Circa ’21 owner Denny Hitchcock sent out the following letter tonight to Circa ’21 subscribers and patrons. It’s a sad farewell to the holiday show and the rest of the shows throughout 2020. Here’s hoping Circa is back better than ever and we’ll have a healthy country and season in 2021! Here’s the letter from Denny in its entirety: Dear Loyal Guest, With the closure of Rock Island County by Governor Pritzker at midnight Tuesday, we have made the difficult decision to close our doors for the holiday season. The holiday productions of “Winter Wonderland”... Read More

With the closure of indoor dining throughout the state, by Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, Circa ’21 Dinner Playhouse has made the difficult decision to close its doors for the holiday season. The Rock Island theater’s planned productions of “Winter Wonderland” and “Seussical” will be moved to the end of the 2021 season instead. Circa has, however, received special permission from Springfield to remain open until this Saturday to finish the current run of “The Savannah Sipping Society.” “This was a terribly difficult decision,” Brett Hitchcock, director of audience development,... Read More

The public is invited to be a part of the Figge Art Museum’s next major exhibition, For America: 200 Years of Painting from the National Academy of Design, opening Feb. 20, 2021. Drawn from the collections of the National Academy of Design in New York, over 90 works made between 1810 and 2013 by historical and contemporary masters such as Winslow Homer, William Merritt Chase, John Singer Sargent, Andrew Wyeth, Jaune Quick-to-See-Smith, Charles White, Jane Freilicher, Hank Willis Thomas, and many others will be available for adoption as part of the Figge’s “Adopt-a-Painting” initiative. Adopters... Read More

Iowa native Maddie Poppe – the winner of 2018’s “American Idol” — is coming to the Adler Theatre on Saturday, Dec. 19, at 7 p.m. Tickets will go on sale this Friday, Nov. 6 at 10 a.m. in person at the Adler Theatre Box Office (136 E. 3rd St., Davenport) and online at Ticketmaster.com. Tickets ($29.50 & $39.50) for the socially-distanced event will be sold in pods of 2, 3, 4 and 5. Guests must purchase all tickets in a selected pod. All guests will be expected to follow new health and safety guidelines, which includes wearing face coverings, maintaining distance between groups,... Read More

EXCLUSIVE — Illinois Quad-Cities businesses have been notified by the state to begin preparing for a shutdown and covid mitigation procedures beginning Wednesday, multiple sources who asked not to be identified told QuadCities.com today. The sources are all local small business owners, and were notified last night so they could begin preparing. An official announcement from Illinois Governor JB Pritzker will be forthcoming Monday. According to the sources, there will be a number of mitigation actions put in place, including no indoor dining, limits to the number of people gathered in any... Read More

To celebrate Halloween, I’m dropping multiple columns for your laughs and enjoyment. Hope you all have a happy and safe holiday! Is there a vampire workout video? You hardly ever see any fat vampires. They’re almost invariably beautiful, young (or young-ish) and ripped. Even the evil decrepit old vamps are at least skinny. So, I’m wondering, do vampires only “turn” fit people? Or do people make deals with vamps and tell them, “Hey hey hey… let’s wait a minute here, shall we? Give me six weeks to get into shape, and THEN you can suck out my blood and turn... Read More

PBS for the Quad Cities Region premieres their newest documentary “The Fight for the Women’s Vote.” The documentary will air November 1 at 9:00 pm and repeat November 12 at 8:00 pm.  Written and produced by WQPT Director of Marketing and Local Content Lora Adams and edited by Denise Hollmer, the documentary follows the timeline of the movement to acquire voting rights for women from the mid 1800’s to 1965 when The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson. “We focused not only on the famous suffragettes like Alice Paul, but on our own homegrown suffragettes... Read More

The Western Illinois University School of Music will present the WIU Percussion Ensemble, under the direction of Professor Rick Kurasz and Associate Professor Kevin Nichols, at 1 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 1. Due to the restrictions currently in place, there are no general admission performances in the COFAC Recital Hall.This performance will be broadcast on the School of Music’s YouTube Channel and Facebook page. PROGRAM: Percussion Music – Michael Colgrass Allegro from Water Music – G. F. Handel/arr. James L. Moore Variations on a Ghanaian Theme – Daniel Levitan Implosion –... Read More

October is the best time to enjoy the outdoors! So why not join YMCA Camp Abe Lincoln for movie night at camp? Drive In Movie Night will take place this Sunday Nov 1 at Camp Abe Lincoln (1624 W Front St. Blue Grass). Camp will open at 5 p.m. and the movie will begin around 6 p.m. Start off with some fun on the new Kangaroo Jumper and roast marshmallows by the fire while waiting for the show to start. Don’t forget to bring your comfy chair or blanket and favorite non-alcoholic beverages along with some bug spray as we enjoy a night out together with families and friends. Visit https://www.facebook.com/events/745414642982660... Read More

To celebrate Halloween, I’m dropping multiple columns for your laughs and enjoyment. Hope you all have a happy and safe holiday! Do ghosts fart? Ever walk into your house after you’ve been away, or walk into a room and notice a strange smell? Of course, once you do, you have to try to find it, to try to get rid of it, because who wants a strange smell in their house? I’ll usually look for some dropped food or something behind or under furniture, and sometimes that’s the case. Some bit of stray potable that tried to escape and sadly discovered its motion was limited to whatever got it... Read More