First-Class Theaters in Downtown Moline: Black Box Theatre & Spotlight Theatre
by Jonathan Turner
Some of my most cherished experiences as a performer have been on stage at the Black Box Theatre in downtown Moline.
In November 2017, I played piano (in a non-speaking role) for a beautiful production of “It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play.” In spring 2019, I was music director and accompanist for the deeply emotional “The Last Five Years,” a two-person exploration of love and its painful breakup. That summer, I had a rare stage role as the shy, awkward John Hinckley (not a stretch acting-wise) in the brilliant kaleidoscope of presidential killers and would-be murderers in Stephen Sondheim’s “Assassins.”
The intimate Black Box (a 60-seat space that remarkably transforms with each first-class show) is one of two excellent theaters within blocks of each other downtown, and opened less than two years apart.
Lora Adams and David Miller founded the Black Box in January 2017 in a former retail store space, 1623 5th Ave., and Adams has been much more active in the past few years, often directing, costume designing, and set designing, with the invaluable help of her set-building husband, Michael Kopriva.
Husband-and-wife Sara and Brent Tubbs founded The Spotlight Theatre and Event Center in October 2018 at the former Scottish Rite Cathedral, an imposing, soaring 1930 structure at 1800 7th Ave., with a seating capacity of well over 500, in both stadium-style and at tables on the floor.
In my former work capacity as a theater critic, I had the immense pleasure and honor of reviewing many productions at both Moline venues, and have consistently found the performers to be passionate, committed, terrifically entertaining, and mind-bogglingly talented.
While the Black Box stage is long and narrow, they specialize in smaller shows, and with just three rows, lucky audiences get an up-close-and-personal view of the action, and they do a dazzling variety of straight plays and musicals. This year alone, it hosted the U.S. premiere of “The Truth,” and the world premiere of local playwright Alex Richardson’s “All American Riot.”
The busy Richardson directs the current play at Black Box, “Dial M for Murder,” with a characteristically outstanding cast, featuring Jim Driscoll, Savannah Bay Strandin, Stephanie Moeller, Victor Angelo, and Tyler Henning. It wraps its run this Thursday, October 31 through Saturday, November 2.
Spotlight naturally stages much larger productions, and has often carved a niche with family-friendly shows. Its stunning season this year has included the musicals “Legally Blonde,” “Anastasia,” “Tarzan” and “Evita.” Next up is the classic “Annie,” opening Dec. 6.
As Black Box hosts other groups – like improv comedy and Mockingbird on Main’s “To Kill a Mockingbird,” Spotlight recently hosted a stellar spooky season variety from Ballet Quad Cities, “Twisted Tales of Poe” and they regularly host ComedySportz on the lower level. Brent Tubbs has been a particular wizard with the theater lights and sound system, and Sara is a frequent performer, starring last in “Evita.”
Both Black Box and Spotlight are theatrical treasures in the QC.
Jonathan Turner is a veteran journalist and piano player, who has made the QC home since 1995 and loves writing about arts and culture. He is the author of the books “A Brief History of Bucktown: Davenport's Infamous District Transformed,” and “100 Things To Do in the Quad Cities Before You Die”.
