News

  • Oct 21, 2020
    “Dancing for Dracula & You!”, October 30 and 31 (Reservations Required by October 27)

    For more than a decade, Rock Island's professional dance company Ballet Quad Cities has traditionally staged, for its October presentation, a one-act production of Dracula, with the titular vampire always played by popular guest artist Domingo Rubio. As Rubio is a resident of Mexico, however, his nearly annual trek to the Quad Cities was impossible in this pandemic year. But that hasn't stopped Ballet Quad Cities from delivering a different kind of Halloween treat in Dancing for Dracula & You!, a series of holiday-themed vignettes being performed at Davenport's Outing Club on October 30 and 31 (reservations due October 27) – and with Rubio himself making a virtual appearance.

  • Oct 24, 2020
    QCA Today: October 24, 2020

    This feature lists all headlines with links to the articles by date/time published online by Quad Cities-area media outlets and the state-politics sections of the Des Moines Register and the State Journal-Register.  

    Visit QCAToday.com for a variation on this theme with curated-for-local-content, and categorized headlines from expanded sources.  

  • Oct 13, 2020
    Virtual Community Connections – “The Political Lincoln: Honest Abe on Campaigns & Elections,” October 19 through 25

    Those who have always wanted to enjoy an audience with one of world history's most famous figures will soon have an entire week to do so, with the Bettendorf Public Library hosting online October 19 through 25 presentations of actor Kevin Wood in The Political Lincoln: Honest Abe on Campaigns & Elections, the latest presentation in the library's popular Virtual Community Connections series.

  • Oct 13, 2020
    Virtual Frieze Lecture Series: Global Crises, October 20 and 27

    A pair of global health crises – one past, one present – will be the focus of this year's October 20 and 27 presentations in the annual Frieze Lecture Series, with the Rock Island Public Library hosting informative, insightful, and illuminating virtual programs delivered by lauded professors at Augustana College.

  • Mar 03, 2020
    “Liberated Voices/Changed Lives,” March 7 through November 4

    An original exhibition created specifically for the Davenport venue, the Putnam Museum & Science Center's Liberated Voices/Changed Lives will, from March 7 through November 4, celebrate the 100th anniversary of women's right to vote through displays, video presentations, and more, allowing visitors to travel back in time and investigate the roots of the women's-suffrage movement from the perspectives of local women and men from 1900 to 1920.

Commentary

  • Oct 19, 2020
    Representative Terra Costa Howard Unequivocal on Whether Madigan Should Stay or Go

    After Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan appeared in all but actual name in ComEd's deferred federal-prosecution agreement, Representative Terra Costa Howard (D-Glen Ellyn) was one of the first Democratic state Representatives to call on him to resign without the qualifying “if he did it” language. And the freshman Democratic legislator has been breaking pretty much all precedent the past month or so by putting significant campaign money where her mouth is.

  • Blinders will have to come off before masks do.
    Oct 17, 2020
    Three Scoops of Good COVID News

    We all agree there is a new coronavirus known as SARS-CoV-2 that causes a disease called COVID-19, from which people have died. That's pretty much where the agreement begins to wobble as new information is discovered, building on the science and informing the relative risk, which in turn informs the extreme response that lingers with increasingly less justification.

  • Why Local County Elections Matter
    Oct 07, 2020
    Why Local County Elections Matter

    We've written about the importance of the quiet government, the county officers, for years. Most Quad Citizens can't name their county sheriff or a single county supervisor. And that's just fine for them, as they have no readily tangible example of how those offices impact their daily lives. If you don't pay property taxes, interact with the court system, develop property in the unincorporated rural county, or utilize mental-health services, then this indifference is somewhat understandable.

  • Oct 09, 2020
    Scott County Iowa Sheriff Candidate Survey: 2020

    The River Cities’ Reader asked the two candidates for Scott County Sheriff to answer 12 questions in advance of the November 3 election. The background information, questions, and answers for incumbent Republican County Sheriff Tim Lane and his Democratic challenger Scott County Sheriff's Deputy Pete Bawden are printed below. Responses are presented in full but have been lightly edited for spelling, punctuation, and grammar. Please see these additional introductory remarks on Why Local County Elections Matter. 

  • Oct 09, 2020
    Scott County Supervisor Candidate Survey: 2020

    The River Cities’ Reader asked the four candidates vying for two of the available County Supervisor seats to answer six questions in advance of the November 3 election. The background information, questions, and answers for incumbent Republicans Tony Knobbe and Ken Beck and challenger Democrats Jazmin Newton and Rogers Kirk are printed below. Responses are presented in full but have been lightly edited for spelling, punctuation, and grammar.  Please see these additional introductory remarks on Why Local County Elections Matter. 

Theatre

  • Oct 13, 2020
    “Waiting for Godot,” October 22 through 31

    An absurdist classic made newly relevant by the global pandemic, the legendary tragicomedy Waiting for Godot enjoys an October 22 through 31 run at Moline's Black Box Theatre, with Samuel Beckett's timeless story of hope amidst existential dread described by New York Stage Review as “the great play of the 20th century.”

  • Sep 23, 2020
    “The Rocky Horror Show,” October 3 through 31

    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 fifth-annual presentation of the cult-musical smash The Rocky Horror Show from October 3 through 31, treating audiences to live performances of classic songs in this nutty, interactive experience.

  • Sep 14, 2020
    We Eat, They Drink, Everyone's Merry: "The Savannah Sipping Society," at the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse through November 7

    It’s been a painfully long wait, but I finally got to crack open my new notebook and fresh pen for Wednesday night's performance of The Savannah Sipping Society at the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse.

  • Sep 28, 2020
    River Cities' Reader Theatre Reviews: July 2000 to the Present

    Reviews by Jeff Ashcraft, Patricia Baugh-Riechers, Audra Beals, Pamela Briggs, Dee Canfield, Kim Eastland, Emily Heninger, Heather Herkelman, Paula Jolly, Victoria Navarro, Mark Ruebling, Mike Schulz, Joy Thompson, Oz Torres, Brent Tubbs, Jill (Pearson) Walsh, and Thom White.

  • Sep 23, 2020
    Radio Performance: “An Enemy of the People,” October 2 through 11

    An 1882 stage classic that the New York Times, in 2018, called “suddenly as timely as a tweet,” Henrik Ibsen's An Enemy of the People (adapted by Tom Isbell) will be presented in radio-play format – and on radio station KALA 88.5 FM – by the St. Ambrose University theatre department October 2 through 11, its tale of a fight against injustice perhaps even more relevant now than it was in the 19th century.

Music

  • Oct 22, 2020
    Record Store Day Drop III at Ragged Records and Music, October 24

    A modified Record Store Day sale is set to take place this Saturday at Ragged Records and Music in downtown Rock Island, with social-distancing measures in place. Vinyl hounds can slake their thirst for limited-edition wax releases and snag some choice discount records in the courtyard; the indoor selection is available for browsing as well, though with only a limited number of customers allowed inside at one time.

  • Oct 23, 2020
    Deftones, “Ohms”

    Among all the nü-metal bands that came to prominence in the late '90s and early '00s to bridge the gap between pop radio and dissonant, heavy sonics, it sure seems like Deftones have a

  • Oct 06, 2020
    “We Just Can't Stop Evolving”: The Live Adventures of Giallows, 2019

    COVID-19 concerns, venue closings, and a near-total wipeout of legitimate live music has forced most bands to adjust their plans and change their approach in 2020. But even before the music world was thrown into disarray, Davenport's Giallows were already changing, arranging, and adjusting, seemingly at random but ultimately by design.

  • Oct 09, 2020
    Dark Family, "We All Fall Down" and "Coronaroma"

    From a thematic perspective, stalwart free-form rock weirdos Dark Family from Moline seem to have taken the COVID-19 pandemic to heart, dropping two albums in mid-September that seem to float within a more morbid, albeit probably tongue-and-cheek, virus-type mood. The cover of We All Fall Down (you know, like, a “Ring Around the Rosie” plague reference) bears an unsettling collage of children crying, while the sister album Coronaroma carries the plague right there in the title.

  • Oct 20, 2020
    Virtual PASS Concert: Ho Etsu Taiko, November 5

    Continuing its presentation of virtual fall programming in the venue's annual PASS (Performing Arts Signature Series) program, Quad City Arts hosts an eagerly awaited November 5 concert event with the Japanese-drumming wizards of Ho Etsu Taiko, its collection of gifted musicians delivering a dazzling musical and cultural event recorded specifically for Quad City Arts patrons.

Movies

  • Oct 19, 2020
    Home Court Advantage: “The Trial of the Chicago 7” and “Honest Thief”

    With the exceptions of 12 Angry Men and maybe the first two Godfather flicks, I literally can't think of another movie so abundant with exceptional ensemble acting in juicy character roles; you could expand the Oscars' Supporting Actor roster from five nominees to 10 and still pack it solely with deserving Chicago 7 performers.

  • Oct 12, 2020
    Battle Boyale: “The War with Grandpa,” “Yellow Rose,” and “The Glorias”

    I think I'm speaking literally when I say that, had The War with Grandpa been released in any other year, I'd probably have found it close to unbearable. But this isn't any other year. And beyond being grateful simply for cineplexes – some of them, at least – staying open these days, I find myself inordinately appreciating the movie-going experience, which turns out to include the sound of other patrons, for 100 minutes, howling with delight at a dopey little comedy.

  • Oct 04, 2020
    Party with a Purpose: “The Boys in the Band”

    Despite the bitchiness and anguish inherent in the material, Netflix's new streaming version of The Boys in the Band is one of the very few releases of the last six months that feels absolutely suffused with joy. You won't necessarily find it in the characters, and certainly not in most of the things they say and do. But as a filmed reunion for the cast and director of Broadway's 2018 Tony Award winner – a revival of playwright Matt Crowley's iconic examination of urban gay life in 1968 – there's so much love baked into the presentation that you might find yourself grinning even when situations are at their most dire, and they frequently are.

  • Oct 21, 2020
    Now Playing: Friday, October 23, through Thursday, October 29

    Now playing at area theaters and drive-ins.

  • Mar 18, 2020
    A-Z INDEX: Reader Movie Reviews, 2000 - 2020

    Numbered Titles / A /  B / C / D / E / F / G / H / I / J / K / L / M / N / O / P / Q / R / S / T / U / V / W / X / Y / Z / Special Features

Art

  • Oct 13, 2020
    “T.J. Dedeaux-Norris Presents the Estate of Tameka Jenean Norris,” October 24 through January 31

    What part of yourself must you hide or bury for another to survive? This question is at the core of the Figge Art Museum's new exhibition T.J. Dedeaux-Norris Presents the Estate of Tameka Jenean Norris, an October 24 through January 31 showcase of the (living) University of Iowa assistant professor's work, and an exhibit designed to explore the complex legacy of an artist’s identity after their passing.

  • Oct 20, 2020
    Virtual Scholar Talk: David Bright in Conversation with T.J. Dedeaux-Norris, October 29

    Estate planning and other legal issues facing artists will be the subjects of the Figge Art Museum's Virtual Scholar Talk on October 29, with Iowa City attorney David Bright and artist T.J. Dedeaux-Norris discussing the legal efforts taken to preserve the artistic legacy and estate of Tameka Janean Norris, whose currently running Figge exhibit is designed to explore the complex legacy of an artist’s identity after their passing.

  • Sep 29, 2020
    “Paint the River: Fourth-Annual Plein Air Paint Out,” October 2 through 30

    Outdoor views of Bettendorf will soon be admired and enjoyed in the great indoors of a Bettendorf venue, with the Beréskin Gallery & Art Academy, from October 2 through 30, housing its new exhibition Paint the River: Fourth-Annual Plein Air Paint Out – a collection of works by local artists all created outside, and all executed on subject matter set within the boundaries of Bettendorf.

  • Aug 26, 2020
    “A Portrait of Remarkable Women,” September 2 through October 31

    Held in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment, which guarantees and protects women's constitutional right to vote, A Portrait of Remarkable Women serves as the latest exhibition at the Quad City Arts International Airport Gallery, its display from September 2 through October 31 celebrating a milestone of democracy and the achievements of women, especially in the arts.

  • Oct 20, 2020
    Virtual Family Fiesta: Day of the Dead, November 1

    On November 1, a traditional Mexican holiday will be celebrated online – and in interactive, family-friendly style – when Davenport's Figge Art Museum hosts its Virtual Family Fiesta focused on the Day of the Dead, a chance to celebrate and remember the lives of our lost loved ones through the collective traditions, art-making, and storytelling that are among its integral elements.

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