A touring variety show full of nostalgia, charm, and awe-inspiring circus performances, A Magical Cirque Christmas jumps, leaps, and flies into Davenport's Adler Theatre on December 23, inviting audiences to be dazzled, enchanted, and filled with holiday cheer as they witness the incredible talents of world-class entertainers performing to favorite seasonal music.
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.
Coupling the intentional carved marks of 15th-century wood engravings with the bold shapes and composition of early-20th-century expressionist woodcuts, Joseph Lappie's art exhibition Die Hoffnung der Pflanzen: The Hope of Plants will be on display at Davenport's German American Heritage Center through February 23, delivering a hand-colored contemporary portrayal of personal herbology, or the assumed language of a plant and its individual meaning to a person.
A group of dedicated student dancers will bring their talents to Galesburg's Orpheum Theatre on December 19 and 20 when Monmouth, Illinois' Dancer's Studio presents two performances of The Nutcracker, the timeless holiday ballet by composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.
Lauded by Broadway World as an adults-only entertainment that sends "audience members off with a warm smile and probably exhausted from laughter," author Matthew Lombardo's one-woman comedy sensation Who's Holiday enjoys a six-show run at Rock Island's Circa '21 Speakeasy, this spiky December 5 through 20 treat also hailed by the New York Times as "a raunchy riff on a yuletide tale that dirties up Christmas while ultimately reveling in its spirit."
The Democratic legislative leaders and the governor agreed to squirrel away $260 million in lump-sum appropriations to various state agencies last spring. But now some groups are figuring out that a big pile of state money is just sitting there and they are trying to stake their claims.
The building that houses the Village Theatre (2113 East 11th Street, Village of East Davenport) has a long and colorful history. Recently sold, it faces an uncertain future, and likely will not be called a theatre in its next act.
Whenever someone assures you that another person you’re both dealing with “understands” the “quid pro quo,” you’d be wise to run away as fast as you can and never look back. But that’s exactly how then-Alderman Daniel Solis assured then-House Speaker Michael Madigan in late June of 2017 that their mark – the developers of a West Loop apartment complex – would eventually be convinced to retain Madigan’s property tax appeals law firm.
In the wake of Donald Trump’s national victory and his losing margin dropping to 11 points in Illinois from 17 in two prior races, state legislative Democrats here have different views on how their party should proceed.
Just about nothing happened in the first week of veto session in the House and the Senate. The Democratic legislative leaders are still trying to figure out what their members want to do in the wake of Republican President-Elect Donald Trump’s victory and whether that can be done. Whether that action starts in the second and final week of veto session, or in the lame-duck January session or in the regular spring session, is still up in the air as I write this.
K: I really loved when the British and German soldiers came together to pose for a photograph. A camera bulb flashed, flooding the group in bright light for just a split second, capturing the occasion in time. It was a simple yet powerful effect.
M: There’s another great lighting effect that comes in to enhance “Silent Night” … but I shouldn’t give it away.
Thanks to a wealth of talent onstage and behind the scenes, Miracle on 34th Street: The Musical is visually and aurally impressive. But Willson's material sometimes falls short of delightful.
Everyone knows that Christmas is a time for peace on Earth and goodwill to men. Unless, of course, you’re an ever-opinionated but lovable first-grader who, in director Kiera Lynn's Junie B. Jones in Jingle Bells, Batman Smells, is brought from page to stage, hilariously, by portrayer Natalie Scheers.
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.
With NPR deeming him an artist whose “musical palette continues to hit all of those musical sweet spots,” R&B, soul, and hip-hop performer Son Little headlines a December 21 concert at Davenport's Redstone Room, the singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist's most recent album Like Neptune hailed by American Songwriter as "soul music of the most raw and affecting type."
An intimate performance of music and dance that blends the soulful voice of the violin with beloved songs of the season, Blue Violin Candlelight Christmas will deliver the captivating melodies of its award-winning classical crossover artist amidst a setting boasting 500 lit candles, with performances scheduled for December 20 at the Coralville Center for the Performing Arts and December 21 at Moline's Bartlett Performing Arts Center.
With internationally touring musician and former Canadian Brass member Jens Lindemann hailing the artist as "a gifted soloist ... completely fluent in both classical and jazz," acclaimed trumpet player Courtney Jones will be the special guest at A Very Brassy Christmas, the Big River Brass Band's annual holiday presentation taking place on December 22 at Davenport's St. Paul Lutheran Church.
A music- and multi-media-filled holiday sensation that has been delighted audiences for nearly 40 years, creator Chip Davis' Mannheim Steamroller Christmas returns to Davenport's Adler Theatre on December 28, delivering the group's signature blend of New Age, rock, and seasonal tunes that have led to sales of more than 40 million albums in the United States alone.
An early member of REO Speedwagon whose guitar talents were described by the Michigan Daily as “B.B. King played through Jimi Hendrix (with a touch of Andy Gill),” blues guitarist, songwriter, vocalist, and humorist Duke Tumatoe plays Davenport's Redstone Room on December 28, sharing the talents that enabled the headliner and Chicago native to open for the legendary likes of Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy, George Thorogood, and John Fogerty.
Having sat through, and stayed awake for, Madame Web, Morbius, and three Venoms, I'd be among the first to cheer the death of Sony's Spider-Man(-free) Universe series. But I'm not sure that Kraven the Hunter should be the thing that kills it.
Just nine years after earning her second Master of Fine Arts degree, writer and University of Iowa instructor Rachel Yoder sold her first novel, and then the film rights, a year before it was even published.
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, December 12: Discussion of The Return, Y2K, A Different Man, and Between the Temples, previews of Kraven the Hunter and a new Lord of the Rings, and another cool guest star showing up at the Last Picture House this weekend. So cool to be a coastal film hub ... if you consider the Mississippi River one of the coasts. (There truly is a Waiting for Guffman reference for all occasions.)
Not that the material demanded or invited it, but I think I now know why Ralph Fiennes was never seen out of his clerical robe in Conclave. Because if we ever saw him shirtless, or even got a gander at his bare arms, that entire papal drama would've collapsed through one simple question: “How did a cloistered, late-middle-aged cardinal get so freakin' jacked?!”
Now playing at area theaters.
Roughly 40 photographs showcasing the exhilarating and dangerous world of motorsport will be on display at the University of Dubuque's Bisignano Art Gallery, with the exhibition Freezing Speed – Ian Brightman offering evocative, arresting images through December 31.
A trio of Iowa-based artists working in a trio of artistic mediums will have pieces showcased at the Quad City Arts International Airport through January 5, with the gallery, in Brown Swanson, Hassig, & Shahrivar, hosting arresting examples of fused glass by Des Moines' Tilda Brown Swanson, collages by Cedar Rapids' Michael Hassig, and oil landscape paintings by Iowa Falls' Naser D. Shahrivar.
With the Figge Art Museum hosting an intimate exhibition on loan from the Deere & Company collection, Revolutionary Artist: The Prison Fantasies of David Alfaro Siqueiros, on display in the Davenport venue through January 5, will treat patrons to evocative works by the artist (1896-1974) who founded the modern school of Mexican mural painting alongside his contemporaries Diego Rivera and José Clemente Orozco.
Featuring 200 layers, including clips of mugs breaking, splashing paint, unfurling tablecloths, and his dog and cat strolling through the frame, video artist Dave Greber's Stilllives II: Vignette is on display at Davenport's Figge Art Museum through January 12, this work inspired by the act of setting a dinner table projected on the floor as though you are looking down at a table that's being continuously reset.
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 January 19, 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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