up.

There are also Double Threat shirts for sale, available at www.bonfire.com/store/double-threat-studios/.

Jonathan Turner

Jonathan Turner has been covering the Quad-Cities arts scene for 25 years, first as a reporter with the Dispatch and Rock Island Argus, and then as a reporter with the Quad City Times. Jonathan is also an accomplished actor and musician who has been seen frequently on local theater stages, including the Bucktown Revue and Black Box Theatre.

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