I’ve heard it said That people come into our lives for a reason Bringing something we must learn And we are led To those who help us most to grow If we let them And we help them in return Well, I don’t know if I believe that’s true But I know I’m who I am today Because I knew you (“For Good,” from “Wicked,” by Stephen Schwartz) The relentless, long Covid pandemic was difficult enough for most people to endure, but it hit Geneseo’s Judy VanDeWoestyne especially hard. She lost the love of her life – her 66-year-old husband John – early on, March 25, 2020. Her... Read More

Bob Williams absolutely loved theater, Quad City Music Guild and his family – to the point where Music Guild and his family became one. In an unrelentingly awful year, which has seen the Prospect Park theater in Moline go dark for the first time since 1949, the Guild family endured another bone-crushing loss Sunday, as Williams (a veteran director) died suddenly from a massive heart attack at age 61. “We are all in shock. It will take some time for the loss to become real,” longtime Music Guild volunteer Cathy Marsoun said Sunday night. “Bob brought so much to Guild. First, his great theatrical... Read More

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