Written by Thomas Meehan and based on the 2003 film comedy, Elf: The Musical is filled with lively music by Matthew Sklar and lyrics by Chad Beguelin, and director/choreographer Ann Nieman made great use of an exceptionally talented cast that didn't have a weak link in the bunch.

Each of the collective 11 scenes lasts mere minutes and usually employs no more than two actors on-stage at a time, with no more than three actors in any given scene. But the beauty of the script is its poignant, witty, heartbreaking, and hopeful look at the one thing that bonds these characters under the Northern Lights on a bitter Maine night: love.

During the week between the two scheduled veto session weeks, the House held a committee hearing in Chicago designed to highlight Speaker Michael Madigan’s attempt to address the sexual-harassment issue. But the hearing’s substance was completely overshadowed by surprise testimony from crime victim advocate Denise Rotheimer, who claimed that Senator Ira Silverstein (D-Chicago) had used his position as the chief sponsor of her bill to sexually harass her for months.

A well-known seasonal tale gets an inventive stage makeover when Moline's Black Box Theatre presents It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play, which finds Frank Capra's holiday classic – and the entire town of Bedford Falls – re-enacted by a cast of seven.

Written and performed by its leading character's real-life grandson, the acclaimed touring production The Accidental Hero finds creator/star Patrick Dewane sharing his grandfather's incredible World War II tale in a one-man multi-media experience at Augustana College.

Mysteries of the unknown will be explored at Moline's TaxSlayer Center on November 18 and 19 when the venue hosts the fourth-annual Quad Cities Psychic & Paranormal Expo, a weekend event featuring more than 60 vendor booths, treatments including reflexology and Reiki, and presentations by professional mediums, ghost hunters, and more.

A five-piece ensemble that, according to WSUM.org, “incorporates rock, bluegrass, jazz, and a little folk, creating nothing but an upbeat atmosphere,” the Chicago-based musicians of Old Shoe play RIBCO in support of their newest album Country Home, a compilation of 13 original tracks praised by GratefulWeb.com for the songs' ability to “paint a diverse landscape of American life.”

Events will be more magical than usual in the Quad City Symphony Orchestra's annual Holiday Pops presentations, as this year's concerts find the area musicians performing accompaniment to Adler Theatre screenings of Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Store – the first film adapted from J.K. Rowing's iconic series of fantasy/adventure novels.

Last fall's Doctor Strange showed that there were vast, unexplored opportunities in terms of shaking up presentation, with its battle sequences thrilling precisely because they were so unpredictable. This summer's marvelous Spider-Man: Homecoming demonstrated the enormous benefits of going smaller, simpler, and more human. Ragnarok, by contrast, never stops feeling familiar, and even its more out-there flourishes, such as the priceless eccentricity of Jeff Goldbum, don't have long-term impact – they're distractions that momentarily amuse and vanish into the ether.