16 Mar 2026

Every Time a Belle Sings, an Angel Gets Its Wings: “Honky Tonk Angels,” at the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse through April 25

By Mischa and Kitty Hooker

Mischa: Together, these performers were unstoppable. Well … individually they were pretty unstoppable, too!

Kitty: I feel about this show kind of like I felt about Glee. I wasn’t in it for the plot, but I was hooked by the music.

18 Mar 2026

River Cities' Reader Theatre Reviews: July 2000 to the Present

By Administrator

Reviews by Rochelle Arnold, Jeff Ashcraft, Patricia Baugh-Riechers, Audra Beals, Pamela Briggs, Dee Canfield, Madeline Dudziak, Kim Eastland, Emily Heninger, Heather Herkelman, Kitty (née Israel) Hooker, Mischa Hooker, Paula Jolly, Victoria Navarro, Roger Pavey Jr., Alexander Richardson, Mark Ruebling, Mike Schulz, Joy Thompson, Oz Torres, Brent Tubbs, Jill Pearson Walsh, and Thom White.

14 Mar 2026

Bachelor's Decree: “Company,” at Augustana College through March 15

By Pamela Briggs

Augustana College's production of Company is expansive, lively, and musically superb.

02 Mar 2026

Playground Zero: “God of Carnage,” at the Playcrafters Barn Theatre through March 8

By Pamela Briggs

Need a laugh? Need 40? Playcrafters has them for you.

23 Feb 2026

love language: Barely There Theatre’s “word play,” at the Black Box Theatre through February 28

By Madeline Dudziak

What do you get when four young adults’ lives are entangled with one another, yet the full picture doesn’t come into focus until the final moments? You get word play, written by fellow Reader reviewer Alexander Richardson: a tightly woven one-act that asks its audience to lean in, listen closely, and trust the unraveling.

09 Feb 2026

Caution: Women at Work: “9 to 5: The Musical,” at the Spotlight Theatre through February 15

By Mischa and Kitty Hooker

Kitty: In keeping with the feminist theme, the women were the ones driving this show.

Mischa: The three main actresses are all blessed with tremendous singing voices, and each one alternately becomes the center of attention in a series of impressive numbers.

02 Feb 2026

Tri-Cycle: Barely There Theatre’s “What Might Have Been,” at the Black Box Theatre through February 7

By Madeline Dudziak

What a night of theatre Thursday night’s What Might Have Been opening proved to be.

26 Jan 2026

Remains to Be Seen: “Lucky Stiff,” at the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse through March 7

By Pamela Briggs

Director/choreographer Ashley Becher and musical director Ethan Hayward, alongside their wonderful crew and energetic, talented crème de la crème cast, elevate the solid script and score into the realm of delight.

15 Dec 2025

12 Joyful Jurors: “Cheaper by the Dozen,” at the Playcrafters Barn Theatre through December 21

By Alexander Richardson

The Playcrafters Barn Theatre closes out its 2025 season with Cheaper by the Dozen, adapted for the stage by Christopher Sergel and directed by Emma Terronez. It offers family-friendly entertainment … if also entertainment devoid of yuletide cheer for the particularly Christmas-adverse.

08 Dec 2025

Bibbidi-Bobbidi Boon: “Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella,” at the Spotlight Theatre through December 14

By Pamela Briggs

The Spotlight Theatre’s current offering is the 2013 Cinderella, which has all the memorable songs and just the right amount of appealing humor. And I thoroughly enjoyed Friday’s opening-night performance, with director Sarah Greim, music director Christine Rogers, and choreographer Michelle Kabel wrangling a large, talented cast with terrific voices, and the show's crew contributing to the magic.

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