Founded in 2015 by the Quad Cities Cybersecurity Alliance and presented by the Docent Institute, the eighth-annual CornCon – an event designed to raise community awareness and provide business solutions for dealing with cybersecurity threats – will boast breakout sessions, expert speakers, panels, tutorials, vendors, a tech expo, children's activities and more on September 30 and October 1, this year's Davenport RiverCenter event titled The Corn Matrix.
Lauded by the Washington Post as "unforgiving and darkly hilarious" and the New York Times as "brutally honest and outrageous," comedian, author, and actress Patricia Williams - better known by her stage moniker Ms. Pat - will perform two standup sets at Davenport's Rhythm City Casino Resort Rhythm Room on October 1, the headliner beloved as the star of the Emmy-nominated The Ms. Pat Show and host of the podcast The Patdown with Ms. Pat.
A ballet program that promises to be brilliant, bold-as-can-be and possibly precedent-setting will be brought to the Adler Theatre on October 8. Our Will to Live, Ballet Quad Cities’ contribution to the Out of Darkness series (OutOfDarknessQC.com) will present new original choreography by Courtney Lyon and Emily Kate Long celebrating and dramatizing works by Jewish composers who fled the Nazis or tragically died in the camps. [Read Mike Schulz's interview with Ballet Quad Cities' Artistic Director Courtney Lyon at: Ballet Quad Cities' “Our Will to Live,” October 8.]
A fascinating exhibition commemorating the bravery and integrity of a group of students in the face of political evil and popular indifference, The White Rose: The Student Resistance Against Hitler, Munich 1942-1943 will be on display at Davenport's German American Heritage Center from October 2 through February 12, the informative and thought-provoking touring exhibit on loan from the White Rose Foundation in Munich, Germany.
Quad Citians of all ages are invited to celebrate the arrival of fall when Rock Island venue Rozz-Tox and Laborspace host an expansive neighborhood gathering in Lowland Block Party V, the October 2 boasting art vendors, a flea market, live music, poetry readings, food and beverages, and plenty of fun for the entire family.
Publisher Note: The River Cities' Reader has emailed the publicly available emails for all party's candidates in the certain selected Iowa General Election 2022 races, a candidate questionnaire with four topics and eight questions. That communiation is publsihed in part below, along with the complete questionnaire.
The Reader will publish all responses in the printed October edition out on the streets October 6, 2022. All the printed responses will also be published online shortly thereafter.
Publisher Note: The River Cities' Reader has emailed the publicly available emails for all party's candidates in the certain selected Iowa General Election 2022 races, a candidate questionnaire with four topics and eight questions. That communiation is publsihed in part below, along with the complete questionnaire. The Reader will publish all responses in the printed October edition out on the streets October 6, 2022. All the printed responses will also be published online shortly thereafter.
Far-right activist Dan Proft has proved time and time again that he is very effective at calling attention to himself and getting under Governor JB Pritzker’s skin in the worst way.
Worse, this is a government that has become almost indistinguishable from the evil it claims to be fighting, whether that evil takes the form of terrorism, torture, drug trafficking, sex trafficking, murder, violence, theft, pornography, scientific experimentations or some other diabolical means of inflicting pain, suffering and servitude on humanity.
Four distinct attacks have been launched against Governor JB Pritzker and Democratic legislators in the past couple of weeks, but don’t expect a massive response yet.
With CurtainUp calling the award-winning play “a delightful fantasy, but also a psychologically persuasive look at one man's mid-life crisis,” Sylvia enjoys a September 30 through October 9 run at Moline's Playcrafters Barn Theatre, this stage charmer inspiring the New York Times to state, "Dramatic literature is stuffed with memorable love scenes ... but none is as immediately delicious and dizzy as the one that begins the redeeming affair in A. R. Gurney's comedy.”
One of the biggest Broadway hits in history and the winner of a record-setting 12 Tony Awards including Best Musical, Mel Brooks' stage smash The Producers enjoys its eagerly awaited run at Moline's Spotlight Theatre from September 30 through October 9, this hysterical adaptation of Brooks' Oscar-winning comedy, according to the New York Times, a show in which the audience is "going to be hard-pressed to choose one favorite bit from the sublimely ridiculous spectacle."
One of the most recognizable and adored filmmakers of all time will have three of his classics reinterpreted in a brand-new yet old-time way from September 29 through October 9, with the Richmond Hill Barn Theatre serving up chills, laughs, and even some catchy jingles in the Geneseo run of Vintage Hitchcock: A Live Radio Play.
Hailed by the Chicago Sun-Times as an "outrageously funny and surprisingly sweet exploration of the gender gap,” the one-man riot Defending the Caveman enjoys a September 92 through October 9 run at Mt. Carroll's Timber Lake Playhouse, with author Rob Becker's 1991 work still standing as the longest running solo play in the history of Broadway.
Alexander Richardson’s Their Town is inspired by Our Town, as opposed to being a direct update of Wilder's story. And by using the original text as inspiration, Richardson gave us a fresh take on what the classic play means in a modern world, updating characters, plot structure, relationships, stage design, and more.
With the members of their gifted quartet all personally chosen by Frankie Valli to join his iconic band The Four Seasons, Landon Beard, Todd Fournier, and brothers Brian and Brandon Brigham – known collectively as The Modern Gentlemen – headline a highly anticipated Bally's Quad Cities concert on September 30, their repertoire of timeless pop hits including everything from the Beatles' “Help” to the Beach Boys' “California Girls” to the Four Seasons' own “December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night).”
Performing their tribute to classic hip-hop and R&B party anthems from the late '80s, '90s, and early-'00s, the thrilling party band Too Hype Crew plays a headlining concert at East Moline venue The Rust Belt on September 30, the performers having opened for the likes of Nelly, Vanilla Ice, Naughty by Nature, Tone Loc, Digital Underground, and Jason Derulo ... and the group the only band in the past decade to perform at the Playboy Mansion.
With Quad City Symphony Orchestra music director and conductor Mark Russell Smith again at the helm for the ensemble's incredible 108th season, the gifted QCSO musicians open their 2022-23 Masterworks season with the exhilarating program Ode to Joy, presented on October 1 at Davenport's Adler Theatre and October 2 in Augustana College's Centennial Hall.
Now celebrating their tenth year of genre-hopping performance, the tribute musicians of Have Your Cake serve as the showcased musical guests at The Tangled Wood on October 1, their return to the Bettendorf venue boasting hits from the Cake repertoire that includes such albums as Comfort Eagle, Pressure Chief, and the Billboard chart-topper Showroom of Compassion.
Chart-topping alternative rockers now beginning their third decade of professional performance, the musicians of Hinder headline an October 3 concert at East Moline Venue The Rust Belt, treating fans to a repertoire that boasts such top-10 Billboard hits as “Lips of an Angel,” “Get Stoned,” “How Long,” and “Use Me.”
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, September 29: Discussion of Don't Worry Darling, Moonage Daydream, Luck, and, for some reason, the Taco Bell app.
Some movies are love-them-or-hate-them. The polished, mediocre Don't Worry Darling doesn't do much to inspire either reaction.
Before proceeding, allow me to share my amazement in a weekend happenstance I hadn't previously experienced over nearly three decades of reviewing: I saw five new movies and enjoyed them all – a lot. Even the horror prequel whose predecessor debuted fewer than six months ago. Even the reboot of a planned Chevy Chase franchise that died in 1989.
A couple weeks ago, in my review of The Invitation, I opened by saying that the fright flick felt like a bunch of different fright flicks – none of them good – rolled into one. Writer/director Zach Cregger's Barbarian feels a bit like that, too, except in this instance, the quality is significantly higher, and not all of the complimentary/competing movies are horror movies.
Now playing at area theaters.
A collection of 20 unique software, video, and light-technology artworks, the Figge Art Museum's latest touring exhibition Message from Our Planet: Digital Art from the Thoma Collection, on display from October 1 through December 31, will treat visitors to the Davenport venue to an arresting assemblage created by a diverse group of international artists working at the forefront of digital and electronic art.
On display from October 1 through February 4, the Figge Art Museum welcomes guests to view the talents of a Chicago-based artist in Caroline Kent: An Improvisation of Form, an installation will transform the Davenport venue's Katz Gallery into an immersive exhibition of paintings, site specific interventions, and sculptures, surrounding visitors in a unique synthesis of language and abstract forms.
On October 6, both Figge Art Museum members and the general public are invited to celebrate the work of a gifted, Chicago-based artist during a Member Reception and Artist Talk with Caroline Kent, whose new installation An Improvisation of Form transforms the Davenport venue's Katz Gallery into an immersive exhibition of paintings, site specific interventions, and sculptures, surrounding visitors in a unique synthesis of language and abstract forms.
Evocative works by a pair of gifted central-Illinois artists will have their talents showcased at the Quad City Arts Center through October 7, with the Rock Island venue housing beautiful color-field paintings by John Nelson of Quincy, as well as arresting mixed-media portrait paintings in the Dictators & Dreamers exhibition by Jennifer Lynn Bates.
A collection of evocative drawings by a gifted area artist, musician, and frequent contributor to the River Cities' Reader, the exhibition When the Stars Threw Down Their Spears will be on display in Black Hawk College's ArtSpace Gallery through October 14, the works showcasing the talents and vision of former Augustana College instructor and University of Iowa alumnus Bruce Walters.
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?)
Get the printed Reader edition mailed to you (or anyone you want) first-class for 12 months for $48.
$24 goes to postage and handling, $24 goes to keeping the doors open!
