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 […]
Eastern Iowa
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, […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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‘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 […]
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Chris Okiishi wants to offer an ‘astonishing take’ on cult classic ‘Carrie: The Musical’ in Cedar Rapids
Carrie: The Musical, Theatre Cedar Rapids, Sept. 20–Oct. 13 This article is about two great shows happening in the corridor this season, and it is also a love letter to two theater powerhouses. The impact of Chris Okiishi and Patrick Du Laney on the performing arts in eastern Iowa cannot be overstated. Even before starting […]
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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 […]
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Cedar Rapids water main rupture kills more than 1,200 fish in Iowa’s only urban trout stream
More than 1,200 fish in Cedar Rapids’ McLoud Run, Iowa’s only urban trout stream, died this week after a broken water main dumped chlorinated water into the creek on Monday. McLoud Run flows for two miles through a wooded area along the Cedar Valley Nature Trail and adjacent to I-380. It has been a favorite […]
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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.
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Dodge Street Coffeehouse will reopen next month, but not on Dodge Street
Dodge Street Coffeehouse, an Iowa City favorite that closed its doors earlier this year, will reopen. Just not on Dodge Street. “Next month we’ll be opening at South District Market!” the coffeehouse’s owner announced in a Facebook post on Saturday. “We’re excited to join the lovely folks there and get to know the neighborhood. It’s quite […]
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Harper Steele shares thoughts on camping chairs, clothes shopping, growing up in Iowa City and having a love-hate relationship with home as ‘Will & Harper’ hits FilmScene
Joy can often be found in the most unassuming places. In roadside diners, biker bars, even parking lots. It’s nestled between our relationships with friends, family and even the strangers one tries to make laugh.
