In a special evening featuring the First African-American Steinway International Recording Artist from the state of Iowa, the Davenport Public Library program My Journey: Ivory Towers, A True Story": A Conversation with B. K. Davis will be held at the Eastern Avenue branch on October 2, with the author/musician sharing tales from his new autobiography, his experiences within the music business, and his path toward sharing his unique story.
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Participating in a special virtual program co-presented by the Rock Island Public Library and Illinois Libraries Present, a bestselling writer will tackle a seasonally appropriate genre in the October 4 online event Horror with Stephen Graham Jones, a conversation with the Blackfoot Native American fiction author whose most widely known works include the horror novels The Only Good Indians, My Heart Is a Chainsaw, and Night of the Mannequins.
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An enchanting story for all ages boasting a wonderful dose of humor, the majesty of classical ballet, and a fulfilled promise of “happily ever after," the nationally touring World Ballet Series' Cinderella brings their glass slippers to Davenport's Adler Theatre on October 11, this beautiful fairytale told by 40 professional dancers, and featuring gorgeous hand-painted sets and vivid hand-sewn costumes.
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Interspersing his humorous observations on life with twisted, inventive, bizarre songs sung and played in a variety of styles, the genre-defying entertainer Heywood Banks takes the stage at Davenport's Rhythm City Casino Resort Rhythm Room on October 12, his standup earning the artist first place in the Johnnie Walker Comedy Search Contest and his musical genres ranging from folk, to country to rock and beyond.
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With our nation’s animal shelters currently in crisis due to increased owner surrenders and stray intakes, spiking post-pandemic euthanasia rates across the country, Davenport's Humane Society Of Scott County will join more than 345 organizations from 42 states in taking part in the BISSELL Pet Foundation's "Empty the Shelters" Reduced-Fee Adoption Event, a nationwide program taking place through 15.
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The article “Why EROEI Matters” by David Turver (Eigen Values, Substack.com) fascinates me. It gets my skeptic up. I won’t upstage Mr. Turver by summarizing it, but EROEI (Energy Recovered On Energy Invested) is a great way to compare the efficacy of energy sources, and his article is an excellent critique of our policy direction. You should read it.
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I am on a mission to re-establish a sound monetary system, one which uses gold and silver. Given the development of government controlled digital currencies and ledgers, the abuse of those who can least afford it by the Federal Reserve, and the state of America's affairs, there is no more important mission.
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A nexus of events culminated this summer in shocking reports, congressional hearing transcripts, and court rulings that have revealed just how far off the reservation the federal government really is relative to egregious, unlawful violations of hundreds of thousands of Americans' constitutionally protected First Amendment rights, especially Free Speech.
“One could argue we’re in the business of critical infrastructure, and the most critical infrastructure is our cognitive infrastructure, so building that resilience to misinformation and disinformation, I think, is incredibly important.' – CISA Director Jen Easterly, November 10, 2021.”
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The Illinois Senate Republicans are amplifying complaints made earlier by the Illinois Republican Party and others about a massive economic development project in Manteno.
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Hannah Meisel’s recent report for Capitol News Illinois included a line that jumped out at me: “Per state law - which hasn’t been updated since 1949 - only counties with 35,000 or more residents are required to set up offices of public defender.”
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School of Rock: The Musical was directed by the theatre's co-owner (and set, lighting, and sound designer) Brent Tubbs, aided here by musical director Laura Hammes and choreographer Becca Johnson. Onstage, we have 30 actor/singer/musicians, plus seven musicians in the pit, and they and the crew have staged an ambitious, complex production that runs smoothly, sounds great, and will leave you grinning.
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A Tony and Olivier Award-winning drama lauded by The Guardian as "sparkling and suspenseful," acclaimed author Conor McPherson's The Seafarer makes its area debut at Geneseo's Richmond Hill Barn Theatre during the play's October 5 through 15 run, this genre-melding 2006 work inspiring the New York Times to rave that "as unlikely as it sounds, The Seafarer may just be the pick-me-up play of the season."
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A 2022 Tony Award winner that Variety magazine praised as "filled with depth and relatable characters," author Dominique Morisseau's drama Skeleton Crew enjoys its Quad Cities premiere at Moline's Playcrafters Barn Theatre from October 6 through 15, the lauded work also praised by the New Yor Times as "a swift, well-crafted look at factory workers trapped in an economic 'dumpster fire," and by the New Yorker as a work "bristling and jumping and speeding forward with skillful talk."
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Lauded by DC Theater Arts as "a thrilling experience in theatergoing" and by the Wall Street Journal as a "fresh, theatrically potent spin on the novel," playwright Kate Hamill's witty, creepy, and macabre Dracula, a feminist revenge fantasy opens Augustana College's 2023-24 season in Rock Island, the production certain to demonstrate why New York Theatre Guide proclaimed the genre-bending stage work "biting in every sense of the word."
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It’s always interesting when a season is rounded out with a previously unfamiliar title, and in the case of the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse's season-ender, it’s Paul Slade Smith’s politically themed The Outsider.
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Touring in support of his 2023 album Twenty on High, which Holler Country deemed "10 songs of hope pushing back against self-doubt – and vice versa – wrapped in a nostalgic glow," country-music singer/songwriter Drayton Farley headlines an October 5 concert at Davenport's Raccoon Motel, the artist's latest inspiring Saving Country Music to call him "among the top flight of resurgent country-adjacent performers carrying on what artists such as Jason Isbell helped instigate."
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Appearing in conjunction with his weekend Masterworks concert events with the Quad City Symphony Orchestra, acclaimed Cuban-American cellist Dr. Tommy Mesa will play a special pop-up concert in Davenport's brand-new MLK Park on October 6, the artist lauded by New York Concert Review as “commanding in every detail” performing alongside QCSO violinists Janis Sakai and Emily Nash.
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Praised by Ones to Watch for her "intricate storytelling infused with both pop sensibilities and folk tenderness," Bre Kennedy headlines an October 6 concert event at Davenport's Raccoon Motel, the singer/songwriter's talent inspiring Atwood magazine to call her "undeniably an artist that deserves your undivided attention," adding that "as a narrator, she’s achingly relatable, and as a new artist, she’s more than ready for the spotlight."
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A three-time Grammy Award winner, Orville H. Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award winner, and member of the Long Island Music Hall of Fame, revered guitarist a singer/songwriter Brian Setzer brings his national "Rockabilly Riot!" tour to Davenport's Adler Theatre on October 12, the artist having achieved popular success with his 1950s-style rockabilly group Stray Cats, and well as his '90s swing-revival band the Brian Setzer Orchestra.
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Opening their eagerly anticipated 2023-24 Masterworks season with performances at Davenport's Adler Theatre on October 7 and Augustana College's Centennial Hall on October 8, the sublime musicians of the Quad City Symphony Orchestra welcome, for their concert event Masterworks I: From Conflict to Courage, Cuban-American cellist Dr. Tommy Mesa, the artist having inspired New York Concert Review to rave, "Mr. Mesa’s playing had a musical intensity that was commanding in every detail.”
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For a movie plastered wall-to-wall with visual effects, writer/director Gareth Edwards' The Creator pulls off a feat only a few futuristic science-fiction films have managed over the decades: It makes you completely forget about the visual effects.
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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, September 28: Discussion of Expend4bles, Dumb Money, Cassandro, and It Lives Inside, and previews of Stop Making Sense and, apparently, the next hope for a Barbenheimer: a double feature of Saw X and the new PAW Patrol cutely monikered "Saw Patrol." Just ... no.
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Because the competition is so fierce, it's hard to say which scene in director Scott Waugh's action sequel Expend4bles is the most repellent. And for the sake of time and our collective sanity, I'm going to ignore every multitudinous instance of brains being splattered via gunfire, the effects for which look like they were added post-production with a red magic marker.
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Is it possible that, regarding his previous Hercule Poirot mysteries, Kenneth Branagh not only read critiques of those films, but actively took their criticisms to heart?
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Lauded by Variety as "a tender, tactile, and just-sweet-enough story of hidden love, challenged faith, and unwittingly shared grief," writer/director Ofir Raul Grazier's The Cakemaker enjoys a special October 5 screening at Davenport's Figge Art Museum, the 2017 romantic drama also praised by the Los Angeles Times as a work in which "a most fascinating kind of tension results -- an unusual state of affairs that plays fair with the characters, and with us."
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An impressively wide and beautiful variety of paintings by a trio of Midwestern talents will be on display at the Quad City Arts Center through October 6, with the Rock Island venue showcasing oil paintings by Barbara Curtis of Urbana, Illinois; sculptural paintings by Amanda Mulcahy of Chicago; and oil paintings by Tim Olson of Dubuque, Iowa.
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On display at Davenport's Figge Art Museum from October 7 through January 8, the arresting historical exhibition Art & Activism at Tougaloo College will explore the inception of this distinctive collection at the intersection of modern art, education, and social justice, and in doing so, will highlight Tougaloo’s evolution as a center for vanguard European and American art shaped by interracial collaboration and the pursuit of civil rights.
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A collaborative art exhibition with a seasonally appropriate spooky theme, The Mysterious Disappearance of Miss Haylee will haunt Rock Island's Quad City Arts Center from October 11 through December 1, this delightfully spine-tingling event blending the collective talents of area visual artists Heidi Hernandez and Bruce Walters alongside those of local author Michael McCarty.
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Held in conjunction with the nationally touring Art & Activism at Tougaloo College, an exhibition celebration and curator talk will be held at Davenport's Figge Art Museum on October 12, the evening featuring a presentation by Turry M. Flucker, former Director and Curator of the Tougaloo College Art Collections and current Vice President of Collections and Partnerships at the Terra Foundation for American Art.
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Rich and expressive works by a former Muscatine High School teacher who later taught at Augustana College will be on display at the Muscatine Art Center through October 29, when the venue hosts an exhibition of new photographs by John Deason, an Iowa talent who, at the age of seven and following a move to Sioux City, became friends with a neighbor boy whose father was a talented photographer named Grant Jensen.
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