09 Jun 2025

Summer Bible Camp: Quad City Music Guild's “Joseph & the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” at the Prospect Park Auditorium through June 15

By Mischa Hooker and Kitty Israel

M: With its familiar storyline, a lot of talent on and off stage, and a full helping of over-the-top silliness, it really hits most of the right notes.

K: You know who was hitting all the right notes?

M: Could you possibly mean Lauren VanSpeybroeck and Casey Scott?

K: I could!

09 Jun 2025

Three Cheers!: “Bring It On: The Musical,” at the Spotlight Theatre through June 15

By Pamela Briggs

The Avenue Q book writer, a Tony Award-winning lyricist, a Pulitzer Prize-winning composer, and the creator of Hamilton collaborate on a musical that's a hybrid of Hairspray, Mean Girls, and Sister Act II. You in? You should be.

09 Jun 2025

Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mama's Stuff Is in My Closet and I'm Feeling So Sad: Genesius Guild's “Oedipus Rex,” through June 15

By Pamela Briggs

For Oedipus Rex, veteran director and actor Michael Callahan was wise to choose a translation by Ian Johnston, written in contemporary English, rather than an archaic version (i.e., one employing 17th-century "thou"s). We're also spared a script written in verse, as continued rhymes might've become irritating in a stage work lasting this long.

06 Jun 2025

All Work on School Play Makes Art an Anxious Boy: “Arthur & Friends Make a Musical!”, at the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse through June 21

By Madeline Dudziak

It’s really a shame there are only six performances left of Arthur & Friends Make a Musical!, because truly, the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse's latest family entertainment was a fun show full of surprises and little touches that make the hour fly by. From the cast taking over the pre-show announcements to dancing off stage to a certain theme song, director Kiera Lynn’s small-but-mighty cast packs a big, big punch.

02 Jun 2025

On Closets, Coffins, and Comics: “Fun Home,” at the Black Box Theatre through June 14

By Mischa Hooker and Kitty Israel

Kitty: For me, Fun Home is what would happen if Tennessee Williams made a musical.

Mischa: Okay, intriguing … could you spell that out more specifically?

02 Jun 2025

Live from Timber Lake … It’s Saturday Night!: “Saturday Night Fever,” at the Timber Lake Playhouse through June 15

By Alexander Richardson

It must be summer again, because on Friday night, I found myself on my annual pilgrimage north through hordes of mayflies to attend the start of the new Timber Lake Playhouse season. Critiquing shows is always a bit of a dice roll: Will it be moving or boring? Director Tommy Ranieri's Saturday Night Fever is more of the former, and an extraordinary start to the summer-stock season.

12 May 2025

They Kill! They Slay! They Murder It!: “Chicago,” at the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse through July 5

By Madeline Dudziak

Given that the new Pope hails from Chicago, it’s likely you’ve heard an uptick of talk of that town in the last week or so. But let me tell you: There’s another Chicago you ought to be talking about, because the current production running at the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse, directed and choreographed by Ashley Becher, is a visual spectacular and features, I wager, some of the best dancing I’ve ever seen on that stage.

11 Jun 2025

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, Mischa Hooker, Kitty Israel, 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.

02 Jun 2025

You 'Do Something to Me: “Steel Magnolias,” at the Richmond Hill Barn Theatre through June 8

By Pamela Briggs

In Steel Magnolias, first-time director and backstage veteran Megan McConville has assembled an able cast and crew, and created an eye-pleasing, engaging experience with fine production values.

26 May 2025

The Company You Don't Keep: “Marry Me a Little,” at the Playcrafters Barn Theatre through June 1

By Madeline Dudziak

Featuring only two actors, Marry Me a Little involves The Boy (Thayne Lamb) and The Girl (Sydney Crumbleholme) – upstairs/downstairs apartment neighbors in New York City – and this piece, with no spoken dialogue, is told only through numbers boasting music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. Yet even with the songs, the show felt disjointed, and I never truly understood what creators Craig Lucas and Norman René wanted us to take from this collection.

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