Over 400 years ago, it was standard practice in William Shakespeare’s time for boys and men to play all the roles (female and male) in his plays. For the first time in the 70-year-history of Genesius Guild, the current production puts that old tradition on stage, for one of the Bard’s most famous female roles, in […]
Last month, I had an old friend from my Dispatch/Argus days email me a review I did in 2018 of Quad City Music Guild’s “Shrek the Musical,” and its headline could easily apply to the current Guild show, “The SpongeBob Musical”: “Colorful, entertaining ‘Shrek’ is a blast and a lesson.” Both based on iconic animated […]
Six days after America celebrated the 250th anniversary of its founding on July 4, The Black Box Theatre in downtown Moline honored the country again in a deeply meaningful way again, opening the area premiere of “Grandma Gatewood Took a Walk,” by Catherine Bush. In its 10th season, the BBT again presents a Quad Cities […]
One of the many reasons Genesius Guild is a priceless cultural jewel in the Quad Cities is its verdant, pastoral setting. Lincoln Park (1120 40th St., Rock Island) was created in 1909, commemorating Abraham Lincoln’s centennial birthday, and the 22.75-acre woodland site was selected for its grandeur and views overlooking the Mississippi River valley. The […]
It was fitting that Richmond Hill Players staged the romantic comedy-drama “The Rainmaker” by N. Richard Nash this past Sunday afternoon, when it poured on my way east on I-80 to see the matinee of this eminently satisfying show. At the Barn Theatre in Geneseo, directed by Joe DePauw, it’s unpretentious, funny, and by turns tragic and […]
If you, like me before May 30, have never been to Timber Lake Playhouse in Mt. Carroll, Ill., then you’re truly missing out on a treasure in northwest Illinois, for its beautiful, bucolic setting alone. The professional summer theater (62 miles northeast of Moline) is worth the drive, especially given the absolute banger that’s opening […]
GALESBURG, IL — Discovery Depot Children’s Museum and Judy’s Family Cafe have partnered to bring a new, locally inspired experience to the community with the launch of a “Little Judy’s”, now open to the public inside Discovery Depot. Designed to spark imagination and interactive play, the new space brings a familiar Galesburg experience into the […]
The average car is built from roughly 30,000 parts, which all have to fit and work together, to allow you to drive after turning your ignition key. Putting together a musical is similarly complex, to ensure a smooth ride and operation, though it’s both less and more complicated. The phenomenally powerful, emotional and urgent new […]
Circa ’21 and Richmond Hill Players, despite being very different venues with very different shows (a large dinner theater presenting mainly musicals and a small barn theater in the round offering primarily straight plays), share some key commonalities. The Rock Island and Geneseo houses both seem to pride themselves on staging comforting, feel-good stories, and […]
Watching the spectacular, mesmerizing new production of “The Secret Garden” Friday night at Moline’s Spotlight Theatre made me cry. Not only because of the tremendously powerful performances in this story of loss, grief and death in the haunting, breathtakingly beautiful musical — which premiered in 1991 and is based on the classic 1911 book of […]
