21 Jul 2025

If You Knew Her Story: “Bright Star,” at the Clinton Area Showboat Theatre through July 27

By Madeline Dudziak

True to Steve Martin’s storytelling sensibility, Bright Star is full of heart, laced with tragedy, and balanced by moments of laugh-out-loud humor. Oh, and there’s plenty of banjo.

18 Jul 2025

There's Something About Mary: “Mary Poppins,” at the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse through September 6

By Mischa Hooker and Kitty Israel

Kitty: Full disclosure: We once dressed as Mary Poppins and Bert for Halloween. We’re very serious about our Poppins lore.

Mischa: But we promise to be absolutely objective in our reactions to this show.

15 Jul 2025

Countryside Community Theatre's “Hairspray,” July 25 through August 3

By Reader Staff

Lauded by the New York Times as a "fresh, winning, and deliriously tuneful" musical that's "as sweet as a show can be without promoting tooth decay," the Tony-winning Broadway sensational Hairspray closes Countryside Community Theatre's 2025 summer season with the show's July 25 through August 3 run, this stage sensation also praised by Variety as a "sweet, infinitely spirited, bubblegum-flavored confection" that "more than lives up to its promise."

15 Jul 2025

Genesius Guild's “Peace,” July 26 through August 3

By Reader Staff

For the fourth straight year, and with company favorite Jacob Lund directing, the Quad Cities' classical-theatre company Genesius Guild will close its summer season with a madcap, somewhat modernized slapstick co-written by Haus of Ruckus founders T. Green and Cal Vo, their adaptation of Aristophanes' ancient-Greek satire Peace running in Rock Island's Lincoln Park June 26 through August 3.

15 Jul 2025

A Spoonful of Sugar: “Waitress,” at the Timber Lake Playhouse through July 27

By Alexander Richardson

The Timber Lake Playhouse continues its hot streak with Waitress, directed and choreographed by Jennifer Hemphill. A crowd-pleaser through and through, with a charming book that's further buoyed by a wonderfully diverse cast of performers, this production is a saccharine slice of heaven.

08 Jul 2025

City Circle Theatre Company's “School of Rock: The Musical,” July 18 through 27

By Reader Staff

Delivering what The Hollywood Reporter described as “a joyous blast of defiant analog vitality in a manufactured digital world,” the City Circle Theatre Company brings School of Rock: The Musical to the Coralville Center for the Performing Arts July 18 through 27, this stage sensation based on the beloved Jack Black comedy hailed by Broadway World as “a big, beautiful blast of musical comedy from start to finish.”

21 Jul 2025

Local Theatre Auditions/Calls for Entry

By Administrator
Local Theatre Auditions/Calls for Entry

Updated: Monday, July 21

21 Jul 2025

River Cities' Reader Theatre Reviews: July 2000 to the Present

By Administrator

Reviews by Rochelle Arnold, Jeff Ashcraft, Patricia Baugh-Riechers, Audra Beals, Pamela Briggs, Dee Canfield, Madeline Dudziak, Kim Eastland, Emily Heninger, Heather Herkelman, Mischa Hooker, Kitty Israel, Paula Jolly, Victoria Navarro, Roger Pavey Jr., Alexander Richardson, Mark Ruebling, Mike Schulz, Joy Thompson, Oz Torres, Brent Tubbs, Jill Pearson Walsh, and Thom White.

15 Jul 2025

Talk Like an Egyptian: Genesius Guild’s “Antony and Cleopatra,” at Lincoln Park through July 20

By Madeline Dudziak

I’ve never been disappointed to spend a Sunday in the park with Shakespeare, though I am grateful that, this past Sunday night, the weather was fairly mild for July. I admit to being only vaguely familiar with Antony & Cleopatra before the evening commenced, but I was not fully anticipating the story to be as epic as it was in director Alaina Pascarella’s production.

14 Jul 2025

Milked Shakes: Barely There Theatre's “To Leer at Lear,” at the Black Box Theatre through July 19

By Pamela Briggs

Alexander Richardson calls this "a love letter to community theatre," and if you've ever been in a show, played on a team, had a job, been part of a family, or met at least one other person in your life, you may recognize at least some of these situations.

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