Western Illinois University alumna Nissi Shalome is realizing her theatrical dream after being named to the cast of the national tour of “Summer: The Donna Summer Musical.” Shalome, who received her BFA degree in musical theatre in 2019, landed the position of “swing,” which means she must learn the parts of six cast spots in case someone is unable to go on stage. There are three Donna Summer characters in the cast, the young “Duckling,” the older “Disco Donna” and the modern day “Diva Donna,” and Smith must learn the “Disco”... Read More

The Western Illinois University Department of English will host the Fred Ewing Case and Lola Case Writers-in-Residence Thursday, Oct. 14, again in a virtual format. This year’s authors are poet Luther Hughes; novelist David Heska Wanbli Weiden; and graphic novelist Kayla Shaggy. A question and answer session with students and faculty will be held via Zoom from 3-4 p.m. To get the Zoom link, email Professor Erika Wurth a et-wurth@wiu.edu. A reading with the authors will be streamed on the WIU Department of English Facebook page, from 5-6 p.m. • Weiden, an enrolled citizen of the Sicangu... Read More

Saturday in the Arts is a weekly feature covering a trend, subject, event or personality of local interest. It runs every Saturday morning on your site for the best entertainment and arts coverage in the area, QuadCities.com! How do you solve a problem like diversity in live theater? From Broadway to the Quad-Cities, theatrical organizations of all kinds are wrestling with this thorny issue, now more than ever. Long before the widespread racial reckoning that’s taken place nationwide in the past 17 months (post-George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Black Lives Matter, which has only intensified),... Read More

Thursday, October 7 at 7:30pm, River Music Experience and Quad City Arts will present a free concert by the internationally-recognized drummer and composer Paa Kow (pronounced “Pah-Ko”) in the Redstone Room at 129 N Main Street, Davenport. The concert represents a continued commitment by both organizations to present a wide variety of performing arts genres and styles. During Paa Kow’s visit, he will present an educational workshop to students at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center in Rock Island. “Bringing Paa Kow to our community is a rare opportunity,” said Tyson Danner, River... Read More

The Western Illinois University School of Music will host a faculty recital in the College of Fine Arts and Communication Recital Hall at 5 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 10 as part of the University’s celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month. This performance is open free for limited general audience seating, but due to the restrictions currently in place, patrons are being asked to scan the QR code and enter contact information upon arrival in the lobby (for contact tracing purposes) and maintain proper social distancing. Ushers will also be able to gather information for those who might need assistance.... Read More

The Western Illinois University Department of English will host the Fred Ewing Case and Lola Case Writers-in-Residence Thursday, Oct. 14, again in a virtual format. This year’s authors are poet Luther Hughes; novelist David Heska Wanbli Weiden; and graphic novelist Kayla Shaggy. A question and answer session with students and faculty will be held via Zoom from 3-4 p.m. To get the Zoom link, email Professor Erika Wurth a et-wurth@wiu.edu. A reading with the authors will be streamed on the WIU Department of English Facebook page, from 5-6 p.m. • Weiden, an enrolled citizen of the Sicangu... Read More

The Western Illinois University School of Music will host a faculty recital in the College of Fine Arts and Communication Recital Hall at 5 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 10 as part of the University’s celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month. This performance is open free for limited general audience seating, but due to the restrictions currently in place, patrons are being asked to scan the QR code and enter contact information upon arrival in the lobby (for contact tracing purposes) and maintain proper social distancing. Ushers will also be able to gather information for those who might need assistance.... Read More

The first Gather for the Cure Event on Saturday, Oct. 2 will help lower the financial barrier leading to essential breast imaging. The first-ever Gather for the Cure event at the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds on Oct. 2 will celebrate survivorship, provide education and resources and support the Genesis Voucher Program. “Cost should not be a barrier to accessing what may be life-saving breast imaging,’’ said Diane Koster, Genesis Women’s Health Grant Program Specialist. “Our goal with this event is to bring the Quad-Cities communities back together, to celebrate those who have survived... Read More

Sixth-grade student Jose Lopez was diagnosed this past spring with Leukemia after Denkmann’s school nurse, Ms. Zimanek noticed an issue with one of his eyes. The school nurse contacted Jose’s mother and got him into an eye doctor that day. Jose is currently in Peoria receiving treatment. Principal Versluis asked students and staff to bring any spare change they had and if the school was able to raise 2,021 dollars by the end of this month he would get a mohawk. Staff added more incentives to raise money and said whichever staff member collected the largest amount of money would shave their... Read More

Each year, people in the community have an opportunity to submit a nomination for Rock Island residents who have made selfless contributions of service to the community. Rock Island High School dean Andy Campbell was chosen for the category of Education, RIHS coach Thurgood Marshall was chosen for the category of Individual, and RIHS student Riley Jones was chosen for the category of Youth. On September 27, they were honored at the city council meeting. Here’s what their nominations said… Thurgood Brooks  Born and raised in Rock Island, Thurgood Brooks is a passionate and dedicated... Read More