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.”

Director Pam Cantrell, her cast, and her crew served this entertaining concoction (yes, there are funny bits) with seven of Poe’s stories as ingredients.

Under the music direction of Rachel Young (who also conducts and plays keys in the superb five-person orchestra), and with the performers' individual vocal prowess unmistakable, the Showboat's acting ensemble sounds tremendous – easily matching, and occasionally bettering, the vocals of the Broadway cast.

Background characters essayed by day players. Casts of thousands. Movies are crawlin’ with ’em. Nobody much cared about the usually unnamed souls who were rarely part of the plot, and they still don’t. But Puffs, a boy-wizard spoof subtitled Seven Increasingly Eventful Years at a Certain School of Magic & Magic, shines a spotlight on them (without casting “lumos,” because that’s a proprietary spell).