In addition to his rock, blues, and gospel smashes, Elvis Presley recorded numerous renditions of popular seasonal tunes, and many of those timeless hits will be heard when the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse hosts two December 5 performances of Blue Christmas: A Rock 'n' Roll Holiday Extravaganza starring touring musician and noted impersonator Robert Shaw.

Much will change at the Statehouse when Senate President John Cullerton retires in January, a year before his term expires.

Unlike his House counterpart, House Speaker Michael Madigan, Cullerton always wanted to find ways to get things done — and he got a lot done.

The Black Box Theatre’s current show, Losers Bracket, isn’t exactly like the '80s sitcom Cheers, and Saturday’s theatrical barroom brawl was rife with profanity and strobe light effects that, for me, were painful. This tale of insurance fraud, dysfunctional relationships, and greed that all unfolds in a Chicago tavern known as Boo’s featured a few one-liners that I found funny – but other than that, I'd have to say, “Not my cup of tea.”

I was fortunate to attend Tuesday's rehearsal of Augustana College's current offering She Kills Monsters by playwright Qui Nguyen. Director Jeff Coussens and assistant director James Wheeler did stunning work in creating this ambitious production. When we enter the theatre, the stark stone ledges and pre-show music tell us that the show takes place (mostly) in a magical fantasy world, and the set comes to vigorous life after video screens light up, employing film, photos, computer animation, and amusing eight-bit color graphics to establish and enhance settings. I've rarely seen, in local presentations, stagecraft this sophisticated.

Described by the Bay Area Guardian as “inspired and stimulating,” and by the Des Moines Register as a work that “strikes deep into the bones,” author Frank Higgins' evocative Gunplay serves as the fall theatre production at Scott Community College November 21 through 24, its messages so impactful that portions of the play were read on Capitol Hill prior to Congress passing the handgun-violence prevention act known as the Brady Bill.

Taking place during Truth in Action's “24 Hours of Reality” program – a daylong global conversation on the climate crisis and how we might solve it – the 2018 documentary Paris to Pittsburgh will enjoy a screening and subsequent panel discussion at Davenport's Figge Art Museum on November 21, an event held as a companion program to the venue's current art exhibition Mia Feuer: Totems of Anthropocene.

A special night of brilliant music and blistering horror transpires at the Rock Island Brewing Company on November 17 with the venue housing “The Beyond Composer's Cut Tour,” a night in which acclaimed Italian composer Fabio Frizzi will perform the live score to 1981's cult hit The Beyond plus a special Frizzi 2 Fulci tribute to the film's director Lucio Fulci, for whom Frizzi composed some of his most memorable scores.

Performing in support of the October release of their self-titled album – a work that, according to Sounds Like Nashville, “maintains their inspiring disposition while exploring deeper musicians” – the chart-topping country musicians of Old Dominion play Moline's TaxSlayer Center on November 23, performing from a repertoire that has thus far resulted in three Academy of Country Music Awards and eight top-10 Billboard singles over a mere five years.

Explosive and experimental hardcore punk unit Zeta visits Rozz-Tox on tour from its musicians' native Venezuela on November 23.