Just a week after its first 2021 production, the Mississippi Bend Players, with Shelley Cooper, will be back this week with her original one-woman show, Mary and Ethel: How I Learned to Sing. The show, which debuted at the Circa ‘21 Speakeasy in September 2020, contains musical numbers from musical theater Golden Age icons Mary […]
After a fairly hellish 2020, Shelley Cooper is back in musical heaven as the first half of 2021 is shaping up to be very busy and fulfilling. The enthusiastic Augustana College assistant professor of theater arts recently filmed two special performances for Circa ’21; she’s directing a new college production of “Into the Woods” this […]
Circa ’21 Dinner Playhouse, 1828 3rd Ave., Rock Island, is seeking video online submissions to cast an upcoming show, “Beehive: The ‘60s Musical,” to open in May. “Beehive” (which was performed by Quad City Music Guild in spring 2007) is a fun, frothy flashback to the fabulous females who unmistakably left their mark on 1960s […]
Shelley Cooper grew up glued to the Golden Age of Broadway (roughly between 1930 and 1960), and many of those shining shows were ruled by two towering female talents – Mary Martin and Ethel Merman. The lives and songs of Martin (1913-1990) — vulnerable, dainty, and lovely – and Merman (1908-1984) — brassy, unapologetic, and […]
