A well-known seasonal tale gets an inventive stage makeover when Moline's Black Box Theatre presents It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play, which finds Frank Capra's holiday classic – and the entire town of Bedford Falls – re-enacted by a cast of seven.

A finalist for the 1988 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, A.R. Gurney's two-character romance Love Letters plays the Black Box Theatre in a special two-night run, its cast composed of award-winning Chicago actor Gene Weygandt and the venue's co-founder and artistic director Lora Adams.

Described by the New York Times as a “beautifully structured play with nifty surprise endings (most but not all of them happy),” author John Cariani's romantic comedy Almost, Maine has proven to be one of the millennium's most popular stage works – popular enough to have two separate productions of the show opening locally, on November 10, at Scott Community College and the QC Theatre Workshop.

Called “hilarious and heartwarming” by the Chicago Tribune and praised for its “bright comic zest” and “swinging music” by the New York Times, the musical adaptation of Elf – based on the 2003 screen comedy starring Will Ferrell – will make its area debut and jump-start the holidays as Circa '21's 2017-18 season opener.