Chris Hicks

Collected Stories continues at Richmond Hill Players Barn Theatre in Geneseo, Thursday through Saturday, October 8 through 10 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, October 11 at 3:00 p.m.

Rock of Ages continues at Circa ‘21 Dinner Playhouse, 1828 – 3rd Avenue in Rock Island through November 7th with matinee performances on Wednesdays, evening performances Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays and early Dinner performances on Sundays.

Come from Away continues at The Black Box Theatre, 1623 – 5th Avenue in Moline, September 4, 5, 10, 11, and 12 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday September 6 at 2:00 p.m.

Picasso at the Lapin Agile continues at Richmond Hill Players Barn Theatre in Geneseo, Thursday through Saturday, August 27 through 29 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, August 30 at 3:00 p.m.

Death of a Salesman by Mockingbird on Main continues in Building One of the Black Hawk College Campus in Moline Thursday through Saturday, August 27 through 29 at 7:30 pm. Enter the building through the south entrance and hang left where you will be swept up into this tale. Mockingbird’s collaboration with Black Hawk College has adopted the “pay what it’s worth” model, meaning you choose what to pay on your way out so cost is no excuse to skip this phenomenal show

If you’re a fan of Monty Python and a Harry Potter nerd (and I know you’re out there), you’ll want to hurry to The Black Box Theatre to take in the wacky and quirky Puffs, or Seven Increasingly Eventful Years at a Certain School of Magic and Magic, a 2015 original comedy by playwright Matt Cox directed by Kailey Ackerman. The play is a parody of the Harry Potter book series by J. K. Rowling, but from the perspective of the "Puffs": that is, members of the Hogwarts house, Hufflepuff.

…could I get that in a sentence, please? Um…H.I.L.A.R.I.O.U.S…hilarious! So describes the Quad Cities Music Guild’s current production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee directed by Quad Cities gem: Mike Turczynski.

This was another marathon theatre weekend with shows opening in three different venues. Playcrafters Barn Theatre’s offering is Murder by Poe by Jeffrey Hatcher and is an adaptation from the works of Edgar Allan Poe stories. Pam Cantrell, a well-known Quad Cities actor, makes her directorial debut with this script and, as a first effort, delivers a show worth watching.

OMG! If you’re looking for a raucous good time to escape the oppressive summer heat, I’ve got just the thing: Mean Girls at Countryside Community Theatre with book by the brilliant Tina Fey of Saturday Night Live fame, and under the incandescent direction, choreography, and costuming of Ashley Mills Becher, whose dazzling talent I’ve seen many times at Circa 21 and she outdoes herself with this show. Husband Bobby Becher takes on the task of Music Director and the result of this team is an explosive, riotous, energetic extravaganza of entertainment that will have you out of your seat for a “Standing O.”

Director Tony Parise and his tech team have created an enchanting production true to the film that includes a huge spiral platform to suggest the funnel cloud that whisks Dorothy to the magical land of Oz along with a gingerbread farmhouse front, dancing apple trees, prancing poppies, and madcap munchkins. What can’t be duplicated onstage is accomplished by projections onto the scrim.