Madison Duling in Quad City Music Guild's "Escape from Margaritaville" at the Prospect Park Auditorium -- April 4 through 13.
Friday, April 4, through Sunday, April 13
Prospect Park Auditorium, 1584 34th Avenue, Moline IL
With its delightful assemblage of songs including “Fins,” “Volcano,” “Cheeseburger in Paradise,” and the iconic "Margaritaville," the Jimmy Buffett celebration Escape to Margaritaville enjoys an April 4 through 13 run at Moline's Prospect Park Auditorium, Quad City Music Guild's 2025 season-opener lauded by the Hollywood Reporter as "the theatrical equivalent of sipping on a frozen drink while lying on a beach chair in the blazing sun."
Singer/songwriter/author Jimmy Buffett, who passed away in 2023, has become a legend of popular culture as the composer of such classic songs as "Margaritaville," "Come Monday," and "Cheeseburger in Paradise." He has recorded more than 50 albums, most of which have gone gold, platinum, or multi-platinum, and his sold-out concert tours are annual rites of summer passage for his legions of fans affectionately known as Parrot Heads. Born in the Gulf Coast town of Pascagoula, Mississippi, he was raised in Mobile, Alabama, is a fourth-generation sailor and fisherman, and is also a frequent traveler to remote and exotic places of the world. As a best-selling author, Buffett is one of only nine authors in the history of the New York Times Bestseller List to have reached number one on both the fiction and non-fiction charts, and the artist has received two Grammy nominations, numerous Country Music Association Awards, and induction into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.
The new musical Escape to Margaritaville celebrates the music and island-living lifestyle of Buffett through his original story about the choices we make, and the people we become, once we’ve had a change in "latitude." Revolving around a part-time bartender/singer who falls for a career-minded tourist, the show combines original songs with classic Buffett tunes, the most famous of them all – “Margaritaville” – inducted into the 2016 Grammy Hall of Fame for its cultural and historic significance.
Directing Escape to Margaritaville is Music Guild veteran Luke Vermeire, who also helmed such productions as Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street and Irving Berlin's Holiday Inn, and appeared in presentations including Kinky Boots and Mamma Mia! Stephen Scott act as music director, with additional members of Vermeire's creative team including: assistant director Adrienne Evans; assistant music director Jonathan Turner; stage manager Lexi Fryxell; choreographer Kimberly Munn; set designer Robert Crist; assistant set designer Aaron Deneckere; costume designer Storm Marie Baca; lighting designer Brittney Crist; sound designer Kayla Sierra-Lee; props master Julia Hummel; and producer Sara Laufer.
Principal actors in Escape to Margaritaville include: Jack Bevans; Kirsten Sindelar; Madison Duling; Andy Sederquist; Em Schwartz; Michael Van Belle; Gary Mayfield; and Evan Gagliardo. The ensemble features: Brittany Anderson; Pam Cantrell; Drew DeKeyrel; David Edwards; Ashley Gomez; Paul Hansen; Joseph Nguyen; Greg O'Neill; Alex Pappas; Natalie Scheers; Anna Stahler; and Noah Stivers. Area with area favorite (and Reader feature writer) Jonathan Turner on piano, Music Guild's live orchestra boasts the talents of: Kendall Hengst on reed; Ben Mckay on trumpet; Brandi Duncan on bass; Pete Philhower on drums; Matthew Reece and David Sywan on guitar; and Aaron Deneckere and Stephen Scott on percussion.
Quad City Music Guild's Escape to Margaritaville runs at Moline's Prospect Park Auditorium April 4 through 13, with performances Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. Admission is $15-20, and more information and tickets are available by calling (309)762-6610 and visiting QCMusicGuild.com.
