16 Apr 2018

Viagra Falls, or: This Bud's for You: “Sex Please, We're 60,” at the Richmond Hill Barn Theatre through April 22

By Jeff Ashcraft

Does sex sell? That question is dissected by every Marketing 101 class every semester on virtually every college campus. Professors will have students review magazine ads, Web-site pop-ups, and television commercials. They study the branding of perfume, women's-underwear slogans, and the sensuality of eating a luscious cheeseburger. I think most can agree that sex does sell. And if theatre is any indication, the older the targeted market, the better it sells! Just check out the Richmond Hill Barn Theatre's Sex Please, We're 60, and you'll know exactly what I mean.

02 Apr 2018

Roosters in the Henhouse: “The Church Basement Ladies in Rise Up, O Men!,” at the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse through May 12

By Rochelle Arnold

Faith, hope, and brotherly love wrapped up in comic genius and superb writing was what I witnessed this past Good Friday. I must admit, I had never heard of the Church Basement Ladies series until recently, and was not sure what to expect. But the theatre's current The Church Basement Ladies in Rise Up, O Men was one of the best shows I've ever seen at the Circa ’21 Dinner Playhouse.

26 Mar 2018

Whosungit?: "Clue: The Musical," at the Black Box Theatre through March 31

By Jeff Ashcraft

Clue: The Musical is the latest production to open in this wonderfully intimate venue in downtown Moline, and speaking candidly, I was blown away by the packed house as audience members loudly chattered away before the opening curtain. It was as if they all had been cooped up in their homes for the last 24 hours, but needed to venture out just to see a classic board game brought to life via a Broadway-esque style musical.

22 Mar 2018

False Profits: Quad City Music Guild's "Catch Me If You Can," at the Prospect Park Auditorium through March 25

By Madeline Dudziak

“One day you’ll look at yourself and you won’t be who you were.”

Ladies and gentlemen, that is foreshadowing in Catch Me If You Can – but there are more than simple plot devices in director Michael Turczynski’s staging that runs this weekend at Quad City Music Guild's Prospect Park Auditorium.

12 Mar 2018

Role Play: “Venus in Fur,” at the QC Theatre Workshop through March 25

By Brent Tubbs

Saturday night’s performance of Venus in Fur at the QC Theatre Workshop was … steamy. Not only in terms of the material, but in the talent on-stage, as real-life married couple Thomas Alan Taylor and Jessica Taylor set the stage ablaze in a two-person show about a young actress who all but forces her way into an audition and proves, over the course of 100 minutes, to be far more then she claims to be.

12 Mar 2018

How They Spent Their Summer Vacation: “Proposals,” at the Playcrafters Barn Theatre through March 18

By Madeline Dudziak

When Neil Simon’s name is on a production, you tend to expect sentimentality and humor, and the Playcrafters Barn Theatre's opening-night performance of Simon's little-known Proposals was certainly humorous.

05 Feb 2018

Oh, What a Tangled Web We've Weaved: New Ground Theatre's "The Nether," at the Village Theatre through February 11

By Jeff Ashcraft

Maybe our virtual lives are just as important as our physical lives. To some, maybe, they're more important.

30 Jan 2018

British Snare Ways: "Sleuth," at the Black Box Theatre through February 11

By Mark Ruebling

So much has been said about Pat Flaherty's performances over the years that I hesitate to add more here for fear of being accused of plagiarism. Suffice it to say Flaherty has brought a smile to my face in everything I have ever seen him act in, and his portrayal in Sleuth was certainly no exception.

30 Jan 2018

Hysteria Blindness: "In the Next Room (or The Vibrator Play)," at Augustana College through February 4

By Brent Tubbs

Augustana College's production of In the Next Room (or The Vibrator Play) takes the audience back to the simpler time of the 1800s, when electricity was being discovered, doctors still worked out of their homes, and females were apparently so sexually repressed they were driving themselves insane.

22 Jan 2018

Invasion of the Body Switchers: "Freaky Friday," at the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse through March 24

By Brent Tubbs

This past Friday was freaky. Because at the opening night for the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse’s Freaky Friday musical, the many stories of the evening – director Erin Thompson’s return to the theatre where she got her start in 1993’s Annie; her show being Thompson’s first professional directing credit – included the sheer splendor of the entire performance, from the acting to the dancing to the incredible singing. My wife and I definitely left the experience saying, “That was freaky good.”

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