Calling all true crime fans… Lizzie the Musical is a rock-infused retelling of the infamous Lizzie Borden case, in which Lizzie is accused of brutally murdering her father and stepmother in 1892. The show explores the events leading up to the murders, focusing on Lizzie’s strained family life, her oppressive circumstances and her rebellious spirit. With […]
Arts & Entertainment
Posted inArts & Entertainment
This weekend in Iowa: eerie emporiums, Carrie closes out and a new exhibition explores the diaspora
Established 2001 | Always free! Today’s Weekender is a mix of the regions usual quality-events content with a sprinkling of spooky themed events thrown in the mix. Local favorites Bo Ramsey and Joe & Vicki Price perform at the Ideal Theater in Cedar Rapids. (Read our preview of the performance that breaks down their musical […]
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Plain Spoken: Revisiting ‘Iowa,’ Patrick Moore’s neglected gay novel
This monthly column will explore the long and diverse history of literature’s Midwestern engagements. There is an established canon of American literature in which the Midwest plays heavily, as a both physical and social place.
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Fully Booked: Reads to help fight burnout
The start of a new academic year can be another time of resolutions and new beginnings. Students and working professionals alike can get a charge from the fresh energy. Some of us recommit ourselves to staying on top of tasks and projects and getting our calendar together. Some of us need our paper calendars and […]
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Review: Riverside Theatre’s ‘POTUS’ is a smart, chaotic, wig-tastic political farce starring seven women
Closing out the political chapter of Riverside Theatre’s 2024-2025 season, following Derrick Wang’s opera Scala/Ginsburg, is Oregonian playwright Selina Fillinger’s POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive. A fast-paced political farce set in the White House, the play follows seven women working behind the scenes to manage a […]
Posted inRecreation
Bumper Crops: You don’t have to bowl to ball at SpareMe, home of plentiful pinball machines and friendly competition
October Pinball TournamentSpareMe Bowling & Arcade, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 6 p.m. As an increasingly older, increasingly grumpy Iowa City townie, I have never been more hesitant to write a glowing review of a place. But my god, if you haven’t been hanging out at SpareMe, especially on Wednesdays, what are you even doing with your […]
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Palestinian stories, Orson Welles, Reality Winner, ‘The Count of Monte Cristo’ — Vital films new and restored feature in Refocus 2024 lineup
“I mean, we might as well address the dog in the room,” chuckled Andrew Sherburne, the co-founder of Iowa City’s nonprofit cinema FilmScene. Sherburne and programming director Ben Delgado eagerly await Oct. 17, the opening night of the Refocus Film Festival and the Iowa City premiere of Nightbitch, adapted from Iowa City author Rachel Yoder’s […]
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‘It feels like we are one hive’: 100 percussionists fill City Park with sound in performance of ‘Inuksuit’
The sky overhead City Park in Iowa City was clear, a dome of deep blue. Under that sky, more than 100 musicians arranged in concentric circles around conductor Steven Schick, their legs folded in lotus positions. Schick stood up and brought a sea shell to his mouth. The sound was almost imperceptible, only the friction […]
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Bo Ramsey, Joe and Vicki Price set to make the Ideal Theater feel like the Mill this Saturday
Young musicians dominate the press and public consciousness, because talent and the energy of youth will always be compelling. But if we’re talking about music as a capital ‘A’ Art, people like Bo, Joe and Vicki have been making music for well nigh five decades…
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There are 52 quintillion versions of the ‘Eno’ documentary. Iowans will see two of them this week.
The new documentary about glam rocker, pop producer and non-musician Brian Eno has been dubbed the “first generative feature film.” No two viewings are ever one and the same.
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Jazz, drag and ballet combine for Noce’s Voix de Ville, a nightclub cabaret that’s never the same twice
There is a guiding axiom in show business that provides some clarity when things go wrong. That axiom (which we should note is sometimes superseded by, say, a pandemic) is, “The show must go on,” of course.
