As much as it pains me to say this, attending the last dress rehearsal for the new Quad City Music Guild production, “Roald Dahl’s Matilda,” was not a very pleasant experience. That’s not to say the super enthusiastic 32-member cast (most of whom are under 18) is not talented. They did about the best possible […]
It’s hard to go wrong with “Disney’s Newsies: The Musical.” But that doesn’t mean at all that it’s easy to get right. The glorious, massive show – given an expert, exhilarating production by Countryside Community Theatre – is a classic “underdog vs. topdog” battle. Scrappy, poor, relentlessly tenacious newspaper carriers (the newsies) go on strike […]
One of the absolute thrilling joys of theater is not only how it brings fictional characters to life, but illuminates the intimately human struggles and triumphs of well-known, real-life icons. The Quad-Cities premiere of “The Mountaintop” – an emotional, haunting reimagining of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s last night on earth – is an […]
The economy is in shambles. The world is a mess. Young people feel as if they have little to no hope to achieve the American dream they’ve been promised. And so, for many young people struggling with this realization, escapism is paramount to balancing out their lives and getting them through. Sound familiar? It should, […]
I wanted to like the African-American drama “The Piano Lesson” at Playcrafters Barn Theatre much more than I did. It truly has all the ingredients to make something special, but Saturday night’s version appeared undercooked and not quite ready to serve as a fully satisfying meal. The Pulitzer Prize-winning play by August Wilson (1945-2005), who […]
The stage musical “Saturday Night Fever” has a serious split personality. Adapted from the Oscar-nominated 1977 movie smash that catapulted the Bee Gees to international fame and made a household name of star John Travolta, the jukebox musical that makes its stunning area premiere at Circa ’21 wants to be a carefree disco dance party. […]
QuadCities.com apologizes for the previous version of this review which had a few glitches in it due to a technical error in translating the text between systems. The error has been fixed and here is the review in its entirety. Thank you. Mississippi Bend has managed to go three-for-three this season with stellar productions of […]
For someone like me, who hadn’t seen a big musical with a big cast – live and in person – in 18 months, getting back to Quad City Music Guild Thursday night for the last dress rehearsal of the new “Mamma Mia!” (after nabbing next to the last spot in the parking lot) was a […]
There’s a moment when Countryside’s The Music Man sparks and crackles to life and it’s courtesy of tiny Grace Shinn (played by the sweet Mary Murphy). She single handedly puts the show in her pocket and runs away with it three different times. It’s heart-warming, downright adorable and makes you so happy theatre is back […]
You know when they say film versions of stage plays often “open them up” with exterior settings or other visual changes that are not possible or feasible in a theater? Well, two already remarkable stage shows at this month’s Mississippi Bend Players – the top-notch professional summer stock at Augustana College – have benefitted from […]
