Described by Time Out New York as an “insanely fun mixtape musical” and by Variety as a show that “gleefully apes the worst excesses of the era's pole-dancing, crotch-grinding, big-hair-tossing movies,” the Broadway smash Rock of Ages enjoys a June 27 through July 7 run at the Clinton Area Showboat Theatre, treating audiences to a celebration of 1980s chart-toppers that NY1 called “so cleverly staged and impressively performed that it's an irresistible, offbeat trip of a show that hits all the right notes.”

With freshly painted arches and some ghostly trees on the furthest front flats, set designer Miranda Callahan’s work on Medea was interesting enough to generally distract me from the gnats that were apparently immune to insect repellent.

A Tony Award-winning classic that, according to the New York Telegram, "ranks with Dracula and sometimes sets your spine to as much tingling," author Maxwell Anderson's legendary stage chiller Bad Seed enjoys a June 14 through 23 run at Moline's Playcrafters Barn Theatre, this powerfully creepy entertainment the inspiration for an Oscar-nominated movie and a work shortlisted for the 1955 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

It must be summer again, because I’m back to making the trek upstate to Timber Lake’s cozy playhouse in the woods. And as directed by Jay Berkow, their 2024 opener, The Nerd, is a crowd-pleasing comedy that features strong performances and solid jokes.