“Sheltering in place” takes on new meaning with a brand-new streaming service, tailored to fans of architecture and building design. Online streaming rights to “The Barn Raisers,” an award-winning documentary produced by Kelly and Tammy Rundle of Moline-based Fourth Wall Films, have been acquired by Australian actor-producer and entrepreneur Dustin Clare for Shelter, a new digital platform for architecture enthusiasts. The channel targets a global audience and streams films, TV shows, and its own original works.  “The reality of lockdown has made us re-examine our connection to home,... Read More

At Quad City Arts in Rock Island, it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, as the 35th anniversary of Festival of Trees will look different this year, but the holiday magic will continue in a whole new way. Kicking off the holiday season during Covid, this year’s eight-day event will not be in person, but will highlight a televised Holiday Special & Day of Giving to air on KWQC-TV6 on Saturday, Nov. 21 at 10 a.m. There will be select designs, ornaments, gift shop items and VIP baskets available for bid and purchase at www.qcfestivaloftrees.com or at the Quad City Arts Rock Island... Read More

Juan Carlos Mendoza has sung in some pretty prestigious places – including New York City’s Juilliard School, and the Lyric Opera and Grant Park Music Festival in Chicago. But recording two recent recitals at the Muscatine Art Center may be among the most meaningful so far in the young tenor’s career. Mendoza, a Mexican-American 34-year-old, is a Muscatine native and last month he filmed two solo programs in the 1921 music room in the Muscatine mansion at 1314 Mulberry Ave., as a partnership with Moline-based Living Proof Exhibit (LPE). The first 20-minute program — accompanied by Jessica... Read More

Imagine rehearsing for a musical you won’t get to perform for another year. That’s what the 10 members of the cast of “Winter Wonderland” did last week for Circa ’21 Dinner Playhouse, at their scene shop, even days after the venerable Rock Island venue announced it would close for the rest of November and December to comply with Illinois’ indoor dining ban, which took effect Nov. 4. “It was so very strange,” actress Savannah Bay Strandin said Monday of rehearsing through Nov. 6, including recording a video of the show for Circa to have for late 2021 when they reunite. “It was... Read More

The Adler Theatre is presenting “A Virtually Celtic Christmas” at 7 p.m. Dec. 15. Tickets will go on sale this Friday, Nov. 13 at 10 a.m. at https://www.showtix4u.com/event-details/42220, and the concert will stream on the ShowTix4U platform. “Purchasing a ticket for ‘A Virtually Celtic Christmas’ will not only gain access to a wonderful holiday show, performed by some of Ireland’s most talented artists, but will also lend your support to the Adler Theatre during these difficult times,” according to a Monday release from the venue at 136 E. 3rd St., Davenport. Tickets will be... Read More

In time for Veterans Day, the Moline Public Library will showcase Fourth Wall Films’ two new documentaries Riding the Rails to Hero Street and A Bridge Too Far from Hero Street during an virtual screening event on Tuesday, Nov, 10 from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. Producers Kelly and Tammy Rundle will take part in an online Q&A following the films. Registration (at no charge) is required. To sign up, visit the Nov. 10 event on the MPL calendar at molinelibrary.com/events or call 309-524-2470. As of Monday morning, there are 35 seats remaining. Riding the Rails to Hero Street explores the immigrants’... Read More

Saturday In The Arts is a weekly look at a personality, place, trend or topic of interest to the Quad-Cities. It runs every Saturday morning on your site for fun, free, local entertainment and features, QuadCities.com. If there was any doubt that Steph DeLacy and Megan Warren freaking love musical theater, just listen to one episode of their passionate, dishy “Double Threat: The Podcast.” You can immediately tell that DeLacy (a 33-year-old choreographer) and Warren (a 26-year-old vocal coach and music director) are best buds; have a sweeping, deep knowledge of Broadway history, and definite... Read More

What a difference an audience makes. Any performer – especially in this dizzying, chaotic age of Covid-19 – knows this. And when Mark Russell Smith, starting his 12th season as music director and conductor of the Quad City Symphony Orchestra, took to the Adler Theatre stage Oct. 3 for the first time in seven months – he knew it for sure. “It was moving, very powerful,” he said Thursday of leading a smaller, socially-distanced ensemble, as he wore a face mask. “Even before we played a note, the audience greeted us with a standing ovation. I came out like normal, the orchestra stood up... Read More

Roald Tweet had a way with words, with listeners, with his comforting voice, and his patient, relentless curiosity and compassion will be felt in the Quad-Cities for years to come. The 87-year-old Augustana College professor emeritus of English died on Wednesday after a brief illness (congestive heart failure and Covid-19), and the tremendous loss reverberates throughout the community. “He was my teacher from the time I was seventeen till now,” said Ann Boaden (Augie Class of ’67), a longtime English professor who retired in 2016. “His brilliance, his puckish wit and playfulness, his persistence... Read More

Kai Swanson of Augustana College, Rock Island, related Wednesday: “It is with a heart made heavy by a thousand light memories that I inform the Augustana community of the passing of Roald Tweet, professor emeritus of English.” Tweet, 87, died today after a brief illness. He became a member of the Augustana English Department in 1960, and remained there until his retirement in 1999; he chaired the department from 1967 until 1984. In 1998, he was appointed to the Conrad Bergendoff Chair in the Humanities, the second person (after Dorothy Parkander) to hold the College’s first endowed position. Tweet... Read More