The new Christmas-themed musical at Mockingbird on Main in downtown Davenport is the ultimate stocking stuffer – not a major present in any way, but a sweet, silly, delicious trifle in more ways than one. When a huge snowstorm hits and the star-studded cast of a 1953 radio show can’t make it into the studio, those who are trapped inside the studio — the janitor, the writer, the assistant station manager and the young frazzled producer — must take over and see that show does indeed go on. Performed without intermission (running less than an hour), “Deck the Halls” is a frantic, fast-paced,... Read More

“The Sound of Music” may seem like an overdone, ancient warhorse – with its 1938 Austrian setting and ruthless, invading Nazis – but classics are classics for a reason. Live theater presents the chance for actors to interpret iconic roles in their own way, putting their own spin on them, letting us see the familiar stories with fresh eyes, and absorb the messages and emotions in ways the original creators and performers could not have anticipated. The intolerance and hate speech reflected by the Third Reich in “Sound of Music” (which premiered in 1959) take on whole new meanings in... Read More