What’s going on this weekend? Going out tonight and seeking some entertainment? Looking for a good time in the Quad-Cities this weekend? Every week we give you our podcast, Weekend in 2 Minutes, which may be a little longer than two minutes, but offers a quick listen for you to hear all about some of the awesome things going on in and around the area! Give it a listen below, and check it out every week, here on QuadCities.com… Quad Cities Weekend In 2 Minutes – March 18th, 2021  Read More

Returning with the venue’s first mainstage production since area theaters closed in November, Circa ’21 Dinner Playhouse is ready to bring audiences lots of deserved laughs and warmth in the local debut of The Church Basement Ladies in “You Smell Barn.” Running through May 15, the latest encounter with everyone’s favorite group of singing and joking Minnesotans is sure to put a smile on your face and a song in your heart. With all shows at the beloved Rock Island dinner theatre, this new musical comedy is being presented by an outstanding company of professional actors. The... Read More

Saturday in the Arts is a weekly feature covering a trend, subject, event or personality of local interest. It runs every Saturday morning on your site for the best entertainment and arts coverage in the area, QuadCities.com! Two days after Broadway theaters shut down last March, Circa ’21 Dinner Playhouse held the last performance of the colorful, high-energy “Kinky Boots,” on March 14, 2020. It would be the last mainstage musical there until next week’s “Church Basement Ladies in You Smell Barn” – opening in previews Wednesday, March 17. It’s been a long, frustrating road, with... Read More

A wise man (lyricist Hal David) once wrote “What the World Needs Now is Love.” Man, do we need it now more than ever, and you can certainly get your affectionate fix in the new Circa ’21 Dinner Playhouse Valentine cabaret, “Let’s Fall in Love.” Valentine’s Day is technically over — but really, who doesn’t need love every day?? And the 90-minute, slick, sweet and super heartfelt video compilation will be available online through noon on Monday, Feb. 22. I loved, loved, loved it. It features the talents (including cute interviews of couples) of many performers not only from... Read More

It definitely takes a village to raise your spirits. For this unusual Valentine’s season of love, Circa ’21 Dinner Playhouse has organized a special musical theater love letter – marrying several Quad-Cities venues to produce the video compilation, “Let’s Fall in Love.” A virtual celebration of love and the arts, the 75-minute program will debut Saturday, Feb. 13 at 5 p.m., featuring performers not only from Circa, but the Black Box Theatre, Center for Living Arts, Countryside Community Theatre, Davenport Junior Theatre, Double Threat Studios, Mississippi Bend Players/Augustana, QC... Read More

Are you ready to fall in love? Will you be our Valentine? Quad City theatres have joined together to offer a streaming Valentine’s show like no other. Join us for romantic songs, swoon-worthy dance numbers, and true love stories! Make it a date: streaming starts February 13 at 5pm and ends February 21st. Get your tickets now at showtix4u.com/events/circa21. Your love will be spread far and wide, as all tickets and donations for this event will be shared among the participating Quad Cities theatres. Let’s do it, let’s fall in love!  Read More

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 mindless, frivolous nonsense is just what we need right now. Filmed recently at the Circa ’21 Speakeasy (featuring eight mask-less cast members), the 2014 musical – affectionately written and directed by Tristan... Read More

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 sneak into a theatre hoping to stay out of trouble, but instead find themselves front and center in this story about the power of music and seconds chances. Add a down on her luck theatre owner and her wacky assistant, a clueless town mayor, his scheming wife and bumbling sheriff and... Read More

In a dark, uncertain time, Circa ’21 offers light and unadulterated joy in its latest online entertainment, the fun bluegrass musical “Big Rock Candy Mountain.” Fans of the film “O Brother Where Art Thou” and the Circa ’21 favorite “Southern Crossroads” should love this original musical – written and directed by Tristan Tapscott — that features such classic hits as “Big Rock Candy Mountain,” “House of the Rising Sun,” “Keep on the Sunny Side of Life” and many more. In the story set in 1932, a merry band of misfits sneaks into a theater hoping to stay out of... Read More

Circa ’21 Dinner Playhouse is thrilled to be working with the talented Bobby and Ashley Becher and their company “Rising Stars” to announce all new Winter classes.  All classes will take place at Circa ’21 or it’s secondary theater, The Speakeasy. “We are thrilled to be working with Ashley and Bobby again” said Denny Hitchcock Circa ’21’s owner/producer.  “They have done a wonderful job with their classes over the last year and we get such positive feedback from all the students who have taking the classes and their parents.  I encourage you to consider this for you child! ... Read More