As a special year-end gift for the Quad Cities theatre community in general and fans in particular, the Haus of Ruckus duo of T Green and Calvin Vo will deliver one final 2022 evening with their comedic counterparts Johnny and Fungus in A Very Ruckus Holiday Special, which will be staged at Davenport's Mockingbird on Main on December 30 in tandem with a live-streaming option. And if you thought the team responsible for the nutty adventures “Pants” Labyrinth in the spring and Random Access Morons in the summer was done for the year after their November presentation Spooky Pete, you're not alone, because as Vo admits, “We also thought we were done for the year.”

A soulful musical drama about the Magi and their quest to find the one prophesied about for centuries, Gold, Frankincense, & Myrrh will fill Davenport's Adler Theatre with seasonal riches during the show's engagement on December 17, with its producing company Breath of Encouragement founded by Karen Roebuck, a native of Dayton, Ohio, and longtime resident of Davenport.

Writer Peter Rothstein conceived All is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914 as a radio piece, and first presented it as a concert with nine singers and three actors in a church auditorium in 2007. Rothstein used the soldiers' own words, and Erick Lichte and Timothy C. Takach arranged the 30-or-so songs, including traditional carols, popular tunes of the day, and songs which had emerged from the war itself. The show takes only an hour, but there is much to absorb and appreciate.

When I first got to the Mockingbird on Main on Friday, I immediately noticed that the theatre itself smelled wonderful … and Christmas-y. My sentiment was shared by a fellow patron, whom I overheard sharing her comment to associate director and producer Douglas Kutzli. I also overheard Kutzli say that most of his job working on the production involved saying “No, Tristan, that’s not funny” to the show's director Tristan Tapscott. But here’s the thing: I wish Kutzli had said that so much more. Because while there was nothing about this A Christmas Carol that was bad, gosh darn it, despute valiant efforts, it just wasn’t all that funny.

While watching the Spotlight Theatre’s joyous opening-night performance of A Christmas Story: The Musical, I could feel the nostalgia and love for the material coming from much of the audience. The 1983 film is an iconic holiday flick, and it was fun to witness this production’s viewers follow along already knowing the story.

Lauded by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch as "a beautiful present for theater-goers" and by The Daily Beast as "a brilliant show that you should see immediately," a historical a cappella musical drama All Is Calm makes its Quad Cities debut at Moline's Black Box Theatre December 8 through 17, this landmark show also praised by the New York Times as "a beautiful musical recounting of a World War I cease-fire of gifts, poetry, and melody."

A celebrated seasonal event described by DC Metro Theater Arts as “an exhilarating must-see” and “a pulse-pounding pageant full of talent and praise,” Langston Hughes' iconic Black Nativity enjoys a December 9 through 11 run at Moline's Playcrafters Barn Theatre, its presentation by Creative Resources sure to prove why the Maryland Theatre Guide deemed it “a celebration of life and spirit that is at once essential and timely.”

A familiar holiday tale will enjoy a novel retelling at the Mockingbird on Main from December 9 through 17, with the Davenport theatre hosting a new version of Charles Dicken's timeless yuletide story A Christmas Carol performed by a three-person cast in an abridged, radio-comedy format.

If you’re looking for a joyful way to feel a little extra Christmas-y this holiday season, might I suggest Santa Claus: The Musical at the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse? This one-hour children’s-theatre offering packs a solid punch of yuletide warmth, and no matter how old you are, I wager you will appreciate this charming little tale.

Nominated for three 2013 Tony Awards including Best Musical and described by Broadway World as “a twinkling Christmas delight,” the yuletide treat A Christmas Story: The Musical closes the 2022 season at Moline's Spotlight Theatre with its December 2 through 11 engagement, the show's score by the Oscar- and Tony-winning team of Benj Pasek and Justin Paul inspiring the New York Times to rave, “You'd have to have a Grinch-sized heart not to feel a smile spreading across your face.”

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