At one point in the original bluegrass musical “Big Rock Candy Mountain,”the witchy, bitchy character Velda decries the Depression-era theater in which the story takes place as “frivolous nonsense.” Well, in the midst of what seems like a greater 21st-century Depression (see: Covid, unemployment, racial injustice, political division and endless quarantine), I think a little […]
The Bureau of Cultural Affairs (BCA) at Western Illinois University will offer a series of five free, virtual shows for the Spring 2021 semester as part of “On the Couch – Virtual Arts Series.” The production company, BiCoastal Productions, is offering free shows to presenters like BCA during the COVID-19 pandemic to continue to offer […]
Linda Phan does not consider herself a child prodigy, but the 11-year-old Bettendorf student is the youngest musician to perform as a soloist with the Quad City Symphony Orchestra in recent memory. Linda – who’s in sixth grade at Riverdale Heights Elementary – won the Grand Prize at the 2019 Quad City Symphony Youth Ensembles […]
Two members of the Quad City Symphony Youth Ensembles (QCYSE) have been named winners of the annual Concerto Competition – a pianist from Alleman High School and a trumpeter from Pleasant Valley High. Last month, eight Youth Symphony Orchestra (YSO) members auditioned to win one of two prizes. The YSO Prize winner is typically awarded the opportunity to play their […]
In this bitterly cold winter of our discontent, the Quad City Symphony Orchestra transports us to warm, bright musical landscapes in its latest digital concert. In a program literally focused on youth, the concert (recorded without an audience at Davenport’s Adler Theatre) features Felix Mendelssohn’s musical exploration of Italy’s culture and countryside in his joyful […]
On Friday, Feb. 5, the Geneseo-based Richmond Hill Players announced it will temporarily suspend the 2021 season due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. “We will continue to monitor the situation, and when it is safe to return to our theater, we will make a final determination on the 2021 season,” RHP president Jonathan Grafft posted […]
Feeling like some sweet music this weekend? Saturday sees the debut of Circa ’21’s bluegrass musical BIG ROCK CANDY MOUNTAIN! If you’re a fan of the film O’ Brother Where Art Thou and the Circa ‘21 favorite Southern Crossroads, you’re going to love this show. A merry band of misfits […]
For Black History Month, Rock Island native Jonathan Burnett wants to educate people about a jazz legend from the Q-C whose son went on to become the first African-American governor of Massachusetts. On Monday, Feb. 8 at 6 p.m., the first cut of the short documentary, “The Strangeness: The Pat Patrick Story,” will be shown […]
Between QAnon and the fashion return of flannel and ripped jeans, two of the hottest upcoming trends in pop culture seem to be ’90s nostalgia and the belief in a bizarre conspiracy about celebrities secretly possessed by demons. However, once upon a time, back in The Era of Cellphones The Size Of Bread Loaves, there […]
The new year at the Spotlight Theatre, 1800 7th Ave., Moline, brings a new bar and a monthly jazz series starting this month to help spotlight it. The Jazz Lounge – which debuted briefly this past fall in the main theater as a Thursday series with pianist Mason Moss and singer Sara Tubbs – will […]
