Davenport Junior Theatre, the nation’s second oldest children’s theatre, is abandoning plans to move its operations to the former Younkers store at NorthPark Mall in Davenport. While its previously announced timeline expected an interim lease to be signed and construction to begin this fall, with a move-in date in June of 2025, the site selection for an interim space is back to square one.

The Golden Globes are on January 7, the Emmys on January 15, Oscar nominations will be announced January 23 … . But no need to be patient, awards obsessives – my fellow theatre lovers and I are gonna get the season started early by welcoming you to the unveiling of the Eighth-Annual Reader Tony Awards!

A world-premiere production shepherded by area stage talents Daniel Haughey and Michael Callahan, Aaron Power! The Musical – running March 17 through 20 at the Center for Living Arts' East Studio in Rock Island – boasts a perfectly timely premise for a show opening on St. Patrick's Day, as its narrative concerns a young man who travels abroad to uncover the secrets of his Irish ancestry. Complicating matters for our protagonist, and likely to make them even more fascinating for the musical's patrons, is that the young man in question is Native American.

Oh, 2020 started so well, didn't it?