Over the span of six days, the Quad Cities will welcome the arrival of touring performers who collectively specialize in pop, rock, country, blues, folk, jazz, reggae, Americana, bluegrass, roots, contemporary-Christian, and dance-club music – and who, if they wanted, could conceivably arrive together in one mid-size van. The artists in question are country-pop chanteuse Sara Evans, Texas-based genre-hoppers The Band of Heathens, and multi-instrumentalist Keller Williams, so let’s learn a bit about these acclaimed, prolific talents – there’s gonna be a quiz at the end!

With apologies to my parents’ house cat Sam, who I’m crazy about, I’ve always been more of a dog person, and was totally anticipating a good cry at A Dog’s Purpose even in light of that notorious, upsetting footage of a German shepherd seemingly forced into a scary-looking aquatic stunt. Yet while its trailer never failed to slay me, I actually watched director Lasse Hallström’s family weepie completely dry-eyed, given how tough it is to get misty when your primary emotions are confusion, irritation, and offense.

Quiara Alegria Hudes was awarded a 2012 Pulitzer for her play Water by the Spoonful, and it’s easy to understand some of the reason the work was recognized, considering that Hudes gives us so many different plays for the price of one. Part family drama, part wisecracking comedy, part PTSD exploration, and part cyberspace warning/celebration, Hudes’ tale is alternately tragic, funny, insightful, and even, at times, magical, and I’d love to see all those styles and qualities blended into a cohesive, thrilling production. In the meantime, we have New Ground Theatre’s Water by the Spoonful. We’re treated to a few sincere and effective portrayals, but unfortunately January 20’s premiere merely suggested the truly satisfying achievement the show could and should have been.

By now, we should be used to cinematic miracles from Martin Scorsese. But Silence, his 160-minute, decades-in-the-planning exploration of faith, is still something I don’t think I’ve ever seen before: a deeply redundant movie that isn’t at all boring. This sentiment was obviously not shared by the quartet of middle-aged patrons who exited the auditorium ahead of me complaining about the film’s length and dullness and their growling stomachs and the previews being “totally deceptive.” (Personally, I thought the trailers captured the haunting, enigmatic mood about as ideally as a three-minute spot, or a 30-second one on TV, ever could. Were these folks expecting Hacksaw Ridge 2: 17th-Century Gore?) Yet if you have the patience for it – and considering the many scenes of physical and emotional torture, the stomach for it – you may find the experience of Scorsese’s latest riveting. I may have been aware of the thematic and narrative repetition, but I never once yawned.