Lauded by the Washington Post as "unforgiving and darkly hilarious" and the New York Times as "brutally honest and outrageous," comedian, author, podcast host, and actor Patricia Williams - better known by her stage moniker Ms. Pat - returns to Davenport's Rhythm City Casino Resort Rhythm Room on August 21, the headliner beloved as the star of the Emmy-nominated The Ms. Pat Show and new web series Whiskin’ It All.
Inspired by her upbringing at the turn of the 20th century and considered “Iowa’s first feminist writer,” Ruth Suckow was largely forgotten until researchers rediscovered her story in the 1980s. Consequently, the Ruth Suckow Memorial Association, with the support of Humanities Iowa, has developed a traveling exhibition celebrating the life and work of this Iowa novelist and short-story writer who lived from 1892 to 1960, the exhibit Everyday Lives, Extraordinary Voices: Ruth Suckow's Iowa on display at Davenport's German American Heritage Center from August 22 through November 15.
Instructing and entertaining audiences on the art of “Old Manspaining,” touring comedian and popular radio presence Tom Briscoe brings his comedy show to Galesburg's Orpheum Theatre on August 22, offering hysterical advice on maintaining agood marriage, raising daughters, empty nesting, and the fine art of unsolicited advice.
Held in conjunction with the Davenport venue's new exhibition “Everyday Lives, Extraordinary Voices: Ruth Suckow's Iowa,” The latest event in the German American Heritage Center's popular “Kaffee und Kuchen” series, August 23's Ruth Suckow's Lost Story: Iowa's Great German American Writer, will find President of the Ruth Suckow Memorial Association Barbara Lounsberry exploring the extraordinary backstory of this too-little-known German-American writer.
You’ve likely heard about the great Native American warrior Black Hawk who made the Rock Island area his home. On August 27, the Rock Island Public Library's Downtown Branch invites you to Please Meet Singing Bird, Black Hawk's less-memorialized wife whose life story is the subject of this presentation by Illinois Humanities Road Scholar Kim Sigafus.
After Michael J Madigan’s 36 years as Illinois House Speaker, a ten-year term limit on current and future speakers doesn’t seem like a lot of time in the big chair. Except it is.
Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch sat down for interviews with selected reporters last week. He told most of them that his office had conducted an “informal investigation” into sexual harassment allegations against former Representative Harry Benton, D-Plainfield, in 2023.
Senator Rand Paul recently revealed an interesting, albeit jarring, fact about Congressional oversight of the intelligence community in D.C. Senator Paul explained that only eight members of Congress, four from the House Permanent Select Intelligence Committee (HPSIC) and four from the Senate Select Intelligence Committee (SSIC), are privy to the activities of the CIA and the FBI.
House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch promised the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) last week that he will “lead” the effort to send more state money to Chicago Public Schools during the upcoming fall veto session.
By now, you’ve probably read at least something about the scandals surrounding former state Representative Harry Benton, D-Plainfield. In a nutshell, a young female district office staffer alleged Representative Benton sexually harassed her in 2023.
Lauded by the New York Daily News as "consistently entertaining" and by Newsday as "a major treat," Steve Martin's hit comedy Picasso at the Lapin Agile enjoys an August 20 through 30 run at Geneseo's Richmond Hill Barn Theatre, the New York Post adding to the praise by calling the show "highly credible" and "very funny" with "giggles in plenty [and] moments of enlightenment."
A dramatic landmark whose 2026 Broadway return recently won six Tony Awards including Best Revival of a Play, Arthur Miller's timeless Death of a Salesman serves as the debut production in a new collaboration between the Mockingbird on Main and Black Hawk College, the show's August 20 through 29 run at Black Hawk treating audiences to an undisputed classic playing locally fewer than two weeks after its New York run ended.
Presented as the latest selection in the theatre's “Andy Bro Show New Works Commission,” the world premiere of composer Billy Reece's musical The Mermaids enjoys an August 21 through 30 run at Mt. Carroll's Timber Lake Playhouse, treating audiences to a debuting stage experience as the final show in the theatre's 2026 summer season.
Lauded by the New York Times as a "big bearhug of a musical" in which "even the most stalwart cynics may have trouble staying dry-eyed," the Tony Award-winning Come from Away enjoys an August 28 through September 12 run at Moline's Black Box Theatre. This deeply moving entertainment is being presented in honor of the 25th anniversary of 9/11, and was hailed by Broadway World as "inspiring, funny, and kick-ass beautiful.”
Nostalgia has a funny way of raising the stakes. A mediocre presentation wouldn’t just be disappointing; it would feel like someone had replaced my ruby slippers with muddy boots and then trounced all over my childhood memories. Thankfully, director Tony Parise’s production bursts to life with color, imagination, and obvious affection for the material.
With its special August 20 event celebrating the opening of Common Chord's new Redstone Room facility, the Davenport venue's staffers are proud to host the area return of River Roots Live favorite Robert Randolph, his electrifying blend of gospel and blues signaling the return of a space that has helped shape the Quad Cities music scene for decades.
Celebrating, per the event title, 7 Freakin' Years of Hard Rock, radio station I-ROCK 93.5 brings its annual anniversary party back to Eat Moline venue The Rust Belt on August 20, this year's entertainers boasting the hard-driving talents of Eva Under Fire, Alborn, Autumn Kings, and Left on Red.
Internationally recognized by Graceland and the Elvis Presley Estate, a popular touring artist brings his Matt Stone as Elvis: In Person stage spectacle to Galesburg's Orpheum Theatre on August 20, the artist hailed for bringing staggering levels of authenticity and attention to detail to his craft, and captivating audiences with flawless recreation of the King of Rock ’n’ Roll in his prime.
On August 21, Figge Art Museum visitors are invited to experience an evening of phenomenal country music and craft beer when music legends Lorrie Morgan and Suzy Bogguss, alongside special guest Angela Meyer, light up the night in the 2025 Art of the Brew, an exhilarating outdoor celebration held on the Figge plaza.
With this year's musical guests including Nina Nicole Little, the Pippi & Daniel Music Experience, and Erech Bruce, Polyrhythms proudly presents the 12th-annual Bill Bell Jazz & Heritage Festival at Rock Island's Martin Luther King Center and neighboring MLK Park, an August 21 and 22 celebration of cultural heritage in the Quad Cities named after the late musician, educator, and East Moline native lovingly known as “The Jazz Professor.”
Until viewing The End of Oak Street, I had no idea how much my soul needed the sight of a feral Anne Hathaway protecting her kids with a shotgun, and a block-long eel slithering through a two-story home, and a Tyrannosaurus rex slurping from an above-ground pool like an enormous golden retriever at its proportional water bowl.
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, August 13: Discussion of One Night Only, I Want Your Sex, and Ice Cream Man, and previews of Nimrods, The End of Oak Street, PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie, Six: The Musical Live!, The Brink of War, and The Rivals of Amziah King, the latter of which stars Matthew McConaughey as a bluegrass musician and is only playing locally ... at the Blue Grass Drive-in. Synergy!
On August 19, Putnam Museum & Science Center patrons will be privileged to share an evening with Academy Award winner Marlee Matlin when the star of Children of a Lesser God and Best Picture winner CODA delivers a keynote address in tandem with a screening of I Am disABLEd.
Presented as a special event in the Quad Cities Latino Cinema Series, the Oscar-nominated inspirational-teacher drama Stand & Deliver enjoys an August 19 screening at Davenport venue The Last Picture House, writer/director Ramón Menéndez's 1988 film the winner of the Independent Spirit Award for Best Feature, and a work selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."
Now playing at area theaters.
A fascinating collaborative art installation that invites viewers to return to a place before definition, Amniotic Ambiguity: Comparative Embryology to Queering a Space will be on display in Augustana College's Wallenberg Hall through August 20, artists Maggie Adams and Aykeem Spivey demonstrating how, in this period of incubation, black-or-white thinking is disrupted by a bold labor of love.
On August 27, Figge Art Museum Co-Senior Curator Joshua Johnson will lead a special tour in the Music & Makers Night event Golden Age for Whom?, the exhibition of the title designed to bring together contemporary artists who respond to the themes and aesthetics explored in the Davenport venue's concurrent exhibition The Golden Age: Featuring Northern European Works from the National Gallery of Art.
Exploring how the artist used her body to engage with the landscape and create powerful works of art, the fascinating exhibition Ana Mendieta: Traces will be on view in the Figge Art Museum's Gallery 206 from August 29 through February 28, the displayed works generously lent to the Davenport venue by the University of Iowa Stanley Museum of Art.
Bringing together contemporary artists responding to the themes and aesthetics explored in the Davenport venue's concurrent exhibition The Golden Age: Featuring Northern European Works from the National Gallery of Art, the Figge Art Museum's A Golden Age for Whom? will be on display through September 20, the two exhibitions' adjoining galleries allowing visitors to move directly between historic works and contemporary responses.
Visitors of the Bisignano Art Gallery are invited to experience the University of Dubuque in fresh and unexpected ways through the creative vision of the Plein Air Painters of Dubuque, the exhibition UD Expressions: Plein Air Painters of Dubuque on view through September 25.
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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