Presented by Kevin Braafladt, the Army Sustainment Command Deputy Historian at the Rock Island Arsenal, the virtual program World War I History: Chemical Warfare will be hosted by the Rock Island Public Library on June 9, with viewers invited to take another look at the Great War's military history and the terrible results that chemical warfare had on individuals and societies throughout the world.

Staging its first full Broadway musical in more than a year, Moline's Spotlight Theatre will house a can't-miss crowd-pleaser from June 4 through 13 in You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, the Tony Award-winning reunion for Charles M. Schulz's beloved Peanuts characters that the New York Times called “a miracle,” adding that “almost everything works, because almost everything is effortless.”

Returning to the presentation of live theatre for the first time since March of 2020, Moline's Playcrafters Barn Theatre is proud to host the world premiere of a new drama in the organization's popular Barn Owl Series: Princeton's Rage, which, during its June 4 through 13 run, will address the lingering damage of sexual assault through a script by local playwright and area performer Don Faust.

Energetic, multi-hued works by an Arizona-based artist with significant ties to the Quad Cities will be on display in the next exhibition at the Beréskin Gallery & Art Academy, with the Bettendorf venue, through July 8, housing Tim Schiffer: Paintings within Paintings, a collection of arresting pieces created by the former executive director of Davenport's Figge Art Museum.

Thrilling hits from a career boasting 13 studio albums, six live albums, 61 singles, and 23 Grammy Award nominations will be heard on May 29 when Mt. Carroll's Timber Lake Playhouse hosts the Milwaukee-based talents of 52nd Street: The Music of Billy Joel, an eight-piece band whose outdoor concert will be chock full of classics originated by one of the best-selling and most lauded music artists of all time.

The culmination of an Illinois State University Honors Program project six months in the making, the German American Heritage Center's virtual presentation The Dirndl: Reclaiming German Dress will, on May 30, find Hannah Hoge discussing heritage, culture, and ancestry through study of traditional German dress, with specific insight into the origins of this clothing, its use in Nazi propaganda, and how the symbol of the dirndl can be reclaimed to express German pride.

On May 23 and 26, the joys of youth, friendship, and cherry-favored Pez will be revived on the big screen when Fathom Events and Rave Cinemas Davenport 53rd + IMAX present 35th-anniversary screenings of Stand by Me, director Rob Reiner's Oscar-nominated Stephen King adaptation that Rolling Stone called “timeless” and “a staple of youthful nostalgia for its deft straddling of the line between childhood and adulthood.”

Delivering a blend of local history, environmental issues, education, entertainment, and fresh air, Davenport's River Action will again present a series of outdoor presentations in the first month of the annual Channel Cat Talks and Riverine Walks, weekly programs that, from June 1 through July 1, will address such topics as commercial fishing, German American heritage, hydropower, and the Mighty Mississippi.

Gifted family members and longtime friends will gather on-stage at the Adler Theatre for a special live concert event on June 3, with the Davenport venue rocking the house via the talents of The Nielsen Trust, a new band featuring Cheap Trick's Rick Nielsen and his family, and Nick Perri & the Underground Thieves, Philadelphia-based musicians whom Patchchord News lauded for their “sweet harmonies and vocals, scorching guitar work, and a solid rhythm section.”

Works by one of the most gifted and prolific artists of the 21st century will be on display in the newest exhibition at the Figge Art Museum, with the Davenport venue, through August 22, housing Lesley Dill – Wilderness: Light Sizzles Around Me, a showcase for the talent whose wide variety of media including sculpture, print, performance art, and music explores the power of language and the mystical nature of the psyche.

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