Presented as part of the Davenport venue's popular “Kaffee und Kuchen” series, the German American Center's May 18 program A Great Treasure in Rock Island: The Hauberg Estate will explore how, in 1956, the family of Denkmann-Weyerhauser lumber company heiress Susanne Denkmann and her husband John Hauberg gifted their home to the City of Rock Island, with presenter Annette LeZotte offering insight into the past, present, and future of this magnificent Quad Cities civic center.
His career trajectory having taken him from being a public school teacher to a national touring comedian, Lucas Bohn shares his journey of following his dreams in the midst of life’s many curve balls in Lesson Plans to Late Night. a special May 22 event at Rock Island's Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse boasting a plethora of jokes from students and ruminations on the joys of mid-life adoption while performing comedy across America.
Presented by the Quad Cities Bicycle Club and returning to the Village of East Davenport, an eagerly anticipated Memorial Day tradition returns for its 58th year in the Quad Cities Criterium – a May 26 event featuring hundreds of adult and youth cyclists from across the U.S., Canada, and Europe participating in a dozen bicycle races, with thousands of dollars in cash prizes awarded throughout the day.
Delivering a blend of local history, environmental issues, education, entertainment, and fresh air, Davenport's River Action will again present a series of outdoor presentations in the first month-plus of the annual Channel Cat Talks and Riverine Walks: weekly programs that, from May 27 through June 28, will address such topics as Brazil's Amazon River, invasive species, area raptors, and the home of the Quad City River Bandits.
Recently hailed for her hosting of the 2025 Golden Globe Awards – a gig she so effectively slayed that she's already been invited back for 2026 – comedian, actor, and podcaster Nikki Glaser brings her “Alive and Unwell Tour” to Davenport's Adler Theatre on May 29, her career-defining 2024 career culminating with being named “Comedian of the Year” by the New York Times.
[The remarks below were delivered during Public With Business at the Scott County Board of Supervisors Board Meeting Thursday April 24, 2025.] "I will save you the suspense: It is a public record. We all know how this is going to end. The only question is if you’re going to write another check for $93,000 to Mike Meloy or not?"
For two years, lifelong Scott County residents Dr Allen Diercks and Diane Holst (a former Scott County Board of Supervisor) put their money where their convictions are and hired Attorney Mike Meloy to take Scott County, Iowa, and Auditor Kerri Tompkins to court in 2023 to compel her in the direction of greater transparency and participation with Scott Countians by disclosing the list of names and addresses of 27 candidates who submitted résumés for a vacant supervisor seat on the Scott County Board of Supervisors (SCBS).
As we approach May 28, the second anniversary of a tragedy that shocked the people of Davenport and brought national attention to the issue of building safety, secrecy continues to cloud public confidence in their government officials.
I spent some time talking with a top legislative budget negotiator last week who said rank-and-file legislators will very soon have to come to terms with a state budget environment unlike anything many have ever seen before.
During a rip-roaring speech in New Hampshire last week, Governor JB Pritzker called for mass national protests and “disruption,” assailed “do-nothing” Democrats for their “simpering timidity,” and labeled President Donald Trump a “madman” who cannot be reasoned with. The Jewish Ukrainian-American governor said of Trump: “Stop tearing down the Constitution in the name of my ancestors. Do not claim that your authoritarian power-grabs are about anti-Semitism. When you destroy social justice, you are disparaging the very foundation of Judaism.”
Conceived by the revered artistic team of Craig Lucas and Norman René, and boasting nearly two dozen songs by the composing legend that is Stephen Sondheim, the two-character musical Marry Me a Little makes its Quad Cities debut at the Playcrafters Barn Theatre, its May 23 through June 1 sure to demonstrate why The Guardian hailed the show as "a carousel of regrets and rapture."
From May 29 through June 8, one of the most endearing and enduring of all dramatic comedies enjoys a run at Geneseo's Richmond Barn Theatre with the venue's presentation of Steel Magnolias, playwright Robert Harling's charming, riotous, and moving tale of mothers, daughters, and best friends that inspired the 1989 movie classic and led Drama-Logue to call it "a skillfully crafted, lovingly evoked picture of eccentricity in the small-town South."
Given that the new Pope hails from Chicago, it’s likely you’ve heard an uptick of talk of that town in the last week or so. But let me tell you: There’s another Chicago you ought to be talking about, because the current production running at the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse, directed and choreographed by Ashley Becher, is a visual spectacular and features, I wager, some of the best dancing I’ve ever seen on that stage.
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.
Touring in support of their 2024 album Sam's Place, a Grammy Award nominee that AllMusic described as "filled with excellent songs that will undoubtedly satisfy blues enthusiasts," the venerated rockers of Little Feat bring their national "Strike Up the Band Tour" to Davenport's Capitol Theatre on May 16, the band's discography over more than a half-century including 17 studio albums, 14 live albums, and 30 singles including Billboard chart-toppers “Hate to Lose Your Lovin'” and “Texas Twister.”
Hailed by Rolling Stone as “a powerhouse unit” and by American Songwriter for delivering “introspective lyrics and world-class musicianship,” the progressive Americana and bluegrass musicians of Nefesh Mountain headline a May 16 concert event at Davenport's Redstone Room, their 2025 release Beacons inspiring Americana Highways' John Hancock to rave, “I loved every song and am excited to see this band on tour.”
Lauded by Complex for his "undeniable charisma and musical gifts," the site adding that "he isn't being called 'the underground Sean Kingston' for no reason, the Los Angeles-based Davenport native Dave Blunts brings his tour to Davenport's Capitol Theatre on May 17, the 23-year-old hip-hop musician and epo rapper's nearly two dozen singles including three released (so far) in 2025 alone: "Thinking of You," "Balcony," and "First Day Out the Hospital."
Delivering a unique blend of retro-bluegrass, traditional country, gospel, and Appalachian Mountain music, Joe Hott & the Short Mountain Boys bring their tour to Maquoketa's Ohnward Fine Arts Center on May 17, the group having shared stages with artists such as Rhonda Vincent and Vince Gill, and performing to-tapping tunes by Ralph Stanley, Hank Williams Sr, and original numbers written by Hott himself.
On May 17, a revered group of chart-topping, Grammy-winning rockers will be celebrated when Mt. Carroll's Timber Lake Playhouse presents the six-piece tribute event Heartache Tonight: The Music of the Eagles, an evening of beloved, iconic hits sure to include such chart-toppers as "Hotel California," "Peaceful Easy Feeling," "Best of My Love," "One of These Nights," and, of course, "Heartache Tonight."
With the popular horror-film series making a long-awaited cineplex return after an absence of 14 years, Davenport venue The Last Picture House will celebrate the May 16 opening of Final Destination Bloodlines with a special appearance by the film's co-star Anna Lore, a Dubuque native who will take part in the screening event's in-person Q&A session.
Presented at part of the Bettendorf Public Library's Teem Movie Night series, 1999's iconic Shakespeare-comedy-turned-Hollywood-smash 10 Things I Hate About You, will be screened in the library's Junior League Program Room on May 16, this iconic romantic comedy famed for delivering breakthrough roles for Julia Stiles, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and the late Oscar winner Heath Ledger.
In this horror comedy, at least a dozen wannabe killers dress as a small town's costumed mascot Frendo, and while it would be nice to report that this circus freak resembles Javier Bardem's Anton Chiguhr, he's really just a low-rent Pennywise. It would be nicer to report that the movie was even the least bit scary, yet given the genre and my personal expectations, I happily settled for funny.
Going to the cineplex or staying in and streaming this weekend? Every Thursday morning at 8:15 a.m. you can listen to Mike Schulz dish on recent movie releases & talk smack about Hollywood celebs on Planet 93.9 FM with the fabulous Dave & Darren in the Morning team of Dave Levora and Darren Pitra. The morning crew previews upcoming releases, too.
Or you can check the Reader Web site and listen to their latest conversation by the warm glow of your electronic device. Never miss a pithy comment from these three scintillating pundits again.
Thursday, May 15: Previews of Final Destination: Bloodlines and Hurry Up Tomorrow, and discussion of Shadow Force, Fight or Flight, The Shrouds, and Clown in a Cornfield, the latter the rare horror movie whose mid-film plot twist not only can but should be spoiled.
You only turn 100 years old once. And while the Figge Art Museum – which originated as the Davenport Municipal Art Gallery in 1925 – is marking its centennial year in many ways, it's pulling out all the stops on Saturday, May 17, with a “Glow Up” party, celebrating a landmark $4-million lighting of its building at 225 West Second Street in Davenport.
An ideal afternoon escape for garden and flower lovers, live-music fans, art enthusiasts, families with kids, and those shopping for unique gifts, the Muscatine Art Center's For the Love of the Garden event will take place on May 17, this outdoor celebration boasting a performance by the Mad Creek Mudcats, live painting demonstrations, studio crafts, a vendor market, and more.
Davenport's Figge Art Museum is delivering some extra-special kick with its colorful and arresting exhibit on display from May 24 through August 24, as the footwear-themed exhibit Future Now: Virtual Sneakers to Cutting-Edge Kicks enjoys a stay in the venue's fourth-floor gallery, the exhibition co-organized by the American Federation of Arts and the Bata Shoe Museum, and curated by he latter's director and senior curator Elizabeth Semmelhack.
Always an eagerly awaited series at the Figge Art Museum, the latest incarnation of Young Artists at the Figge will be on display through May 25, with the Davenport venue celebrating the accomplishments of budding creative talents of local elementary and junior-high art students whose works will be showcased in a continuing series of individual exhibitions.
Offering a bold, provocative critique of societal structures through collaborative, resistance-driven prints, the exhibition Delusion of Choice, by the art collective Fatherless Print Posse, enjoys a showcase at Dubuque's Voices Studios through May 31.
You'll get both the current official narrative challenge and What's Happenin' in the Quad Cities.
(Did you know we publish a new Real Astrology and RCR Crossword every week?)
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