Tom Naab, Margie Martel, and Ian Sodawasser in My Favorite YearIf you are of a certain age, you will happily recall the golden days of live television. And whether you can remember those days or not, you will have the opportunity, through Quad City Music Guild’s production of My Favorite Year, to go back in time to the year 1954, and experience the trials and tribulations of producing a weekly segment of a fictional TV show titled King Kaiser’s Comedy Hour.

Dolores Sierra in CatsOne of the biggest stars of Quad City Music Guild's take on Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cats never appears on stage, though her mark is rarely invisible the entire time, as designer Sara Wegener is responsible for the costumes, makeup, and wigs worn by the musical's cast of felines. Obviously drawing inspiration from the original West End and Broadway productions, it's a bit of a shame that the intricacy in her makeup, in particular, isn't fully discernible from the audience, because the detail in her work is exceptional. Adding her spiked-fur wigs with plush fabric ears, and her bodysuits and loose shirts and pants colored to look like various cat coats, Wegener's contributions are award-worthy.

Chris Castle, Jennifer Sondgeroth, Tom Naab, Faith Hardacre, and Zach Hendershott in A Christmas Survival GuideSitting down with director John Weigandt, assistant director Jaci Weigandt (John's wife), and cast members Faith Hardacre and Jennifer Sondgeroth prior to a Tuesday-night rehearsal for Quad City Music Guild's A Christmas Survival Guide, I mention that this forthcoming show seemed like a rather unusual choice for the organization's wintertime slot.

"What?" asks Hardacre with mock surprise. "We don't normally have drunken dances on stage?"

Bill Peiffer, Liz Paxton, Nick Waldbusser, and Carli Talbott in The Christmas ExpressThe last time I watched Nancy Teerlinck perform, earlier this year, she offered a moving portrayal of a matriarch making tough, emotional decisions in the Playcrafters Barn Theatre's Moving. Yet as much as I liked her in that role, I think she's even better when she's playing ... well, a bitch ... such as the one she portrays in Playcrafters' current offering, The Christmas Express. Teerlinck's Hilda, who runs the play's Holly Railway Station, is an acerbic, crotchety, sarcastic, bitchy delight, and I think I now love the performer, and want to see this side of her comicality a lot more often.

Melissa Flowers, Sheri Brown, and James Pepper in CinderellaThere are so many delightful distractions in Quad City Music Guild's Cinderella that, during Thursday night's preview performance, I kept getting lost in the scenery. And then the costumes. And then the vocals. And then the scenery... .

Jim Driscoll, Stephanie Moeller, John Weigandt (foreground), Alec Peterson, and Travis Hedman (background) in Treasure IslandThe Playcrafters Barn Theatre's take on the classic Robert Louis Stevenson adventure novel Treasure Island - adapted for the stage by Ken Ludwig - certainly kicks off with a dynamic start. Director, lighting director, and set designer Jennifer Kingry's impressive recreation of a lightning storm is ominous and tense, as is the first scene aboard a pirate ship, and if the play's pirates portray any sense of threat, it is in these opening minutes, as they snarl at and descend upon a perceived traitor and treasure-map thief. The storm ends, however, as does the scene, and the rest of the play lacks the excitement set up at the start.

Laila Haley, Andrew Hall, Sydney Crumbleholme, John Weigandt, Alyssa Castro, and Katie Moore in Papa's AngelsThe Playcrafters Barn Theatre's current, holiday-themed family presentation Papa's Angels begins on a note - or rather, a bunch of notes - of incredible sweetness.

Michael Schmidt, Emily Baker, and Eric Reyes in SeussicalOn Thursday night, I attended Quad City Music Guild's preview performance of Seussical, and if you include St. Ambrose University's 2008 production of the one-act Seussical Jr. - and I most certainly do - it was the third time I'd seen this show in as many years. (Eldridge's Countryside Community Theatre produced its version in the summer of 2007.) If theatres would only oblige, I'm reasonably sure I could see it, and without any complaint, every year for the rest of my life.

Joe Urbaitis and Heather McGonigle in Once Upon a MattressIf you peruse your program before the Quad City Music Guild's current production of Once Upon a Mattress, you'll see that Joe Urbaitis plays a character named Prince Dauntless the Drab. While watching the actor, it probably won't take long for you to decide that Urbaitis is colossally miscast in the role, as his inventive, fearlessly funny performance in this musical comedy is anything but drab.