Legendary Wu-Tang emcee Raekwon rocked a multigenerational crowd at the Englert during the final night of Mission Creek Festival 2025, where he performed his classic 1995 solo debut Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… The Englert is no stranger to members of the Wu gracing its stage, having welcomed fellow clansmen GZA last year (and in 2009’s […]
Englert Theatre
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Review: The Acting Company stages August Wilson’s ‘Two Trains Running’ — set in a 1969 diner — with cinematic precision
The Acting Company’s recent production of August Wilson’s Two Trains Running, presented by Hancher Auditorium in collaboration with Riverside and the Englert Theatre and performed on the latter’s stage March 28 and 29, is a solid and heartfelt rendition of one of Wilson’s most meditative plays.
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From basements to grand stages, Mission Creek Festival has nourished Iowa City culture for two decades. This year marks the end of an era.
Mission Creek Festival’s namesake is a ghost river in San Francisco. It once connected the center of the city to Mission Bay, though during the past two centuries it has largely been filled in and redirected through subterranean channels. Over the years, parts of the land that Mission Creek ran through have experienced soil liquefaction, […]
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Englert programmer Grace Merritt: ‘The arts are the exact antithesis to what’s going on nationally’
Grace Merritt came to Iowa City for college and stayed for the vibrant arts scene. “Growing up, I didn’t have that kind of music community,” she said. “Music in my hometown is like, ‘Do you want to go see the high school’s band?’” Merritt describes her hometown of Naperville, a western suburb of Chicago, as […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Watch: Bernie Sanders talks to Little Village about Democratic failures and fighting back against Trumpism
Following his speech on fighting oligarchy and Trumpism at the Englert Theatre in Iowa City on Saturday, Little Village had the opportunity to interview Sen. Bernie Sanders. Videographer Jason Smith, photographer Kate Revaux and I sat down with Sanders in a dressing room at the Englert to ask him what he thought has changed in the […]
Posted inCommunity/News
‘Now is not the time for despair’: Bernie Sanders calls on Americans to ‘fight back’ against Trump authoritarianism in Iowa City
Half an hour before the doors opened at the Englert Theatre in downtown Iowa City on Saturday, the line of people hoping to get a seat at Sen. Bernie Sanders’ speech stretched a block-and-a-half down Washington Street, before turning the corner and continuing down Clinton Street for another block. Despite freezing cold temperatures and the […]
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Bernie Sanders is bringing his ‘Fighting Oligarchy’ tour to Iowa City
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders is heading back to Iowa this month as part of a new tour criticizing the Trump administration and associates like Elon Musk. Sanders, who won second place in the Iowa Caucuses as a Democratic presidential candidate in 2016 and 2020, announced Wednesday the launch of his “Fighting Oligarchy: Where We Go […]
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James Tutson is a fool for soul music
For James Tutson, music is a lifelong thing. He told me in a telephone interview that growing up, “We had a 10-person congregation, and I had five siblings and my mom, and we were the whole church choir. From the minute you could talk, you were singing in our family and singing in church, you know, […]
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The Englert and ‘Napoleon Dynamite’ cast celebrate 20 years of unabashedly odd entertainment
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Englert Theatre’s nonprofit status. Coincidentally, it also marks the 20th anniversary of the 2004 independent film Napoleon Dynamite.
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A packed Englert audience sees and celebrates ‘Nightbitch’ movie as Refocus 2024 kicks off
Last night, a giddy audience gathered in the historic Englert Theatre, its marquee beautifully illuminating their entrance, for opening night of the third annual Refocus Film Festival. Onstage, Andrew Sherburne and Programming Director Ben Delgado expressed their gratitude for all who made the festival possible and shared some backstory on their efforts to screen Marielle […]
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In memoriam: Ashlee Hopkins’ thoughtful, joyous spirit stretches beyond this community
Ashlee Louise Hopkins (Davis) was involved in a horrible biking accident on Sunday, Sept. 15. Despite her resilience, strength, and the incredible care of UIHC emergency and SNICU care teams, her injuries were too severe. On Sept. 23, following an honor walk at UIHC surrounded by friends and family, Ashlee made a final gift of […]
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‘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, […]
