With the New York Daily News calling the play "lunatic fun that keeps you in stitches" and the Village Voice hailing it as a "hearty mixture of thrills, laughter and extravagant showmanship," author Charles Ludlum's stage sensation The Mystery of Irma Vep makes its long-awaited area debut at Moline's Black Box Theatre April 13 through 22, the New York Post having added, "The story has to be seen to be believed."

With their first album having debuted more than a half-century ago, and albums including Eliminator, Afterburner, and La Futura all top-10 smashes on the Billboard charts, the legendary blues rockers of ZZ Top bring their eagerly anticipated “Raw Whiskey Tour” to Davenport's Adler Theatre on April 11, the artists as familiar for their signature look as they are for iconic songs including “Legs,” “Gimme All Your Lovin',” and “Sharp Dressed Man.”

With Grateful Web praising their 2022 studio album Wise River and the musicians' "heavy hitting and hard driving style," the progressive bluegrass artists of Kitchen Dwellers headline an April 12 concert at Davenport's Raccoon Motel, the artists inspiring Holler Country to rave, "Wise River drives home just how powerful a band they've become, with songs like 'Smokestack', 'Paradise Alley' and the title track showcasing their fluency with traditional arrangements."

With Pitchfork magazine deeming his most recent album This Is a Photograph "an earnest, ambitious collection that touches on family, nostalgia, and mortality," indie-rock and -folk singer/songwriter Kevin Morby headlines an April 9 concert at Davenport's Raccoon Motel, the artist's prolific output over less than a decade encompassing seven studio albums, 13 singles, and 11 music videosto date.

With the latest exhibition at the University of Dubuque’s Bisignano Art Gallery, students in the institution's Department of Digital Art and Design (DART) have been given an opportunity to step away from the classroom’s client-driven projects and create individual pieces of artwork of the new showcase of young talent The Edge Show, on display through April 11.

Offering a presentation in the Archway Reading and Lecture Series, award-winning poets and fellowship recipients Chessy Normile and Steven Espada Dawson will speak at the University of Dubuque on April 3, the thoughtful and arresting punlic event sponsored by UD’s Department of English and UD’s Office of Academic Affairs.

It's not just that director Chad Strahelski's action thriller is great – that it is, for my money, the first legitimately great movie of 2023. But the laughs that I heard (and contributed to) during my weekday-afternoon showing were frequent and joyous, and our Keanu Reeves-inspired “Whoa!!!”s were boisterous and deserved … and there were only about 20 of us there. I can only imagine, with envy, the seismic fun of sharing this knockout experience with 100-plus others.

Could the 2022 massacre during Highland Park’s July 4th parade have been prevented with a small change to state law?

Lauded by Midwest Writing Center founder and executive director Ryan Collins as "vivid in both its danger and humor," author and St. Ambrose University professor Emily Kingery's new chapbook Invasives will enjoy a reading and release party at Rock Island venue Rozz-Tox, the March 31 event also featuring readings by Kingery's fellow poets Melissa Estes, Lexi Birks, and Lola Nakashima Brooke.