Contrary to many people on Earth, 2020 has been a pretty good year for the Avey Grouws Band, and it’s getting better all the time. The Quad-Cities-based blues rock outfit (whose female lead singer lives in Decorah, Iowa) hit the top 10 on the Billboard Blues Album Chart for its debut disc; is nominated by Blues Blast Magazine for best Debut Album New Artist; was a semi-finalist in this year’s International Blues Challenge, and is the inaugural artist for a new online series presented by River Music Experience and Joy Avenue Media. The new J.A.M. Sessions – starting 6 p.m. Friday with the... Read More

QC Theatre Workshop has released their first production in their sixth season. Broken. Broken, a screenplay written by Aaron Randolph III and directed by Tyson Danner, is a heartfelt and emotional look at human trafficking and how it affects those touched by it. Broken focuses on the life of a young woman whose first romance leads to a nightmarish world of confusion, desperation and violence. The production follows this young woman throughout several years and while it presents a serious undertone, there will be plenty of comedy, joy and hope. Performances of Broken will continue through Sep 10.... Read More

Circa ’21 Dinner Playhouse and The Speakeasy are thrilled to be producing this cult classic again in October! Auditions will be held at 10:00 am on June 3rd and noon on June 4th at Circa 21 Dinner Playhouse located at 1828 3rd Avenue in Rock Island. Please bring a current headshot & resume and prepare 16 bars (or one verse and one chorus) of a pop/rock song. You may choose to sing a selection from the show. An accompanist will be provided, please bring sheet music. A Cappella and outside recordings will not be allowed. Be prepared to cold read from the script and learn a dance combination.... Read More

On Saturday, February 25 at 1:00 pm Quad City Arts will sponsor a Regional Poetry Out Loud Contest at Annawan High School. Students from Annawan, Cambridge, and Wethersfield High Schools will be competing to advance to the State Contest in March. Attendance at both events is free and open to the public and refreshments will be served. The winner of the Regional Contest will advance to the Illinois State Competition being held Friday, March 10, 2017 at the Hoogland Center for the Arts in Springfield. The state champion will advance to the Poetry Out Loud National Finals in Washington, DC, where... Read More

As a theatre based in her hometown of Davenport, Iowa, the QC Theatre Workshop believes in the importance of sharing and sustaining the legacy of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Susan Glaspell. To this end, the Workshop will produce the first annual Susan Glaspell Playwriting Contest. Susan Glaspell was born in Davenport, Iowa in 1876. She was a journalist, author, actor and Pulitzer Prize winning playwright. She founded the Provincetown Players, one of the first great American theatres, which launched the careers of such luminaries as Eugene O’Neil, Edna St. Vincent Millay and Theodore... Read More

As a theatre based in her hometown of Davenport, Iowa, the QC Theatre Workshop believes in the importance of sharing and sustaining the legacy of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Susan Glaspell. To this end, the Workshop will produce the first annual Susan Glaspell Playwriting Contest. Susan Glaspell was born in Davenport, Iowa in 1876. She was a journalist, author, actor and Pulitzer Prize winning playwright. She founded the Provincetown Players, one of the first great American theatres, which launched the careers of such luminaries as Eugene O’Neil, Edna St. Vincent Millay and Theodore... Read More

The Quad City Theatre Workshop is home to some of the most amazing local actors I have come across and a wonderful theater area and experience and that amazing experience is embodied in their latest show, “The Inheritors.” From the cozy seating area that places you practically within the set, to the people involved, one finds themselves completely submerged in their world. There is real feeling in every player. I felt every character in this play because their connection with their parts were so intense. I was humbled by this amazing performance. I was captivated and stunned by the impact of... Read More

For the first production in its fifth season of stage entertainment, the QC Theatre Workshop will turn back the clock for its dramatic presentation Inheritors, running August 19 through September 4. Written by Davenport native Susan Glaspell, whose Alison’s House won the 1931 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Inheritors’ original New York Times review called it a work that “stands firm and skillfully distinguishes the false from the true social values,” and Glaspell’s 1921 play proves just as relevant in 2016 as it must have been nearly a century ago. Inheritors will be presented... Read More

“The Bible: The Complete Word of God (abridged),” is far from any telling of the Bible you’ve ever heard, unless, of course, you’ve actually seen the show. Anyone who considers themselves a “theatre person” has seen, or at least knows of, the classic stage adaptations of the Bible in shows like “Jesus Christ Superstar,” “Godspell,” “Children of Eden,” etc. This telling, written by Adam Long, Reed Martin, and Austin Tichenor, of the Reduced Shakespeare Company, throws caution to the wind and introduces comedy to an otherwise serious and wisdom-filled book. It also brings... Read More

The idea behind live theatre is to bring forth a form of art that captivates an audience allowing them to escape the monotony of daily life and immerse them in a new story. A successful creation brings out any and all emotion with a desire to leave an audience with an experience that lasts and connects with them on any level they deem necessary. In the QC Theatre Workshop’s production of “The Big Meal”, written by Dan LeFranc, these qualities are prevalent in rare form, leaving the daunting task of turning thoughts and emotions into words. The story itself leaves very little room for explanation... Read More