Rock Island’s Circa ’21 Presenting ‘Grace For President’
With the theatre’s first family musical of 2022, Rock Island‘s Circa ’21 Dinner Playhouse will treat patrons to the joys of laughter and song in the charming stage treat GRACE FOR PRESIDENT. Running through May 14 and based on the beloved children’s book by Kelly S. DiPucchio, this delightful musical was praised by the Columbia Star as “an entertaining hit for all ages and audiences” and is being brought to life by a sensational team of professional talents.
Circa ’21 will present show-only performances of GRACE FOR PRESIDENT on scheduled Tuesday and Saturday mornings and selected afternoons through May 14. Morning productions, with the doors opening at 9:30 a.m. and show beginning at 10 a.m., will take place on April 19, 22, 23, 26, 28 and 29 and May 3, 7, 12, 13 and 14. Afternoon productions, with 12:30 p.m. doors and 1 p.m. show are scheduled for April 30 and May 6, 7 and 12.
Ticket prices are $9.50 per person. To reserve your seats, contact the Circa ’21 Dinner Playhouse at 1828 Third Ave., Rock Island, or by calling 309-786-7733, Ext.2, or at circa21.com.
In the star-spangled musical GRACE FOR PRESIDENT, our heroine Grace Campbell attends class one day to discover that the United States has never had a female president. “Where are the girls?” she asks, as her third-grade teacher rolls out a poster with all of our country’s presidents, all of them male. Frustrated by the lack of female faces in the White House, Grace decides she wants to be president herself, and inspires a school election.
Through the throes of campaigning and pep rallies, service projects and posters, Grace and her classmates discover what it takes to both be the best candidate and find the fun and hilarity in the weighty but wonderful world of politics. An ideal family entertainment for an election year, GRACE FOR PRESIDENT boasts a book, music, and lyrics by Joan Cushing, whose stage credits include a number of shows previously produced at Circa ’21, among them “Miss Nelson Is Missing,” “Junie B. Jones & A Little Monkey Business,” and “Diary of a Worm, a Spider & a Fly.”
Serving as GRACE FOR PRESIDENT’s director is Circa ’21 veteran Ashley Becher, who previously helmed “Seussical” and the dinner theatre’s current mainstage presentation “Just Desserts,” and also appeared in the holiday musical “Winter Wonderland.” Grace is portrayed, in her Circa ’21 debut, by Audrey Seneli, whose other area credits include roles in the Spotlight Theatre’s “The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical” and Davenport Junior Theatre’s “The Wizard of Oz.” Circa ‘21 favorite, Shelley Walljasper, is GRACE FOR PRESIDENT’s music director, the show’s cast is completed by Derrick Bertram, Emmett Boedeker, Marc Christopher, Sarah Hayes, Lexi Smith and Rachel Winter.
Circa ’21 is thrilled to gather this group of tremendous talents for such a delightful, debuting stage adventure and encourages audiences to quickly make reservations at 309-786-7733 Ext. 2 for the patriotic pleasures of GRACE FOR PRESIDENT!
