The Black Box Theatre is excited to announce the lineup for their 2025 first “Solo Fringe Festival,” showcasing seven, solo artists. Three days of entertainment offers variety to the public. This unique project is being funded in part by Quad City Arts. Admission is “Pay What It’s Worth” at the end of each performance.
Open seating will be available 15 minutes before each performance. Refreshments will be available for donations to The Black Box Theatre. Call Lora Adams with questions at 309-738-2540.
Friday, August 29–Show time – 7:30 p.m.
“Twisted Tales of the Quad Cities”
Join Jeff Adamson as he presents tales from a misplaced river to our local connection to the JFK assassination. These are stories you have probably never heard.
Friday–Show time – 7:30 p.m.
“Rag Doll on a Bomb Site” Original Musical
Created and performed by Shelley Cooper, this is an Original Solo Musical with dance. Nominated at the Hollywood Fringe Festival for “Best Dance and Physical Theatre Show,” with a new contemporary score, composed by two-time off-Broadway award winner Shelley Cooper, and contemporary choreography. This solo musical dance show takes a gritty look at a woman who fled her abusive home and survived adversity. It’s opening night of The Threepenny Opera in Berlin, 1928, when Kurt Weill steps into Lotte Lenya’s dressing room and drops a bombshell, that her name is not in the program. Absolutely furious, Kurt demands they cancel the opening night performance. Lenya laughs in his face. She has been through far worse than this, in her traumatic past. Lenya grew up in a slum, beaten repeatedly by a cruel father; endured hunger and crushing poverty, rape, and repeatedly found herself in morally compromising positions. She struggled to survive and advance herself. She’s come so far, and now that she has her dream role, Kurt must allow her to go on stage. But will he?
Saturday, August 30–Show Time – 3:00 p.m.
Ballet Quad Cities “Dance Me A Story”
Join Ballet Quad Cities as they read and dance to Shel Silverstein. Bring your children and experience Danny O’Dare with Emily Kate Long. “Danny O’Dare, the dancin’ Bear, Ran away from the County Fair, Ran right up to my back stair, And thought he’d do some dancin’ there.”
Saturday–Show Time – 5:00 p.m.
Local, Live Music
Musician Paxton Sherbeyn is based out of the Quad Cities. He plays those old Blues, Country, and Soul tunes you haven’t heard for a while, as well as original compositions.
Saturday–Show time – 7:30 p.m.
“American Dreamer: The Life and Times of Henry A. Wallace”
This one-man, one-act play performed by Tom Mulligan is about Henry A. Wallace, the agricultural innovator and founder of Pioneer Hi-Bred Seed Corn Company. He became U. S. Secretary of Agriculture and Vice President and Secretary of Commerce under President Franklin Roosevelt. Named “the most influential Iowan of the 20th Century,” Wallace’s legacy includes accomplishments in Science, Journalism, Business, Academics, Politics and Humanitarian Efforts.
Sunday, August 31–Show time – 3:00 p.m.
“EA POE: Edgar Allan Poe’s Imagination!”
Dan Haughey /Hoy/ Theatre Professor Emeritus, from Black Hawk College, becomes a modern critic for a prominent metropolitan newspaper. He reflects on and illuminates–through the art of oral interpretation–the life and work of Edgar Allan Poe. Some of Poe’s greatest poems, short stories, and a satire or two, will be featured. Haughey expresses the emotion of Poe’s works, and criticizes them in the guise of a skeptical Rock and Roll music critic.
Sunday–Show time – 5:00 p.m.
Songwriter/Musician
Richard Roberts, Jr., writes and performs original tunes in the genres of Americana, Folk, Country, and Blues.
Sunday–Show time – 7:30 p.m.
“Ro: A One-Women Show”
Elissa Dynes explores complex gender dynamics and economic pressures that shape many relationships today. Content warnings: this production includes references to mental illness, drugs, nude photos, and opioids. The story follows Ro, a 28-year-old woman, as she navigates emotional and financial hardships of being in a relationship. This ultimately leads Ro to confront what she must do, to put herself first. Ro is a contemporary adaptation of Eugene O’Neill’s one-woman play, “Before Breakfast.” Developed as part of Dynes’s Independent Research Project for her MFA in International Theatre Practice and Performance [at Rose Bruford College, London], this adaptation reimagines O’Neill’s classic within a modern context.