24 May 2018

“The Book of Mormon,” June 5 through 10

By Reader Staff

Running in a rare eight-performance run at Davenport's Adler Theatre, the musical-comedy smash The Book of Mormon makes its local debut June 5 through 10, a show that, in its original incarnation, inspired this first paragraph of its New York Times review: “This is to all the doubters and deniers out there, the ones who say that heaven on Broadway does not exist, that it’s only some myth our ancestors dreamed up. I am here to report that a newborn, old-fashioned, pleasure-giving musical has arrived … the kind our grandparents told us left them walking on air if not on water. So hie thee hence, nonbelievers (and believers too), to The Book of Mormon, and feast upon its sweetness.”

24 May 2018

“Reefer Madness,” June 1 through 17

By Reader Staff

Davenport's QC Theatre Workshop will conclude its 2017-18 season with high spirits, and spirited performers acting high, in the June 1 through 17 run of the camp-classic musical comedy Reefer Madness, a tune-filled blast that the Chicago Tribune's Chris Jones called “very fresh and funny” and “clever enough to get me giggling verily, merrily withough any external aids whatsoever.”

24 May 2018

Magical Misery Tour: “Some Girl(s),” at the Playcrafters Barn Theatre through May 26

By Mark Ruebling

“Four cities, four past romances, four stories to be told (four nearly identical hotel rooms).” That's the premise behind the Playcrafters Barn Theatre's Barn Owl presentation of Neil LaBute's Some Girl(s), and alternating between the emotionally draining, bitingly funny, viciously cynical, and surprisingly engaging, the comedy/drama might best be described as a how-to manual on how not to make amends with your past relationships.

15 May 2018

“Dearly Beloved,” May 31 through June 10

By Reader Staff

A Southern-fried slapstick comedy by the popular playwriting team of Jessie Jones, Nicholas Hope, and Jamie Wooten, the Richmond Hill Barn Theatre's Dearly Beloved, from May 31 through June 10, will serve as the second title in the venue's 50th-anniversary season of audience-favorite revivals, the show's 2008 presentation praised by the River Cities' Reader as “charming and funny and unfailingly likable,” as well as “a terrific amount of fun.”

15 May 2018

“Some Girl(s),” May 24 through 26

By Reader Staff

With its creator described by New York magazine as “the most legitimately provocative and polarizing playwright at work today,” the relationship comedy/drama Some Girl(s), written by Tony-nominated Fat Pig and reasons to be pretty author Neil LaBute, will enjoy a May 24 through 26 staging as the latest presentation in the Playcrafters Barn Theatre's Barn Owl Series, with the play itself eliciting, according to DCTheatreScene.com, “barks of surprise, gasps of stupefaction, cries of affirmation, and, over and over, laughter.”

14 May 2018

G-Nial N-Tertainment: “Bingo! The Winning Musical,” at the Playcrafters Barn Theatre through May 20

By Jeff Ashcraft

Who knew that something as benign as bingo could be a cutthroat, super-competitive soap opera, complete with callers enjoying something extra for announcing the right bingo balls, zany rituals performed over cards, rice-cereal-treat bribes, and WWE-style heels and heroes? It just goes to show that the competitiveness of the human experience filters even into the most unlikely and folksy slices of Americana, as demonstrated in Bingo! The Winning Musical, the kooky musical offering at Moline's Playcrafters Barn Theatre.

09 May 2018

“The Bridges of Madison County,” May 23 through July 14

By Reader Staff

Adapted from the literary phenomenon and Clint Eastwood's Oscar-nominated movie, the musical version of The Bridges of Madison County makes its Quad Cities debut at the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse May 23 through July 14 – a rare romantic drama at the venue whose Broadway production was praised by the Associated Press for its “superb, thrilling score,” and by Time Out NY for being “a new work that plays like a classic.”

02 May 2018

“Bingo! The Winning Musical,” May 11 through 20

By Reader Staff

Called “warm-hearted and witty” by the Chicago Tribune and “bouncy and well-crafted” by Variety magazine, the family-friendly comedy Bingo! The Winning Musical will be staged at the Playcrafters Barn Theatre May 11 through 20 – a presentation that's not only a rare musical for the Moline venue, but a rarer one that allows audience members to be part of the show themselves.

30 Apr 2018

Going Off the Record: “The Drowsy Chaperone,” at Augustana College through May 6

By Madeline Dudziak

What would happen if you invited a friend over to listen to an original Broadway cast album? You’d probably turn it on and imagine the show in your head, inserting your opinions about what was going on as you listened. That is exactly what you will get from attending Augustana College's production of The Drowsy Chaperone.

30 Apr 2018

Old Hat, New Hat, Red Hat, Blue Hat: “Crowns: A Gospel Musical,” at the Black Box Theatre through May 6

By Rochelle Arnold

This past Friday, on a lovely spring night, we had church over at the Black Box Theatre. Powerful, soulful, and believable, the April 27 performance of Crowns: A Gospel Musical was also both entertaining and engaging – a truly spiritual experience that left me with goosebumps and a better understanding of African-American head adornments.

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