A wildly inventive tour-de-force of comedy, physical theatre, and live Foley artistry will be presented at the University of Dubuque's Heritage Center on October 29, the venue hosting a touring production of the internationally lauded, and live, Jurassic Park spoof Hold Onto Your Butts.
With guests invited to come in costume as their favorite deceased person, Rock Island's Hauberg Civic Center Mansion will host its I See Dead People Halloween Costume Party on October 30, a full day and evening of spooky-season delights featuring flashlight tours from 6 to 9 p.m., music and dancing, readings with local medium Ryan Sumpter, and a prize for the event's best costume.
Over the past 250 years, German immigrants and their descendants, particularly in the Midwest, have helped develop, challenge, and improve the United States. The German American Heritage Center will consequently celebrate their history and accomplishments in Shaped by Immigrants: Celebrating 250 Years of the United States, on display in the Davenport venue through November 1.
On November 4, you're invited to make unforgettable memories with your little ones at Sesame Street Presents! Elmo’s Got the Moves, an exciting experience at Galesburg's Orpheum Theatre that brings Elmo and his Sesame Street friends to the stage with singing, dancing, and favorite songs like “Sunny Days,” "Letter of the Day," and the show's bouncy title tune.
Inspired by her upbringing at the turn of the 20th century and considered “Iowa’s first feminist writer,” Ruth Suckow was largely forgotten until researchers rediscovered her story in the 1980s. Consequently, the Ruth Suckow Memorial Association, with the support of Humanities Iowa, has developed a traveling exhibition celebrating the life and work of this Iowa novelist and short-story writer who lived from 1892 to 1960, the exhibit Everyday Lives, Extraordinary Voices: Ruth Suckow's Iowa on display at Davenport's German American Heritage Center through November 15.
Lazy Uni-Potty Platitudes and Posturing or Genuine Problem-Solving Leaders?
The two candidates for Iowa governor (the uni-potty worked very hard to eliminate any third-party candidate from getting on the ballot) will be “slugging it out” on four televised debates: Tuesday, October 6, at 7 p.m. Davenport, hosted by KWQC; Wednesday, October 14, at 7 p.m. – Sioux City, hosted by KTIV; Wednesday, October 21, at 7 p.m. – Iowa PBS debate, airing statewide; Tuesday, October 27, at 6:30 p.m. – Cedar Rapids, hosted by KCRG and The Gazette. The limited accessibility to this debate series begs the question, "Have the Iowa governor debates been captured by a single media outlet Gray Media to be used both as leverage to secure mobile app subscribers and as a beta testing ground with limited visibitliy to sus out the nuances of how these two uni-party candidates shall present themselves in the final stretch to November 3rd election day?"
The Legislative Ethics Commission chair said last week that the commission will meet soon and discuss whether to recommend changes to state ethics laws during the upcoming veto session, which begins in about a month. But the chair of the bipartisan commission, Representative Jeff Keicher, R-Sycamore, told us he was against taking any action before a new General Assembly’s swearing-in in January.
There are five supervisor seats on the county board, and elected supervisors serve four-year terms. This year, there are three open seats, and two of the three incumbents are running again, as Ross Paustian did not run again. Only one of the two incumbents, Jean Dickson, responded to the questionnaire. Supervisors are paid $45-50,000 annually plus health and retirement benefits. Five of the seven candidates vying for the three seats participated this year. Responses are in alphabetical order by family name.
The incumbent Scott County Treasurer, Tony Knobbe has served since 2023, and last fiscal year was paid $102,313 plus benefits. Knobbe is not running for re-election and there are two candidates for a single seat that has a four-year term, Greg Guy and Samuel Samara. Responses are in alphabetical order by family name.
According to the Scott County, Iowa Recorder's Office's web page, "The Recorder's Office was created by the First Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Iowa in 1839."
The incumbent Recorder, Rita Vargas has served since 2002, and last fiscal year was paid $102,313 plus benefits. Vargas is not running for re-election and there are two candidates for a single seat that has a four-year term, Tony Paone and Michael Wulf. Responses are in alphabetical order by family name.
A stage work that, according to the New York Times, "has the ruefulness of a collection of John Cheever stories," A.R. Gurney's critically lauded The Dining Room serves as the first production of Augustana College's 2026-27 season, college senior Christian Haywood's production running in the Honkamp Myhre Black Box Theatre October 29 through November 1.
Hailed by the New York Times as "a breathlessly paced" slapstick boasting "silly vaudeville sketches, word-association games, puns, and crude parodies of movie and television genres," the Reduced Theatre Company's The Complete History of America (abridged) enjoys an October 30 through November 8 run at St. Ambrose University's Galvin Fine Arts Student Theatre, The Gazette adding that "history has never been this much fun."
One of the millennium's biggest animated-film hits enjoys a raucous, colorful, and tuneful stage presentation when Young Footliters Youth Theatre presents Madagascar: A Musical Adventure Jr. at the Coralville Center for the Performing Arts, a delightful family treat, running October 30 through November 1, reuniting audiences with Alex the Lion, Marty the Zebra, Melman the Giraffe, Gloria the hip-hip-Hippo, and all of their other Dreamworks favorites.
If Halloween is approaching, it must be time for that theatrical command: “Let's do the 'Time Warp' again!” Consequently, the Circa '21 Speakeasy will stage its 11th-anniversary presentation of the cult-musical smash The Rocky Horror Show October 23 through 31, treating audiences to live performances of classic songs in this nutty, interactive experience that has been delighting show regulars and virgins alike for more than half a century.
Rock of Ages was nominated for five Tony Awards, including Best Musical. “Wait – what?” I said when I read of these accomplishments after seeing the show. I eventually unearthed why.
Touring in support of their most recent recording There Was a Light Here that Jesus Freak Hideout said featuring the group's "best work in nearly a decade" and was "an immediate contender for best album of the year," the Christian-metal musicians of Demon Hunter headline an October 27 concert at Davenport's Capitol Theatre, the group's Billboard-charting top-10 hits including True Defiance, Extremist, and the twinned 2019 releases War and Peace.
Touring in support of their summertime album New Ways to Lose that Saving Country Music called "an impassioned, propulsive, and potent experience," the alt-country and Americana musicians of American Aquarium return to Davenport's Raccoon Motel on October 27,, their latest also hailed by Americana UK as "yet another hugely impressive release."
WILCO's Jeff Tweedy discusses his latest sonic landscape “Twilight Override”, completing the circuit for listeners and more with KFMH's Bill Klutho on October 14, 2026 in advance of his performance
On October 28, the walls of the Redstone Room at Common Chord will be shaking with interstellar excitement at the arrival of Galactic Empire, who will bring to the Davenport venue their singular yet thrillingly familiar takes on unforgettable Star Wars compositions by five-time Academy Award winner John Williams.
Traveling the country in support of his October 9 release Just Beyond Endless Mountain, Swedish indie-folk singer/songwriter Kristian Matsson – better known by his recording and stage alias The Tallest Man on Earth – closes the 2026 season at Maquoketa's Codfish Hollow Barn, the artist lauded by AllMusic for his “sometimes craggy, always passionate vocals and poetic lyrics.”
I may not have been wowed by Clayface, but it's hardly a disappointment, and also a decent amount of fun.
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, October 22: Previews of Clayface, Wildwood, Wicker, A Talent for Murder, and Klara & the Sun, and discussion of Street Fighter, Sense & Sensibility, Whalefall, Musk, and of course, You Can See Everything. Fear not: That coverage is spoiler-free. But still soooooo much to unpack.
Until it turns into something more trenchant and far more mind-blowing, directors Nathan Fielder's and Lance Oppenheim's three-hour A24 documentary You Can See Everything – as transfixing a 2026 entertainment as I've yet seen – is like being at the most exciting Texas Hold 'Em game of your life.
As someone who instinctively loves it when Gen X and post-Gen X viewers see their cherished childhood fetish objects re-created as things deservedly ripe for good-natured laughs at the expense of alpha bros, I had way more fun than I expected at Street Fighter.
Now playing at area theaters.
With the showcased photographs captured by class-of-2025 alumna Hannah Bauch, patrons of the University of Dubuque's Bisignano Aet Gallery are invited to explore the multifaceted identities of student athletes, and the many layers that exist beyond their roles in competition, in the exhibition Beyond the Game: A UD Athletic Homecoming, on display through October 30.
With the event presented in partnership with Lulac Council 10 and Hola America, Hola Iowa, Davenport's Figge Art Museum will house a delightful Día de Los Muertos celebration in the November 1 Day of the Dead Family Fiesta, an afternoon-long tribute honoring the memories of passed loved ones through music, dance, food, and community.
With the artists encouraging their audience to pause and find hidden details in their work., two Midwestern talents are showcasing pieces at the Quad City Arts International Airport Gallery through November 2, the Bowden & Shultz-Hetrick exhibit hosting abstract paintings by Peotone, Illinois' James Bowden and fused-glass art by Cedar Rapids' Barbara Shultz-Hetrick.
Presenting a fascinating display of sumi-e art, the traditional Japanese form of ink-was painting that uses black ink, water, and minimalist brush strokes to capture the inner spirit of natural subjects, Karen Kurka Jensen's Coming Home will be on display in Black Hawk College's ArtSpace Gallery through November 6, a closing reception and artist talk scheduled at the Moline gallery on November 5.
An arresting and thought-provoking group show featuring 38 pieces of art made by 27 Midwestern artists whose work explores the many forms our “monsters” can take, The Monster Under My Bed will be on display at Rock Island's Quad City Arts Center through December 4, this exhibition designed to demonstrate ways in which creativity can help us give shape to experiences that are difficult to put into words.
You'll get both the current official narrative challenge and What's Happenin' in the Quad Cities.
(Did you know we publish a new Real Astrology and RCR Crossword every week?)
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