Offering a presentation in the Archway Reading and Lecture Series, award-winning poets and fellowship recipients Chessy Normile and Steven Espada Dawson will speak at the University of Dubuque on April 3, the thoughtful and arresting punlic event sponsored by UD’s Department of English and UD’s Office of Academic Affairs.
A gifted and familiar film presence famed for roles in such seminal cinematic works as Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, Heat, Quentin Tarantino's Grindhouse, and the From Dusk Til Dawn series, the star of Machete takes part in the virtual presentation Danny Trejo Talks Tacos, Hollywood, & Redemption, an April 4 event offered by Illinois Libraries Present and co-hosted by the Rock Island and Moline Public Libraries.
In celebration of National Poetry Month, the Davenport Public Library's Eastern Avenue Branch will host a special reading with acclaimed local author Emily Kingery, her April 6 reading featuring selections from the St. Ambrose University professor's debut poetry chapbook Invasives.
Since their live debut last summer, Holy Smokes have left a trail of destruction, ruined lives, and controversy across the Quad Cities. Self-described as “improv, but cool,” the comedy troupe have built a reputation for their anarchic live shows, leaving a trail of smashed props, broken bones, pig masks, and endless drama. They will stoop to any level of degradation in search of laughs and attention.
A Midwestern comedian, New York Times bestselling author, Emmy-winning journalist, and musician whose content for his various social platforms has amassed more than five million followers, Charlie Berens brings his "Midwest Survival Guide Tour" to the University of Dubuque's Heritage Center on April 23, the Wisconsin native famed for his appearances on Comedy Central, Funny or Die, and MTV News.
Could the 2022 massacre during Highland Park’s July 4th parade have been prevented with a small change to state law?
The “Twitter Files” are explosive revelations of political censorship by a social-media giant colluding with the federal government and certain activist groups.
ComEd has long been a source of political patronage. The company’s Deferred Prosecution Agreement with federal prosecutors even references how former House Speaker Michael Madigan’s “old-fashioned patronage system” obtained ComEd meter-reader jobs for its precinct workers.
Governor JB Pritzker declared last week when announcing the formation of the Behavioral Health Workforce Education Center that the state was building “the best behavioral health system in the nation.” It was quite a bold thing to say. So, my associate Isabel Miller and I asked a couple of follow-up questions: How long will this take and how much will it cost?
Lauded by Rolling Stone as “absolutely incredible” and Broadway World as “an eye-popping display of storytelling that's like nothing else you've ever seen,” the electrified talents of Lightwire Theater bring their touring smash The Adventures of Tortoise & Hare: The Next Gen to the University of Dubuque's Heritage Center on April 1, an unforgettable event by the America's Got Talent competitors whom judge Sharon Osbourne declared “spectacular in every sense of the word.”
The beginning of spring will also be a season of love at Moline's Prospect Park Auditorium when Quad City Music Guild opens its 2023 lineup with the modern classic Rent, creator Jonathan Larson's unforgettable rock opera that earned four Tony Awards, the Pulitzer Prize, and the hearts of countless millions of stage fans the world over.
Lauded by the San Francisco Chronicle as “audacious,” “ambitious,” and “welcoming, playful, and imaginative,” the thrillingly experimental, all-female dramatic comedy Fefu & Her Friends enjoys a rare area staging at Iowa City's Riverside Theatre from March 10 through April 2, with the works of its playwright Mariá Irene Fornés described by Vulture as “so glittering and various and powerful that it deserves cases of books.”
With the New York Daily News calling the play "lunatic fun that keeps you in stitches" and the Village Voice hailing it as a "hearty mixture of thrills, laughter and extravagant showmanship," author Charles Ludlum's stage sensation The Mystery of Irma Vep makes its long-awaited area debut at Moline's Black Box Theatre April 13 through 22, the New York Post having added, "The story has to be seen to be believed."
Lauded by the LA Review as "an eerie excursion into the surreal and the supernatural," the seven short works that constitute Very Still & Hard to See (A Short Play Cycle) will be presented at Bettendorf's Scott Community College from April 13 to 16, their author Steve Yockey a producer and writer for TV's Supernatural who received two Emmy nominations for the HBO comedy series The Flight Attendant.
On April 2, the Vibrant Arena at the MARK will be filled with the thrilling sounds of corridos, bandas, and romanticos when the Moline amphitheater presents a night with the touring artists of Los Dos Carnales, the norteño musicians whose prolific output includes the release of three studio albums and three EPs in 2021 alone.
Best known for his tenure with the Southern hip-hop ensemble Rehab, country rapper Demun Jones headlines an April 2 solo concert at East Moline venue The Rust Belt, the artist's songs on his album Jones Country lauded by The Front Row Report as "loaded with country lyrics with some insane rap beats and rap skills that can stand with the best of them."
With the Quad City Symphony Orchestra's conclusions to its 2022-23 Masterworks season on April 1 and 2, the gifted classical musicians will not only celebrate one of history's greatest composers in Mahler One, but will extend their tribute to Gustav with a tribute to Sergei, as the concert's repertoire will also boast a ravishing performance of a Prokofiev violin concerto boasting featured soloist and QCSO concertmaster Naha Greenholtz.
An exhilarating party-rock band composed of of Mike Hanford, Jeff Dutton, and Tim Kalpakis of Los Feliz, California, the Sloppy Boys headline an April 4 concert at Davenport's Raccoon Motel, the musicians additionally beloved as members of the television and touring sketch-comedy group The Birthday Boys.
Composed of Dave “Dixie” Collins, Dave “Shep” Shepherd, and Ramzi Ateyeh – the former two having co-founded the group a quarter-century ago – the fired-up sludge-metal musicians of Weedeater headline an April 5 concert at Davenport's Raccoon Motel, the group's most recent album Goliathan described by Angry Metal Guy as “an intoxicating examination of Southern culture and arguably the most tongue-in-cheek approximation of their sludgy, stoner sound thus far delivered.”
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, March 30: Discussion of John Wick: Chapter 4 (all the John Wicks, actually) and The Lost King, and anticipation for Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.
It's not just that director Chad Strahelski's action thriller is great – that it is, for my money, the first legitimately great movie of 2023. But the laughs that I heard (and contributed to) during my weekday-afternoon showing were frequent and joyous, and our Keanu Reeves-inspired “Whoa!!!”s were boisterous and deserved … and there were only about 20 of us there. I can only imagine, with envy, the seismic fun of sharing this knockout experience with 100-plus others.
Everything that's wrong with the super-sequel Shazam! Fury of the Gods is effectively baked into the title. Because if there's one thing that fans of the 2019 film (myself among them) don't want, or at least shouldn't want, it's fury – not when the original's appeal was so firmly grounded in the goofy, amiable, touching, and refreshingly inconsequential.
As a rule, horror sequels aren't supposed to be good. Fifth sequels in any genre aren't supposed to be good. Sequels whose basic M.O. is “Let's do what we've always done … but in a different city!” aren't supposed to be good. And yet, almost preposterously, Scream VI proves to be very, very good – though if that praise seems suspect, I'd be willing to amend it to “very, very entertaining.”
Held in conjunction with the Figge Art Museum's popular exhibit Sporting Fashion: Outdoor Girls 1800 to 1960, noted dress Historian Nicole Rudolph, on April 1, will engage in the first of a two-part overview on the seismic shifts that transformed women’s clothing between 1800 and 1960, with an emphasis on developments in women’s athletic wear.
With spring in the air, it's time again for the River Cities’ Reader's annual Spring Photo Contest!
For 2023, we've decided on three new categories for your submissions: “Prairie,” “Oaks,” and “Ethanol.”
Entrants are welcome to interpret the categories however they wish. Click photo or headline for full list of rules.
The winner of 50 awards on both national and regional levels, Midwestern artist Cathie Crawford is, though April 6, displaying her latest collection of beautiful and arresting works at Black Hawk College's ArtSpace Gallery, with her Luminous Layers, Woodcuts a showcase for the talent who has exhibited in 29 states as well as Bulgaria, France, Poland, Saudi Arabia, and the United Kingdom.
With the latest exhibition at the University of Dubuque’s Bisignano Art Gallery, students in the institution's Department of Digital Art and Design (DART) have been given an opportunity to step away from the classroom’s client-driven projects and create individual pieces of artwork of the new showcase of young talent The Edge Show, on display through April 11.
Eugene Walker Baker was born in Davenport on June 15, 1925. He attended Davenport High School, where he starred in basketball and track for the Blue Devils. In his senior year, he was an all-state basketball player. First team.
You'll get both the current official narrative challenge and What's Happenin' in the Quad Cities.
(Did you know we publish a new Amy Alkon Advice Goddess, Real Astrology, Red Meat cartoon and RCR Crossword every week?)
Get the printed Reader edition mailed to you (or anyone you want) first-class for 12 months for $48.
$24 goes to postage and handling, $24 goes to keeping the doors open!
