For more than a decade, Rock Island's professional dance company Ballet Quad Cities has traditionally staged, for its October presentation, a one-act production of Dracula, with the titular vampire always played by popular guest artist Domingo Rubio. As Rubio is a resident of Mexico, however, his nearly annual trek to the Quad Cities was impossible in this pandemic year. But that hasn't stopped Ballet Quad Cities from delivering a different kind of Halloween treat in Dancing for Dracula & You!, a series of holiday-themed vignettes being performed at Davenport's Outing Club on October 30 and 31 (reservations due October 27) – and with Rubio himself making a virtual appearance.

A series of arresting, colorful, large-scale paintings is currently filling the gallery at the Quad City Arts Center, with the Rock Island venue, through December 11, hosting Jaclyn Garlock: Extraordinary Women – depictions of life-sized women engaging in non-salaried work from cooking to laundry to volunteering … and enjoying themselves as they do it.

On November 1, a traditional Mexican holiday will be celebrated online – and in interactive, family-friendly style – when Davenport's Figge Art Museum hosts its Virtual Family Fiesta focused on the Day of the Dead, a chance to celebrate and remember the lives of our lost loved ones through the collective traditions, art-making, and storytelling that are among its integral elements.

With the exceptions of 12 Angry Men and maybe the first two Godfather flicks, I literally can't think of another movie so abundant with exceptional ensemble acting in juicy character roles; you could expand the Oscars' Supporting Actor roster from five nominees to 10 and still pack it solely with deserving Chicago 7 performers.

We all agree there is a new coronavirus known as SARS-CoV-2 that causes a disease called COVID-19, from which people have died. That's pretty much where the agreement begins to wobble as new information is discovered, building on the science and informing the relative risk, which in turn informs the extreme response that lingers with increasingly less justification.

Although this year's event will be taking place not at the Davenport venue but from the comfort of your own homes, the Putnam Museum & Science Center's annual fundraiser the Mad Scientist Ball is set to take place from 6 to 8 p.m. on October 17, the virtual party delivering experiments, entertainment, and a question-and-answer session with Daytime Emmy Award nominee Emily Calandrelli.

An absurdist classic made newly relevant by the global pandemic, the legendary tragicomedy Waiting for Godot enjoys an October 22 through 31 run at Moline's Black Box Theatre, with Samuel Beckett's timeless story of hope amidst existential dread described by New York Stage Review as “the great play of the 20th century.”

Those who have always wanted to enjoy an audience with one of world history's most famous figures will soon have an entire week to do so, with the Bettendorf Public Library hosting online October 19 through 25 presentations of actor Kevin Wood in The Political Lincoln: Honest Abe on Campaigns & Elections, the latest presentation in the library's popular Virtual Community Connections series.

A pair of global health crises – one past, one present – will be the focus of this year's October 20 and 27 presentations in the annual Frieze Lecture Series, with the Rock Island Public Library hosting informative, insightful, and illuminating virtual programs delivered by lauded professors at Augustana College.