Music certainly has the power to comfort and unify people, as exemplified in a new video by Rock Island native Lissie Maurus, who encouraged her fans to submit short videos from their recent life in quarantine. The five-minute compilation – set to her soulful 2018 song “Peace” – was released Aug. 11, and Lissie did a CNN International interview on the project from her family’s Rock Island home on Aug. 15. “Needless to say, these have been very disorienting, painful, reflective times,” the 37-year-old singer/songwriter posted on Facebook on Aug. 12. “I tear up with every view! And... Read More

If you’re itching to get out and see some new locally made short films, plan on rolling into Sterling, Ill., on Wednesday, Aug. 26, for the first-annual Northwest Illinois Film Festival at the Midway Drive-In Theatre. The free event (registration required) is billed as a “Shorts-A-Palooza,” and is a celebration of Illinois independent filmmakers, featuring several short films  — including a few from Quad-Cities producers. “The festival is an abridged version of the much larger film festival we had planned for May, but were forced to cancel due to the Covid-19 pandemic,” Gary Camarano,... Read More

Rozz-Tox (2108 3rd Ave Rock Island) will be hosting their covid-era outdoor double-feature film series, Garden Cinema, this Friday Aug 21 from 8 p.m. – 12 a.m. This week’s Garden Cinema theme is ‘Hollywood Fumbles,’ films that shouldn’t have been made but we’re glad they were. Movies featured: 8:30 p.m.            Super Mario Bros. (VHS) 1993 | US | adventure/ comedy | PG | 1h 44m a film by Annabel Jankel & Rocky Morton Super Mario Bros was dreamt up as an obvious cash grab to capitalize on the successful video game franchise.  The “film” features an impressive cast... Read More

Many people have gotten used to working from home during the seemingly endless period of quarantine. Anthony Natarelli is even bringing theater and improv comedy to his home. The irrepressible 26-year-old Rock Islander, who lives in an apartment above the Circa ’21 Speakeasy, 1818 3rd Ave., livestreamed an improv show there June 27, and later this month will act in a two-man play to be shown online as part of his $1 Producer Project. “We’re keeping it small casts,” Natarelli said recently. “The highest number of people that will ever be in here will be five people in the entire apartment.... Read More

A year ago, Chelsea Ward was sassily standing up to a rigid Mother Superior in Music Guild’s “Sister Act.” This month, the passionate 25-year-old Davenport actress is standing up for racial justice and equality in two different online performances. On Aug. 8, Ward was among an all-female cast in a virtual cabaret – “Six Queens for Change,” recorded at Moline’s Black Box Theatre – and this Wednesday will play the title role in “Antigone (born against.),” a modern version of the ancient Greek tragedy. She was asked by Victoria House to help put together the Black Box cabaret,... Read More

Join the Exspiravit Paranormal Society this Sunday Aug 16 from 4:30 – 6:30 p.m. on Facebook Live for their Black Hawk State Park Investigation. Exspiravit Paranormal Society (ESP) will be providing viewers with a brief history about Black Hawk State Park, and then will head into an investigation that YOU will lead! Tell the team what you want to see while joining virtually and you may help them uncover some paranormal activity. This event is NOT hosted by Blackhawk State Park, so please contact ESP on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/exspiravitparanormal/ for any questions you may have.   For... Read More

Saturday In The Arts is a weekly feature covering an impactful trend, personality, organization or overarching theme in the Quad-Cities arts and entertainment community.   As the Quad-Cities and nationwide Hispanic population has exploded since 2000, Hola America  News this month is celebrating 20 years as the area’s influential bilingual newspaper and a positive force for information, cultural pride and public service throughout the region. “The 20th anniversary of Hola America News is a testament to its hard work and longstanding importance in the media for both Latinos and the community... Read More

Rock Island-based Royal Neighbors of America is celebrating its 125th anniversary and the centennial of women’s suffrage in the U.S. The anniversary of the 19th Amendment’s passage is on Tuesday, Aug. 18, while Women’s Equality Day, Wednesday, Aug. 26, represents the date when the amendment was officially signed. Royal Neighbors also is proud of the fact it was among the first women-led insurers that supported suffrage when it was founded in 1895, 25 years before the women’s right to vote was ratified. The company’s early members were active in supporting the suffrage movement from its... Read More

As many theaters and musicians nationwide have moved performances online, the Mississippi Bend Players at Augustana College is salvaging part of its canceled summer season, by offering a virtual reading Friday, Aug. 21, of playwright Sarah Ruhl’s deeply personal “For Peter Pan on Her 70th Birthday.” (The performance originally was scheduled for Aug. 14, but was postponed after power outages this week. Tickets for the original date will be honored on Aug. 21. Patrons who are unable to attend on the new date, and who would like a refund, should contact the Ticket Office.) Filled with Quad-Cities... Read More

On exhibit from August 21st through October 9th, 2020 is the show SIGNALS featuring Matthew Boonstra & Alan Pocaro with Original Prints by Elizabeth Powell. SIGNALS is a collaborative presentation by sculptor Matthew Boonstra, Charleston, IL and printmaker Alan Pocaro, Champaign, IL. The show will consist of sculptures and wall-mounted works on paper. The artists explore what it means to communicate in an era dominated by technologies that promise to enable deeper, more meaningful sharing, but just as often provide the opposite. Both artists have shown extensively throughout the Midwest, as... Read More