With their works deemed “fresh and innovative” by the Chicago Tribune and “so imaginative, so playfully revisionist, so superbly realized” by the Chicago Sun-Times, the Windy City hoofers of Chicago Dance Crash bring their new stage show LXIV (six.four) to Galesburg's Orpheum Theatre on February 7, the company’s fusion-style moves creating intensely physical, authentic, and narrative-driven art.
Employing contemporary newspaper clippings and photographs for his fascinating and insightful program, author and frequent River Cities' Reader contributor D. Ezra Sidran, PhD will present How Davenport Became the Wickedest City in America at Davenport's German American Heritage Center on February 8.
Delivering the Spring 2026 Michael Lester Wendt Character Lecture for the University of Dubuque's Heritage Center, the institution's president Travis Frampton, PhD will speak on Heroes, Villains, & Leading Roles: How Stories Shape Character, this insightful program taking place in the John and Alice Butler Hall on February 9.
A lauded actor, comedian, and community leader best known for his portrayal of DEA Agent Steven Gomez on the Emmy-winning AMC series Breaking Bad, Steven Michael Quezada is the February 12 headliner in the "Laugh QC" Thursday Night Comedy Series held in the Mississippi Hall of the Davenport RiverCenter, the performer also boasting roles in Magnum P.I., Strange Darling, and Documentary Now!
Enabling visitors to explore the remarkable ways in which animals across 500 million years have adapted armor for survival, and how these adaptations continue to inspire human innovation, the traveling exhibition Animal Armor takes residence in Davenport's Putnam Museum & Science Center through February 15, the fascinating exhibit exploring the evolutionary battle between protection and predation.
The top three Democratic U.S. Senate candidates faced off twice last week. The first debate wasn’t televised, so the live audience was quite small. The second debate was televised, so the audience was bigger. However, these debates don’t attract even a smidgen of the audience of presidential debates, when half the country often tunes in.
Illinois House Democrats were told last week that a state capital projects plan designed to assist Arlington Height’s bid to lure the Chicago Bears away from their Indiana stadium gambit would cost up to $895 million. None of the money would be used to directly build the new Bears stadium or the surrounding commercial district envisioned by the team’s ownership.
The ACLU's 63-page report released last month is a very valuable and exhaustive work product that every elected official who has an oath of office to uphold the state and federal constitution, and protect the governed who consented to have their rights protected, should read.
Iowa Government Entities Should Get Out of License Plate Surveillance Contracts
Iowa ACLU and University of Iowa Technical Law Clinic Release Exhaustive and Alarming Report on Automatic License Plate Readers Statewide
Local governments in Iowa should pause the use of automated license plate readers, civil rights advocates said last month, arguing the devices infringe on the privacy of drivers who have not violated any laws.
The first indication that I was in serious trouble came when the second defense attorney I contacted in Washington, DC, informed me that the Constitution—the supreme law of the land in the United States – did not apply in our nation’s capital. The first attorney who told me that was just wrong, I thought. But when the second guy told me the same thing,
What a night of theatre Thursday night’s What Might Have Been opening proved to be.
Lauded by the New York Daily News as "fresh and original" with "bouncy, big-hearted songs," the acclaimed stage version of a film-comedy smash enjoys a February 6 through 15 run at Moline's Spotlight Theatre, with 9 to 5: The Musical deemed "a triumph" by The Guardian, which added, "It seemed improbable, given the cult status of the movie, but the stage show has met it and raised it, rather than being its pale imitation."
Adapted from the YA science-fantasy that has sold more than 10 million copies and was a 2018 Disney movie smash, Madeleine L'Engle's iconic A Winkle in Time enjoys a February 6 through 8 staging at the Coralville Center for the Performing Arts, the inspiration for this latest production by the student talents of Young Footliters Youth Theatre a work the National Education Association listed as one of its "Teachers' top 100 books for children."
Director/choreographer Ashley Becher and musical director Ethan Hayward, alongside their wonderful crew and energetic, talented crème de la crème cast, elevate the solid script and score into the realm of delight.
Lauded by Today's County Magazine as an artist who displays "a refreshing honesty" and "stays 100-percent true to her roots," singer/songwriter Jenna Paulette headlines a February 4 concert at Davenport's Raccoon Motel, her 2024 album Horseback hailed by Entertainment Focus as "an evocative dive into the heart of country music, weaving stories of love, resilience, empowerment and the rugged beauty of life in the American West."
Teaming up for an unforgettable concert event boasting chart-topping hits and passionate lyrics, the combined contemporary-Christian talents TobyMac, Crowder, and Jeremy Camp bring their national "TobyMac's Hits Deep 2026" tour to Moline's Vibrant Arena at the MARK on February 6, performing dozens of fan favorites and delivering an uplifting, inspirational experience designed to get fans singing and dancing.
Celebrating the expansive discographies of two of rock's most accomplished acts in one exhilarating night, Josh Pearson brings his Touch of Trey: Phish and Grateful Dead Tribute to Davenport's Redstone Room on February 6, honoring those beloved bands as well as all things Trey Anastasio and Jerry Garcia.
A 2023 Academy of Country Music Awards nominee for New Male Artist of the Year whose Billboard smashes include "Don't Come Lookin'" and "Heavens to Betsy," Nashville-based singer/songwriter Jackson Dean headlines a February 6 concert event at East Moline venue The Rust Belt, Country Swag raving that on the artist's sophomore album, "every single song off On the Back of My Dreams is exactly what music is all about."
Lauded by Local Sprins for their "unique three-guitar harmonies and infectious hooks," the power-pop ensemble Pretoria headlines a February 6 concert at Davenport's Raccoon Motel, the artists inspiring Atwood magazine to rave, "Through genuine, memorable, and eccentric tunes that are sure to get stuck in your head. Pretoria’s music is everything but surface level, challenging the deepest of thinkers and feelers simultaneously."
Sam Raimi's latest is the ultimate “revenge on a horrible boss” comedy, one far nastier than Horrible Bosses itself, and like 9 to 5's empowered kidnappers, Rachel McAdams' marginalized, fed-up office drone is eminently worth cheering. Ma-a-aybe not when holding a knife dangerously close to her paralyzed employer's privates, but … . Oh, who am I kidding? Especially then.
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, January 29: Discussion of Mercy, The Lost Bus, Come See Me in the Good Light, and The Ugly Stepsister, and previews of Send Help, Iron Lung, Arco, and Shelter. The latter stars Jason Statham as a retired assassin, leading the guys to wonder: Why are all screen assassins retired? Where are the movies about the fresh-young-upstart, job-shadowing assassins?
The mildly futuristic, vaguely sci-fi thriller Mercy is a rather confused movie, which, of course, isn't the same thing as a confusing one.
Winner of the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and currently sitting with 92-percent approval on Rotten Tomatoes, writer/director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck's 2006 dramatic thriller The Lives of Others enjoys a February 5 screening at Davenport's Figge Art Museum, legendary critic Roger Ebert, in his four-star review, calling the work "a powerful but quiet film constructed of hidden thoughts and secret desires."
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 February 8 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.
With Swiss artists Peter Fischli and David Weiss known for their witty explorations of human nature, the duo's acclaimed 1987 video The Way Things Go will be screened in the Figge Art Museum's Lewis Gallery through February 8, this playful spectacle revered for transforming destruction into art, and embracing absurdity and unpredictability as essential parts of life.
Detailing the life and works of the abstract expressionist painter and printmaker, Knox College's Dr. Greg Gilbert – who earned his 1998 Ph.D. in Art History from Rutgers University – will deliver a presentation on Robert Motherwell at Davenport's Figge Art Museum, the February 12 event exploring one of the youngest of the New York School of Artists which also included Willem de Kooning, Jackson Pollock, and Mark Rothko.
Boasting a vibrant collection of visual narratives from University of Dubuque students in the ART 367 Digital Photography course, the exhibition Mosaic Moments: Storytelling by Students will be on display in the university's Bisignano Art Gallery through February 13, each image designed to act as a distinct tile in a larger mosaic of storytelling.
Works by a gifted area artist and educator will, through February 20, be on display in the Morrisey Gallery of Davenport's St. Ambrose University, the exhibition 50 Years and Counting: Paintings by Brad Bisbey showcasing the talents of the 1976 St. Ambrose graduate who is a signature member of the National Society of Painters and teaches acrylic painting at Davenport's Figge Art Museum.
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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