With their popular audio series designed to debunk the phrase “that kind of this doesn't happen in our town,” Jonah Lantto and Dawn Palumbo bring their Midwest Murder Live podcast to Davenport's Rhythm City Casino Resort Rhythm Room on June 21, the event boasting a live taping of a future broadcast concerning astonishing and sometimes grisly acts committed in small towns nationwide.
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Danielle Colby, star of the hit series American Pickers and a longtime advocate for the performing arts, is proud to announce the grand-opening celebration for the Ecdysiast Arts Museum, this museum in the heart of downtown Davenport dedicated to preserving and celebrating the rich history and artistry of burlesque. The June 21 event promises an evening of education and entertainment, featuring curated exhibits that delve into the glittering world of burlesque, as well as live performances that pay homage to this vibrant art form.
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Amassed over four decades by a pair of noted printmakers and educators, the fascinating works found in German Expressionist Prints from the David & Sarojini Johnson Collection will be on display in Davenport's German American Heritage Center from June 21 through December 14, this showcase of arresting pieces held in conjunction with the Figge Art Museum's companion exhibit Fever Dreams: German Expressionism.
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With highlights from the eagerly awaited annual event including free concerts in the park, a Swedish Maypole celebration, a book signing, children's activities, and more, everyone is invited to bring lawn chairs and have a wonderful time the 2025 Bishop Hill Midsommar Music Festival on June 21, the historic Illinois town's family-friendly celebration of this Swedish holiday.
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With the latest program in the venue's popular "Kaffee and Kuchen" series, patrons of the German American Heritage Center are invited to learn about the settlement and development of a specific piece of the Mississippi River Valley in History of Early Davenport, presenter Richard Rowe's June 22 event delivering special focus on the life of Colonel George Davenport, and proving that the origins and early history of the Quad Cities are rich with stories.
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I asked Illinois House Speaker Chris Welch last week about the failure to pass an omnibus energy bill (the Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act) during the just-ended spring legislative session.
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As I write this, multiple news outlets have reported that the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency is preparing to deploy its Special Response Teams to five major U.S. cities, including Chicago, in the very near future. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s chief of staff Cristina Pacione-Zayas told reporters last week: “There will be tactical teams, mini-tanks, other tools they use in which they plan to do raids, as we saw in Los Angeles.”
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The watchers are no longer being watched by the people. At least in Scott County, Iowa, that is.
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Inexplicably, for decades, incurious American voters refuse to remove el
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Tariffs are among the oldest of taxes for the simple reason that they are easy to collect. Just send in the tax collectors and don’t let the goods being transported move until the duty has been paid. Being one of the earliest forms of taxation, it is not surprising that tariffs produced one of the earliest forms of tax evasion: smuggling.
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If you don't think opera can be frivolous and fun, Opera Quad Cities will prove otherwise, with a big dollop of flair and abundant thrills for the ear and eye.
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One of history's most adored classical operettas enchanting audiences at Davenport's St. Ambrose University on June 20 and 22 when the talents of Opera Quad Cities debut Die Fledermaus, Johann Straus II's legendary 1874 work that's sure to deliver mischief, masks, laughter, and some of the area's most astounding voices.
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A family-friendly treat that the River Cities' Reader said “bubbles with color, personality, and wit,” the sweet and hilarious musical Miss Nelson Is Missing! enjoys a June 20 through 29 run at Moline's Playcrafters Barn Theatre, the show based on a series of beloved, best-selling children's books by Harry Allard and James Marshall.
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Described by Time Out New York as an “insanely fun mixtape musical” and by Variety as a show that “gleefully apes the worst excesses of the era's pole-dancing, crotch-grinding, big-hair-tossing movies,” the Broadway smash Rock of Ages enjoys a June 20 through July 6 run at Mt. Carroll's Timber Lake Playhouse, treating audiences to a celebration of 1980s chart-toppers that NY1 called “so cleverly staged and impressively performed that it's an irresistible, offbeat trip of a show that hits all the right notes.”
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One of William Shakespeare's most memorable and beloved romantic comedies returns to Rock Island's Lincoln Park when Genesius Guild presents its June 21 through 29 staging of Much Ado About Nothing, the Bard-ian classic that enjoyed a Tony-winning Broadway run in 1985, a 1993 movie showcase for Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson, and a 2011 black-and-white film modernization by pop icon Joss Whedon.
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Two touring indie-music acts based in the Windy City team up for one special night in Rock Island on June 21, with Rozz-Tox hosting an evening with GS70, the solo project of Anastasia Gladkova, and jm wave, the solo project of Zachary Sprenger.
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Hitting the road in support of their forthcoming recording Double Life, scheduled for release this July, the Minnesota-based indie rockers of Night Moves headline a June 21 concert event at Maquoketa's Codfish Hollow Barn, the outfit's previous album Can You Ever Find Me hailed by Pass the Aux as "cosmic psychedelia tethered unmistakably to specific eras, but able to transcend its influences by virtue of its creators’ talents."
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Performing from a repertoire boasting everything from "Forever in Blue Jeans" to the crowd favorite "Sweet Caroline," a touring sensation brings his song celebration Solitary Man: A Tribute to Neil Diamond featuring Will Chalmers to Maquoketa on June 21, this special performance at the Ohnward Fine Arts Center electrifying audiences with the voice and relaxed stage presence that have captivated patrons across Canada, Mexico, and the United States.
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Composed of bandleader Garrett Dutton on lead vocals, guitar, and harmonica, Chuck Treece on drums, and Jim Prescott on string bass, the touring talents of G. Love & the Special Sauce headline a June 22 hip-hip blues concert at Davenport's Redstone Room, the group's hit songs including such Billboard charters as “Stepping Stones,” “Rodeo Clowns,” “Astronaut,” “Go Crazy,” and “Peace, Love, & Happiness.”
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Featuring a stirring blend of original compositions and timeless works by great composers, the June 22 concert event Andrzej Kozlowski & Friends will deliver warmth, reflection, and inspiration as the venue bids a heartfelt farewell to pianist Kozlowski in his final performance as owner/director of Moline's Sound Conservatory. With the artist surrounded by close musical companions Nathan Windt, Joan Temmerman, Alex Gilson, and Rob Miller, Kozlowski invites audiences into an intimate setting to share a deeply personal musical journey.
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No one can singlehandedly revive the fading genre of the swoony big-screen romance. Yet with only two features under her belt to date, Celine Song is certainly giving it a good shot.
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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 19: Discussion of How to Train Your Dragon, Materialists, and The Life of Chuck; a review scoop on the debuting Elio; and previews of 28 Years Later and Bride Hard, the latter an action comedy set at a wedding reception. You know someone's gonna wind up dead in the punch bowl.
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Although the movie isn't very funny until it begins hitting us with its really creative gory deaths, there was a moment not long into director Len Wiseman's Ballerina – a continuation being helpfully marketed as From the World of John Wick: Ballerina – that made me and others among our Thursday-afternoon crowd laugh out loud.
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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?
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Now playing at area theaters.
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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.
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With the Davenport venue partnering alongside the German American Heritage Center and Museum for programming during the exhibit's run, the Figge Art Museum will house Fever Dreams: German Expressionism in the Lewis Gallery from June 21 through December 7, this arresting exhibition featuring loans from the David and Sarojini Johnson Print Collection, and showcased in conjunction with the GAHC's companion exhibit German Expressionist Prints from the Johnson Collection.
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A dazzling, visually rich celebration of fascinating felines and the artists who love them, Cats! (the exhibit, not the musical) can be viewed in the third-floor gallery of Davenport's Figge Art Museum from June 21 through January 4, this rich showcase inspired by our four-legged friends boasting works from both the museum's collection and on loan, and on display through the aid of contributing sponsors Carrie Kimple and Sue Quail.
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With the exhibition made possible through generous funding from Art Bridges Foundation, and with KLJB FOX 18 serving as media sponsor, the fascinating collaborative exhibit CHAIN RE·AC·TION will be on view in the Figge Art Museum's Mary Waterman Gildehaus Community Gallery June 21 through September 28, visitors to the Davenport venue invited to witness the art experience's continuous cycle of inspiration, reflection, and response.
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A rare chance to experience Renaissance and Baroque art up close, the gorgeous and captivating exhibition The Golden Age: Featuring Northern European Works from the Collection of the National Gallery of Art will be on display at Davenport's Figge Art Museum from June 28, 2025, through April 4, 2027, the exhibit's premiere sponsor Kay Hall (in remembrance of John) and contributing sponsors Wynne and David Schafer, Schafer Interiors, Kay K. Runge, KK Runge Associates, the Carolyn Levine & Leonard Kallio Trust, John Gardner, and Cathy Weideman.
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