The holidays will look a bit different this year due to the pandemic, but that doesn’t mean traditions have to end — including the city of Cedar Rapids’ holiday tree lighting. As with many activities this year, the lighting of the tree in Greene Square is going virtual. It will be streamed on the city’s […]
Cedar Rapids events
A virtual tour and drive-through book signing explore Iowa City’s brewing heritage

The National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library and John’s Grocery have teamed up for a two-day celebration of beer and Iowa City’s Northside District that includes a virtual beer tour and socially distant book signing. Iowa native and University of Iowa alumnus S.C. Sherman will sign copies of his newest book, Beer Money: A […]
Halfloves fold a food drive for HACAP into a return visit to CSPS

Halfloves are back at CSPS Legion Arts this Saturday night, March 7, along with eastern Iowa Americana legends Dave Zollo & the Body Electric and former Cedar Rapidian Tyler Stück, who will be bringing his electronic beats as the opening act (if his name seems familiar, it’s because he was half of the husband/wife duo […]
Event celebrating wine and classic cinema is returning to NewBo City Market
TCR shows how to murder your way to the top, with humor and music
RHCR gets wonderfully messy with ‘Five Women Wearing the Same Dress’

Full disclosure, I don’t love the script of this play. Alan Ball is not my favorite playwright and I don’t typically enjoy the female characters he writes. … successful performances of it are heavily dependent on the women who inhabit the roles and the team in charge of putting it up. And every person involved in this production really did the work. […]
Foundry Performance Laboratory raises stakes with Conor McPherson’s ‘The Seafarer’

I have always subscribed to the philosophy that theater has a responsibility to use the tools at its disposal to expose hypocrisy, contextualize truths and show people who they really are. There is no better way fiction has achieved this goal than with stories that include magic or the supernatural. People are just more honest when they’re making things up. […]
Take a break from presidential candidates this weekend to enjoy holiday events in Cedar Rapids
Wonderfully acted ‘Matilda’ a TCR holiday joy

Theater Cedar Rapids opened Matilda the Musical, based on Roald Dahl’s book Matilda, on Nov. 15 with a high energy number that sets the tone for the whole show. The song, “Miracle,” poses the question: Who is special, and who decides? The choreography (Erin Helm) is outstanding in this number, and that carries throughout the show. […]
Heaviness in Mirrorbox Theatre’s ‘Orange Julius’ lightened by absurdity and human connection

‘Orange Julius’ is not a traditional family drama. It’s not a traditional play, for that matter. Many shows are fairly linear and logical in their progression — the story and action build up to a climax and then have a denouement clarifying the resolution and final thoughts. But this one feels pretty cemented in “dream logic.” […]
Theatre Cedar Rapids sinks its teeth into ‘Dracula’

Though the recent resurgence of zombie hordes both on- and off-screen may be giving vampires (in general) a run for their money, no one character has been immortalized as often as Dracula. And if TCR’s ticket sales are any indication, this lone monster and his violent delights still have a powerful hold on our collective imaginations. […]
Exploring social contracts in RHCR’s ‘God of Carnage’

Taboos and our oft-unspoken understanding of, and adherence to, them are fascinating. In general, one learns the key points from their parents: not to undress in public, for example. Over time, we start to intuit other social rules that are less clear cut, like not to tell other people how to parent their kids. But life’s best drama comes in the silent, tense moments just before, or after, someone breaks those rules. […]