What's Happenin'

  • May 27, 2025
    2025 Iowa Arts Festival and Fine Art Fair, June 6 through 8

    A tradition of 40-plus years that has attracted more than 25,000 people each summer to downtown Iowa City, the Iowa Arts Festival and Fine Art Fair, from June 6 through 8, will showcase a wide array of visual artists from local and national levels. The weekend-long event will also feature a beverage garden, a variety of culinary delights, children’s activities, and thrilling live-music performances, including a Friday-night set with headliners The Original Pinettes Brass Band and Saturday's headliners Southern Avenue.

  • May 27, 2025
    “Dresden: A Royal Saxon Jewel,” June 8

    Presented as part of the Davenport venue's popular “Kaffee und Kuchen” series, the German American Center's June 8 program Dresden: A Royal Saxon Jewel, presented by Russell and Cathy Baldner, will demonstrate why it is for very good reason that Dresden, Germany, has been called a “Cultural Center of World Renown” and, in recognition of its artistic and cultural wealth, “Florence [Italy] of the North.”

  • Jun 03, 2025
    “Sacred Places,” June 14 through August 1

    Inviting guests to explores sites worldwide, share the beliefs of young worshippers, and view images, artifacts, and stories from more than two dozen sites and across various faiths, Davenport's Putnam Museum & Science Center, from June 14 through August 1, will host the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis's traveling exhibit Sacred Places, allowing patrons to explore the significance and insights provided by the locales of its title.

  • Jun 03, 2025
    2025 Quad City Juneteenth Festival, June 14

    An eagerly awaited pre-summer event complete with food, vendors, local history, games, and entertainment for the entire family, the 2025 Quad City Juneteenth Festival will be held at Davenport's LeClaire Park on June 14, the celebration hosted by the Friends of MLK (FoMLK) and held in commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States.

  • Jun 03, 2025
    Ride the Island, June 15

    Delivering an exciting twist on the organization's annual Father's Day activity Ride the River, Davenport's River Action will this year host hours of outdoor fun in Ride the Island, a June 15 opportunity for cyclists to ride the roads and trails on the Rock Island Arsenal while exploring its rich history and visiting iconic landmarks.

News & Commentary

Theatre

  • Jun 06, 2025
    All Work on School Play Makes Art an Anxious Boy: “Arthur & Friends Make a Musical!”, at the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse through June 21

    It’s really a shame there are only six performances left of Arthur & Friends Make a Musical!, because truly, the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse's latest family entertainment was a fun show full of surprises and little touches that make the hour fly by. From the cast taking over the pre-show announcements to dancing off stage to a certain theme song, director Kiera Lynn’s small-but-mighty cast packs a big, big punch.

  • Jun 05, 2025
    Up Close with the Artistic Directors at the Clinton Showboat and Timber Lake Playhouse

    Courtney Crouse and Tommy Ranieri are both enthusiastic theatre directors who are taking on recent roles as artistic directors of, respectively, our area's summer-stock organizations the Clinton Area Showboat Theatre and the Timber Lake Playhouse. Their passion for the craft and their new summer homes were obvious in recent interviews about the theatres located just 24 miles apart, one on each side of the Mississippi River.

  • May 27, 2025
    Quad City Music Guild's “Joseph & the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” June 6 through 15

    A beloved biblical musical boasting seven Tony Award nominations and a chart-topping U.K. single in “Any Dream Will Do,” the Broadway smash Joseph & the Amazing Technical Dreamcoat, from June 6 through 15, serves as the summertime opener for the talents at Quad City Music Guild, this theatrical classic the first-ever publicly staged work by the legendary stage team of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice.

  • May 28, 2025
    “Bring It On: The Musical,” June 6 through 15

    With the News Observer praising the show as a "high-energy stage spectacle" and the Charlotte Observer raving about its "witty dialogue, zingily clever songs, and inventive visuals," Bring It On: The Musical makes its area debut in a June 6 through 15 run at Moline's Spotlight Theatre, this Tony nominee for Best Musical based on the beloved 2000 Kirsten Dunst film comedy and inspiring the Huffington Post to state, "It's been a long time since [we] enjoyed a new musical quite as much."

  • May 30, 2025
    Genesius Guild's “Oedipus Rex,” June 7 through 15

    Opening its 2025 season with one of the most dynamic and unforgettable Greek tragedies ever written, Genesius Guild's outdoor presentation of Sophocles' Oedipus Rex enjoys a June 7 through 15 run in Rock Island's Lincoln Park, this tale of hubris and much, much worse serving as the theatre company's annual presentation largely performed in traditional Greek masks.

Music

  • May 20, 2025
    “TOBY: A Tribute to Toby Keith,” June 5

    In afternoon and evening performances on June 5, country-music fans are invited to sing their hearts out to timeless classics such as “How Do You Like Me Now,” “Should’ve Been a Cowboy,” and “I Love This Bar" at the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse, with the Rock Island venue presenting the area debut of the touring sensation TOBY: A Tribute to Toby Keith starring Hollywood Yates. With every strum of the guitar and every beat of the drum, TOBY pays homage to Keith’s extraordinary career, capturing the essence of his rebellious charm and unwavering dedication to his craft.

  • May 27, 2025
    Live at Five: Summer Kickoff Block Party, June 6

    With the free event presented in partnership with the Quad Cities Cultural Trust and the City of Davenport and supporting sponsor, Tower Trust & Investment Company, Davenport's Common Chord is set to jump-start the warm-weather months with the Live at 5: Summer Kickoff Block Party on June 6, the outdoor celebration starting in the venue's courtyard with high-energy performances by 10 of Soul and students from the QC Rock Academy.

  • May 27, 2025
    BYOBrass, June 6

    A collective of Iowa-based musicians and educators founded in 2017 by a group of friends at the University of Northern Iowa, the high-energy ensemble BYObrass headlines a June 6 concert in the Rock the Wood summer-concert series at Bettendorf venue The Tangled Wood.

  • May 27, 2025
    The Marshall Tucker Band, June 7

    Boasting a repertoire bubbling over with hits including the heartfelt singalong "Heard It in a Love Song," the testifying "Fire on the Mountain," and the explosive testimony of "Ramblin,'" the genre-crossing rockers of The Marshall Tucker Band headline a June 7 concert event at Davenport's Rhythm City Casino Resort Event Center, the ensemble famed for incorporating blues, country and jazz into an eclectic sound, and helping establish the Southern rock genre in the early 1970s.

  • May 27, 2025
    Reverend Raven & the Chain Smokin' Altar Boys featuring Westside Andy, June 8

    With the Chicago Blues Guide deeming them “excellent” and Emmy-nominated actor Hugh Laurie upping the praise by calling them “bloody excellent,” the blues artists of Reverend Raven & the Chain Smokin' Altar Boys featuring Westside Andy play Davenport's Gypsy Highway Bar & Grill on June 8 in a concert co-presented by the Mississippi Valley Blues Society, the artists noted for albums include Big Bee, Slow Burn, and Shake Your Boogie.

Movies

  • Jun 04, 2025
    Pulling Focus African American Film Festival of the Quad Cities, June 5 through 8

    Launched in 2023 by the Azubuike African American Council for the Arts and taking place in various area locales June 5 through 8, the third-annual Pulling Focus African American Film Festival of the Quad Cities has been designed as a celebration of local film and culture that focuses on enriching the lives of Quad Cities residents, presenting unique film-watching experiences framed through the lens of African American and Black Diasporic voices.

  • Jun 05, 2025
    Mike Schulz with Dave & Darren on Planet 93.9 FM

    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, June 5: Discussion of Karate Kid: Legends, Bring Her Back, and Mountainhead; previews of Ballerina, The Phoenician Scheme, and Dangerous Animals: and Dave's list of the best-ever poster taglines for shark thrillers. Dangerous Animals' might just take the cake.

  • Jun 02, 2025
    Cobra Why?: “Karate Kid: Legends,” “Bring Her Back,” and “Mountainhead”

    You'll rarely hear me complain about a film, especially an umpteenth followup in an apparently endless franchise, being too modestly scaled or too short. However, in the case of this latest installment in the KKU, I do feel obligated to ask: Really? This is it? This whole, paltry, badly shot thing exists simply to get Jackie Chan and Ralph Macchio on-screen together – and even then only barely, and not until almost a full hour has passed?

  • May 26, 2025
    It's Not Bad, It's Just Drawn Out That Way: “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning,” “Lilo & Stitch,” “The Last Rodeo,” and “Friendship”

    If Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning really is as final as its title implies, I can perhaps forgive the film for including so very many flashback images from the franchise's previous seven installments, including images that are regurgitated two or three times over. But if this is indeed the series' end – I mean, y'know … we'll see … – I'm still not sure I can forgive director/co-writer Christopher McQuarrie's latest for being so dully protracted and humorless, or for the decision to transform super-operative Hunt, and by extension Tom Cruise, into a veritable messiah.

  • Jun 03, 2025
    Now Playing: Friday, June 6, through Thursday, June 12

    Now playing at area theaters.

Art

  • May 27, 2025
    “Sandra Dyas & Jamie Elizabeth Hudrlik: Double Vision,” June 6 through July 26

    Bringing together the compelling works of mother and daughter artists Sandra Louise Dyas and Jamie Elizabeth Hudrlik, the arresting exhibition Double Vision will be on display at Dubuque's Voices Studios from June 6 through July 26, this showcase of talent a powerful visual dialogue that spans generations, mediums, and personal histories.

  • Feb 25, 2025
    “Cara & Diego Romero: Tales of Futures Past,” through June 8

    On display in the Figge Art Museum's third-floor gallery from through June 8, the arresting exhibit Cara & Diego Romero: Tales of Futures Past brings together artwork by acclaimed contemporary artists Cara Romero (Chemehuevi) and Diego Romero (Cochiti). This nationally traveling exhibition boasts 18 of Diego's thought-provoking pottery pieces and lithographs, 20 of Cara's evocative photographs, including from her Indigenous Futurism series, and a new collaborative piece created exclusively for this exhibition.

  • Jan 07, 2025
    “Marvin Cone: Painter,” through June 8

    Featuring paintings both from the museum's collection and on loan, the Figge Art Museum's Marvin Cone: Painter offers a celebration of this exceptional artist and teacher who steadfastly pursued artmaking for more than 50 years, the arresting exhibit, on display through June 8, exploring Cone's life as an Iowa artist, the stylistic shifts in his work, and new perspectives on a familiar area talent.

  • Apr 29, 2025
    “Brown, Lennox, & Wenthe,” through June 20

    Exploring themes of place and time by highlighting the Earth and capturing fragments of memories in paint, fiber, and clay, a trio of Midwestern artisans enjoy a collective exhibition at Rock Island's Quad City Arts Center through June 20, the Brown, Lennox, & Wenthe exhibit boasting Afrofuturist art by Monica Brown, quilted art by Cheryl Lennox, and ceramic sculpture by Elissa Wenthe.

  • Apr 29, 2025
    “Olson, Stampfli, & Sunderman,” through June 30

    Highlighting the importance of sustainability in the arts and encouraging their audience to see the beauty of Earth’s resources and ecosystem, a trio of Illinois and Iowa talents enjoy a collective exhibition at the Quad City Arts International Airport Gallery through June 30, Olson, Stampfli, & Sunderman showcasing a beautiful assemblage of quilted art by Lindsay Olson and Jessie Stampfli and sculpture by Robert Sunderman.

Subscribe & Listen to Reader Podcasts

On Stands Now

 

Tagged Content

Two Ways to Subscribe

1. Subscribe to free weekly e-mail content updates.

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?) 

Subscribe!

* indicates required

2. Get 12 monthly issues mailed first class for $48

Get 12 issues mailed monthly for $48 per year.

Get the printed Reader edition mailed to you (or anyone you want) first-class for 12 months for $48.
$24 goes to postage and handling, $24 goes to keeping the doors open!

Click this link to Subscribe now.