Eastern Iowa Arts & Entertainment
Posted inArts & Entertainment
‘Star Search: All Stars’ Ep. 5: Comediennes create chemistry during a pseudo-Real Housewives reunion
The Real Housewives of Johnson County, this week’s challenge, was a non-scripted, Bravo-inspired live cast reunion for a season of TV that didn’t actually happen. It was, of course, hosted by Lil Kimmy Blaque in the role of one “Candy” Cohen.
Posted inEastern Iowa
John’s Grocery fried chicken returns for one night only as part of Chicken Town, a FEaST fundraiser
Many Iowa Citians have had a fried chicken-shaped hole in their lives since John’s Grocery closed its kitchen in early 2022. But this month, they’ll have a chance to fill that void with a two-piece (or two), if they act quickly. The fried chicken that was a staple for University of Iowa students and other […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
‘Star Search: All Stars’ Ep. 4: A diamond sparkles in a lip-sync-a-rama testing contestants’ memory and stage presence
Catch up on episode one, two and three. This week’s challenge is Judge Beep Beep’s favorite, Drag Roulette, but it takes a different form than in previous seasons. A week ago, the contestants were given a sheet of songs to memorize completely, one of which would be chosen at random for them to perform. In past […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
‘We are going to make this a FEaST he’d be fucking proud of’: Chris Wiersema’s deep-listening festival carries on in Iowa City
“Bring the Noise” was a musical mantra popularized by the hip-hop group Public Enemy, and Chris Wiersema lived that aesthetic ideal as Iowa City’s premiere programmer of experimental music and other out-there sounds. Over the past quarter century, he brought hundreds of boundary-breaking artists to town in his myriad roles as a house show promoter, […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Review: Sandy Dyas’ career retrospective at Cornell makes the mundane aspects of Midwest life lovingly strange
To take in Sandy Dyas’ retrospective is to be overwhelmed at the start. To absorb the show in a meaningful way, you need to take your time. The show caps off four decades of work. It is, for the artist, a “memoir”: “Looking back at it all tells me a lot about where I have […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
For 40 years, local kids have been falling in love with Mexican dances thanks to Quad Cities Ballet Folklorico
Ballet Folklorico: 2024 Mexican Fiesta XIII Dance Recital, Friday, Sept. 27, 7 p.m., Galvin Fine Arts Center, Davenport Ballet Folklorico 40th Anniversary Banquet, Saturday, Sept. 28, 5 p.m., Isle of Capri, Bettendorf In 1984, Arnulfo Camarillo and his wife Beatriz gathered their kids, nieces and nephews at the downtown YWCA to teach them some traditional […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Streets will close for Northside Oktoberfest in Iowa City early Saturday morning
The calendar may say Saturday belongs to September, but that won’t stop the 28th annual Northside Oktoberfest from bringing beer, brats and Bavaria-inspired family fun to Iowa City starting at 11 a.m. As is traditional, a stair truck from Eastern Iowa Airport will be there (Fly CID is a festival sponsor) for photo ops from […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
‘Star Search: All Stars’ Ep. 3: Purple reigned at Studio 13 as contestants snatched celebrity (and fellow drag artists’) personas
Catch up on episode one and episode two. The infamous Snatch Game. Even in the actual RuPaul’s Drag Race, I dread Snatch Game. For those unfamiliar, it’s basically a sketch comedy routine. Each contestant chooses someone to impersonate and then participates in a dating show as that character — totally method. For those of us […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Void Church and Raccoon Motel conspire to give artsy-goth kids the show of their dreams
It was a balmy Sunday evening as I made my way to the Raccoon Motel in downtown Davenport. The streets were quiet, but I was headed towards enchanting sounds presented by my pals in Void Church. Void Church isn’t a band but rather a promotional company of sorts. More accurately, Void Church is an audio-visual […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Review: Playcrafters Barn Theatre’s ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ is raw, visceral and deeply moving
Having read A Streetcar Named Desire three times but never seen the play, I was excited to see it being performed at the Playcrafters’ Barn Theatre in the Quad Cities.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
‘Star Search: All Stars’ Ep. 2: Hats are thrown into the ring as girl groups perform, alliances form
For those uninitiated, Star Search: All Stars is a live, weekly reality competition show in Iowa City’s Studio 13, that’s basically the region’s own RuPaul’s Drag Race. There’s been five previous seasons, but this one is special: it’s an all winners and almost-winners lineup. Each contestant has competed before and was a crowd favorite. […]
