Lauded by the New York Times as “effortlessly endearing” and by Variety magazine as “enormously satisfying,” The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee continues the 60th summer season at Mt. Carroll's Timber Lake Playhouse, the show's July 1 through 11 run sure to demonstrate why composer William Finn's celebrated 2005 musical comedy received two Tony Awards and enjoyed a Broadway run of 1,136 performances.

What would summer in Iowa be without fireworks? And small-town Independence Day celebrations? Ice cream? A marching band? A charming con man? Yep – for me, it's just not summer without The Music Man. This 1957 work by Iowan Meredith Willson (with Franklin Lacey's assist on the story) is my favorite musical. I've seen more productions of it than any other show, and felt lucky to review Countryside Community Theatre's opening-night performance.

Promising nights of classical-theatre education blended with beautifully phrased entertainment, Genesius Guild presents its second show of the 2021 season in the July 3 through 11 run of Shakespeare's Life in His Works, a debuting exploration into the Bard's works boasting clips from classical favorites and narration written by 92-year-old Guild founder Don Wooten.

It was a beautiful summer night on Saturday, and I was thrilled to attend the Clinton Area Showboat Theatre’s energetic new musical Smokey Joe’s Café. Celebrating the songs of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, this production took place outdoors, across the street from the Showboat in the charming Riverview Park Bandshell. And from the first note of the first song, I knew I was in for a treat.