Events Calendar

The highlight of the Sonnet Project for many, certainly, will be the April 23 marathon reading. Scheduled for the Weatherdance Fountain Stage on the Ped Mall, the event will offer a chance for theater artists and audiences to indulge something that has been denied to many for over a year now: the opportunity to gather and share words. The event will be livestreamed as well, for those who are unable to attend or who are still uncomfortable gathering.

This experience, as well as the collaboration with Iowa City Poetry and Prompt Press on the Free Generative Writing Workshops and really, all of the programming for this month, are a proof of concept for Knight’s vision of a theater that reaches beyond itself.

“One of the things I’ve been excited about since I’ve gotten to Riverside is surprising people,” Knight said, referencing productions like Men in Boats and Feast. that pushed the boundaries of how Riverside’s former Gilbert Street space could be used. But more than that, he said, “I love the idea of expanding the experience beyond what’s in the theater.”

Part of the reason he was so thrilled with Neumann Monson Architects’ ideas and proposals for Riverside’s new home in the Crescent Block Building is, he said, that “this space gives us the opportunity to program more.”

As he and the rest of Riverside’s core team collaborated with Neumann Monson to refine and expand those ideas, “The biggest thing I cared about was that it was a flexible space,” he said.

With a dedicated elevator and first-floor entrance, the space will offer improved accessibility for both audiences and artists, also feeding Knight’s goal of expanding professional opportunities for the community.

But pandemic aside, it will be months before the space is performance-ready, and in the meantime, as the past year has shown us, you can’t keep artists from making—or facilitating—art.

Amidst a world of clamor and unrest The theater magnifies our very best

Riverside’s youth programming has been a core facet of the larger community for years. Will Power, their regular Shakespeare outreach to schools, went virtual this year with a series of videos featuring the versatile and engaging Crystal Marie Stewart. Episode 10 centers on (you guessed it) sonnets, giving some framework for one core aspect of the Sonnet Project: the Youth Sonnet Contest.

Writers in grades 7-12 have until April 23 to submit their original sonnet on the prompt of reflections on the past year (or hopes for the future). Two winners will be chosen—one 7th or 8th grade poet and one high schooler—and announced on April 30. Students can get some extra practice at the Free Youth Generative Sonnet Writing Workshop on April 11, led by Lisa Roberts of Iowa City Poetry and Jenny Colville of Prompt Press.

The Sonnet Project offers a beautiful cross-disciplinary consideration of a form that, perhaps more than any other, serves as a link between theater and the more formally literary arts. From page to stage, it promises to be a delight.

Genevieve Trainor never could choose between theater and poetry— and feels most comfortable in any circumstance where such a choice is rendered moot.

EDITORS’ PICKS: APRIL 2021

EVENTS: APrIl

APRIL 2021

Planning an event? Submit event info to calendar@littlevillagemag. com. Include event name, date, time, venue, street address, admission price and a brief description (no all-caps, exclamation points or advertising verbiage, please). To find more events, visit littlevillagemag.com/calendar. Please check venue listing in case details have changed.

FRIDAY-SUNDAY, APRIL 9-11 ‘Acting Out While Staying In’: An Evening of Virtual

Comedy, City Circle Theatre Company

(coralvillearts.org), all day, $12-17 Several of eastern Iowa’s most beloved playwrights are behind this evening of short plays centered around the theme of the living room. The three original half-hour productions are “Working For A Laugh,” by Paul Story and Janet Schlapkohl; “... And Quarantine Makes Three,” by Brian Tanner; and “Scandinavian Death Cleaning,” by Christopher Okiishi. City Circle offers up comedy delights for you to enjoy from the comfort and safety of your own living room.

Virtual theatre events around the CRANDIC:

Friday, April 9 at 7:30 p.m.

‘Sonnets For An Old Century,’ Riverside Theatre (riversidetheatre.org), $10-15, available to stream through April 18

Friday and Saturday, April 9-10 at 7:30

p.m.‘The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus,’ Iowa City Community Theatre (@ICCT1956), donations accepted, reservations required (also showing Sunday, April 11 at 2 p.m.)

Fridays at 8 p.m.

Out the Box readings, titles TBD, Mirrorbox Theatre (mirrorboxtheatre.com)

Friday, April 16

Zooming Into Spring, Rich Heritage of Cedar Rapids Theatre Company (@ RHCRTheatre), donations accepted

EDITORS’ PICKS: APRIL 2021 NOTE! We are listing only ONLINE and OUTDOOR events in this calendar at the moment. “Locations” listed for online events reference the presenting institution. Please visit our online calendar for links, or check the organizations’ websites and Facebook pages.

OPEN CAllS!

Call for proposals: Art Onsite—public Space One in partnership with the Iowa City Downtown District is accepting proposals on a rolling basis for artwork to be placed spring 2021 in various vacant storefronts and pop-up spaces in Iowa City. Amount of locations are subject to change.

BenchMarks 2021 applications are being accepted through midnight, April 9. Artists may submit up to three designs to transform benches in original ways that surprise, amuse or alter our expectations of our shared urban space, and may be selected for more than one design. Selected artists must have their bench(es) painted and varnished by June 1.

Extended Deadline for the Cedar rapids Civil rights

Commission poetry contest. Students in grades 9-12 now have until April 14 to submit their original spoken word or written poetry on the theme Home and Belonging: What Home Means to Me. Visit www.cedar-rapids.org/ civilrights for more details.

The Dinner Detective Murder Mystery Show (Cedar Rapids) is holding virtual comedy auditions for paid roles on Saturday, April 17, 12-1:30 p.m. Seeking actors 18+, for hire as company members. NOTE: You will not be waiting tables; you will be performing/posing as an audience member.

Auditions for The Suffragist, a new musical, will be accepted through April 25 from performers of all genders, 18 and over. See suffragistmusical.com for details.

CSpS Virtual portrait Show is accepting submissions through May 1 for display at CSPS Hall (Cedar Rapids) summer 2021. Submit via Instagram by tagging @ CSPSHall and using the hashtag #CSPSVP, or email your submission to emma@cspshall.org.

iowa Arts Council is accepting applications for Resilience Grants of $500-5,000 until May 3. These grants support Iowan visual artists, filmmakers, musicians and creative writers in pursuing professional development.

Entries due June 1 for the living proof exhibit at the Charles and Elizabeth Bisignano Art Gallery in the Heritage Center at the University of Dubuque. This call is open to all cancer survivors within a 200-mile radius of the Quad Cities.

SUNDAY, APRIL 11, Virtual Vino Vérité: ‘Acasa, My Home,’ Bread Garden

Market, Little Village and FilmScene (icfilmscene.org), 4 p.m., $40-50

Filmmaker Radu Ciorniciuc joins the latest virtual installment of Vino Vérité from Romania to discuss his 2020 documentary, Acasă, My Home. The film, which follows a family of 11 living off the grid in Bucharest who are forced to adapt to city life when their home is turned into a public national park, is Ciorniciuc’s debut feature-length project. It opens April 9 to view online. The Vino Vérité bundle ($40 members, $50 general public) includes streaming access, dessert for two, a bottle of wine and access to the conversation with the filmmaker.

Other film screenings and discussions this month:

Wednesday, April 7 at 7 p.m. ECO Film Discussion: ‘Rachel Carson—The Woman Who Launched the Modern Environmental Movement,’ Iowa City Public Library and Green Iowa AmeriCorps (icpl.org)

Wednesday, April 7 at 10 p.m. ‘Bubba HoTep’ (2002), Late Shift at the Grindhouse (@ICgrindhouse)

Thursdays at 7 p.m. Black Lives on Screen Virtual Screening Series, Obermann Center (obermann.uiowa.edu)

Saturday, April 10 at 7 p.m. Bijou Horizons: ‘Chichinette the Accidental Spy,’ FilmScene (icfilmscene.org), Free-$7

Wednesday, April 14 at 10 p.m.

‘Basket Case’ (1982), Late Shift at the Grindhouse

Saturday, April 17 at 1 p.m. Wild & Scenic Film Festival, Iowa Environmental Council (iaenvironment. org), $10-50 Wednesday, April 21 at 10 p.m. TBD, Late Shift at the Grindhouse

Tuesday, April 27 The Sonnet Project: ‘10 Things I Hate About You,’ Riverside Theatre, Big Grove Brewery, Iowa City

THURSDAY, APRIL 22, Unheard Voices: Impacts of Incarceration on Children and Families, Inside Out

Reentry Community (@ioreentry), 12 p.m., Free (registration required)

Co-sponsored by the City of Iowa City Human Rights Commission, University of Iowa Liberal Arts Beyond Bars and University of Iowa Center for Human Rights, this program from Inside Out Reentry examines how support challenges and social stigma affect the families of the incarcerated, with a goal to identifying and ultimately closing gaps in support. The event features a panel of service providers and a panel of affected family members.

Classes, community and conversations throughout April

Wednesday, April

7 at 7 p.m. United We Swing: Duke Ellington’s “Black, Brown, and Beige,” Hancher (hancher. uiowa.edu)

Wednesday, April 7 at 7 p.m.

Neighborhood NESTS: Building community – education partnerships—An Obermann Conversation, Obermann Center (obermann.uiowa. edu) w/ Iowa City Public Library

Thursday, April 8 at

7 p.m. 2nd Thursday Series: The Last Gasp—Opera and Epidemics, Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre (cropera.org)

Friday, April 9 at 9

p.m. An Evening with Dan Levy, University Lecture Committee (lectures.uiowa.edu)

Sunday, April 11

at 5:30 p.m. The Sonnet Project: Youth Generative Sonnet Writing Workshop, Riverside Theatre, Iowa City Poetry and Prompt Press (riversidetheatre.org)

Wednesday, April 14

at 7 p.m. United We Swing: Charlie Parker and the Revolution of BeBop, Hancher

Thursday, April 15 at

5:30 p.m. Screen Time: Leslie Nolte and Maureen Beran, Englert Theatre (englert.org)

Saturday, April 17 at

12 p.m. The University of Iowa 26th Annual Powwow, Native American Council (@uiowa.nac) with the Latino Native American Cultural Center and University of Iowa Native American Student Association

Sunday, April 18

at 5:30 p.m. The Sonnet Project: Adult Generative Sonnet Writing Workshop, Riverside Theatre and Iowa City Poetry

Wednesday, April 21 at 7 p.m.

United We Swing: John Coltrane and the 1960s, Hancher

Wednesday, April

28 at 8:15 a.m. 90 Ideas in 90 Minutes, Corridor Business Journal (coralvillearts. org)

Wednesday, April 28 at 7 p.m.

United We Swing: The Democracy! Suite and Wynton Marsalis, Hancher

SATURDAY, APRIL 24, Cupcake War Drive-in Edition, University of

Iowa Event Management Certificate, Riverfront Crossings Park, Iowa City, 1 p.m.,

$10-38 I don’t know about the rest of you, but when someone offers me the chance to support Iowa City Shelter House simply by doing what I do best—eating cupcakes and passing judgment on others—there’s no way I’m turning it down. The University of Iowa Event Management Certificate program is offering us all just that chance, in a safe, socially distanced way to boot. Order your tickets now for a selection of mini cupcakes from local bakeries ($12 is the general price, UI students get a discount at $10 and $38 gets you a family pack of four tickets) and then drive through Riverfront Crossings Park on April 24 to pick up the goods. Then rank them! You know you love it.

Other foodie events this month:

Wednesday, April

7 at 6 p.m. Kuře na Paprice: Creamy chicken-paprika served with dumplings, National Czech and Slovak Museum and Library (ncsml. org), $25-30

Sunday, April 11 at 4

p.m. Free Naan Bread Class, Becky’s Mindful Kitchen (@beckysmindfulkitchen)

Saturday, April 17 at 2:30 p.m.

Potato Dumplings with Smoked Meat, National Czech and Slovak Museum and Library, $25-30

Wednesday, April 21

at 6 p.m. Valašsky Frgal: large kolach, National Czech and Slovak Museum and Library, $25-30

EDITORS’ PICKS: APRIL 2021 THURSDAY-FRIDAY, APRIL 29-30, Mission Creek Festival 2021:

DUOS, Mission Creek Festival (missioncreekfestival.com), 7 p.m., $20-195

It’s back, baby! Mission Creek Festival has returned for 2021 with an all virtual program titled DUOS, where festival guests will be in conversation with one another following their performances. Full line-up includes writers Brandon Taylor, Donika Kelly, Chuy Renteria (see pg. 36), Kiese Laymon, Gina Nutt and Andrea Gibson and musicians Nat Baldwin, Ami Dang, Billy Dean Thomas (see pg. 42), MC Animosity, SASAMI and Japanese Breakfast. A Creek Eats box on sale separately through the Iowa City Downtown District will allow festival goers to simulate the experience even more closely through dishes from downtown restaurants. Ticket packages include a variety of merch options.

More music and literature opportunities

Wednesday, April

7 at 7 p.m. Esther Newton in conversation with Ellen Lewin, Prairie Lights (prairielights.com/live)

Thursday, April 8

at 3:30 p.m. Steven Dunn, Cornell College Center for the Literary Arts (@ CenterForThe LiteraryArts)

Thursday, April 8

at 7 p.m. Writers @ Grinnell: Ed Pavlic & Derrick Hall, Prairie Lights

via Ami Dang

Friday, April 9 at 8

p.m. Parker Millsap, Englert Theatre + Mandolin (englert. org), $15-75

Saturday, April 10 at

6 p.m. Writers of the Aether Book Launch Reading, The Writers’ Rooms (thewritersrooms.org)

Wednesday, April 14

at 7 p.m. Stages: Soultru, Englert Theatre (englert.org), $5-10

Thursday, April 15 at 11:30 a.m.

Graphic Histories: A Discussion with Rachel Williams and Karlos Hill, Obermann Center (obermann. uiowa.edu)

Thursday, April

15 at 7 p.m. Maria Kuznetsova in conversation with Anna Bruno, Prairie Lights

Thursday, April 15 at

8 p.m. Justin Comer & the Unblessed Rest of Us, No Touching Sessions (thresholdappsound.com)

Friday, April 16 at 7

p.m. Andrea Bajani in conversation with Nick Flynn, Prairie Lights

Saturday, April 17

at 3 p.m. RavenWolf Stage Grand Opening, RavenWolf Productions, Williamsburg

Sunday, April 18 at 7 p.m. Ani DiFranco: Revolutionary Love Live, Englert Theatre + Mandolin, $20-70

Tuesday, April 20

at 7 p.m. Writers @ Grinnell: Hanif Abdurraqib lecture on Armando “Mando” Montano, Prairie Lights

Wednesday, April 21

at 5:30 p.m. Keynote lecture by Cathy Park Hong, Asian Pacific American Cultural Center (multicultural. uiowa.edu)

CEDAR RAPIDS NEW BOHEMIA / CZECH VILLAGE

Come work with us

Wednesday, April 21

at 7 p.m. Stages: Pink Neighbor, Englert Theatre, $5-10

Wednesday, April 21

at 7 p.m. J.S. Dewes in conversation with Mary Robinette Kowal, Prairie Lights

Friday, April 23 at

11 a.m. The Sonnet Project: Marathon Public Reading of Shakespeare’s Sonnets, Riverside Theatre, Iowa City Ped Mall

Friday, April 23 at 7

p.m. Kim Addonizio & Kate Lebo, Prairie Lights

Friday, April 23 at 8 p.m. Parker Millsap, Englert Theatre + Mandolin, $15-75

Tuesday, April 27 at

6 p.m. Sarah Prineas in conversation with Jenn Reese, Prairie Lights

Wednesday, April 28

at 7 p.m. Stages: Precious, Englert Theatre, $5-10

Wednesday, April 28

at 7 p.m. Writers @ Grinnell: Alissa Nutting and HBO Max showrunner Christina Lee, Prairie Lights

Thursday, April 29

at 7:30 p.m. Layale Chaker, violin/composer Featuring her quintet and special guest Kinan Azmeh , Hancher (hancher. uiowa.edu), $5

Friday, April 30 at

7:30 p.m. An Evening of Motown with Alicia Monee, Theatre Cedar Rapids (theatrecr.org), available through May 9, $25

Saturday, May 1 at 5

p.m. Poetry al Fresco, Iowa City Poetry (iowacitypoetry.com)

Tuesday, May 4 at 7

p.m. Geoffrey Nutter with Matthew Rohrer, Prairie Lights

FRIDAY–SUNDAY, APRIL 30-MAY 2, Dance Into Spring, Hancher and Ballet Des

Moines, Des Moines, Iowa City and Muscatine, Free Ballet Des Moines and Hancher have collaborated on a series of free, outdoor performances crossing the state to celebrate the beauty of spring and the joy of gathering together. The program includes performances from Ballet Des Moines, members of the University of Iowa’s Dance Company and special guests from the Miami City Ballet. Performances will be Friday, April 30 at 7:30 p.m. at the Lauridsen Amphitheater, Water Works Park, Des Moines; Saturday, May 1 at 7:30 p.m. at Hancher Green outside Hancher Auditorium in Iowa City; and Sunday, May 2 at 5:30 p.m. in Riverside Park, Muscatine. All are free and open to the public, with masks and social distancing strictly enforced. Audience members should bring their own chairs or blankets.