In April, in the month of poetry A theater raises praises to a bard The offering a simple symmetry Disarming to the ardent avant-garde Since 1996, the U.S. has recognized April as National Poetry Month, a celebration organized by the Academy of American Poets. Here in the first U.S. UNESCO City of Literature, that certainly […]
Riverside Theatre
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Sparse and exquisite, Riverside’s production of ‘A Christmas Carol’ is exactly what we need
With its opening this past weekend, Riverside Theatre’s production of Paul Morella’s A Christmas Carol adaptation has officially brought the holiday season down upon us. The pandemic takes the loss this time — it can’t rid us of the magic, charm and lessons we cherish from stingy old Ebenezer Scrooge. Nestle in front of your […]
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Masterful storytelling explores the core of communication in Riverside’s ‘Midnight Your Time’
As both a mother and a daughter, I found Midnight Your Time resonant and meaningful. Riverside Theatre’s current streaming production, Midnight Your Time by Adam Brace, is a one-woman show featuring Riverside co-founder Jody Hovland. Directed by Adam Knight, this is the story of a mother learning a new role as her adult children have […]
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Joy Vandervort-Cobb animates a whole ensemble of characters in Riverside Theatre and PURE Theatre’s ‘No Child …’
Over the past seven months, theater companies in eastern Iowa and elsewhere have reinvented themselves, branching out from traditional spaces onto streaming platforms to keep performance and themselves alive. Starting Thursday, Riverside Theatre — in conjunction with PURE Theatre in Charleston, South Carolina — offered another to their audiences: a recorded play that audiences can […]
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Riverside’s ‘Buyer and Cellar’ sets the stage for a fall of fantastic virtual performances
According to the first result that loads on Google (bless you, Wikipedia), a utopia “is an imagined community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its citizens.” The hilariously absurd, one-man tale that unfolds in Riverside Theatre’s Buyer and Cellar is just that, a utopia. Starring the sensational Patrick DuLaney and […]
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Riverside Theatre takes the virtual stage in its busiest season ever
Even as nearly every other performing arts organization, of every type, has scaled back its programming in 2020, Riverside Theatre is ramping it up. The 2020-21 season marks the 40th season for the revered Iowa City theater, and it has brought with it a good deal of change.
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‘The Winter’s Tale’: Zooming into a summer tradition with a twist
Fans of Riverside Theatre’s annual Free Summer Shakespeare productions can look forward to a ray of light in the dark of this year’s tumult. Like most theaters, Riverside has temporarily shuttered in person performances in the interest of public safety. This necessary decision prevents us from gathering in Lower City Park’s Festival Stage this summer […]
Posted inCommunity/News
‘To hell with it, let’s just get married already’: Megan Gogerty and Chris Rich tap into their creativity for COVID wedding
“Here’s the thing that’s true of every good wedding,” says newlywed Megan Gogerty. “You spend so much time, money and energy worrying about if the napkins are going to match the table setting and is the caterer late and what did I do with my ascot? But then you get there and you realize none […]
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Riverside Theatre announces upcoming season, pays tribute to longtime location in virtual gala
In years past, Riverside Theatre held a spring gala called Diamonds and Denim to raise funds and preview their upcoming season. This year, social distancing guidelines didn’t allow for an event quite so glamorous, so Riverside took their 2020 fundraiser virtual, rebranding it the Sweatpants and Slippers Gala. “There’s a lot of nostalgia about this […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Wine, dine and donate: Brix contributes more than $13,000 to fellow downtown businesses and arts organizations
When Nick Craig, owner of Brix Cheese Shop and Wine Bar in Iowa City’s Northside Neighborhood, was making plans for his girlfriend’s April 19 birthday, he knew the couple couldn’t celebrate the way they would under normal circumstances. He and Lacy Laughton would usually mark the occasion by going to a performance or eating at […]
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Downtown Iowa City Arts Showcase: Megan Gogerty of Riverside Theatre speaks into the void
In support of Riverside Theatre, playwright, comedian, actor and professor Megan Gogerty performs at home in part two of the Downtown Iowa City Arts Showcase — a series of performances inviting community contributions to local artists, and to the nonprofit arts organizations that support their work year-round. Support Riverside Theatre To support Megan Gogerty: Venmo: […]
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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. […]
