Want to get your culture on? Here are Encore Atlanta’s recommendations for this week and the very near future.
RECOMMENDED
A Cabaret Celebrating Judy Garland. WEDNESDAY ONLY. Singer-actor Natasha Drena channels the great Judy Garland in a New Year’s Eve celebration at Serenbe Playhouse. Drena’s portrayal of Garland, in End of the Rainbow at Actor’s Express last spring, earned her a 2014 Suzi Bass Award as best actress in a play. Venue: Serenbe’s Farmhouse restaurant. 10:30 p.m. $50. 9110 Selborne Lane, Chattahoochee Hills. Details, tickets HERE or at 770.463.1110.
THIS WEEK ONLY
New Year’s Eve Shizzazzle. WEDNESDAY | TWO SHOWS. Dad’s Garage Theatre Company invites you to welcome 2015 with a belly full of laughs and cheap champagne. The evening features improvised games and scenes featuring a collection of Dad’s performers. $25 advance; $27 at door. 7 & 10 p.m. Dad’s Garage at 7 Stages, 1105 Euclid Ave. N.E. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.523.3141.
NOW PLAYING
The Stinky Cheese Man. THROUGH JAN. 11. Jack (of Beanstalk fame) guides the audience through a collection of fairy-tale parodies, including a duckling who really is just ugly and a man made of stinky cheese instead of gingerbread. Based on the book by Jon Scieszka. Told with hand and rod puppets by Paul Mesner Puppets of Kansas City, Mo. Good for ages 4 and up. Show times through Jan. 4: 10 & 11:30 a.m. Tuesday-Friday; 11 a.m., 1 p.m. & 3 p.m. Saturday; and 1 & 3 p.m. Sunday. Show times after Jan. 7: 10 & 11:30 a.m. Wednesday-Friday; 11 a.m., 1 p.m. & 3 p.m. Saturday; and 1 & 3 p.m. Sunday. No shows Jan. 1 or 6. Center for Puppetry Arts, 1404 Spring St. N.W. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.873.3391.
LOOKING AHEAD
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. JAN. 8 & 10. Did you know Franz Liszt was considered the Springsteen of the mid-19th century? FR-A-A-A-A-N-Z!!! This program features Liszt’s Les preludes along with Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini and Ein Heldenleben by R. Strauss. Israeli conductor Asher Fisch is on the podium; Russian pianist Daniil Trifonov makes his ASO debut with the Rachmaninov. 8 p.m. Thursday; 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Atlanta Symphony Hall, Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree St. N.E. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.733.5000.
Bad Jews. JAN. 21-FEB. 22. A comedy written and developed by Joshua Harmon during a playwriting residency at Actor’s Express. The plot: Daphna Feygenbaum is a “real Jew.” Her cousin Liam is a self-described “bad Jew,” complete with a shiksa girlfriend. When they hit New York for a relative’s funeral, they engage in a bitingly funny battle over a cherished family artifact. New York Times’ critics named it the best comedy of the 2012-13 season. Cast: Suzi Bass Award winner Galen Crawley (Mary Poppins), Rachel DeJulio, Wyatt Fenner (Pluto) and Louis Gregory. $20-$32 (parking $5). 8 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday. King Plow Arts Center, 887 W. Marietta St. Tickets, details HERE or at 404.875.1606. Ticket discounts at PoshDealz.com. (Pictured: Gregory and Crawley)
The Lizard & El Sol. JAN. 12-31. The latest show in the Alliance Theatre’s innovative Theatre for the Very Young program. An interactive adventure based on a famous Mexican folktale about a time when El Sol (the Sun), disappeared from the sky. Young ones and their caregivers will help the tenacious Lizard coax the sleepy El Sol out of his hiding place. With puppets and Mexican-inspired music and dance. $10. Tickets remain for these performances: 9:30 a.m. Jan. 12; 9:30 & 11 a.m. Jan. 13 & 15; 11 a.m. Jan 16; 11 a.m. Jan 24 (single seats only); and 9:30 a.m. Jan. 31. Please check before you go. Alliance Theatre, Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree St. N.E. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.733.5000.
Marin Alsop and the ASO. JAN. 15 & 17. The first female conductor of a major U.S. orchestra and (and one of the best, says the ASO), returns to lead the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Marin Alsop, music director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and principal conductor of the São Paulo State Symphony Orchestra in Brazil, leads a program that includes Barber’s Essay No. 2, Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 2 and Tchaikovsky’s final symphony, Pathétique. Lithuanian-born violinist and violist Julian Rachlin plays the Prokofiev. 8 p.m. Thursday; 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Atlanta Symphony Hall, Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree St. N.E. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.733.5000. (Photo by Greg Leighton)
Tuck Everlasting. JAN. 21-FEB. 21. A young girl dreaming of adventure meets a family with a fascinating secret. Their chance encounter will change them all forever. A world premiere musical at the Alliance Theatre based on Natalie Babbitt’s 1975 novel. It features a script by Tony Award nominee Claudia Shear; a score by the young, award-winning team of Chris Miller and Nathan Tysen; and direction by Tony winner Casey Nicholaw (The Book of Mormon, Aladdin, The Drowsy Chaperone, Spamalot). The cast is led by two-time Tony nominees Carolee Carmello (Parade, Scandalous) and Terrence Mann (Pippin, Beauty and the Beast) along with Andrew Keenan-Bolger (Newsies, Mary Poppins, Seussical) and Atlanta actor Sarah Charles Lewis. For ages 10 and up. $21-$60. 7:30 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday; 8 p.m. Friday; 2 & 8 p.m. Saturday; and 2:30 & 7:30 p.m. Sunday. Alliance Theatre mainstage, Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree St. N.E. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.733.5000. Ticket discounts (previews only) at PoshDealz.com.
::
Kathy Janich, Encore Atlanta’s managing editor, has been seeing, working in or writing about the performing arts for most of her life. Please email: kathy@encoreatlanta.com.
