With his most recent work The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store named one of the New York Times’ 100 Notable Books of 2023, National Book Award and Library of Congress Prize winner James McBride takes part in the latest virtual Illinois Libraries Present program hosted by the Rock Island and Silvis Public Libraries, the February 4 event A Conversation with James McBride finding its subject in fascinating conversation with interviewer Heather Marie-Montlilla of PBS Books.
The funny bone of one of the United States' most revered presidents will be explored at Coal Valley's Robert R. Jones Public Library on February 11 when historian and former professor Dr. William Hampes presents The Humor of American Lincoln, a program focusing on the types of humor that Lincoln used, how he used them in politics and his personal life to achieve his goals, and what his sense of humor demonstrated about his personality.
A unique production that pushes the boundaries of circus arts by combining stunning skating and acrobatic feats that defy the imagination, Cirque du Soleil: Crystal enjoys a four-day, five-performance run at Moline's Vibrant Arena at the MARK, the touring show's February 13 through 16 engagement exploring brand-new creative territory for the first time in the company’s astounding 40-year history.
On display through April 6 at Davenport's German American Heritage Center, the sensitive and touching exhibit With You I Am Myself / Mit Dir bin ich ich finds Israeli artist and photographer Oranit Ben Zimra portraying 12 pairs of friends from Norderstedt, Germany, in words and pictures, the collection forming a beautiful mosaic of German-Israeli friendships.
Created in partnership with the Smithsonian Institute’s Traveling Exhibit team, the illuminating and engaging immersive exhibition Hubble Telescope: New Views of the Universe will be on display at Davenport's Putnam Museum & Science Center through January 26, this fascinating, family-themed exhibit designed to be constantly updated with the newest imagery and technology coming from the Hubble and James Webb Space Telescopes.
The Illinois legislature’s Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability recently released an eye-popping actuarial analysis of a union-backed pension reform plan. The analysis concluded that the proposal, House Bill 5909, would cost tax-payers almost $30 billion through the year 2045.
Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan’s longtime law firm partner Vincent "Bud" Getzendanner testified in Madigan’s defense against numerous federal charges last week. One of the main themes of Getzendanner’s testimony was the property tax firm’s process of weeding out clients and potential clients who could pose a conflict of interest to Madigan.
Wondering what to expect from the government in 2025? So far, it looks like it will be more of the same ill-advised, costly, greedy, taxpayer-funded, dunderheaded power grabs, saber-rattling, graft, corruption, and make-works programming that leaves us no better off than where we started.
U.S. Attorney General William Barr testified before the J6 Select Committee (arguably illegitimate because it did not follow the procedural rules for convening a select committee), claiming he had investigated election irregularity and fraud allegations, and determined them to be unfounded. His testimony was one of the video presentations during the J6 Select Committee's nine prime-time investigative hearings.
The Scott County sheriff says although an Iowa Senate committee has rejected his ethics complaint against the state’s new lieutenant governor, he intends to pursue the matter.
With its performers the latest guests in Quad City Arts' Visiting Artist Series, the children's-book adaptation Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch enjoys a special January 30 presentation at the Rock Island Public Library's Watts-Midtown Branch, this beautiful, funny, and touching short play with puppets imagined for the stage by Axis Theatre’s artistic director Chris McGregor.
A thrilling adaptation of Sophocles’ play Philoctetes by celebrated Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney, The Cure at Troy serves as the first 2025 production at Iowa City's Riverside Theatre, the show's January 30 through February 9 run treating audiences to what Broad Street Review deemed "a rousing exploration of how our dark impulses threaten to shatter the soul – and how the light of compassion can temper our baser urges."
From January 24 through February 2, the Center for Living Arts, the Penguin Project of the Quad Cities, and Augustana College's theatre department will team up to help turn adolescents and adults with special needs into stage stars for the eagerly awaited All Shook Up, the Elvis-meets-Shakespeare musical comedy described by the New York Theatre Guide as “a terrifically entertaining time” and “a great big Broadway show that never loses its mind or its light touch."
Writing about the iconic stage presentation The Vagina Monologues in a 2018 article, the New York Times stated, “No recent hour of theatre has had a greater impact worldwide.” And patrons of Moline's Playcrafters Barn Theatre will no doubt understand why that claim was made when Eve Ensler's revered work is staged in a February 6 through 9 production, the Times adding that the play is "probably the most important piece of political theatre of the last decade."
Nominated for seven 2017 Tony Awards and the winner of the prestigious Olivier Award for Best New Musical, the comedy-classic adaptation Groundhog Day: The Musical makes its Quad Cities debut at Moline's Spotlight Theatre February 7 through 16, the stage hit lauded by the New York Times as a "dizzyingly witty" work "so outrageously inventive in ringing changes on the same old, same old, that you can’t wait for another (almost identical) day to dawn."
Four distinct, up-and-coming Midwestern acts will share one night of indie entertainment at Davenport's Raccoon Motel, with the venue hosting individual sets with Joytrip, Baron von Future, Calculated, and Nobletiger on January 30.
Performing from a heavy-metal repertoire that boasts 11 studio albums, eight live albums, three EPs, and 49 singles, the hard-rocking talents of The Four Horsemen: Metallica Tribute bring their touring show to East Moline venue The Rust Belt, their January 31 engagement treating fans to classics from the third-best-selling music artist since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking sales in 1991, selling in excess of 67 million albums in the United States alone.
A concert-opera adaptation of a Pulitzer Prize-winning work, and what will surely stand as a landmark event in Quad Cities entertainment, Omar’s Journey will continue the Quad City Symphony Orchestra's 2024-25 Masterworks IV season with performances at Davenport's Adler Theatre on February 1 and Augustana College's Centennial Hall on February 2, the production promising an unforgettable exploration of resilience, faith, and the enduring human spirit.
Lauded by The Aquarian as employing "a unified approach to performance and songwriting, crafting aural mosaics through adept instrumentation and humble precocity," the New Jersey-based funk, jazz, and rock ensemble Dogs in a Pile headline a February 3 concert at Davenport's Redstone Room, the group's output also hailed by Go-Set.net as "fun and jovial, hot and sexy, funky and weird, contemplative and dreamy."
Delivering a special tribute to our 16th American president at the Rock Island Public Library's Main Branch on February 4, gifted singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Chris Vallillo will treat patrons to his touring event Abraham Lincoln in Song, a performance in the Tuneful Tuesdays series that led Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum director of theatres Phil Funkenbusch to rave, "Vallillo takes the audience on a musical journey, making history come alive with his excellent blending of music and storytelling.”
I'll readily admit that I left The Brutalist less exhilarated than bemused. Yet this flawed work of near-greatness absolutely deserves an audience, and more than a few awards.
If I were the sort who randomly tossed the word “snub” around, I might have a question for those responsible for this morning's nominees for the 97th Oscars: What do you have against Zendaya?!
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, January 30: Previews of Companion and Dog Man, and discussion on The Brutalist, Presence, and Flight Risk. It's too early in the year to know if that latter title will make The List, but it's already at least List-adjacent.
This ticking-clock slapstick is an inarguably slight, inconsequential thing. But it routinely delivers enormous pleasure, as well as continued evidence that Keke Palmer would be a massive big-screen star if Hollywood was still in the business of making funny, fast-paced, inherently meaningless comedies that left you feeling great. Whatever happened to those? Weren't they, like, the only movies we all collectively agreed were awesome?
Now playing at area theaters.
An evocative combination of two art exhibits will be on display in the Joan Mulgrew Gallery of Dubuque's Voices Studio through January 31, with Tim Olson & Lisa Olson inviting guests to experience the unique perspectives of two artists whose journeys are rooted in deep personal reflection, family, and a dedication to their creativity.
With the exhibition's originator revered for creating Vodou flags known as drapo for more than 35 years, as well as for pushing the boundaries of this traditional Haitian art form, Myrlande Constant: DRAPO will be on display in the Figge At Museum's fourth-floor gallery from February 1 through May 4, the artist's escalating interest in expansive proportions finding some of the 17 works in the exhibition spanning more than seven feet.
Stunning works by an Argentine-American artist and educator revered for his advanced techniques in intaglio printmaking, as well as members of his family, will be celebrated at the University of Dubuque's Bisignano Art Gallery through February 3, with Lasansky: UD's Private Collection honoring the man who established the school of printmaking at the University of Iowa, which offered the first Master of Fine Arts program in the field in the United States.
A wide and beautiful variety of artistic media will be showcased in the latest group exhibition at Rock Island's Quad City Arts Center gallery, with Davis-Salazar, Weiland, & Regional Woodturners, from February 7 through March 21, boasting new paintings by Katrina Davis-Salazar, sculptural ceramics by Brant Weiland, and 20 works by nine of the region’s best woodturners.
With its creator's artistic practice belonging to a tradition that intertwines nature, technology, and human experience, Leo Villareal: Interstellar, on display at Davenport's Figge Art Museum through February 23, will showcase nine works from light sculptor Villareal’s Nebula series, inviting patrons into the realms of space, time, and perception through LEDs and custom software.
You'll get both the current official narrative challenge and What's Happenin' in the Quad Cities.
(Did you know we publish a new Amy Alkon Advice Goddess, Real Astrology, Red Meat cartoon and RCR Crossword every week?)
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