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Amana - Come celebrate the holidays with The Church Basement Ladies in this all-new show filled with their heart-warming humor and wisdom. The year is 1959 and the ladies are putting final touches on the annual Sunday School Christmas program. You can almost smell the cookies baking as these ladies dish out much more than holiday goodies. Away in the Basement is a delightfully funny way to celebrate the holiday season!

The cast of Away in the Basement consists of Sean McCall of Marengo, Kay Francis of Naples, Florida, Deborah Kennedy of West Amana, Katie Colletta of Rockton, IL., and Nikki Savitt of Arlington Heights, IL. Away in the Basement is directed by Curt Wollan with music director Shari Rhoads.

Away in the Basement is inspired by the books of Janet Letnes Martin and Suzann Nelson, including the best seller "Growing Up Lutheran" and is written by Greta Grosch with music and lyrics by Drew Jansen.

Tickets are $27.50 for adults and $18 for students. Walk-ins are always welcome if seats are available. Some shows are sold out and reservations for Away in the Basement are highly recommended. The show runs through Dec. 22 and is rated Theatre G.

Call the box office at 319-622-6262 for tickets and show times or visit the web site at www.oldcreamery.com.

The Old Creamery Theatre is a not-for-profit professional theatre founded in 1971 in Garrison, Iowa. The Company is celebrating 42 years of bringing live, professional theatre to the people of Iowa and the Midwest.

Ceremony at Old State Capitol Recognizes the Top Student from Each College and University in Illinois

SPRINGFIELD - Governor Pat Quinn today announced the names of the state's outstanding college students who will be honored by the Lincoln Academy of Illinois. The Academy will recognize the students during the annual Student Laureate Convocation at 11 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 2 at the Old State Capitol State Historic Site in Springfield.

"These students have exhibited a personal commitment to excel as seen by their remarkable academic accomplishments," Governor Quinn said. "They serve as role models to all Illinois students. With hard-working and dedicated young leaders such as these, Illinois and the rest of the nation can look forward to a bright future."

The Lincoln Academy's Student Laureate Awards are presented for excellence in curricular and extracurricular activities to seniors from each of the state's four-year, degree-granting colleges and universities, and one student from among all the community colleges in Illinois. At the Student Laureate Convocation, each will receive a Student Laureate Medallion, along with a $1,000 educational grant and a certificate of achievement. This event will mark the 39th year that students have been honored by the Academy.

Student Laureate Caelin Niehoff of DePaul University will speak on behalf of all the Laureates. The invocation will be delivered by Robert A. Easter, Ph.D., President of the University of Illinois and the benediction will be delivered by The Reverend Stanley Davis, Jr. The Sangamon Woodwind Consort will provide music, and a luncheon at the Illinois Executive Mansion will follow the Student Laureate Convocation.

The Lincoln Academy, unique among the 50 states, was established 49 years ago to honor Illinois' most distinguished citizens with the state's highest award, the Order of Lincoln. The 50th Annual Convocation and Investiture of Laureates of The Lincoln Academy of Illinois will take place Saturday, May 3, 2014 at the Field Museum in Chicago.

STUDENT LAUREATES

School                         Student                        Home Town

Augustana College                        Jenna N. Orabutt                        Hawthorn Woods, IL

Aurora University                     Andrew J. Patton                         Oswego, IL

Benedictine University                     Eman Sahloul                        Orland Park, IL

Blackburn College                        Ashley Donoho                        

Bradley University                     Jonathan Teich                          Bay City, MI

Chicago State University                    Christopher D. Muldrow                      Oak Forest, IL

Columbia College - Chicago              Allison C. Shuman                         Cranston, RI

Concordia University Chicago            David J. Moldenhauer                    Walled Lake, MI

DePaul University                     Caelin Niehoff                        Algonquin, IL

Dominican University                     David C. Gayes                          Oak Park, IL

Eastern Illinois University                    Zachary D. Samples                        Decatur, IL

Elmhurst College                        Emily A. Darow                          Palatine, IL

Eureka College                        Lauren M. Schwanke                       Eureka, IL

Governors State University                Ricca Louissaint                     South Holland, IL

Greenville College                        Alyssa R. Gosselin                       Derby, VT

Illinois College                        Phuong Hoang Nguyen                      Thai Binh, Vietnam

Illinois Institute of Technology            Miriam R. Schmid                         Cissna Park, IL

Illinois State University                     Brian M. Kulaga                         Elmhurst, IL

Illinois Wesleyan University                Josefina Banales                        Chicago, IL

Judson University                     Cassandra E. Criminger                     Flanagan, IL

Knox College                        Carolyn Stephen                        St. Louis, MO

Lake Forest College                        Anali N. Vargas                         Chicago, IL

Lake Land College                        Kolten A. Postin                         Moweaqua, IL

Lewis University                     Samantha J. Rinehart                       Marion, IA

Lincoln College                        Josh A. Jones                          Joliet, IL

Loyola University Chicago                  Thomas J. Serena                         Shorewood, IL

MacMurray College                        Katherine L. Schmidt                        Jerseyville, IL

McKendree University                     Anthony J. Rhoads                         Litchfield, IL

Millikin University                     Emily E. D'Ambrose                      Naperville, IL

Monmouth College                        William T. Terrill                                  Sugar Grove, IL

National Louis University                    Kristine Becker-Kristufek               Mt. Prospect, IL

North Central College                        Colin J. Loeffler                       Sun Prairie, WI

North Park University                     An Tran                           Hanoi, Vietnam

Northeastern Illinois University           Ashor O. Jajou                          Morton Grove, IL

Northern Illinois University                  Sarah L. Stuebing                       DeKalb, IL

Olivet Nazarene University                 Breanne M. Bambrick                       Washington, IL

Principia College                        Haley O. Morton                         Wildwood, MO

Quincy University                     Samantha A. Nielsen                        Arlington Heights, IL

Rockford University                     Dunja Cosic                          Rockford, IL

Roosevelt University                     Erin McCaslin                       Maple Valley, WA

St. Xavier University                     Lauren Bryk                           Rolling Meadows, IL

Southern IL Univ. Carbondale            Eileen N. Schweiss                       Festus, MO

Southern IL Univ. Edwardsville          Christopher J. Branch                         Edwardsville, IL

The University of Chicago                  Safiya C. Johnson                        Chicago, IL

Trinity Christian College                      Megan L. Anderson                       Elgin, IL

Trinity International University            Rebekah E. Held                           Hartford, WI

University of IL at Chicago                 Fransely Robles                         Chicago, IL

University of IL at Springfield             Joshua Eastby                         Edwardsville, IL

Univ. of IL at Urbana-Champaign      Amanda M. Rowland                        Burr Ridge, IL

University of St. Francis                     Brandon S. Collofello                     Minooka, IL

VanderCook College of Music           Maxwell J. Dykla                          Belding, MI

Western Illinois University                   Lindsey M. Posmanick                      Troy, IL

Wheaton College                        Sarah R. Vander Vorst                       Mound City, SD

Funds Will Upgrade Key Areas of Riverfront Civic Center

MOLINE - Governor Pat Quinn today announced a $4 million capital investment to update and improve the iWireless Center in Moline. Today's action is part of Governor Quinn's agenda to create jobs and drive Illinois' economy forward.

"The iWireless Center draws events and visitors from around the country and is key to the continued economic development of the area," Governor Quinn said. "These improvements will help the center better serve families in the Quad Cities for years to come."

The state investment to the Illinois Quad City Civic Center Authority (IQCCCA) is part of Governor Quinn's Illinois Jobs Now! capital construction program. It will include a concourse expansion and new lower bowl area seating, as well as upgrades to the center's security and lighting systems, roof, flooring, climate control systems, plumbing and ice rink equipment. Accessibility improvements will also be made. The project will help the center stay competitive with other regional venues and continue to be a positive economic development force for the Quad Cities area.

"On behalf of the iWireless Center, we are extremely pleased that Governor Quinn and our area legislators have released these funds," IQCCCA Chairman Paul Mulcahey said. "These funds will be used to enhance the services we currently provide our community. These monies will enable us to maintain a first-rate facility for the people of our community."

The 11,000-seat facility opened in 1993. It is located at 1201 River Drive on land donated by Deere & Co. and its original construction was funded through a combination of state, local and private funds. It is the area's prime venue for entertainment and conventions and these events have a positive impact on local sales and hotel-motel tax revenues.

"The iWireless Center has been an economic boom for the area since it opened in 1993," State Senator Mike Jacobs (D-Moline) said. "The Center provides space for everything from concerts to sporting events and is the premier venue for entertainment in the region. These funds will help make improvements that will keep the arena up to date and competitive for many years."

"The iWireless Center is a well-managed venue and has a great positive economic impact on our community," State Rep. Pat Verschoore (D-Milan) said. "I have been working with members of the center to secure these funds, which will help improve this valuable asset in our community and help ensure it continues to entertain Illinois residents for years to come."

"We need to ensure that the iWireless Center remains a top destination, not only in the Midwest but in the entire nation," State Rep. Mike Smiddy (D-Hillsdale) said. "These funds will help the iWireless Center continue to create jobs in the Quad Cities."

The iWireless Center funding is part of Governor Quinn's $31 billion Illinois Jobs Now! program, which will support more than 439,000 jobs over six years. Illinois Jobs Now! is the largest capital construction program in Illinois history, and is one of the largest capital construction programs in the nation.

After producing five acclaimed plays, one of them a world premiere, during the company's first 13 months, Davenport's QC Theatre Workshop is set to stage its first musical with the debuting Last Call: The Songs of Stephen Sondheim.

Running Friday, November 1, through Sunday, November 17 at the QC Theatre Workshop (1730 Wilkes Avenue, Davenport), Last Call is an original revue of songs featuring lyrics and/or music by the legendary Sondheim, the winner of eight Tony Awards, eight Grammy Awards, an Academy Award, and the Pulitzer Prize for 1985's Sunday in the Park with George. Lauded for such classic works as Sweeney Todd, Into the Woods, A Little Night Music, Company, and numerous others, Sondheim has been described by the New York Times as "the greatest and perhaps best-known artist in the American musical theatre," and according to Last Call's producer and music director Tyson Danner, consequently seemed like the perfect artist to celebrate in the Workshop's first musical endeavor.

"While our first season consisted entirely of plays," says Danner, who also serves as his company's Artistic Director, "we at the Workshop have been looking forward to presenting a musical that would highlight the vast talents of Quad Cities singers. And when we had the idea of producing a revue, it only made sense to feature the songs of one of the kings of the modern musical."

Created by Danner and director Mike Schulz, Last Call features performances of more than two dozen numbers from Sondheim's musical canon - songs ranging from Dick Tracy's Oscar-winning "Sooner or Later" to Company's well-known "Ladies Who Lunch" to the rarely heard "Take Me to the World" from the 1966 TV-movie Evening Primrose.

Yet the show also weaves its songs together in the form of a mostly dialogue-free narrative (conceived by Danner and Schulz) set in a hotel bar, with a group of spouses, lovers, friends, and strangers crossing paths, reminiscing, and falling in and out of love over the course of Last Call's 90-minute running length.

Says Danner, "It's a testament to Sondheim's brilliant songwriting that each of these numbers can be interpreted in so many ways. Out of hundreds of possibilities, we chose the songs that played to our actors' greatest strengths, and they've had a blast approaching the material in different contexts."

Featured among Last Call's cast are: Erin Churchill (Circa '21's Irving Berlin's White Christmas, the District Theatre's Avenue Q); Don Denton (Circa '21's Miracle on 34th Street and The Full Monty); Angela Elliott (the District Theatre's Company and Sweeney Todd); James Fairchild (Circa '21's Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story, the District Theatre's Rent); Kim Furness (Circa '21's Southern Crossroads, the Curtainbox Theatre Company's Time Stands Still); Patrick Gimm (Playcrafters' The Trouble with Cats, the Prenzie Players' The Rover); Mark Ruebling (Quad City Music Guild's Curtains, Countryside Community Theatre's Gypsy); Allison Swanson (St. Ambrose University's alumni presentation of You Can't Take It with You, the Curtainbox's Wit); and, in her area-theatre debut, Sara Tubbs (ComedySportz's "Sketchville" ensemble).

Only Elliott, who played Barbara in the springtime comedy boom, has performed in a previous Workshop production, and Danner is thrilled to have her joined by eight area talents appearing in their first show for the company.

"This season," Danner says, "we began holding open auditions for every production, and we were overjoyed to have such a strong turnout for Last Call. It has been a delight to work with both longtime colleagues and performers we haven't had the chance to collaborate with before.

"Each time an actor appears for the first time in a Workshop production, they bring new ideas that make the theatre more dynamic and exciting. We're sure our patrons are going to enjoy this incredible cast."

As with the Workshop's five previous productions, Last Call will be presented under the company's popular "Pay What It's Worth" policy, which allows patrons to determine their own ticket prices following each performance.

, call (563)650- 2396 or e-mail qctheatreworkshop@gmail.com, or visit QCTheatreWorkshop.org

Last Call: The Songs of Stephen Sondheim performances

Friday, November 1, 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, November 2, 7:30 p.m.

Sunday, November 3, 3 p.m.

Friday, November 8, 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, November 9, 7:30 p.m.

Sunday, November 10, 3 p.m.

Friday, November 15, 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, November 16, 7:30 p.m.

Sunday, November 17, 3 p.m.

QC Theatre Workshop

1730 Wilkes Avenue, Davenport, Iowa, 52804

(563)650-2396

info@QCTheatreWorkshop.org

QCTheatreWorkshop.org

Facebook.com/QCTheatreWorkshop