With the latest program in the venue's popular "Kaffee and Kuchen" series, patrons of the German American Heritage Center are invited to learn about the settlement and development of a specific piece of the Mississippi River Valley in History of Early Davenport, presenter Richard Rowe's June 22 event delivering special focus on the life of Colonel George Davenport, and proving that the origins and early history of the Quad Cities are rich with stories.
Amassed over four decades by a pair of noted printmakers and educators, the fascinating works found in German Expressionist Prints from the David & Sarojini Johnson Collection will be on display in Davenport's German American Heritage Center from June 21 through December 14, this showcase of arresting pieces held in conjunction with the Figge Art Museum's companion exhibit Fever Dreams: German Expressionism.
Authors of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and more will share their talents and help strengthen the talents of others during the Midwest Writing Center's 2025 David R. Collins Writers Conference at Augustana College's Sorensen Hall, a June 26 through 28 celebration of the written word boasting workshops, readings, book pitches, and more, with special events planned at several additional Quad Cities locales.
With the author visiting the Davenport venue to discuss his new book Bridges as Structural Art that features the the Quad Cities' I-74 Bridge, Miguel Rosales takes part in a June 26 author talk at the Figge Art Museum, his conversation followed by a Q&A session with the audience and a book signing.
Delivering a weekend of family fun that blends history with excitement, the city of LeClaire and its Buffalo Bill Museum are proud to treat guests to the outdoor delights of The Buffalo Bill Wild West Show, the June 28 and 29 celebration at LeClaire's Cody Elementary School boasting horse-riding events, children's activities, live music, food vendors, and much more.
I asked Illinois House Speaker Chris Welch last week about the failure to pass an omnibus energy bill (the Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act) during the just-ended spring legislative session.
As I write this, multiple news outlets have reported that the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency is preparing to deploy its Special Response Teams to five major U.S. cities, including Chicago, in the very near future. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s chief of staff Cristina Pacione-Zayas told reporters last week: “There will be tactical teams, mini-tanks, other tools they use in which they plan to do raids, as we saw in Los Angeles.”
The watchers are no longer being watched by the people. At least in Scott County, Iowa, that is.
Inexplicably, for decades, incurious American voters refuse to remove el
Tariffs are among the oldest of taxes for the simple reason that they are easy to collect. Just send in the tax collectors and don’t let the goods being transported move until the duty has been paid. Being one of the earliest forms of taxation, it is not surprising that tariffs produced one of the earliest forms of tax evasion: smuggling.
If you don't think opera can be frivolous and fun, Opera Quad Cities will prove otherwise, with a big dollop of flair and abundant thrills for the ear and eye.
They're creepy and they’re kooky, but I must tell you: For a musical comedy about a clan that generally lacks enthusiasm for anything other than the macabre, the Clinton Area Showboat Theatre's The Addams Family was truly a high-energy showcase of talent and spectacle. Director Courtney Ryan Crouse, who's also the company's artistic director, brought the ghoulish tale to light in a way that was hysterically heartwarming.
One of William Shakespeare's most memorable and beloved romantic comedies returns to Rock Island's Lincoln Park when Genesius Guild presents its June 21 through 29 staging of Much Ado About Nothing, the Bard-ian classic that enjoyed a Tony-winning Broadway run in 1985, a 1993 movie showcase for Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson, and a 2011 black-and-white film modernization by pop icon Joss Whedon.
A family-friendly treat that the River Cities' Reader said “bubbles with color, personality, and wit,” the sweet and hilarious musical Miss Nelson Is Missing! enjoys a June 20 through 29 run at Moline's Playcrafters Barn Theatre, the show based on a series of beloved, best-selling children's books by Harry Allard and James Marshall.
Described by Time Out New York as an “insanely fun mixtape musical” and by Variety as a show that “gleefully apes the worst excesses of the era's pole-dancing, crotch-grinding, big-hair-tossing movies,” the Broadway smash Rock of Ages enjoys a June 20 through July 6 run at Mt. Carroll's Timber Lake Playhouse, treating audiences to a celebration of 1980s chart-toppers that NY1 called “so cleverly staged and impressively performed that it's an irresistible, offbeat trip of a show that hits all the right notes.”
Composed of bandleader Garrett Dutton on lead vocals, guitar, and harmonica, Chuck Treece on drums, and Jim Prescott on string bass, the touring talents of G. Love & the Special Sauce headline a June 22 hip-hip blues concert at Davenport's Redstone Room, the group's hit songs including such Billboard charters as “Stepping Stones,” “Rodeo Clowns,” “Astronaut,” “Go Crazy,” and “Peace, Love, & Happiness.”
Featuring a stirring blend of original compositions and timeless works by great composers, the June 22 concert event Andrzej Kozlowski & Friends will deliver warmth, reflection, and inspiration as the venue bids a heartfelt farewell to pianist Kozlowski in his final performance as owner/director of Moline's Sound Conservatory. With the artist surrounded by close musical companions Nathan Windt, Joan Temmerman, Alex Gilson, and Rob Miller, Kozlowski invites audiences into an intimate setting to share a deeply personal musical journey.
Touring in support of their springtime release Last Leg of the Human Table, an album that Paste called "balanced but broad, unearthing the everyday senses of dread that come from today's human experience," the showgaze musicians of Cloakroom headline a June 22 concert at Davenport's Raccoon Motel, their latest also inspiring SputnikMusic to rave, "The songs are punchy; the atmosphere feels lived in; the production is gorgeous and exquisitely mixed; and there’s much more variety than you would typically expect from this sort of thing."
With Distorted Sound magazine hailing the band as rockers who deliver "a flurry of technical flair that'll make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up," the Denver-based deathcore artists Crown Magnetar headline a June 24 concert at Davenport's Raccoon Motel, New Noise Magazine adding that when the band performs, "room for breathing is hard to come by."
Touring in support of their latest forthcoming recording Gone for Good scheduled for release on July 18, the Midwestern musicians of The Last Revel headline a June 26 concert event at Davenport's Raccoon Motel, the ensemble lauded by Rift magazine as "a force to be reckoned with" for their "soaring vocal performance and powerfully stirring lyrics.”
No one can singlehandedly revive the fading genre of the swoony big-screen romance. Yet with only two features under her belt to date, Celine Song is certainly giving it a good shot.
Going to the cineplex or staying in and streaming this weekend? Every Thursday morning at 8:15 a.m. you can listen to Mike Schulz dish on recent movie releases & talk smack about Hollywood celebs on Planet 93.9 FM with the fabulous Dave & Darren in the Morning team of Dave Levora and Darren Pitra. The morning crew previews upcoming releases, too.
Or you can check the Reader Web site and listen to their latest conversation by the warm glow of your electronic device. Never miss a pithy comment from these three scintillating pundits again.
Thursday, June 19: Discussion of How to Train Your Dragon, Materialists, and The Life of Chuck; a review scoop on the debuting Elio; and previews of 28 Years Later and Bride Hard, the latter an action comedy set at a wedding reception. You know someone's gonna wind up dead in the punch bowl.
Although the movie isn't very funny until it begins hitting us with its really creative gory deaths, there was a moment not long into director Len Wiseman's Ballerina – a continuation being helpfully marketed as From the World of John Wick: Ballerina – that made me and others among our Thursday-afternoon crowd laugh out loud.
Originally presented by Francis Ford Coppola and hailed by the Los Angeles Times as "a remarkable film event," director Godfrey Reggio's Koyaanisqatsi enjoys a special June 25 screening as part of Rozz-Tox's community series Filmosofia, this evening in Rock Island also boasting a reading discussion on the movie's philosophical themes hosted by Augustana College's Dr. Deke Gould.
With the Davenport venue partnering alongside the German American Heritage Center and Museum for programming during the exhibit's run, the Figge Art Museum will house Fever Dreams: German Expressionism in the Lewis Gallery from June 21 through December 7, this arresting exhibition featuring loans from the David and Sarojini Johnson Print Collection, and showcased in conjunction with the GAHC's companion exhibit German Expressionist Prints from the Johnson Collection.
A dazzling, visually rich celebration of fascinating felines and the artists who love them, Cats! (the exhibit, not the musical) can be viewed in the third-floor gallery of Davenport's Figge Art Museum from June 21 through January 4, this rich showcase inspired by our four-legged friends boasting works from both the museum's collection and on loan, and on display through the aid of contributing sponsors Carrie Kimple and Sue Quail.
With the exhibition made possible through generous funding from Art Bridges Foundation, and with KLJB FOX 18 serving as media sponsor, the fascinating collaborative exhibit CHAIN RE·AC·TION will be on view in the Figge Art Museum's Mary Waterman Gildehaus Community Gallery June 21 through September 28, visitors to the Davenport venue invited to witness the art experience's continuous cycle of inspiration, reflection, and response.
A rare chance to experience Renaissance and Baroque art up close, the gorgeous and captivating exhibition The Golden Age: Featuring Northern European Works from the Collection of the National Gallery of Art will be on display at Davenport's Figge Art Museum from June 28, 2025, through April 4, 2027, the exhibit's premiere sponsor Kay Hall (in remembrance of John) and contributing sponsors Wynne and David Schafer, Schafer Interiors, Kay K. Runge, KK Runge Associates, the Carolyn Levine & Leonard Kallio Trust, John Gardner, and Cathy Weideman.
Highlighting the importance of sustainability in the arts and encouraging their audience to see the beauty of Earth’s resources and ecosystem, a trio of Illinois and Iowa talents enjoy a collective exhibition at the Quad City Arts International Airport Gallery through June 30, Olson, Stampfli, & Sunderman showcasing a beautiful assemblage of quilted art by Lindsay Olson and Jessie Stampfli and sculpture by Robert Sunderman.
You'll get both the current official narrative challenge and What's Happenin' in the Quad Cities.
(Did you know we publish a new Real Astrology and RCR Crossword every week?)
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