04 May 2009

Future Tense: "Omniscience," at Augustana College through May 10

By Mike Schulz

In the science-fiction drama Omniscience - currently playing at Augustana College - playwright Tim Carlson imagines a not-too-distant U.S. future in which several Midwestern states are under Asian control, violent militia activity is commonplace, behavior is governmentally regulated through mood-leveling drugs, and surveillance systems monitor our every move.

04 May 2009

Claws for Concern: "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," "Ghosts of Girlfriends Past," and "Fighting"

By Mike Schulz

Hugh Jackman in X-Men Origins: Wolverine

X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE

As someone who really and truly adores the X-Men movies - even the Brett Ratner one, which hardly anyone likes - I was prepared to accept any number of flaws and disappointments in X-Men Origins: Wolverine just for the chance to watch Hugh Jackman bear his adamantium claws and toss off a few pithy, sarcastic zingers. And for a while, Jackman's presence was enough.

28 Apr 2009

Love Letters: Melissa McBain Pays Tribute to Her Mother in New Ground Theatre's "Going Back Naked"

By Mike Schulz

Melissa McBainAfter local productions of Altar Call in 2005 and Yard Sale in 2007, area playwright Melissa McBain's latest endeavor - opening April 30 at the Village of East Davenport's Village Theatre - is the solo presentation Going Back Naked. And if you think that's a strange title for a play, its author says she originally considered one that was even more unusual.

28 Apr 2009

The Quad City Playwrights' Festival 2009, May 10 at Augustana College

By Mike Schulz

Melissa McBain

(The following is the sidebar to the feature story "Love Letters: Melissa McBain Pays Tribute to Her Mother in New Ground Theatre's Going Back Naked.")

In addition to playwriting and performing, Melissa McBain also teaches in Augustana College's theatre department, and currently serves as coordinator and producer for the Quad City Playwrights' Festival, an annual evening of short plays by local writers, directed and acted by Augustana students. (This year's festival will take place at Augustana's Wallenberg Hall on Sunday, May 10.)

28 Apr 2009

What's Happenin': April 29 - May 12

By Mike Schulz

The Georgia Guitar QuartetMusic

Georgia Guitar Quartet

St. John's Lutheran Church

Saturday, May 2, 7 p.m.

 

Quad City Arts' 2008-9 Visiting Artist series wraps up with a May 2 concert by the Georgia Guitar Quartet, and because the ensemble is composed of classically trained chamber musicians, you probably already know what to expect from the group's performance: some Bach, a little Brahms, a bit of Radiohead ... .

27 Apr 2009

Curveballs: "Sugar"

By Mike Schulz

Algenis Perez Soto in SugarSUGAR

Let's face it: For area audiences, it's easy to be psyched about Anna Boden's and Ryan Fleck's baseball drama Sugar, large portions of which were filmed locally in the summer of 2007.

27 Apr 2009

She Is... Sasha Fierce: "Obsessed," "The Soloist," and "Earth"

By Mike Schulz

Idris Elba and Ali Larter in ObsessedOBSESSED

A Fatal Attraction without the slow-cooking rabbit - and, strangely, without the adultery - the Steve Shill thriller Obsessed reaches its raison d'être in the final reel, when Beyoncé Knowles' wronged wife stands off against Ali Larter's vixen from hell, and the pop star hisses, "I knew it would come to this." So did we all, Beyoncé. But did it have to come so late?

20 Apr 2009

Bridal Party: "Five Women Wearing the Same Dress," at the Village Theatre through April 25

By Mike Schulz

Jessica Benson, Sarah Potts, Molly Todd, Kate Heiman, and Ryan Mosher-Ohr in Five Women Wearing the Same DressFive Women Wearing the Same Dress, the Alan Ball comedy that opens the Riverbend Theatre Collective's 2009 season, takes place during a wedding reception, and the production is kind of like a wedding reception - or at least, the reception for a bride and groom you don't know all that well. It might begin awkwardly, but after a few drinks, dances, and interesting encounters with people you otherwise wouldn't have met, you discover that you're having an unexpectedly fantastic time, and when it's over, you may realize that you're not quite ready to leave.

20 Apr 2009

Gilding the Lilies: "Steel Magnolias," at the Harrison Hilltop Theatre through April 26

By Mike Schulz

Angela Elliott, Dee Canfield, Colleen Winters, Pamela Crouch, Kelly Lohrenz, and Lisa Kahn in Steel MagnoliasAs Ouiser Boudreaux, the easily agitated Southern matriarch with the permanently fixed scowl and "more money than God," Dee Canfield enters the Green Room Theatre's production of Steel Magnolias as though shot through a cannon.

20 Apr 2009

High School Mystical: "17 Again," "State of Play," and "Crank: High Voltage"

By Mike Schulz

Leslie Mann and Zac Efron in 17 Again

17 AGAIN

If there were any lingering doubts as to whether the body-switching comedy 17 Again was tailored specifically for heartthrob Zac Efron, you should know that in the movie's very first scene, Efron's character, Mike O'Donnell, not only appears as the star player of a high school basketball team, but quickly breaks into a spontaneous, energetic dance routine with the cheerleaders. That's right, folks! It's High School Musical: Big-ger and Better!

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