The Timber Lake Playhouse’s latest jukebox musical, What a Wonderful World, is the magical tale of how Santa and Mrs. Claus try to retire – but in doing so, they must pass the baton to the new Santa, otherwise the North pole, and the fate of Christmas, are in danger of disappearing forever.

Director Luke Vermiere’s Holiday Inn – which I attended on its final, Tuesday-night dress rehearsal – just may have been the dose of “Cindy Lou Who” that I needed to embrace the Christmas spirit, and perhaps this show's one-weekend run will do the same for you.

A debuting musical of holiday favorites and an original comedic script close the curtain on the Mockingbird on Main's inaugural 2021 season, with the Davenport venue's December 9 through 18 run of Deck Halls treating audiences to six evenings of yuletide revelry written and directed by the theatre's co-founder Tristan Layne Tapscott.

With this version of the Seussical script, director/choreographer Ashley Becher, musical director Shelley Walljasper, and their cast and crew have concocted an entertaining, gratifying experience.

Friday night’s production at the Mockingbird on Main started with a moment of silence for Broadway’s legendary composer/lyricist Stephen Sondheim, who passed away earlier that day. Yet while I’m sure a similar moment was shared across any number of theatres around the globe, what happened afterward was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

One of the most venerable and beloved stage musicals of all time, The Sound of Music completes the 2021 season at Moline's Spotlight Theatre, the show adored by all generations for its rich characters, beautiful celebration of family, and an unforgettable Rodgers & Hammerstein score boasting such iconic songs as “My Favorite Things,” “Sixteen Going on Seventeen,” “Climb Ev'ry Mountain,” “Edleweiss,” and the unforgettable title tune.

A 178-year-old holiday perennial will be presented in a brand-new old-timey way from December 2 through 12 when Moline's Black Box Theatre presents its debut of A Christmas Carol on the Radio (well, really on stage), a sincere yet cheeky interpretation of Charles Dickens' beloved yuletide classic staged in the style of a 1940s audio-drama.

Described by the Orlando Weekly as a slapstick that “accomplishes the small miracle of making all Christmas myths seem both utterly ridiculous and absolutely essential,” the holiday-themed spoof Every Christmas Story Ever Told (and then some) closes the 2021 season for Geneseo's Richmond Hill Barn Theatre, a show lauded by the Sacramento Bee as “a respectful homage and side-splitting parody at the same time.”

Lauded by Deadline as "an endorphin assault" and a stage work that delivers "warm-bath pleasure like no other show since 42nd Street," Broadway's yuletide treat Irving Berlin's Holiday Inn wraps up the 2021 season for Quad City Music Guild, its December 1 through 5 run sure to prove why CurtainUp called the musical "a trip back to sheer old-fashioned good-time entertainment."

Winner of seven Tony Awards including Best Musical, and an international musical sensation that has delighted audiences for more than 40 years, composer Andrew Lloyd Webber's stage spectacle Cats comes to Davenport's Adler Theatre on December 1, its North American touring stop sure to demonstrate why The Guardian lauded the show as “an exhilarating piece of total theatre.”

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