Appearing locally in support of the band's January release Politics in the Time of Heroin, the Iowa-based indie rockers of The Penny Serfs will play a Moeller Nights concert on October 25. Audiences will subsequently be treated to the genre-hopping sound that, in the Prelude Press, lead vocalist and LeClaire resident Mikey Loy described as: “Take The Beatles out for a drink or five; introduce them to Kurt Cobain (preferably under the influence); give them a few topics to discuss (i.e. politics, fear, past, present, and future); convince Paul and John to let Kurt sit in for a few sessions; hit the record button.”

Lauded by the New York Times for their “vibrantly warm-blooded” song stylings and by Iowa City's The Gazette for their “silky smooth a cappella harmonies shaking up pop tunes and standards,” the Chicago-based male vocalists of Straight No Chaser play Davenport's Adler Theatre on October 27, the group's singular sound and thrilling blend leading The Morning Call to ask, “What's not to love?”

Damien Chazelle's Neil Armstrong bio-pic opened this past weekend, and viewed strictly on a technical level, it's a virtuosic work, one boasting hand-held camerawork and earth-shaking sound effects that effectively put you, cramped and uncomfortable (and also kind of exhilarated), right inside lunar capsules along with our hero and his fellow NASA recruits. Yet despite being titled First Man, what I left my screening really wanting to talk about was the film's First Lady, given that Janet Armstrong portrayer Claire Foy and the focus extended to the character make Chazelle's La La Land follow-up far more engaging than it might've otherwise been.

Hearings. Depositions. Victims. Accusers. Lies. I am not talking about our recent news cycle, but rather Augustana College’s production of The Crucible. When director Jennifer Popple decided to set her show in the unspecific future, she couldn’t possibly have guessed that 2018, without even trying, would give the play such abundant relevance.

Dear JB Pritzker,

I totally understand the campaign politics of not wanting to say what you think the income-tax rates should be under a graduated tax structure. I also get why you won’t say what ought to be the income level at which people will begin paying a higher income-tax rate than they do now.

Actually, nearly everyone understands your political calculation. It’s elementary. You don’t want to give the other side any ammunition to attack you.

Playcrafters’ presentation of The Laramie Project is, as you might imagine, not the feel-good production of 2018. But it is a raw and emotional retelling of a story that gripped the world.

If Halloween is approaching, it must be time for that annual theatrical command: “Let's do the 'Time Warp' again!” Consequently, the Circa '21 Speakeasy will stage its third-annual presentation of the cult-musical smash The Rocky Horror Show from October 19 through 27, treating audiences to live performances of classic songs and, of course, prop bags to complete the interactive experience.

As one of the numerous autumnal events held in conjunction with the Figge Art Museum's long-awaited exhibition French Moderns: Monet to Matisse, 1850-1950, the Davenport venue presents a special evening with renowned historian and professor Dr. Jonathan Petropolous, who will detail connections between art and global culture in his October 21 lecture From Patronage to Nazi Plunder – French Modern Art & the Jews: A Complicated History.

Boasting more than 94 charted records and 45 top-10 hits between them – among them such indelible recordings as “Stand by Me,” “Yakkety Yak,” “On Broadway,” and “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” – a trio of iconic ensembles will share the Adler Theatre stage on October 20 when the Davenport venue welcomes The Drifters, Cornell Gunter's Coasters, and The Platters for an unforgettable evening of R&B, doo-wop, pop, and soul.