After having to shelve its 2020 season due to Covid, downtown Moline’s Mercado on 5th is gearing up to reopen in June with a new sense of mission and a new leader. Anamaria Rocha, 36, who grew up in Moline’s Floreciente neighborhood, was hired earlier this month as Mercado’s new director. She joins the nonprofit organization, led by co-founder and president Maria Ontiveros, as it prepares for what will be the fifth season of the popular Friday night outdoor markets on 5th Avenue in downtown Moline. “We could not have found a better person for the Mercado at this stage,” Ontiveros... Read More

In its first complete mainstage production in a whole year, the Spotlight Theatre, 1800 7th Ave., Moline, will perform the madcap “Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged)” through March 28. “This abridged cast of Jeremy Mahr, Amelia Fischer, and Brent Tubbs are sure to give the audiences a much needed laugh,” the Spotlight posted on its Facebook page, noting its first full production was from the Reduced Shakespeare Company “abridged” repertoire in 2018, so “we thought this would be the perfect show to bring us back.” The rapid-fire Shakespeare riffs on all 37 of the... Read More

EXCLUSIVE: Renew Moline on Friday publicly released a 102-page Public Art and Placemaking Plan, which will be considered by the Moline City Council at its meeting next Tuesday, March 30. The plan lays out three strategies that will help shape the future of public art in downtown Moline and creates a strong foundation in the city to support public art. “Public art in Moline importantly shows a vibrant, growing economy and is reflective of a community emerging from the challenges of the last year,” Mayor Stephanie Acri said in a Friday release. “We are looking forward to seeing the plan and... Read More

Happiness is…opening your first main show in over a year; starting a new jazz duo in a new intimate bar, planning for your first musical in far too long, and a new film series in the soaring theater space… The super talented husband-and-wife pair of Sara and Brent Tubbs – who own Moline’s Spotlight Theatre are pretty giddy at their recent good fortune. Last month, Sara (a veteran singer and actress) brought her new jazz lounge act with pianist/singer Mason Moss to christen the opening of the new Blueprint Bar and Lounge, in a previously unused (and totally renovated) room off the Spotlight... Read More

Due to Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker relaxing Covid-19 restrictions for indoor theaters, Quad City Music Guild will return to in-person audiences for its musicals starting in July with “Mamma Mia!” In its online Covid update at www.qcmusicguild.com, the Moline-based nonprofit theater said that “Mamma Mia” and “Matilda” will return to the Prospect Park theater (1584 34th Ave.) as scheduled for July and August. The state of Illinois is allowing indoor theaters with over 200 seats to have 25-percent capacity audiences, meaning a maximum of 133 people per performance at Music Guild. Theaters... Read More

After more than a year dealing with Covid shutdowns, some much needed laughter may be the best medicine after all. Thirteen months after its last mainstage production, Moline’s Spotlight Theatre is opening the madcap comedy, “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) [revised]” on Friday, March 19, at 7 p.m. Performances – featuring Spotlight co-owner Brent Tubbs with Jeremy Mahr and Amelia Fischer – will be this weekend and next, with seating limited to 50 audience members at most in the 500-plus seat theater. The Spotlight, in the former Scottish Rite Cathedral at 1800 7th... Read More

The premiere of opera at Moline’s Bartlett Performing Arts Center again will be delayed, as Opera Quad Cities plans to postpone the tragic Puccini opera “Madame Butterfly” from this June to June 2022. “I think it’s just tough to foresee audiences. I mean, we don’t know what the vaccination rates are gonna be in the Quad-Cities. We don’t know if audiences are gonna feel fully comfortable,” opera conductor Nathan Windt said this week. “There’s just too many unknowns. The idea is that the main performance will happen next June,” he said of the need to postpone... Read More

WQPT presents a variety of outreach activities in conjunction with the new Ken Burns documentary Hemingway. Directed by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, Hemingway examines the visionary work and turbulent life of Ernest Hemingway, one of the most influential writers America has ever produced. Interweaving his eventful biography with excerpts from his writing, we will see beyond the façade of the public image, becoming intimately familiar with this brilliant, ambitious, charismatic, and egocentric man. Beginning this week you can log on to https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/hemingway/events/ and join Conversations... Read More

Western Illinois University will celebrate Black History Month throughout February, with a variety of activities, speakers and events planned. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the events vary from virtual to in person. The Black History Month schedule for the remainder of the month includes: • Wednesday, Feb. 24 – 5-6:30 p.m. – “We Got Us,” a leadership workshop: This event is presented by The Underrep’d, an organization for Black college students who attend Predominantly White Institutions. Success tips will be offered and the event is open free to the public. The event can be joined... Read More

Paul Rumler, president/CEO of the Quad Cities Chamber, is among concerned local leaders who want the state of Illinois to consider another public institution to replace Western Illinois University on the Moline riverfront. “The best intentions started with great promise, and then in the last few years, it’s fizzled,” he said Friday, noting negatives in WIU enrollment, marketing and change in leadership. There have been well-publicized discussions among Western’s Board of Trustees, dating back two years, and faculty senate, questioning the value of the Moline campus, he said. “You’ve... Read More