A seasoned comedian, ventriloquist, and musician whose career spans more than three decades and earned him a win on TV's Star Search, touring sensation Taylor Mason brings his act, and his memorable cast of characters, to Galesburg's Orpheum Theatre on April 25, this veteran of America’s Got Talent, Dry Bar Comedy, and the Disney Channel enjoying a performance sponsored by Supporters of Foster's Voice and Bridgeway’s Youth Empowerment Services.
A celebration of exhilarating Middle Eastern music and likely the most popular of all Middle Eastern dance forms, Davenport's Common Chord will host the two-day event So You Think You Can Belly Dance on April 26 and 27, the weekend experience boasting a concert with the Missouri ensemble of Bayati on Saturday and a belly-dancing workshop with live music on Sunday.
Lauded by the Los Angeles Times as “a new breed of comic who's making magic cool again for grown-ups,” and by Time Out as an act that “must be seen to be disbelieved,” comedian, TV personality, and famed prestidigitator Justin Willman brings his “Illusionati Tour” to Davenport's Adler Theatre on May 2, Decider adding that the artist will “amaze, delight, and shock you in a way that's sure to have your face sore from smiling.”
A former grade-school teacher who, in his career as a standup, has performed alongside the likes of the Smothers Brothers, Kenny Rogers, Dolly Parton, and George Jones, Seattle-based comedian Brad Upton headlines a May 2 standup show at Moline's Sound Conservatory, the popular touring presence famed for such TV specials as I'm Not Done Yet! and Will Be Funny for Money.
An online May 3 program presented by the Rock Island and Silvis Public Libraries, the Virtual Illinois Libraries Present offering Art & Adventures with Author/Illustrator Dan Santat will treat viewers to the intelligence, creativity, and humor of the New York Times bestselling author, joined in this special conversation about books and art with friend and collaborator Minh Lê.
Governor JB Pritzker said last week that the extreme uncertainty with the U.S. government and the international economy might mean that the legislature may have to reconvene to reconfigure the state budget after it adjourns at the end of next month.
You’ve probably read about the Republican Party implosion last week in suburban municipal and township campaigns, particularly in DuPage County.
[The following is an update to the "Rock Island Addresses Concerns Over Development Plan Near Casino" article published March 21, 2025. In the above photo by Jonathan Turner, Jeff Hughbanks (right), who heads Rock Island-based Rymak Construction Group, talks about his $12-million plan to build a new cannabis dispensary and gas station in southwest Rock Island, at the March 21 press conference at city hall. Mike Thoms (left) will end his two terms as mayor having been defeated by 150 votes in the April 1st city wide election by Ashley Harris who won 51 to 49 percent.]
The Civic Federation, the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning, the Illinois Economic Policy Institute, and the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability recently released a report calling for the expansion of the sales tax to several services, claiming such a move could raise $2 billion for the state.
In our recent phone chat about the new Haus of Ruckus play, it takes Calvin Vo more than a half-hour to drop a bomb that probably should've been dropped in the first five minutes: “We're thinking, with the format we have now, this might be the last time we write Johnny and Fungus.”
Ummm … what?!
One of the most ticklish and tuneful operettas in theatrical history enjoys an April 25 through May 24 run at Davenport's St. Ambrose University with the theatre department's staging of The Pirates of Penzance, the beloved Gilbert & Sullivan masterpiece whose 1981 Broadway production won the Tony Award for Best Revival and Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Musical.
Deemed "an excellent and compelling play" by the New York Post and "brilliant, powerful, and cinematic" by the Associated Press, Tony Award winner John Logan's dramatic thriller Never the Sinner enjoys an April 24 through 27 staging by the theatre talents at Scott Community College, this tale of the infamous Leopold & Loeb killing hailed by the New Yorker as a work that "sweeps the audience into the boys' friendship without losing sight of the brutal murder."
From April 26 through May 4, high-flying fun will be on hand when the student talents of Davenport Junior Theatre present a brand-new take on J.M. Barrie's classic Peter Pan, an extraordinary tale of excitement and adventure written specifically for the Quad Cities company by Junior Theatre alum and St. Ambrose University graduate Brooke Galván.
Hailed by the Des Moines Register as a "punchy comedy" with a "tightly coiled script," the zany farce Girls' Weekend makes its Quad Cities debut at Moline's Playcrafters Barn Theatre May 2 through 11, this comic delight the first full-length published play written by Des Moines native Karen Schaeffer.
Described by Glide magazine as “one of the most unflappably earnest musicians on the planet” and by Grammy-winning icon John Mayer as “the best live performer I've ever seen,” rock and Americana singer/songwriter/guitarist Martin Sexton returns to Davenport's Redstone Room on April 25, this time lending his signature style to his rendition of the iconic Beatles album Abbey Road.
The invigorating sounds of modern and classical jazz will be on beautiful display on April 25 in the 2025 Black Hawk College Jazz Festival, the day featuring a series of events at Moline's Black Hawk College and an evening performance at the city's Sound Conservatory, the concert boasting the talents of the BHC Jazz Ensemble and Harper College jazz-ensemble director Kirby Fellis.
Touring in support of this year's Blood Ties, and album that Louder says finds its creator "sharper than ever," Black Star Riders, Thin Lizzy, and The Almighty lead singer Ricky Warwick makes his eagerly awaited return to Moline's Rascals Live on April 26, his latest recording also hailed by Cryptic Rock as "an intense, raw experience through heartache, personal reflection, and the tattoos that life leaves on the soul."
With their 2024 album The Pure Joy of Jumping praised by Pirate Pirate as "underscored by an earnest sense of humor and pointed self-evaluation," the dream-pop artists of Drook headline an April 26 concert at Davenport's Raccoon Motel, their debut LP also praised by TurnAndWork.com as " a culmination of years worth of experimenting" in which "the result is exhilarating and surprising."
Covering a decade of musical eras ranging from the British Invasion to Woodstock, and a variety of styles including pop, psychedelia, and girl groups, the touring sensations of SHiNDiG! A Tribute to the '60s bring their popular stage performance to Maquoketa's Ohnward Fine Arts Center on April 26, taking patrons on an entertaining trip back to one of the greatest and most diverse decades in the history of rock.
There's no point in burying the lede on this. Even though it's only April, I can't imagine seeing a more dazzling, thrilling, thunderously satisfying 2025 release than Ryan Coogler's Sinners.
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, April 24: Previews of The Accountant 2, Until Dawn, The Legend of Ochi, and the 20th-anniversary re-release of Revenge of the Sith, and discussion of The Wedding Banquet and Sinners, the latter possibly Mike's favorite film over the 20-ish years he's been chatting with D&D. If anything tops it this year, it's gonna be a crazy-good movie year.
With the short works presented as the first in a pair of events in the organization's "Let's Have a Conversation" end-of-life series, Davenport's CASI (Center for Active Seniors) will host screenings of two acclaimed documentaries on April 27: directors Jessica Nutzig Zitter's and Kevin Gordon's Caregiver: A Love Story, and director James Keach's Taking Care, the latter featuring famed film and TV actor/writer Seth Rogen.
A psychological thriller and cult classic that earned the Directing Award at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival, the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay, and the Gotham Open Palm Award, Oscar nominee Darren Aronofsky's feature debut Pi enjoys a special April 30 showing at Rock Island's Rozz-Tox.
Notable and engaging works by 10 artists from Iowa and Illinois will be housed in the Quad City Arts International Airport Gallery through April 29, with Moline's airport showcasing floral paintings by Kathleen Rietz, landscape paintings by Evan Ventris, and 19 works by eight of the region’s finest woodturners.
Nearly 200 works by gifted student artists will be on display at Rock Island's Quad City Arts Center through May 1 in the expansive 48th High School Art Invitational, a glorious celebration of local talent featuring the Quad Cities’ most promising artists expressing themselves through paintings, drawings, sculpture, paper, recycled materials, and film.
A rare chance to experience Renaissance and Baroque art up close, the gorgeous and captivating exhibition The Golden Age: Featuring Northern European Works from the Collection of the National Gallery of Art will be on display at Davenport's Figge Art Museum May 3, 2025, through April 4, 2027, the exhibit's premiere sponsor Kay Hall (in remembrance of John) and contributing sponsors Wynne and David Schafer, Schafer Interiors, Kay K. Runge, KK Runge Associates, the Carolyn Levine & Leonard Kallio Trust, John Gardner, and Cathy Weideman.
With the exhibition's originator revered for creating Vodou flags known as drapo for more than 35 years, as well as for pushing the boundaries of this traditional Haitian art form, Myrlande Constant: DRAPO will be on display in the Figge At Museum's fourth-floor gallery through May 4, the artist's escalating interest in expansive proportions finding some of the 17 works in the exhibition spanning more than seven feet.
Boasting large woodcut prints and charcoal and pastel drawings of a dying willow tree from her yard in Dubuque, the arresting, fascinating exhibition Louise Kames: I Don’t See Anything That’s Not Beautiful – on display through May 11 – will be showcased in the Gildehaus Gallery of Davenport's Figge Art Museum, the artist focused on creating works that explore the beauty of natural decay, the line between life and death, and what remains after.
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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