Miranda Jane, Tamarin K. Lawler, Rachelle Walljasper, and Lora Adams in Always a BridesmaidOne of the cleverest things about the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse's Always a Bridesmaid is its title, and the way it fits its group of women who, because of a promise made at their senior prom, continue to be bridesmaids in each other's weddings well into their 50s. That, however, is as clever as playwrights Jessie Jones, Nicholas Hope, and Jamie Wooten get, as their show's humor is amusing, at best, but never hilarious. The plot and comedy play out more like that of a television sitcom than a theatrical comedy - which might be expected given Wooten's work as a writer and producer on The Golden Girls.

Doug Kutzli in A Christmas CarolOn Saturday evening, I was reminded of the local treasure that is the District Theatre's A Christmas Carol. Written by Tristan Layne Tapscott with music by Danny White, this holiday musical is something special: a locally created piece so good that it could, and should, be staged by theatres throughout the country. And this year - the second the theatre has produced the show - brings some notable changes from last winter's staging of this theatrical gem.

Daniel Crary and Cara Chumbley in Things My Mother Taught MeThe Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse's Things My Mother Taught Me, which is about a young New York couple moving into a new apartment in Chicago, is one of those plays that requires patience, as the first half of the first act takes a while to get on its feet and bring in the humor. While Brad Hauskins' Polish building superintendent Max elicited hearty laughs during Friday's performance through the actor's adept comic delivery and (eventually overused) "Uh-oh"s, not much else, early on, was all that effectively funny. Until, that is, the parents of the cohabitating Olivia and Gabe arrived, at which point it was clear that director Warner Crocker's pacing for the rest of the show was going to be remarkable, and the comedic chaos amplified by the play's four parents fussing over their children.

Wendy Czekalski, Sheri Olson, Bryan Tank, and Erin Lounsberry in Let's Face the Music: A New Musical RevueLet's Face the Music: A New Musical Revue is a production of songs by Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, and George and Ira Gershwin, conceived and directed by Lora Adams, and performed by four of the best singers (and one of the best dancers) in the area-theatre community. While the tempo and energy of the numbers change, the District Theatre's presentation maintains a mellow mood throughout the hour-long show, with the only glaring fault in Saturday's performance being that the piece wasn't also presented in a 1940s nightclub, so that the audience could complete the experience by stepping into the period presented on stage.

 Brad Hauskins, Tom Walljasper, Rachelle Walljasper, Lora Adams, Andrew Crowe, and Jody Alan Lee in Southern CrossroadsWith its charm, high spirits, optimism, and infectiously fun tunes selected and arranged by Steve Przybylski, there's a wonderful specialness to playwright Warner Crocker's Southern Crossroads. And in the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse's current production of the show, what's particularly special about what is already a good musical has a lot to do with director Curt Wollan's cast members, who have an apparent love for the material and exude a palpable enjoyment in their performance of it. This piece transcends traditional musical theatre in a way that's all too rare, pulling in its audience through a spell of song and hope.

Lora Adams in Spreading It AroundBrad Hauskins elicited the largest laughs during Friday's performance of Spreading It Around at the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse, starting with the moment he first walked onstage with his frozen-hip shuffle. His psychologist character Dr. Ward doesn't actually appear until the middle of the second act of this comedy, which concerns the efforts of the widow Angie to share her wealth (and that of her fellow retirees) with those in need, rather than leaving it to their ungrateful children. But with little stage time, Hauskins squeezes out every ounce of comic possibility from his role, relishing his awkward pauses, and dryly delivering his lines with the slightly high-pitched, mildly shaky voice stereotypical of the elder person he's portraying.

Cara Crumbley, Tyson Danner, Sarah Ulloa, and Steve Quartell in Songs for a New WorldThe current production of the musical revue Songs for a New World features a winning, frequently exemplary quartet and some excellent design ... and, in all honesty, I doubt I'd have enjoyed this Green Room Theatre presentation nearly as much as I did had it actually been performed at the Green Room Theatre.

Sheri Hess, Tyson Danner, Jackie Madunic, and Larry Adams in Closer Than EverIncluding pianist Craig Clough, there are five cast members in New Ground Theatre's Closer Than Ever, and at the show's opening-day matinée, that was one more person than the number of people who came to see it. This isn't the sort of thing I'd usually mention right off the bat, if at all, but I think it's an important point to make before proceeding, because while this vocally beautiful offering may be deficient in certain areas, the only thing Thursday's production was really lacking was an audience. And for this particular production, the absence of a crowd proved to be a considerable distraction.

Lori Adams and the Pats Flaherty in Living Here New Ground Theatre's Living Here is composed of five one-acts by local playwrights, each one set in the Quad Cities, and I applaud New Ground's decision to stage this showcase for local talent; the production as a whole is more than inspiring, it's important, and the efforts of these theatrical artisans deserve to be seen.

Which doesn't necessarily mean that I liked them all.

Tom Wopat So, how are you doing today?

"Eh ... I'm okay," replies Tom Wopat, calling from Manhattan. "I just got a parking ticket. Sixty-five bucks."

And hardly a deserved parking ticket. "I parked in a school zone but there's no school there anymore," Wopat says. "They don't know that, you know?"

He laughs. "But that's okay. It's like I told my girlfriend: It's New York City. That's just how it works."

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