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 enjoys a local run at Moline's Spotlight Theatre February 14 through 23, with composer Matthew Sklar and lyricist Chad Beguelin praised by New York Theatre Guide for their 1980s salute and its “truly clever and often hilarious score.”

There was a moment during Friday’s conclusion to the Black Box Theatre’s latest production, I Never Saw Another Butterfly, in which one of the child actors realized the artwork he was holding was upside down, so he turned it around. A seemingly small action, but an absolutely honest one. Children often set out to right the wrongs they see in the world, and while I’m certain director Lora Adams didn’t plan this incident, that tiny gesture drove home the reality of the night’s story for me. Even in a place full of horror, children continue to learn, grow, and create beauty, because that’s what children do.

Described by Broadway Baby as “an emotional, hard-hitting study of innocence lost and the survival of hope in even the most hellish conditions,” author Celeset Raspanti's haunting, moving, and uplifting I Never Saw Another Butterfly serves as the season-opening stage presentation at Moline's Black Box Theatre, its January 24 through February 1 run showcasing the works of art and poetry created by Jewish children who lived in the concentration camp Theresienstadt.

Winner of six 2013 Tony Awards including Best Musical and Best Score for pop icon Cyndi Lauper, the high-kicking musical Kinky Boots enjoys its first long-running area engagement at Rock Island's Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse January 15 through March 14, the show called “cause for celebration” by Entertainment Weekly and, according to Time Out New York, “the very model of a modern major musical.”