Lauded by the New York Times as a "delightfully weird and just plain delightful show" that "will provide the kind of thrills we look for in all musical comedies," Ride the Cyclone makes its area debut at Moline's Black Box Theatre August 11 through 20, with the Times going on the praise the show's "engaging and varied score" and "supremely witty book."

For the venue's final production of its 2022 summer season, the Clinton Area Showboat Theatre, from August 4 through 14, will present the award-winning song-and-dance revue The World Goes 'Round that celebrates the legendary composing team of John Kander and Fred Ebb, whose works include Broadway’s longest running American musical, Chicago, and Cabaret, considered by many to be the greatest movie musical of all time.

A heckuva lot of talented people put this production together; see it now, while the duck's still in the pond.

A Broadway musical sensation that played for more than four years and 1,500 performances, the stage version a Robert Louis Stevenson's literary classic – one boasting a score by Frank Wildhorn and a book by the legendary Leslie Bricusse – comes to life in Jekyll & Hyde, the romantic thriller that will enjoy a Quad City Music Guild interpretation from August 5 through 14.

Disaster!, created by Seth Rudethsky, written by Rudethsky and Jack Plotnick, and now at the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse, combines classic catastrophic-cinema elements with '70s pop tunes, and director/choreographer Amy McCleary, music director Ron May, and all involved came together to create this silly, music-filled diversion.

A global stage smash that has delighted audiences with more than 5,000 productions worldwide and has been translated into 21 languages, the iconic musical comedy Nunsense enjoys a July 28 through August 7 run at Mt. Carroll's Timber Lake Playhouse, the show lauded by Broadway World as boasting "dynamite singing, a pinch of puppetry, the tip-tap of time steps, and a hefty dose of soul."

For the first time since the organization's inception more than 60 years ago, the traditional end-of-summer comedy presented by Genesius Guild is not being written by Guild founder Don Wooten. Running July 30 through August 7, the company's latest comedic revamp of Aristophanes' The Frogs is instead being written, and directed, by T. Green and Calvin Vo. And if you're aware of the pair's accomplishments both on and off the Guild stage in Rock Island's Lincoln Park, you'll likely agree that the hiring choice is truly inspired.

Nominated for five 2006 Tony Awards including Best Musical and described as a “fizzy confection” by Variety magazine, the musical version of Adam Sandler's film-comedy smash The Wedding Singer will entertain Clinton Area Showboat Theatre audiences from July 21 through 31, with composer Matthew Sklar and lyricist Chad Beguelin praised by New York Theatre Guide for their 1980s salute's “truly clever and often hilarious score.”

William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream is one of those plays whose audiences are at least vaguely familiar with. Clearly, familiarity pays off, as Sunday’s performance was about as packed as I’ve ever seen at a Genesius Guild performance. And what a great night to come out and experience what the company had to offer, because director Jeremy Mahr and his cast delivered quite a lighthearted night.

I saw Playcrafters' A Raisin in the Sun on Saturday, and am happy to say that director Gaye Shannon Burnett's production does full justice to this gem.

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