Local Theatre Auditions/Calls for Entry

Updated: Monday, July 21

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.

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.

Alexander Richardson calls this "a love letter to community theatre," and if you've ever been in a show, played on a team, had a job, been part of a family, or met at least one other person in your life, you may recognize at least some of these situations.

M: The comedy relies a lot on broad stereotypes, if you know what I mean.

K: (rolls eyes)

Consider this a "prom-vitation" to enjoy Quad City Music Guild's tuneful, touching, terrifically funny The Prom, its music by Matthew Sklar, lyrics by Chad Beguelin, and book by Beguelin and Bob Martin.

Lauded by the New York Times as "gorgeous" and "hypnotic," and by the Hollywood Reporter as "utterly fabulous," the teen edition of the Broadway smash Hadestown enjoys a July 18 through 20 run at Rock Island's Center for Living Arts, the original staging of this youth-performed musical the winner of eight 2019 Tony Awards including Best Musical, Direction, and, for composer Anaïs Mitchell, Original Score.

Kitty: I just want to start by saying that Harmoni Eiland is such a strong lead.

Mischa: Absolutely!

Nominated for seven 2019 Tony Awards including Best Musical, and the basis for 2020's popular Netflix film starring Meryl Streep, the Broadway hit The Prom enjoys a Quad City Music Guild staging at Moline's Prospect Park Auditorium July 11 through 20, this hilarious and touching show inspiring the New York Times to rave, "With its kinetic dancing, broad mugging, and belty anthems, it makes you believe in musical comedy again."

An Elizabethan classic that spans numerous genres and offers its actors a wide variety of complex and thrilling roles, William Shakespeare's Antony & Cleopatra enjoys a July 12 through 20 run in the great outdoors of Rock Island's Lincoln Park, this meaty and juicy entertainment having previously lured to the stage the legendary likes of Laurence Olivier, Vivien Leigh, John Gielgud, Vanessa Redgrave, Anthony Hopkins, and Judi Dench.

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