By Diana Nollen/ SourceMedia Group

Stew & The Negro Problem

Stew & The Negro Problem will perform a Hancher-commissioned concert 2/2/12 at The Englert in Iowa City. (Stew & The Negro Problem photo)

Thursday, Feb. 2, 2012

Stew and Heidi Rodewald have a thing or two to say about Iowa City. Stew & The Negro Problem is a rock band with a flair for biting social satire and witty wordplay. This past fall, Stew and Heidi visited Iowa City to gather material for a collection of songs, rolled into a Hancher commission coming to the Englert stage. They’re best known for their Tony Award-winning rock musical “Passing Strange,” made into a 2009 film by Spike Lee. The New York Times calls their style “Afro-baroque” music — a blend of “genre-defying rock-pop-funk-punk-cabaret.” We can’t wait to hear the Iowa City inspiration.

Stew & The Negro Problem: 7:30 p.m. Thursday (2/2/12), Hancher commission at The Englert Theatre, 221 E. Washington St., Iowa City; $12.50 to $30, Hancher Box Office, (319) 335-1160, 1-(800) HANCHER or www.hancher.uiowa.edu

‘The Importance of Being Earnest’

Starring as the conflicted, superficial young lovers in “the Importance of Being Earnest” are (top, left) Alex Williams as John, Angela Billman as Gwendolen, (front, left) Aaron Murphy as Algernon and Hannah Spina as Cecily. (Alisabeth photo)

Friday, Jan. 27, to Feb. 18, 2012

Based on an early rehearsal we saw, we are most earnest in recommending Oscar Wilde’s wildly silly tale of mistaken identities and shallow socialites set in Victorian England. The corseted ladies meet the stuffed shirts on the main stage at Theatre Cedar Rapids in a 19th century tale rivaling any 21st century reality TV show. The dialogue flies like the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune as Carol Burnett comedy crashes into “Fawlty Towers,” a decade before “Downton Abbey.” One of the stars calls rehearsals “a hoot and a holler every time.” Audiences don’t stand a chance of keeping stiff upper lips.

“The Importance of Being Earnest”: 7:30 p.m. Jan. 27 to Feb. 18, 2012, various times, Theatre Cedar Rapids, 201 Third St. SE, $15 to $25, (319) 366-8591 or www.theatrecr.org

Night Ranger

Night Ranger will retro-rock the Riverside Casino Event Center on 1/2812. (Ross Pelton photo)

Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012

Fuel up your flux capacitor and head back to the ’80s for some hard-hitting rock that keeps rolling through pop culture. Night Ranger is coming to the Riverside Casino Event Center, revvin’ up the hit parade with “Sister Christian,” “Rock in America” and “Don’t Tell Me You Love Me.” The San Francisco band’s blasts from the past have rocketed into Broadway’s hit musical “Rock of Ages,” the videogames “Rock Band” and “Guitar Hero,” as well as “Boogie Nights” on the silver screen and the animated “American Dad” on Fox TV. After a splitting in the late ’80s, they reunited in the mid-90s and just released a new CD, “Somewhere in California.” They’re still rockin’ in America. 

Night Ranger: 8 p.m. Saturday (1/28/12), Riverside Casino Event Center, 3184 Highway 22, Riverside; $25 to $35, Casino Gift Shop or www.riversidecasinoandresort.com