Audiences may not hear the familiar strains of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” or “Someday My Prince Will Come.” But they'll certainly be treated to music- and dance-filled enchantment when a pair of legendary heroines join forces in the one-act ballets Dorothy Goes to Oz and Snow White, the Adler Theatre's April 13 pairing of family-friendly works by the professional talents of Ballet Quad Cities.
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Appearing in a special virtual program in conjunction with her most recent book Visual Thinking: The Hidden Gifts of People Who Think in Pictures, Patterns, & Abstractions, Dr. Temple Grandin - one of the world’s most accomplished and well-known adults with autism - takes part in an April 3 lecture presentation hosted by Illinois Libraries Present and the Rock Island and Silvis Public Libraries, allowing participants insight into the humanitarian who has been at the forefront of research and activism for autism and neurodiversity for decades.
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A thrilling live show hosted by paranormal expert Dustin Pari of TV's Ghost Hunters, the nationally touring stage spectacle Ghosts: Do You Believe? will fill Davenport's Capitol Theatre with tales of the otherworldly on April 6, offering patrons an invitation to witness where the boundaries of reality and the supernatural blur.
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With See Chicago Dance raving that "it’s easy to feel the heart of this company and the passion that resonates from its mission," the gifted artists of the female- and minority-led company Ballet 5:8 return to the Quad Cities for their performance of Imagine Better, an evening of magical choreography and unmistakable passion taking place at Moline's Bartlett Performing Arts Center on April 6.
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Boasting objects of significance from its vast collection, as well as ancient Asian, Middle Eastern, and Roman artifacts on loan from the Putnam Museum, the German American Heritage Center will treat guests to a fascinating historical exploration in Breaking Barriers: Walls Throughout History, the new homegrown exhibition on display in the Davenport venue's first-floor gallery through May 5.
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As we’ve discussed before, the competition for scarce state dollars is particularly fierce this year in Springfield as various groups elbow each other for money while large surpluses and revenue increases start to dry up. A poll taken by respected national Democratic pollster Normington Petts in late February of 700 registered Illinois voters purports to show which of those ideas has strong support and which do not.
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The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) spends around $40 million every year on litigation intended to prevent the disclosure of records under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
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On March 13, the U.S. House of Representatives passed HR 7521, the "Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act." The bill, which would attempt to ban the social media app TikTok unless its Chinese owners, ByteDance, sell it to non-Chinese owners, faces an uncertain future in the Senate, but President Joe Biden says he'll sign it if it passes.
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“The woke Left is coming after me for peeing on a tree during my college days,” state Representative Adam Niemerg (R-Dietrich) told me not long ago.
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“Mayors slam Pritzker’s proposal to eliminate grocery tax” was the Daily Herald’s headline above a story last week about several mayors of upper-income suburban communities complaining about a proposed tax cut. I don’t know if the mayors quite understand this, but headlines like that are basically an in-kind campaign contribution to the governor and the Democratic super-majority.
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Enjoying a three-performance Adler Theatre run, the musical-comedy smash The Book of Mormon returns to Davenport on March 29 and 30, with Ben Brantley's 2011 New York Times review proclaiming, “I am here to report that a newborn, old-fashioned, pleasure-giving musical has arrived … the kind our grandparents told us left them walking on air, if not on water. So hie thee hence, nonbelievers (and believers, too), to The Book of Mormon, and feast upon its sweetness.”
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Plucky, abused orphans. English-language literature is full of 'em: Dickens' lads Oliver Twist and David Copperfield; Canada's Anne Shirley; America's optimistic Annie; prehistoric Europe's Ayl; contemporary Britain's Harry Potter. One 177-year-old orphan still going strong is Jane Eyre.
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Winner of six 2013 Tony Awards including Best Musical and Best Score for pop icon Cyndi Lauper, the high-kicking musical Kinky Boots kicks of Quad City Music Guild's 2024 season with an eagerly awaited Prospect Park Auditorium run April 5 through 14, the show called “cause for celebration” by Entertainment Weekly and, according to Time Out New York, “the very model of a modern major musical.”
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With his play lauded by Theatre in Chicago as a work that "stands out for its blend of historical depth and personal insights," David Payne brings his nationally touring one-man show Churchill to Davenport's Adler Theatre on April 9, the piece allowing the British character actor to portray a famed historical figure previously portrayed by Gary Oldman, who won an Academy Award for playing Churchill, and Albert Finney, Brendan Gleeson, and John Lithgow, all of whom won Emmy Awards as the former British Prime Minister.
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Delivering what Talkin' Broadway describes as "laugh-out-loud moments and a wonderful life lesson about not letting life pass you by," the Paul Elliott comedy Exit Laughing opens the 2024 theatre season at Geneseo's Richmond Hill Barn Theatre, its April 11 through 21 run sure to deliver what Stage Whispers hailed for its "great script, great timing" and "great fun."
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Wisconsin-based talents whose laurels include nine award wins from Madison Area Music Association, including citations as Pop/R&B Artist of the Year in 2017, '19, and '20, the artists of the People Brothers Band headline a March 29 concert event at Davenport's Redstone Room, with the group's 2023 album Sisters & Brothers hailed by Isthmus as "a master class in blending rock, soul, and jam-friendly positive vibes into an upbeat instant classic."
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Performing together on a tour of the United States and Canada that finds the artists employing electronics, amplification, and feedback to augment their acoustic sounds, Chicago-based improvisers Emily Beisel (bass clarinet, electronics) and Bill Harris (drums, electronics) join forces for a March 29 concert event at Rock Island's Roxx-Tox venue, creating a sonic space that can at times be aggressive, dense, and massive, as well as subtle, spacious, and sensitive.
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Take this as an early warning: If you're into the cerebral, more experimental side of heavy music, you may want to snap up tickets for what (at the time of writing) looks to be the only show at Rozz-Tox in April.
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Rock legends responsible for eight gold albums, one platinum and double-platinum album apiece, and iconic status as the talents behind the 1975 classic "Slow Ride," the musicians of Foghat headline a March 30 concert event at East Moline venue The Rust Belt, with original drummer Roger Earl sure to demonstrate that while he has been with the band for more than half a century, he has no plan of stopping now.
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The only Canadian female who's also a member of Nashville's Grand Ole Opry, acclaimed country-music singer/songwriter and guitarist Terri Clark headlines a March 30 concert at Davenport's Rhythm City Casino Resort Event Center, her additional laurels including membership in the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame and, as of last year, the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, where she joined the likes of Joni Mitchell, Sarah McClachlan, Alanis Morissette, Neil Young, and Shania Twain.
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When Finn Wolfhard's Trevor Spengler tells his mom about some potentially ghostly strangeness taking place in their inherited firehouse, Carrie Coon's Callie spends their entire conversation absentmindedly scrolling. That's Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire: Not worth the energy it would take to lift your eyes from your phone.
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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, March 28: Discussion of Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, Road House, Shirley, Immaculate, and Late Night with the Devil, and previews of Asphalt City, In the Land of Saints & Sinners, and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. Lots to chew on here; it's practically a double-length segment. And in the discussion of the '89 Road House, please forgive the mistaking of character-actor legend Ben Gazzara for character-actor legend Robert Loggia. The Dave & Darren Show regrets the error.
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Most people, I think, would agree that box-office returns aren't necessarily an indicator of quality. But it was still a bit disheartening to discover that of the five movies I caught over the weekend, the two I most enjoyed were the titles most likely to leave the area when the new Ghostbusters gobbles up screens this upcoming Friday.
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Almost no one, in retrospect, likes a misleading trailer, and I don't know anyone who enjoys a trailer that seems to give away a narrative's contents from points A to Z, making you feel like you've seen the movie months before you actually see it. (Ordinary Angels, anyone?) Yet I reserve a special kind of irritation for trailers that wind up almost exhaustively descriptive of the eventual experience simply through the predecessors they choose to plug.
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Now playing at area theaters.
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A collection of arresting ceramics by a talent who grew up along the Mississippi River will be on display at Black Hawk College's ArtSpace Gallery through March 29, with Laura Vincent-Arnold's Wallflower revealing its artist's continued interest in, as she says, "creating in multiple mediums, exploring where my mind takes me, solitude, and nature … always a nod to nature."
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The newly created Davenport Municipal Art Gallery opened its doors to the public in October of 1925. Fourteen thousand people – a fifth of Davenport’s population – visited the gallery on West Fifth Street near Main in its first three months. Charles August Ficke’s initial gift of 270 traditional European, Asian, and Mexican paintings to the city of Davenport created the momentum and need for a municipal gallery, one of the earliest in America.
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Featuring a fascinating selection of 23 artworks created by 12 artists from around the world, the Figge Art Museum's new Tradition Interrupted will serve as the Davenport venue's final exhibit to open in 2023, its showcase in the Katz Gallery through March 31 boasting works by creative talents who firmly believe that everyday objects have the power to evoke memories and inspire emotions.
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On display in the Peter Paul Luce Gallery of Mt. Vernon's Cornell College through March 31, the fascinating exhibition Come Celebrate with Me ... will treat patrons to a collection of arresting pieces by the Illinois-based interdisciplinary artist Nicole Davis.
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This spring, the Figge Art Museum's Katz Gallery will be transformed into an oasis within the museum with the Davenport venue's new Sculpture Garden, providing a space for contemplation, mindfulness, and relaxation from April 6 through June 23.