With the New York Times lauding Tony Award- and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Neil Simon for “writing at his ebullient best” and “making us laugh so effortlessly,” the playwright's California Suite will enjoy an August 16 through 26 staging in the Richmond Hill Barn Theatre's 50th-anniversary season of returning audience favorites, marking the popular comedy's first performance at any area venue since 2007.

A day of outdoor fun culminating in an attempt to break a pair of Guinness World Records is set for August 18, when River Action hosts the annual celebration of paddle sports s Floatzilla, with participants and spectators gathering at Rock Island's Sunset Park to see if the Quad Cities can boast the world's “Largest Raft of Canoes and Kayaks” and “Largest Simultaneous Kayak Launch.”

Saturday, August 18, 7:30 p.m.

LeClaire Park, 400 West Beiderbecke Drive, Davenport IA

It'll be “Surf's up!” at Davenport's LeClaire Park when the Quad City Symphony Orchestra performs its annual Quad City Bank & Trust Riverfront Pops concert on August 18, this year's outdoor event “Pet Sounds Live – a Beach Boys Celebratrion” featuring the area musicians performing the iconic album in its entirety under guest conductor Jeffrey Reed.

Described by NoDepression.com as a group that “has the groove and the chops of a great string band balanced with infectious rock-and-roll energy,” the bluegrass musicians of Old Salt Union perform an August 16 concert at Davenport's Redstone Room in support of their eponymous 2017 studio-album debut, a work that inspired Elmore magazine to rave, “From expert folky fiddling to classical dual mandolins and beyond, they’ve made an excellent rollicking debut full of energy and promise.”

On August 17, two sets of acclaimed indie rockers will share one Moeller Nights evening at Davenport's Triple Crown Whiskey Bar & Raccoon Motel, with the New York-based trio The Shacks described by Pitchfork.com as “refurbishers of warm, fuzzy rock 'n' roll,” and Amasa Hines – an ensemble out of Little Rock, Arkansas – lauded by Paste magazine as “a name that you definitely want to keep on your radar.”

“Mazel tov!” to the Timber Lake Playhouse and its cast of Fiddler on the Roof for eloquently executing this enduring musical with great passion and precision. The full company of performers, directed by William Hayes, delivered a terrifically entertaining production filled with traditional Jewish-dance numbers that were very well done, and I found myself fully engaged during Saturday's matinée performance – not only with the original Broadway choreography reproduced by Jessica Chen, but with each characters’ precarious plight.

These days, one could rent just about anything when producing a theatrical production. Need a backdrop? Rent. Costumes? Rent. Props? Rent. Wigs? Rent. Lighting? Rent. The entire set? Rent. You can even rent the whole orchestra by licensing the use of a pre-recorded soundtrack. And there's nothing wrong with taking the rental path. I mean, why reinvent the wheel?! But that's why Quad City Music Guild’s latest – and determinedly non-rented – production of Shrek: The Musical is so ogre-ly impressive.

Last month, Representative Christian Mitchell (D-Chicago) was interviewed by Chicago Public Radio about his new role as interim executive director of the Democratic Party of Illinois.