Rock Island’s Circa ’21 Returns With ‘You Smell Barn’
Returning with the venue’s first mainstage production since area theaters closed in November, Circa ’21 Dinner Playhouse is ready to bring audiences lots of deserved laughs and warmth in the local debut of The Church Basement Ladies in “You Smell Barn.” Running through May 15, the latest encounter with everyone’s favorite group of singing and joking Minnesotans is sure to put a smile on your face and a song in your heart. With all shows at the beloved Rock Island dinner theatre, this new musical comedy is being presented by an outstanding 
company of professional actors.
The Church Basement Ladies in “You Smell Barn” will be presented on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturdays evenings at 7:45 p.m., Sundays at 5:45 p.m. and Wednesday matinées at 1:30 p.m. Ticket prices are $56.55 for the evening performances and $49.73 for the matinées.
Because of the Phase 4 rules of Restore Illinois, capacity for each performance of The Church Basement Ladies in “You Smell Barn” is limited, and plated dinners will be served in lieu of the traditional buffet meals. For the safety of guests and staff members, face masks must be worn to enter the theater, when interacting with the staff and whenever guests are away from their tables.
Reservations are available through the Circa ’21 ticket office. For reservations, contact the theater at 1828 Third Ave., Rock Island. You also may call (309)786-7733 ext. 2.
In the seventh installment of the popular stage series, the Church Basement Ladies are back and getting busy with life outside the kitchen, and this musical comedy finally answers the burning question: What do Church Basement Ladies do when they’re not in the basement?
It turns out that after the last of the hot dish is served, the coffee pot is emptied and the Jell-O molds are put away these steadfast, sturdy women head home to their farms, peel off their good girdles and get on with their daily chores. With plenty of crazy antics, loads of fresh laughs and new original songs, The Church Basement Ladies in “You Smell Barn” celebrates rural life in the 1950s and introduces the other lovable folks who inhabit the rural community: Earl, who delivers the mail up and down Rural Route One; Fergus, the hired man and Tillie, who chronicles the action for the Fish County Weekly.
Directing The Church Basement Ladies in “You Smell Barn” is Curt Wollan, a longtime Circa ‘21 veteran whose previous musical comedies for the dinner theatre include “Grumpy Old Men: The Musical,” “Ring of Fire” and “Southern Crossroads.” Curt also has directed every “Church 
Basement Ladies” production since 2007. Area favorite Ron May serves as music director, having also music directed “Grumpy Old Men: The Musical” and such local productions as Augustana College’s “Titanic: The Musical” and Circa ’21’s 2018 smash “Mamma Mia!”
Actor, Erica Bigelow, is making her venue debut with Church Basement Ladies in “You Smell Barn.” The rest of the show’s ensemble is composed of a quintet of familiar Circa ’21 talents: Thomas Besler “Fancy Nancy Splendiferous Christmas,” Brad Hauskins, “Shear Madness,” Autumn O’Ryan, “Mama Won’t Fly,” Jennifer Poarch, “Mamma Mia!” and Shelley Walljasper, “The Savannah Sipping Society”.
Circa ’21’s entire team is thrilled to re-open the theater’s doors and welcome back their beloved guests and urges patrons to make reservations for what certainly will be an unmissable musical-comedy delight. Call the Circa ’21 ticket office at (309)786-7733 ext. 2 for tickets and share the love of reuniting with beloved characters and the sheer joy of returning to the theater in The Church Basement Ladies in “You Smell Barn!”
