K: Dolly Parton famously said, “It takes a lot of money to look this cheap.” Likewise, it takes many hours of rehearsal to make a show look humorously under-rehearsed.
M: Ironically, it’s necessary to play a bad actor well.
Director Shelley Cooper, Augustana College's associate professor of theatre arts, and music director and accompanist Rob Elfline, professor of music at Augustana, have engineered another extraordinary production with Ordinary Days.
Let it be known: My family and I are exactly the intended audience for the Timber Lake Playhouse’s current production of Disney's Frozen. We love the material. We love theatre. So in the words of everyone’s favorite animated snowman Olaf, “Put ‘em together, it just makes sense.” The good news? If you’re also a fan, chances are you’ll feel the same way about this particular production.
The horrifying story told in The Diary of Anne Frank is now being lovingly presented at Moline's Playcrafters Barn Theatre, directed by accomplished actor Elle Winchester.
The Clinton Area Showboat Theatre closes out its 2025 season with a gorgeously sung tribute in director Amy Fritsche's Almost Heaven: The Songs of John Denver. What this revue by Harold Thau (who's credited for its “original concept”) is lacking in heart is more than made up by the live music played by the onstage actors, all of whom make Denver’s music ring.
True to Steve Martin’s storytelling sensibility, Bright Star is full of heart, laced with tragedy, and balanced by moments of laugh-out-loud humor. Oh, and there’s plenty of banjo.
I’ve never been disappointed to spend a Sunday in the park with Shakespeare, though I am grateful that, this past Sunday night, the weather was fairly mild for July. I admit to being only vaguely familiar with Antony & Cleopatra before the evening commenced, but I was not fully anticipating the story to be as epic as it was in director Alaina Pascarella’s production.
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