From June 24 through 26, the area institution devoted to theatre “for kids, by kids” will celebrate its remarkable 70th anniversary not only with free performances of the hour-long fairytale comedy Imagine That, but with an entire Saturday's worth of events, as Davenport Junior Theatre hosts a lawn picnic and dinner, outdoor games, guest speakers, and the long-anticipated opening of the venue's Junior Theatre History Museum. Imagine that!

I think exposure to the theatre is so important for kids, and Circa 21's children’s show Madagascar: A Musical Adventure, directed by Brad Hauskins, did not disappoint, with life lessons continually pouring through the plot.

Lauded by the Hollywood Reporter as “hysterically funny” and BackStage as “an evening full of belly laughs,” playwright Ken Ludwig's Tony Award-winning farce Lend Me a Tenor returns to Mt. Carroll's Timber Lake Playhouse for a June 16 through 26 engagement, this tireless and hilarious show-biz comedy delivering, according to the Associated Press, “more than enough laughs to keep Ludwig's outlandish story spinning merrily.”

For the company's latest presentation of free verse theatre in Iowa City's City Park, Riverside Theatre, from June 17 through July 3, invites audiences “once more unto the breach” for one of the boldest and most exhilarating works in the classical canon: William Shakespeare's Henry V, with this glorious outdoor production boasting a tremendously gifted cast led by Riverside Theatre veteran Katy Hahn in the title role.