On May 14, young children and their young-at-heart chaperones can enjoy the stage version of one of the most popular entertainments in television history, with Sesame Street Live: Say Hello invites audiences to a reunion with Elmo, Abby Cadabby, Cookie Monster, and their friends at Davenport's Adler Theatre.
With special attention paid to Roddewig Schmidt Candy Company, Velma Chocolates, and other former Quad Cities institutions, Davenport's German American Heritage Center will, through May 19, explore different candy manufacturers in our area in the exhibition Sweet Treats: German Influence on the QC Candy Industry, demonstrating how the Quad Cities were once home to numerous candy manufacturers of German heritage popular both locally and regionally.
With her most recent publication lauded by the Historical Novel Society as "well-researched" and "beautiful to behold." local author and native of China X.H. Collins will read from and discuss her 2020 novel Flowing Water, Falling Flowers on May 22, the in-person event held as part of the Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) Month celebration at the Davenport Public Library's Eastern Avenue Branch.
The originator of one of the most indelible and popular sitcom characters of all time, the “Dy-no-mite!” Jimmie Walker of the 1970s classic Good Times brings his nationally touring standup set to Davenport's Rhythm City Casino Resort Rhythm Room on May 24, the Golden Globe-nominated comedian/actor's credits also including guests stints on Emmy winners The Larry Sanders Show, Cagney & Lacey, and Scrubs.
What does a hand pointing on a gravestone mean? Does an anchor mean someone was a sailor? On May 26, patrons of Davenport's German American Heritage Museum are invited to learn what the different symbols on gravestones mean during this lively "Kaffee und Kuchen" program Translating Tombstones: Eternal Memorials & Their Meaning, which finds Minda Powers-Douglas explaining common and uncommon symbols and helping participants understand the special language of tombstones.
Much of the Illinois Statehouse appeared to be girding itself for battle with Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson before his Springfield visit last week.
Governor JB Pritzker unexpectedly moved away last week from his long-standing opposition to taxing services, saying he didn’t want to start taking ideas off the table as lawmakers search for ways to fund and reform the Chicago region’s mass-transit system. A major business group predictably pushed back.
When public officers are appointed to positions by a bureaucracy or by fellow elected officials versus elected by the people, there is often a distinct lack of transparency that accompanies the process that can be antithesis to the public interest.
In keeping with the Reader's tradition during primary season, we are publishing a candidate questionnaire for each of the three Scott County offices on the ballot this election year. The following questions were emailed to the candidates below. The unedited responses will be published at the Reader's website May 8 through May 10, and then again in print on May 23, 2024, when the June Reader print edition hits the streets.
More sports team stadium drama could be on the horizon as the Chicago White Sox are said, as of this writing, to be preparing to announce a significant private investment in a new South Loop ballpark. The ball club has already demanded a share of the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority’s bonding authority, which the Chicago Bears claimed for itself in its entirety last week for its own stadium plan (to the tune of $900 million).
One of only few musicals in history to win Tonys, a Grammy, and the Academy Award for Best Picture, the legendary Chicago enjoys a tour stop of Davenport's Adler Theatre in May 15, this second-longest-running show in Broadway history a smash with both audiences and critics, with the New York Times stating, "It has theatrical muscle, the characters are vivid, and its issues are ongoing in our public discourse."
Nearly a year after the tragic collapse of the downtown-Davenport building that housed theatre venue The Mockingbird on Main, the company will fly again with an appropriate title for its return to Moline's Black Box Theatre:To Kill a Mockingbird, playwright Christopher Sergel's adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Harper Lee novel, running May 16 through 26.
A four-time Tony Award-winning smash that enjoyed Broadway runs with talents such as Ben Stiller, Edie Falco, Christopher Walken, and Stockard Channing, author John Guare's masterful dark comedy The House of Blue Leaves enjoys a May 17 through 26 run at Moline's Playcrafters Barn Theatre, this wild theatrical ride also lauded by Variety magazine as a stage work that "still sets the bar for smart comic lunacy."
Just a few performances in and I think it’s safe to say that the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse has a hit on its hands.
Based on the 1943 Vera Caspary novel and the 1944 movie classic that the American Film Institute named one of the 10 best mystery films of all time, Caspary's and George Sklar's stage thriller Laura enjoys a run at Geneseo's Richmond Hill Barn Theatre from May 30 through June 9, the play a faithful adaptation of the Oscar-winning entertainment that Roger Ebert's cited in his famed "Great Movies" series.
Noted for being the Midwest's only act expressly dedicated to recreating the music of Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons, the, Chicago-based tribute artists of The Four C Notes play a May 18 concert event at Mt. Carroll's Timber Lake Playhouse. performing from a vast pop, rock, and ballad repertoire boasting such iconic smashes as “Sherry," “Big Girls Don’t Cry," “Walk Like A Man," “Workin’ My Way Back To You, (Babe)," "Let's Hang On," and “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You."
Performing blues, folk, country, and Americana music that, according to NPR, “evokes the old-timey spirit of a thousand crackling 78 RPM records” whose “energy makes them feel new and alive,” Midwestern singer/songwriter Pokey LaFarge headlines a May 14 concert at Davenport's Redstone Room, the artist's 2022 album In the Blossom of Their Shade lauded by PopMatters as "vintage stuff that never sounds old as much as ripe and ready for cruising."
Touring in support of the band's 2024 release Right On, an album whose title track was praised by Atwood magazine as "an achingly tender ballad with a fire burning deep inside," Siri Undlin and her indie outfit Humbird headline a May 14 concert at Davenport's Raccoon Motel, with Atwood adding that the song is "a softly stirring eruption of vulnerability and raw humanity."
With his February release Frank's Full Moon Saloon praised by Glide magazine as a "raw and intimate" recording that "seems to mark a new chapter" for the artist, Matthew Logan Vasquez headlines a May 15 concert at Davenport's Raccoon Motel, the acclaimed singer/songwriter and guitarist also a member of the rock band Delta Spirit and the indie super-groups Middle Brothers and Glorietta.
Touring in support of their most recent album that, according to No Depression, proves the band's "otherworldly qualities" make them "the quirkiest sound around," blues, rock, and pop ensemble The Claudettes headline a May 16 concert at Davenport's Redstone Room, with Americana Highways stating that in The Claudettes Go Out!, "Their tight approach to varied musical genres is adorned with no gimmicks, nothing superficial, and everything suited to inspiring melodies and spirited lyrics."
Considering that nearly all of its performances are motion-capture ones, I didn't expect to spend so much time at Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes marveling at the nuances of naturalistic human acting.
Lauded by the New York Times as "big-screen perfection ... exceptionally well-written, full of wordplay and lively argument," Barbie visionary and Oscar nominee Greta Gerwig's coming-of-age masterpiece Lady Bird enjoys a May 16 screening with the Rock Island Public Library's downtown-branch Downtown Movie Club, the film a National Society of Film Critics Best Picture winner that, according to Variety, boasts "a powerfully distinctive voice."
Going to the cineplex or staying in and streaming this weekend? Every Thursday morning at 8:15 a.m. you can listen to Mike Schulz dish on recent movie releases & talk smack about Hollywood celebs on Planet 93.9 FM with the fabulous Dave & Darren in the Morning team of Dave Levora and Darren Pitra. The morning crew previews upcoming releases, too.
Or you can check the Reader Web site and listen to their latest conversation by the warm glow of your electronic device. Never miss a pithy comment from these three scintillating pundits again.
Thursday, May 9: A preview of the sole new weekend release Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, and discussion of The Fall Guy, Tarot, The Idea of You, and Unfrosted. Apologies if our chat about that latter title makes the movie sound worth a look. It's not. At all.
The leads are attractive and charming. The action is swift and loud. The jokes are unmissable. And if you spend more than five seconds thinking about The Fall Guy, the whole thing crumbles like a particularly flimsy house of cards.
Taking place this year at The Bend Event Center in East Moline, the May 16 Quad City Arts Annual Celebration invites the public to gain insight into the organization's recent achievements, future plans, and community impact, all while enjoying hors d'oeuvres, cocktails, and a performance by Quad City Arts Visiting Artist Daniel Pak.
With Davenport's Figge Art Museum holding a small yet impressive collection of Medieval and early-Renaissance manuscripts from Europe, the Middle East, and India, a selection of 12 of these works will be on view from May 18 to August 11, as Illumination: Medieval & Renaissance Manuscripts from the Figge Collection offers a cross-cultural examination of hand-painted book illustrations and typography from the 15th and 16th centuries.
Delivering a close look at the artist's early years in New York with her husband Alfred Stieglitz, Georgia O'Keeffe's World: Focused on Nature will find Carol Ehlers leading a May 22 program at the Rock Island Public Library's Watts-Midtown Branch, the event's presenter exploring how O'Keefe's close-up and magnified flower, leaf, and landscape paintings forever affected the way we look at nature.
On May 30, area art lovers are invited to enjoy their "Last Chance" at touring the Figge Art Museum's popular 43rd Rock Island Art Guild Fine Arts Exhibition, with the Davenport venue's exhibit boasting 62 works – paintings, sculptures, installations, and more – by 42 artists living within a 200-mile radius of the Quad Cities.
An eagerly awaited tradition featuring dozens of recent and debuting works in a variety of artistic mediums, the 43rd edition of the Rock Island Art Guild Fine Arts Exhibition will be on display at the Figge Art Museum through June 2, with the Davenport venue housing 62 works - paintings, sculptures, installations, and more - by 42 artists living within a 200-mile radius of the Quad Cities.
You'll get both the current official narrative challenge and What's Happenin' in the Quad Cities.
(Did you know we publish a new Amy Alkon Advice Goddess, Real Astrology, Red Meat cartoon and RCR Crossword every week?)
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