A theatrical event can’t happen without an important component: the audience. And Paul DeWilde has spent years in the audience cheering on local shows and local talent. A regular at nearly every theater in town, he’s become a friend to many and supporter to far more. For Mr. DeWilde, his journey began at the now […]
P.T. Barnum once said, “Nothing draws a crowd quite like a crowd.” Sadly, the circus can no longer draw a crowd. On Saturday night, Feld Entertainment announced that the famed Ringling Brothers-Barnum & Bailey Circus would shutter forever in May. And while this is a merely drop in the bucket of things truly affecting our […]
By Tristan Tapscott The Golden Globes are well known for being, to quote Ricky Gervais, “a bit louder, a bit trashier, a bit drunker” and it typically lives up to the hype. This year? Not so much. The tone still had that air of who-the-fuck-cares but was low key, somber and all over the place. […]
For the first presentation in the theatre’s 40th season of live entertainment, Circa ’21 Dinner Playhouse will be the area’s go-to destination for holiday music, laughs, and warmth in its production of “Holly Jolly Christmas.” Opening this weekend and running through December 29, this joyous and funny musical revue last thrilled audiences in 2009, and […]
Circa ‘21’s “Million Dollar Quartet” is a million dollar show. It’s expertly presented, from the set to the costumes to the casting to the sound, capturing a fascinating and colorful moment in time in the history of rock ‘n’ roll and doing so with such great energy and reverence that it earned a well-deserved standing […]
For the final production in its 39th season, Circa ’21 Dinner Playhouse is rolling out the Tony Award-winning Broadway smash “Million Dollar Quartet,” running this weekend through November 5. A celebration of four of history’s most legendary recording artists – Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins – this long-requested title is […]
To say Rock Island made a colossal error in wasting $15 million to woo Walmart to 11th Street is a stunning understatement. But what’s perhaps saddest and most pathetic about it is its irony. Rock Island, like thousands of other cities across the country, will, at least once a year, pay lip service and throw […]
Tristan Tapscott has always welcomed new creative ventures into his life, and with last week’s closing of District Theater after nine seasons, the former artistic director of that venue is sentimental about the past and proud of his accomplishments at that bastion while looking forward to the future. Recently, Tapscott sat down to talk about […]
The city of Rock Island needs to stop pining like John Cusack lofting a sad boom box of tax incentives outside the window of the richest people in America and instead turn that attention to where their music could really be heard and appreciated – ringing through the streets of its downtown. For months, Rock […]
District Theater’s “Behanding in Spokane” is an absolute joy to experience, a dark, wonderful array of literary and theatrical twists and turns that’s exhilarating and fun. I very highly recommend it. Martin McDonagh is one of the most original voices in theater to emerge over the last 15 years. The closest comparison overall is Quentin […]
