Karen Westmoreland and Andrea Stueve are super-friendly moms, who have regular jobs and kids, but when they get on stage, they literally become someone else – uninhibited, unpretentious, fun-loving burlesque dancers. Westmoreland, 45, who performs as Kinky Taboo, and Stueve, 40, who is Kitty Bardot, are burlesque veterans who are leading a brand-new troupe – Taboo Burlesque. They make their debut Saturday, June 12 at 8 p.m. at the Village Theatre, Village of East Davenport. The 100-capacity in-person show is sold out, but you can livestream it for just $5 – reserve your ticket HERE. “There’s... Read More

Two days left in 2020, and so, today and the past two days, it’s been time for our look back at the year that was in arts and entertainment, 2020. Every day between now and New Year’s Eve, Dec. 31, we’ll be posting stories painting the big picture on the year, a couple months each day. We hope you enjoy the look back, and let’s all hope for a happy new year and a much, much, much, much better 2021! Sunday we looked at January and February; Monday we hit March; Tuesday was April. Today, we have two installments. This morning, we showcase May and June, and later on this afternoon we’ll... Read More

It’s time for our look back at the year that was in arts and entertainment, 2020. Every day between now and New Year’s Eve, Dec. 31, we’ll be posting a story painting the big picture on the year, a couple months each day. We hope you enjoy the look back, and let’s all hope for a happy new year and a much, much, much, much better 2021! Here’s today’s installment, where we look at the longest month of the year, and probably the decade, that being MARCH OF 2020. I think if there’s a time during the year that encapsulates 2020, it’s this time. March was complete and... Read More

Despite its title, there’s not a ton of burlesque in “Burlesque River,” a new romance novel set in the Quad-Cities, penned by veteran burlesque performer Kitty Bardot. There are key club scenes — at the start and near the end of this beautifully written book (part of a planned series) — that reflect the raunch, playfulness, camaraderie, the yearning to be someone different and glamorous, and the ecstatic high you get on stage with an appreciative audience. But the bulk of the 173-page debut novel, released in April by Boroughs Publishing (which specializes in romance fiction),... Read More