T.S. Eliot had it all wrong. In “The Waste Land,” the poet wrote “April is the cruelest month.” Well, five days before we can kick it into the dustbin of history, it’s safe to say that dishonor now belongs to March. At least March 2020, which has seen one bone-crushing loss after another for many around the world, me especially. Just one of the latest is from our beloved Quad-Cities theater community – of which I’ve been honored to share as longtime arts reporter for the Dispatch/Argus (and later Quad City Times), as well as piano accompanist and occasional stage performer. The singular... Read More

Netflix Original, Ozark, returns with Season 3 on Friday Mar 27. The first two seasons of this series, in which Jason Bateman won an Emmy for directing and Julia Garner won an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress for, are currently streaming on Netflix. Ozark tells the story of a financial adviser that drags his family from Chicago to the Missouri Ozarks, where he must launder $500 million in five years to appease a drug boss. Starring: Jason Bateman, Laura Linney, Sofia Hublitz Creators: Bill Dubuque, Mark Williams   For more fun things to do in the Quad Cities this week, check out the... Read More

Ballet Quad Cities School of Dance is offering a variety of dance and yoga classes using the app Zoom beginning March 24th.  Additional information about the faculty is on the web site Ballet Quad Cities, click on the school link.  For more information on how to register please call 309 786 2677 SCHEDULE FOR MARCH 24-31 Monday: 3:30-4:30 Yoga/Barre All Levels- Families welcome!!! Everyone in the household can join in 4:45-6:15 Ballet 5/6 (10-13 years old) 6:30-8:00 Ballet 7 (13-18 years old) Tuesday: 3:00-3:45 Tap 3/4 (7-9 years old) 4:00 -5:15 Ballet 4 (8 and 9 years old) 5:30-6:30 Ballet 3... Read More

Josh Gad, the man behind the infamous voice of our beloved Olaf, has taken to Twitter to read children’s books. Each night around 6:30 p.m. he takes the world of Twitter to read to your children (or yourself) for about 10 minutes. So far, the skilled voice actor has read from books like The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt, Olivia Goes to Venice by Ian Falconer, and the classic tale The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein, giving each character an entertaining and unique voice. Follow Josh Gad on Twitter for upcoming reading sessions at: https://twitter.com/joshgad #GadBookClub For more fun... Read More

Feeling the effect of no sports right now? Well, the NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL want to help you with that! Right now, all four major sports leagues are offering FREE content to help fill that void! Here’s the info: NFL– NFL Game Pass is now free until May 22. Visit https://nflcommunications.com/Pages/NFL-OFFERS-FANS-FREE-ACCESS-TO-NFL-GAME-PASS-.aspx for more information. NBA– Offering FREE NBA League Pass through Apr 22. Visit https://www.nba.com/nba-fan-letter-league-pass-free-preview for more information. MLB– Offering FREE classic games on YouTube. Visit https://www.mlb.com/news/watch-classic-mlb-games-for-free... Read More

Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn will be available to purchase on digital on Mar 24, so folks who missed the latest DC film in theaters (which, judging by the box office, was too dang many of you) will be able to catch up with Margot Robbie‘s Harley Quinn and her new girl gang much sooner than expected. And Warner Bros. isn’t just releasing the film — they’ve got a handful of digital bonus features too, including a gag reel and several featurettes. On Mar 24, “Birds of Prey and the Fabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn” will be available to own... Read More

Missing the experience of going to a huge music and entertainment festival, with dozens of eclectic and talented acts? No worries, even in the era of quarantine you can get those feels by checking out the Socially Distant Fest. Socially Distant Fest is a new Facebook group which showcases entertainers from around the country. As the page admin puts it: This group has been created to bring some entertainment to those of us that are isolated/quarantined or distanced socially because of the COVID19 pandemic. We welcome performers of all backgrounds (musicians, poets, puppeteers, fire spinners, etc…)... Read More

Dolittle arrives on digital today, Mar 24 and 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, DVD and on demand Apr 7 from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment. Robert Downey Jr. plays Dr. Dolittle, a man who can talk to animals. The cast also includes the voice talents of Emma Thompson, Rami Malek, Selena Gomez, John Cena and Tom Holland, among others. After losing his wife, Dolittle he locks himself away behind the high wall of his manor but is forced to set sail on an epic adventure when the queen falls gravely ill. Helping Dolittle in search of a rare cure are his animal friends — including Chee-Chee (Malek), an... Read More

Have a jones for some live jazz music this weekend? Join Josh Duffee, Neal Smith and Freddy Allen as they live-stream again from Josh’s living room this Saturday from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.! As Freddy put it, “Last week’s show was so much fun, we thought we’d do it again this week. Maybe we’ll even make this a regular event whilst we all stay inside and practice social distancing. Josh will be on drums, Neal on sax, and I’ll be at the keys and singing some of our favorite jazzy tunes. We’ll be doing some of the requests we missed from last weeks show, and we’ll be taking new requests... Read More

And, let’s get ready to rummmmmmmmmmbbbbbbblllllleee! Everyone’s looking for films to stream on Netflix, Hulu and more, and so every critic worth their Rotten Tomatoes rating is jumping in with their rankings. Two writers (Jake Coyle and Lindsey Bahr) from the Associated Press recently penned an article entitled “A Look at the Decade’s Best Big-Screen Releases.” The list, according to these two, was as follows: “Tree of Life” “Phantom Thread” “Margaret” “Lady Bird” “Moonlight” “Somewhere” “Cold War” “Certified Copy” “Inside Llewyn Davis” “The... Read More