Nominated for five 2001 Tony Awards and currently the ninth-longest-running Broadway musical of all time, the internationally beloved Mamma Mia! returns to Rock Island's Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse for an eagerly awaited May 10 through July 8 run, with the show's collection of timeless ABBA tunes inspiring the New York Post to call the experience “one of those nights when you sit back and let a nutty kind of joy just sweep over you.”

Lauded by Variety magazine as "a biting bureaucratic satire" that "rings truer than ever," legendary Czech playwright Václav Havel's The Memo serves as the final stage production in Augustana College's 2022-23 season, the dark comedy - running May 11 through 14 - centering on the introduction of a new language that is meant to make work more efficient, but has the exact opposite effect.

With Time Out describing the show as “worthy of the gods,” the stage adaptation of Rick Riordan's popular book series opens the Timber Lake Playhouse's 2023 season in the 2019 Broadway spectacle The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical, its May 12 through 14 Mt. Carroll run sure to demonstrate why The Hollywood Reporter raved that this family entertainment “provides an excellent if irreverent introduction to Greek mythology.”

Arriving directly from New York and with his latest stage spectacular featuring Dubuque native Rita Harvey, the May 6 performance of Neil Berg's 103 Years of Broadway finds the producer/pianist/composer returning to the University of Dubuque's Heritage Center alongside a cast of stars from history's greatest musicals, with Berg sharing the songs and stories behind the music that helped change the world.

Maquoketa Caves Prairie - New England Aster

The River Cities’ Reader 2023 Spring Photo Contest received submissions in three categories: "Prairie," "Oaks," and "Ethanol." Here are our winners and favorites. Thanks to all who submitted!

With the album lauded by Blabbermouth as "a refreshing, creative getaway" and by Riff magazine as "a ton of fun," Slipknot and Stone Sour rocker Corey Taylor and his record's musicians bring their CMFT tour to East Moline venue The Rust Belt on May 5, Taylor's solo debut landing on the the top-10 of Billboard's U.S. Top Rock Albums chart and hitting the number-two position on the UK Rock & Metal Albums chart.

With The New Yorker calling her most recent album "a brilliant collision of cultures," Native American and African-American vocalist/songwriter Martha Redbone performs locally from May 9 through 13 as the final guest in Quad City Arts' 2022-23 Visiting Artists season, the genre-hopping talent known for her unique gumbo of folk, blues, and gospel from her childhood in Harlan County, Kentucky, infused with the eclectic grit of pre-gentrified Brooklyn.

Returning to Davenport in support of new country songs including "Do You Wrong," "Be That One," and "How Much Did It Cost," Nashville-based singer/songwriter Timbo and his ensemble Lonesome Country headline a Redstone Room concert on May 7, the rising star's 2020 EP Brand New Feeling praised by American Highways as a work that “weaves a thread through the emotions of loneliness, longing, and dependency, and leaves the listener yearning for more.”

With his 2020 recording Sojourn of a Burning Sun lauded by Glide magazine as "beautiful from start to finish," folk singer/songwriter and Elephant Revival co-founder headlines a concert at Davenport's Raccoon Motel on May 9, the artist's solo debut also praised by Folk Alley as a work in which its creator "illustrates his artful ability to plumb the depths of our hearts and souls and to offer us a healing balm."

With his most recent album Light'n Up praised by Spill magazine for its "range of meandering styles, fine-crafted lyrics, playful melodies, and excellent story-telling," Matthew Logan Vasquez headlines a May 10 concert at Davenport's Raccoon Motel, the acclaimed singer/songwriter and guitarist also a member of the rock band Delta Spirit and the indie super-groups Middle Brothers and Glorietta.

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