Nominated for five 2011 Tony Awards including Best Musical, and based on the beloved comedy starring Whoopi Goldberg, the tuneful and riotous Sister Act opens the Countryside Community Theatre summer season, the show's July 5 through 13 run at Eldridge's North Scott High School Fine Arts Auditorium demonstrating why the Associated Press deemed it “frothy, giggly, and yet often poignant,” as well as “a musical that hits all the right spots, achieving something close to Broadway grace.”

Presented by Journey Live Production, a performing-arts organization dedicated to uplifting communities through the transformative power of African American storytelling, organization founder Curtis B. Lewis Jr. will stage his debuting play The Half at Davenport's TMBC Lincoln Resource Center, the emotional drama a two-person showcase for co-stars Lewis and area performer, author, and spoken-word artist Aubrey "Aubs." Barnes.

A one-act version of the Broadway-musical hit praised by Variety for its "off-the-wall humor, endless visuals and aural delights, [and] tuneful music and wicked lyrics," Beetlejuice Jr. enjoys a June 26 through 29 run at Mt. Carroll's Timber Lake Playhouse, this adaptation of the Oscar-winning Tim Burton smash boasting a gifted cast of young talents and all the favorite characters audiences have loved for a generation-plus.

Making its eagerly awaited July 10 through 12 return, the Walcott Truckers Jamboree at the Iowa 80 Truck Stop will, in its 45th year, showcase more than 175 exhibits, displays, games, cookouts, fireworks, local and national country and rock musicians, and even a beauty contest for trucks in a celebration of America's big rigs and those who drive them.

Delivering a blend of local history, environmental issues, education, entertainment, and fresh air, Davenport's River Action will present a series of outdoor presentations in the second month-plus of the annual Channel Cat Talks and Riverine Walks: weekly programs that, from July 8 through August 2, will address such topics as the music of local jazz legend Bix Beiderbecke, the Hauberg Estate, the Hennepin Canal, and even the Channel Cat series itself.

On July 4, our country's 249th birthday will be celebrated in annual style on Spruce Hills Drive (and other locales) in the 2025 Bettendorf Fourth of July Festival, a day and evening jam-packed with live music, children's activities, food and craft vendors, and more.

Art you can view and art you can wear (though not during its local showcase) will be celebrated at the Quad City Arts Center gallery from June 27 through August 8, with the Rock Island venue proud to host the collective exhibition Bales & Pappageorge: an arresting showcase of sculptural fashion by Judy Bales and fiber wall pieces by Louise Pappageorge.

A variety of artistic mediums will be showcased at the Quad City Arts International Airport Gallery from July 3 through August 27 in the engrossing exhibition Bada Maloney & Jagitsch, a fascinating collection of charcoal drawings and sculpture by Deana Bada Maloney and white-pencil drawings by Matt Jagitsch.

Delivering a sure-to-be-unforgettable night of timeless rock hits, the touring artists of Styx and the Kevin Cronin Band – the latter outfit fronted by REO Speedwagon's former lead vocalist – co-headline a July concert event at Moline's Vibrant Arena at the MARK, with, in addition to other hits, the artists performing two albums in their entirety: Styx's The Grand Illusion, and REO Speedwagon's Hi Infidelity.

Their discography including such Billboard smashes as “Let It Be Me,” “Ball and Chain,” “Bad Luck,” “I Was Wrong,” and “Machine Gun Blues,” the venerated punk rockers of Distrotion headline a June 29 concert event at Davenport's Capitol Theatre, with founder Mike Ness (vocals and guitar), Jonny "2 Bags" Wickersham (guitar), Brent Harding (bass), David Hidalgo Jr. (drums), and David Kalish (keyboards) continuing to write and tour some 47 year's after the band's inception.

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