During this unprecedented, scary time of Covid-19, it seems apropos that the first indoor live theater in the Quad-Cities since the shutdown will be the spooky ghost story, “The Turn of the Screw,” next month at Moline’s Black Box Theatre. The 60-seat theater (1623 5th Ave.) will open at half capacity on July 16 and close the 19th. “It is a short run,” said director Lora Adams, “but the set was almost completed and the actors’ schedules have changed since March, so we are only able to do the four-day weekend.” Actor Matt Walsh and Kayla Jo Pulliam will bring the creepy tale to life... Read More

Joining Music Guild, Countryside, Genesius Guild and a number of others, Playcrafters Barn Theatre in Moline has canceled their summer shows due to concerns over coronavirus. The pandemic has now nearly wiped clean the local theater slate for the summer, with only Moline’s Black Box Theater not having announced cancellations, and Circa ’21 holding out any hope of salvaging shows, hoping to still be able to stage “Saturday Night Fever” at some point. Playcrafters announced the following on their Facebook page today: Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and for the safety... 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

We’re looking back on a great year of entertainment, sports and features here at QuadCities.com, and QC Scene is here to display some of the images of the year, featuring the places, people and events that made the year great! Here’s part one of our look back in pictures:  Read More

One of the great things about living in the Quad Cities is that at this time of year, you are never more than a ten minute drive from a playhouse putting on a good show. Case in point: I bus greeted for Quad City Music Guild’s production of West Side Story last night, and then jumped in my car and still made it to Playcrafter’s Barn Theater for the 7:30 curtain for Dixie Swim Club. Directed by Jacque Cohoon, working from a script by Jones, Hope, and Wooten, Dixie Swim Club is about a group of five women who rent out the same beach house every year, on the year in August. We meet them when... Read More

It makes sense, as it usually takes a Barn Owl to best see Constellations, and Playcrafters Barn Theatre is pleased to present the first in our Barn Owl Series: Constellations by Nick Payne. How might your life have turned out differently? How do any of the infinitely small decisions you make every day change everything? Marianne and Roland meet at a party and what follows is not an ordinary love story. We see the countless ways a relationship can fail. Until it eventually doesn’t. With a healthy dose of science, beekeeping, and love, Constellations is not to miss. Starring Anastasiya Newkirk... Read More

The most powerful dramas come with a healthy dose of comedy. And I might add the most powerful dramas have at least as many laughs as tears. I saw Fried Green Tomatoes with my mom and my grandma when I was ten. Forrest Gump, My Girl, Big Fish, How to Make An American Quilt, these are all dramatic stories. Tearjerkers. And yet… every one of them had long, satisfying stretches of laugh-out-loud humor. Steel Magnolias joins that club. I saw it with my dad at Playcrafter’s Barn Theater yesterday. A play by Robert Harling, which was adapted into a movie in 1989 with Olympia Dukakis, Sally Field,... Read More

If you have ever been a fan of Robert Harling’s stage play “Steel Magnolias,” then here is your chance to see it again, or maybe for the first time, at Playcrafters Barn Theater. On Friday, January 20 through Sunday, January 22, Playcrafters will be performing their second weekend of this production. You can view the event facebook page at the following link: https://www.facebook.com/events/1420768954611955/ Playcrafters Barn Theater is located at 4950 35th Avenue, Moline, IL 61265. Show times for Friday and Saturday are at 7:30 p.m., and the Sunday showing is at 3:00 p.m. Tickets can be... Read More

I really wanted to like Playcrafters’ “Deathtrap.” After all, it has a quality cast and crew, many of whom I know or have worked with in theater, so I know they’ve got the talent to pull it off. It’s largely a really fun script. Yeah, going in I really had high hopes for the show. I really did. You feeling the suspense? You’re wondering if I’m going to give it a good review or tear it apart, aren’t you? Good. Because that on-the-edge of your seat feeling is what makes Playcrafters’ “Deathtrap” such devilish fun. I don’t want to give too much of the plot away, because watching... Read More

Playcrafters Barn Theater is unwinding a devious “Deathtrap” this weekend, rolling out the classic thriller September 9,10,11 & 16,17,18 at its 4950 35th Ave., Moline venue. Directed by Patti Flaherty, and starring Jason Platt, Adam Cerny, Nancy Teelink and Pamela Briggs, “Deathtrap” involves Sidney Bruhl, a successful writer of Broadway thrillers, who is struggling to overcome a dry spell which has resulted in a string of failures and a shortage of funds. His luck changes when he receives a script from a student – a thriller with the potential to be a Broadway hit. Sidney and... Read More