Kevin Pieper and Tom Naab in A Christmas Carol

I love the Charles Dickens story A Christmas Carol. You know: The one about Ebenezer Scrooge – that cantankerous old skinflint who defined the term “hostile workplace” by treating his lone employee (and everyone else, for that matter) like the dirt beneath his well-worn shoe? To save his soul, the spirit world sends three ghosts on Christmas Eve who unveil aspects of Scrooge’s life, and the lives of those around him, that facilitate a much-needed change in his withered, cold heart. Because of this experience, he transforms into a man of enlightenment and generosity, helping his community and those closest to him.

Hillary Pieper-Erb, Joel Kolander, and Troy Stark in Children of Eden

When walking into Quad City Music Guild’s production of Children of Eden on August 7, I had no idea what sort of beautiful music my ears were about to be treated to. The story I was familiar with. Composer Stephen Schwartz's score, however, was all new to me, and director Bill Marsoun has assembled a fantastic cast with which to tell this biblical story of the Earth's creation.

Kailey Ackermann, Ben Holmes, Sarah Lounsberry, Noel Huntley, and Cole Harksen in Into the Woods

You know those earworms you get when you can’t get a song out of your head no matter how you try? That happened to me several weeks ago after listening to the soundtrack from the Broadway hit Hamilton. My earworms were so intense that I had difficulty falling asleep, and I would elicit strange looks from people in the grocery aisles as I was unknowingly singing “My Shot” out loud. But the cure was found by my attending Quad City Music Guild’s Into the Woods on July 7, and this brilliant send-up, with its quirky, witty songs, wiped out my old earworms without creating new ones.

Joanna Mills, Molly Ahern, Gage McCalester, and Nathan Bates in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Within this review, be prepared to read the gushings of a 33-year-old man re-living a childhood story he has not experienced in probably 15 years. In re-living it, after a decade-plus of growing, there's also some disappointment in struggling to r...

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.

As I got comfortable in my seat for the Monday-night dress rehearsal of Quad City Music Guild's A Christmas Story: The Musical, I was fully expecting a 24-hour marathon, as well as my ingesting the show only in sporadic moments throughout the day in between kitchen visits to fill up on ham and chocolate. That's customarily how I enjoy the film version. Alas, there was no marathon, or ham, or chocolate. But there was a fun production filled with holiday cheer - and aside from the addition of songs, the theatrical version is a mirror image of the movie.

John Whitson, Heather Herkelman, Brennan Hampton, and Ted Brown in Mary PoppinsWhile I expected to enjoy Quad City Music Guild's Mary Poppins on Friday, I didn't anticipate being as mesmerized as I was by this stage adaptation of the Disney film. The movie's songs by Robert and Richard Sherman are there, with additional tunes by George Stiles and Anthony Drewe, and a book by Julian Fellowes that adds elements from P.L. Travers' children's-lit classic. And the result, while three hours long, is an improvement on its cinematic inspiration, with the additional material even more interesting than the familiar story elements.

I don't mean to alarm you, but during my recent interview with Heather Herkelman, the area performer revealed something shocking and rather upsetting: Hawaii, it turns out, isn't perfect.

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.

Nate Karstens, Abbey Donohoe, and Ian Sodawasser in Young FrankensteinOn at least three occasions during Thursday's preview performance, Quad City Music Guild's Young Frankenstein achieved a transcendent silliness - the kind you get with stunning regularity in Mel Brooks' film-spoof inspiration. If you include everything said and done by Nate Karstens' hunchback Igor, it was more like 203 occasions, but in the spirit of this tasty musical confection, let's save the sweetest for dessert.

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