Driving Miss Daisy is one of the staples of American theatre. Originally written as a stage play in 1987, (and winning the Pulitzer Prize the following year), it was adapted to film in 1989, and then re-staged all over the nation and the world. Talents such as Morgan Freeman, Jessica Tandy, James Earl Jones, and Angela Lansbury have all lent their voices to Alfred Uhry’s script, but while I’ve heard the play referenced countless times, I have to confess that attending its new production at the Mockingbird on Main was my first true exposure to the material. I finally see what all the hubbub is about.

This All Shook Up mixes Elvis' two endeavors as part parody, part tribute, and director Max Moline, music director Trent Teske, choreographer Robyn Messerly, and all involved made it a 24-karat gold-record blast – the most, daddy-o!

Over their past year-plus of productions, the Haus of Ruckus team of T. Green and Calvin Vo have treated audiences to no end of surprises: blends of classical-Greek and disco stylings; mixed martial arts competitions peppered with video-game sound effects and glow-in-the-dark puppets; a talking cactus. But with their latest comedy Are We There Yeti?, running March 3 through 12, Green and Vo have made a most unexpected presentational switch: They've gone educational. Sort of.

An entertaining, illuminating program of three short stage pieces connected to a famous yet still frequently neglected Pulitzer Prize-winning writer from Davenport, the debuting theatre company the New Athens Players presents Spotlight on Susan Glaspell at Davenport's Village Theatre, its February 24 through March 5 run showcasing two premiering works and the celebrated playwright's lauded one-act Trifles.

Even though saying that the venerable, ubiquitous Barefoot in the Park really holds up today is cliché, I'm saying it. And this production as a whole is fresh in every aspect – thus, unlike me, staying far away from the formulaic.

Described by the New York Theatre Guide as “a terrifically entertaining time” and “a great big Broadway show that never loses its mind or its light touch,” the Elvis-meets-Shakespeare musical All Shook Up opens the Spotlight Theatre's 2023 season of musical extravaganzas, its February 17 through 26 run in Moline delivering hilarity, romance, and a batch of favorite pop and rock tunes including “Heartbreak Hotel,” “It's Now or Never,” and “Hound Dog.”

A Pulitzer Prize-winning play that inspired an Academy Award winner for Best Picture, Alfred Uhry's beloved comedy-drama Driving Miss Daisy enjoys a February 17 through 25 run at Davenport venue The Mockingbird on Main, the work described by The Theatre Guide as “both touching and amusing … a classic with enduring themes, characters, and heart.”

I'm often impressed upon my first glance at the set when I enter the Black Box Theatre: the opulent, creepy one of The Turn of the Screw; the enigmatic jumble of portraits and ripped flags for Assassins; the varying, multiple-locale settings for Little Women: The Musical. (This venue's crews find the most wonderful furniture and set dressing, too.) However, the set for playwright Lauren Gunderson's Natural Shocks, the Black Box's current production, blows them all away. I think I actually froze in astonishment.

Opening its eagerly anticipated 2023 season with one of the most hilarious and beloved romantic comedies in theatrical history, Neil Simon's timeless Barefoot in the Park enjoys a February 10 through 19 run at Moline's Playcrafters Barn Theatre, this Tony-winning stage sensation – and inspiration for the Robert Redford/Jane Fonda movie – lauded by Life magazine as nothing less than “one of the funniest comedies ever.”

A literary classic adapted for the stage by a remarkable trio of professional talents, author Kenneth Grahame's beloved The Wind in the Willows enjoys a student-performed rendition at Davenport Junior Theatre from February 11 to 19, its creators including the Olivier Award-winning Mary Poppins team of composer/lyricists George Stiles and Anthony Drewe, and its book writer Julian Fellowes, the Academy Award and Emmy winner responsible for Gosford Park and Downton Abbey.

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