“I saw Won't You Be My Neighbor?. Friggin' face faucet, dude.” – actor/writer Kumail Nanjiani, in a recent tweet

Unless you're too young to be aware of the man and his legacy or too jaded or angry to care, it's hard to imagine who won't dissolve into a blubbery mess watching Morgan Neville's documentary Won't You Be My Neighbor?, a supremely intelligent, bighearted look at the life and career of Fred McFeely Rogers, host of the beloved PBS children's series Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. (And were you aware that his middle name was “McFeely”? Landing on that information recently, I got choked up anew with the refrain “Speedy delivery! Speedy delivery!” in my head.)

The up-and-coming yet already widely acclaimed country and Americana band Roanoke headlines the Redstone Room's RME Member Appreciation Show on July 18 in support of the group's self-titled album, a debut release by that The Huffington Post called “brimming with optimism, youthful exuberance, and creative energy.”

From July 14 through September 9, new works by a prominent Iowa City artist will be on display in the Figge Art Museum's Laurel Farrin: No Particular Order, a collection of abstract, geometric, and frequently humorous images by a talent widely praised in publications including the Washington Post, the Baltimore Sun, and Time Out NY.

Praised by Rolling Stone as an artist who “playfully croons through tales of love and mischief with girlish breath and devilish twang,” the Canadian-American country singer/songwriter/guitarist Whitney Rose headlines a Moeller Nights concert on July 12, indicating why Paste magazine wrote, “Her voice, a gentle and unassuming croon, gives her music a quiet caress, making [Rose's songs] effortlessly engaging each time out.”

One of William Shakespeare's most famous, powerful, and controversial comedies will be staged in Rock Island's Lincoln Park July 14 through 22, as Genesius Guild takes on the Bard's The Merchant of Venice, a legendary work that has inspired numerous film adaptations and three stage operas, with its 1989 Broadway revival earning a Tony Award nomination for star Dustin Hoffman.

Paintings, sculptures, and works by a prominent Quad Cities gallery owner will all be on display at the Quad City International Airport July 3 through August 29, as Quad City Arts presents a trio of new exhibitions by Des Moines painter Robert Reeves, sculptor Matt Moyer from Columbia, Missouri, and Bettendorf's Pat Beréskin, owner and operator of the city's Beréskin Gallery & Art Academy.

It was a sweltering-hot day this past Saturday in the Quad Cities, but it was quite refreshing being under the sea with the cast of Disney’s The Little Mermaid at the Clinton Area Showboat Theatre. As I sat back in my seat enjoying the music, I heard the precious young girl seated behind me sweetly singing along with the teenage mermaid Ariel (Aria Braswell) in a very soft voice. I realized then how powerful and influential this musical fantasy was, and still is, for children everywhere.

Barring only occasional exceptions, summer movies, as Hollywood annually reminds us, are meant to be escapism. But it's impossible to imagine viewers, at least U.S. viewers, being wholly able to find escape in director Stefano Sollima's action-thriller sequel Sicario: Day of the Soldado. For better or worse, our real-world problems, and our real-world administration, simply won't let us.