Fans of Elvis in all of his performance incarnations will find that they can't help falling in love with the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse's special New Year's Eve treat, as the Rock Island venue hosts the December 31 concert event Remember the King: Celebrating the Music of Elvis Presley, a night of lip-curcling, hip-swiveling excitement boasting decades of iconic hits performed by touring tribute artist Robert Shaw.

With her debut novel Are You Sleeping described by CrimeByTheBook.com as a work that blends “the compulsively-readable style of authors like Ruth Ware and Clare Mackintosh with a plot that captures the engrossing, very particular style of true-crime podcasts,” Kathleen Barber appears at the Moline Public Library on December 28, an event that will find the author and Galesburg native speaking on her career, her book's success, and its forthcoming adaptation into a 10-episode TV series.

Two rock ensembles – one from Missouri, one from Illinois – will appear as headliners in two local Moeller Nights concerts on December 21 and 22, with performances by the acclaimed garage-trio trio of Radkey preceding concerts with The Dawn, the latter group employing their Triple Crown Whiskey Bar & Raccoon Motel sets to record a new live album.

Amidst the joys and festivities of the season, it wouldn't be the holidays if they didn't also come complete with a hearty cry of “Bah, humbug!” And from December 14 through 22, Countryside Community Theatre will deliver that cry – along with messages of hope and wonder and scores of beautiful music – in the Boll's Community Center production of A Christmas Carol, the seasonal delight boasting music and lyrics by Danny White and a book by the show's director Tristan Tapscott.