Encore Atlanta

Alliance Feature Archives

August 2010

Love, poverty, music and redemption

Director/choreographer Debbie Allen on Twist

As a child, internationally renowned director, choreographer and performer Debbie Allen spent her summers in Baton Rouge. “I grew up with the tastes, the sounds, the smells, the ghost stories … and the unchaperoned trips to the bayou, where we did things we weren’t supposed to do as children,” she says. “I gazed at the [...]

Older Stories

Lookingglass Alice

March 22, 2010

In Alice in Wonderland, a little girl falls into a rabbit hole and discovers a topsy-turvy world populated by a dapper White Rabbit, a Cheshire Cat, a Mad Hatter and a humorless Queen of Hearts.
In Alice Through the Looking Glass, the same little girl meets Tweedledee and Tweedledum, Humpty Dumpty and a Red Queen [...]

Where two worlds collide

March 15, 2010

Imagine waking up on an island where people don’t believe in using money while the rest of the world is experiencing an epic financial meltdown. Monologist Mike Daisey did just that, and what he discovered eventually became the genesis of The Last Cargo Cult.
“All [my] monologues emerge from the collision of my obsessions … and [...]

How much do you know about doo-wop?

January 6, 2010

Avenue X is a new musical, but its a cappella score honors a musical form that’s more than 50 years old. In honor of the original doo-wop music you’ll be hearing tonight, here’s a look at what inspired it.
What is doo-wop music?
A form of rhythm and blues or rock ’n’ roll music that uses [...]

The littlest players

December 4, 2009

Every year, the Alliance Theatre casts several local actors, including children, to fill the many roles in A Christmas Carol. Encore Atlanta spoke with some of the youngest cast members about acting, the show and what makes being onstage so much fun.
What do you like most about acting?
James Edward Washburn III (Wyatt/Ensemble), age 11: I [...]

Beyond CNN, Coca-Cola and Braves jokes

November 10, 2009

Last summer, Second City Chicago writer Seth Weitberg and head writer/director Matt Hovde were on a mission: Find out what’s funny about Atlanta so they could create a show for Alliance Theatre audiences. I sat down with them to talk about what they love, find funny and admire about Atlanta.
Tell me about this trip. How [...]

‘Theatre as a way to life’

November 3, 2009

Actors often think of theatre as a way of life. But Broadway legend André De Shields cautions that theatre must be used as a way to life, otherwise there’s no way to strike a healthy balance between the highs and lows that come with the work.
“[I] can leave the theatre and live a very successful, [...]

Stuck halfway

October 20, 2009

There’s a reason why kids aged 10 to 12 are known as tweens. “A middle school person is really stuck halfway in the world of the child and halfway in the world of the adult,” says Rosemary Newcott, Alliance Theatre’s Sally J. Tomlinson Artistic Director of Theatre for Youth and the director of Middle School [...]

A shared purpose

September 13, 2009

For Jesse Huot, archiving the work of famed dancer/choreographer Twyla Tharp and acting as her business manager is more than just a job. It’s a family affair. The only child of Tharp and painter Robert Huot, he has been around artists and dancers his whole life.
“The first rule was, ‘Don’t step on the kid,’ because [...]