Update: On Friday, March 13, Iowa City Community Theatre decided to postpone performances indefinitely due to health concerns related to coronavirus. For as long as there has been theater, fictional lovers’ stories have culminated in either marriage or death. Love and sex were fun to watch, but not the point of the story. If the […]
Iowa City live theater
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Riverside’s ‘Stages’ is 75 minutes of honest human experience
Riverside Theatre opened the Iowa premier of the one-man show Stages by David Lee Nelson on Feb. 28. Nelson’s show and performance are remarkable for several reasons. Co-created and directed with Riverside’s Producing Artistic Director, Stages is the chronicle of Nelson’s own lived experiences with stage four colon cancer. Nelson is both playwright and actor. […]
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Five questions with: Playwright/actor David Lee Nelson
This Friday, Feb. 28, Riverside Theatre’s artistic director Adam Knight brings a story close to his heart to the Gilbert Street stage. Stages is a play that Knight helped develop with long-time friend David Lee Nelson, following Nelson’s diagnosis in 2017 with stage four colon cancer. Throughout the course of his chemotherapy, Nelson kept a […]
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‘Matt & Ben’: Rewriting a Hollywood Bromance
After more than a decade of superhuman blockbusters on the big screen, it’s hard to say if audiences are still hungry for another origin story. Willow Creek Theatre Co., Iowa City’s newest troupe, is staking their claim on the witty retelling of the rise of Hollywood celebrities, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. Mindy Kaling and […]
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The Actors’ Gang brings the huddled masses to Hancher, Tim Robbins talks mythic courage and national identity
“… cries she / With silent lips. ‘Give me your tired, your poor, / Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free …’” — “The New Colossus,” Emma Lazarus The New Colossus, directed and co-written by Academy Award-winning actor, Tim Robbins, was created in collaboration with the Actors’ Gang, the 39-year-old, Los Angeles-based company where he […]
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Strong performances ground the chaos in ICCT’s ‘God of Carnage’
Iowa City Community Theatre opened ‘God of Carnage’ on Jan. 24 to an amused and unsettled audience. The play takes viewers on a journey that goes from domestic bliss to untethered chaos. “I believe in the God of carnage,” Alan Raleigh, played by Trent Yoder, said. The line echoes in the ears of Iowa City theater-goers as they watch
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Riverside’s ‘The Agitators’ a timely exploration of 19th century concerns that still plague us
Riverside Theatre opened its first play of 2020 with an intense reminder of the importance of history, civil rights and activism. Jessica Link portrays Susan B. Anthony and Curtis M. Jackson is Fredrick Douglass in this retrospective of their friendship and political lives, which often found them at odds with one another.
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Five questions with: Brandon A. Wright, Harpo in ‘The Color Purple’
Brandon A. Wright on ‘The Color Purple’: There really is a piece of take-away for every single person and it may not be in the big or popular moments. That’s the beauty of it: If you come with an open heart and mind, you will find your moment, and it will feel as fulfilling as it’s supposed to.”
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ICYMI: Run of the Mill’s ‘Antigone’ engaging, approachable, powerful
Run of the Mill’s Antigone was a great way for new audiences to be introduced to Greek tragedies. It was approachable, but still had the power of the spoken words that theatergoers of the past would appreciate.
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‘Almost, Maine’ a welcome reprieve from the frenzy of the season
Iowa City Community Theater opened Almost, Maine (John Cariani, 2004) Friday night. The minimalist sets (Jeffrey Allen Mead), lighting that mimicked the Northern Lights (Mike Jesse) and a series of eleven heart-touching scenes beautifully directed by Nate J. Sullivan all came together to provide a delightful evening for everyone.
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Accept the challenge of Riverside Theatre’s ‘Straight White Men’
It is as if the audience is watching the events of the play unfold inside a diorama — a piece of history captured, but a history that is still being played out.
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ICCT’s ‘Evil Dead: The Musical’ is one hell of a bizarre, wonderful show
Iowa City Community Theatre’s production of George Reinblatt’s Evil Dead: The Musical is both bizarre and wonderful — in spades. After seeing it Friday night, I went home and watched all three original movies: Evil Dead, Evil Dead II and Army of Darkness. After this surprisingly swift marathon I have come to the undeniable conclusion
