Steve Martin got famous as a stand-up comic, but in truth, he's a Renaissance man.

Don’t even read what I’m writing here if you haven’t yet made a reservation to see Much Ado About Nothing. There are only four shows left, tickets are going fast, and you do not want to miss it. If this were a text message, I’d have added about a million more explanation points. I'm serious. Secure your seat before you keep reading, or it might be too late.

An official selection for July's IUGTE 20th Anniversary event in Austria and next month's Fort Worth Fringe Festival, Shelley Cooper's one-woman musical Jenny Lind Presents P.T. Barnum enjoys a three-performance run at Moline's Black Box Theatre from August 11 through 13, its creator/star's previous solo productions in the area including popular presentations of Mary & Ethel: How I Learned to Sing and La Divina: The Last Interview of Maria Callas.

Praised by Broadway World as "a wonderful night of theatre" and by NBC2 as a work that "evokes memories and warm feelings with a lot of laugh-out-loud moments," author Joe DiPietro's warmhearted comedy Over the River & Through the Woods enjoys an August 17 through 27 engagement at the Richmond Hill Barn Theatre, its Geneseo run sure to demonstrate why Chicago Critic raved, "At any stage of life – as child, young adult, parent, or grandparent – this charming play will touch your heart.

Designed for fans of the hit Coen-brothers film O Brother, Where Art Thou? and the Circa ‘21 Dinner Playhouse favorite Southern Crossroads, the Mockingbird on Main's bluegrass musical Big Rock Candy Mountain will receive an August 17 through 20 engagement at Moline's Black Box Theatre, its classic tunes including such iconic numbers as “House of the Rising Sun,” “Keep on the Sunny Side of Life,” and “Will the Circle Be Unbroken?”

Lauded by Time Out New York for its “infectiously energetic 1960s tunes” and by The New Yorker for its “well-judged humor and elegant strokes of observation,” the Broadway-musical smash Jersey Boys – running August 17 through 27 – closes the 2023 summer season at Mt. Carroll's Timber Lake Playhouse, this multiple Tony Award winner a show that, according to Broadway World, “rousingly recreates the catchy songs, convoluted lives, and roller-coaster careers of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons.”

Directed by Tom Walljasper, Countryside’s Into the Woods is a lot of fun and a great excuse to get out of the crushing summer humidity.

Based on the popular early-2000s Nickelodeon animated TV show, The SpongeBob Musical follows the title character, a sea sponge, as he, alongside his friends, stops a volcano from erupting and wiping out their town of Bikini Bottom. Helmed by Lara Tenckhoff, there is so much that's contemporary in the Clinton Area Showboat Theatre’s production.

Winner of five Tony Awards for its 1973 debut and four Tonys for its 2013 revival, composer Stephen Schwartz's musical-comedy smash Pippin enjoys an August 4 through 13 Quad City Music Guild presentation at Moline's Prospect Park Auditorium, this stage extravaganza's lavish praise including the New York Post deeming it “a thrilling piece of eye-popping razzle dazzle."

Praised by Metro as "hilariously heartfelt" and by the New York Times as "a fast-paced romp" that "exudes a jovial, winking fondness for all things Harry," author Matt Cox's stage comedy Puffs enjoys an August 4 through 13 run at Moline's Spotlight Theatre, this riotous and touching tale about the hangers-on of a certain boy wizard a show that, according to Nerdist, "never goes more than a minute without a laugh."

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