A biting period comedy about sexual desire, motherhood, jealousy, and the early days of its parenthetical object, Sarah Ruhl's Tony-nominated In the Next Room (or The Vibrator Play) runs at Augustana College January 26 through February 4, treating audiences to a work the New York Times called “insightful, fresh, and funny” and “as rich in thought as it is in feeling.”

The most famed work by one of the most famed authors of stage mysteries will be presented at the Black Box Theatre January 27 through February 11, with the Moline venue housing Anthony Shaffer's mind-twisting Sleuth, which received the 1971 Tony Award for Best Play and was adapted into an Oscar-nominated film starring Michael Caine and Sir Laurence Olivier.

To download a PDF of the puzzle, click here.

When the film's focus sticks to Graham's gradual transformation from kowtowed socialite to proud defender of print journalism, The Post is a smashing success. Where it's less successful, unfortunately, is in just about everything surrounding Graham's personal struggle, effective though the film frequently is.

Director Craig Cohoon's production was such a ticklish and sustained creep-out that I chuckled and smiled in appreciation as much as amusement, even when I was silently begging one of our leads to not, not, open that scary-ass door.

Everything that goes out of fashion seems to make a resurgence at some point or another. This trend is no different in the music scene. Record collectors have seen formats come and go. But most recently, the focus is on the comeback of vinyl records and cassette tapes.

Called “a delightfully spunky musical” by Variety magazine and “lively, agile, and full of fun, fun, fun” by DC Theatre Scene, the stage-musical adaptation of Disney's family favorite Freaky Friday runs at the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse January 17 through 24, bringing to theatrical life the body-switching slapstick, generational laughs, and warm sentiment beloved from the 1976 film with Jodie Foster and Barbara Harris and the 2003 remake with Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis.

With his studio debut Compadre lauded by the Fort Worth Weekly for being “an adventurous foray beyond the musical norms that constrain less adventurous Americana songsmiths,” Texas musician Matthew McNeal performs a January 16 Moeller Nights concert in conjunction with his latest live session at Daytrotter, where the country, rock, and folk singer/songwriter last recorded in June of 2015.

An award-winning orator and educator familiar from her appearances on BET, MSNBC, NBC, and numerous SiriusXM radio stations, Dr. Chandra Gill will serve as the keynote speaker for Augustana's annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration, with January 13's “The Time Is Now” event also featuring musical performances, a video presentation, and an opening ceremony boasting the Metropolitan Youth Program Drill Team.