Treating audiences to the stage version of a beloved movie musical, the Circa ’21 Dinner Playhouse’s latest presentation is the area debut of a Tony-nominated Broadway hit – HOLIDAY INN. Running through July 20, and boasting unforgettable songs by legendary composer Irving Berlin, this theatrical delight for all ages is being enacted by a wonderful cast of professional talents, many of them making return appearances at Circa ’21. Irving Berlin’s HOLIDAY INN will be staged at Circa ’21 on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 7:45 p.m., Sundays at 5:45 p.m., and... Read More

Circa ‘21’s “Grumpy Old Men” will make you anything but grumpy. It’s a hilarious, ribald, dirty romp, roughly based on the beloved movie of the same name and sporting the same qualities. Prudish types may blush and bluster, but the rest of us will find it quite amusing. “Grumpy” is set in the small northern town of Wabasha, Wisc., where ice fishing rules and a feud on-and-off-the-ice has been chilly for decades between cranky geezers John Gustafson (Luther Chakurian) and Max Goldman (Tom Walljasper). It started in high school, over a girl, and shows no signs of lightening up even... Read More

What a brilliant programming decision by Denny Hitchcock and the Circa ’21 brass to bring in “Mamma Mia” at this point, right before the sequel is about to hit theaters and just as summer is reaching its peak, because “Mamma Mia” is an absolutely perfect summer show. It’s fun, it’s light, it’s fizzy and it’s goofily colorful. Based on and buttressed by a succession of songs by the Swedish supergroup ABBA, “Mamma Mia” tells the story of Sophie (Courtney Groves), a 20-year-old on the cusp of getting married, with one usual request couched in an unusual predicament – she wants... Read More

Circa ‘21’s “Million Dollar Quartet” is a million dollar show. It’s expertly presented, from the set to the costumes to the casting to the sound, capturing a fascinating and colorful moment in time in the history of rock ‘n’ roll and doing so with such great energy and reverence that it earned a well-deserved standing ovation at its opening show. “Million Dollar” is inspired by the famed recording session that brought together rock ‘n’ roll icons Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins for the first and only time on Dec. 4, 1956. On that date,... Read More

For the final production in its 39th season, Circa ’21 Dinner Playhouse is rolling out the Tony Award-winning Broadway smash “Million Dollar Quartet,” running this weekend through November 5. A celebration of four of history’s most legendary recording artists  – Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins – this long-requested title is finally making its area debut at the Rock Island  dinner theatre, and will be brought to life by a marvelous cast of professional talents. “Million” will be performed at Circa ’21 on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturdays... Read More

Heavenly humor and music is going to be shining down on the congregation of Circa ’21 Dinner Theater this summer as the Rock Island venue opens up its pearly gates to “Sister Act.” The Broadway musical-comedy smash hit opens May 6 and runs through July 2. Based on 1992’s wildly popular film comedy starring Whoopi Goldberg, and nominated for five 2011 Tony Awards including  Best Musical, this hilarious, endearing, and high-energy production will have you riding a wave of pure musical-comedy exhilaration, and is being brought to life by a magnificent cast of professional talents. “Sister... Read More

It’s not often I say a performer steals a show in an ensemble piece, but I feel confident in saying that Tom Walljasper definitely steals the show in “Shear Madness.” Walljasper is so flamboyant and over-the-top funny, grabbing every scene he’s in with some brazen move or line, that it’s impossible to ignore him, not that you’d want to. “Shear” is a very funny, entertaining show. It was on the night I saw it. On the night you see it, it might be even funnier. I say that because it changes from night to night. Not just in the nuances, but in the big strokes. “Shear” is a malleable... Read More