This past Thursday, after a full week of unseasonably hot, muggy weather, we were finally treated to an evening that was cool and breezy. I'm prone to credit the Clinton Area Showboat Theatre's Guys & Dolls for the atmospheric shift, because as season-opening presentations go, this one was as cool and breezy as they come.

Magic is on display in Quad City Music Guild's and director Kathryn Weber's current, spirited presentation of 1776, its music direction by Claire Schaecher and choreography by Beth Marsoun. (And I hear the intermission hot dogs are terrific.)

I admit that at Saturday’s opening-night performance, I was initially confused when Genesius Guild's Andy Shearouse explained both the entire plot of William Shakespeare’s Love’s Labour’s Lost and that the set was designed to represent the inner workings of a broken cuckoo clock. One might think both concepts would be self-explanatory. But alas, they were not. In the end, I was grateful for the introductory explanation.

One of the most exhilarating stage musicals ever created, and composed by two of the most stunning musical talents in American history, West Side Story enjoys a June 12 through 21 run at Moline's Spotlight Theatre, its list of unforgettable show tunes including “Something's Coming.” “Maria,” “I Feel Pretty,” “Tonight,” “Somewhere,” and “America.”