What to see? What to do? It’s a relatively light week, but we have a few holiday holdovers and some don’t-miss events just ahead.
New this week
As You Like It. PREVIEWS FRIDAY | OPENS SATURDAY. “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.” Take a trip into Shakespeare’s enchanted woods, where Rosalind and Orlando pursue love in the most circuitous way. Join the cast and crew for a post-show Q&A on Jan. 10. Pub menu and libations available. Preview $20; normally $15-$36. Through Jan. 31. 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday; 6:30 p.m. Sunday. New American Shakespeare Tavern, 499 Peachtree St. N.E. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.874.5299, Ext. 0. Discount gift certificates at PoshDealz.com.
Pinocchio. THROUGH JAN. 10. This one-man show combines found-object puppets and audience participation to tell the story of a puppet’s journey to becoming a real boy. The storyteller is Atlanta’s Lee Bryan, aka That Puppet Guy. $20.50. This week: 10 a.m. + 11:30 a.m. today-Thursday; 11 a.m., 1 p.m. + 3 p.m. Saturday; and 1 + 3 p.m. Sunday (no Jan. 1 shows). Jan. 6-10: 0 a.m. + 11:30 a.m. Wednesday-Friday; 11 a.m., 1 p.m. + 3 p.m. Saturday; and 1 p.m. + 3 p.m. Sunday. Center for Puppetry Arts, 1404 Spring St. N.W. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.873.3391.
This weekend only
Home Alone With the ASO. SATURDAY-SUNDAY. The 1990 holiday comedy is filled with mayhem, mischief and family, plus a John Williams score. See the full-length movie in Symphony Hall with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra playing the score live. Guest conductor Constantine Kitsopoulos takes the baton. $20-$55. 6 p.m. Saturday; 3 p.m. Sunday. Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree St. N.E. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.733.5000.
Last chance
The Santaland Diaries. CLOSES THURSDAY. Squeeze one last bit of sarcasm from your holiday with Crumpet and friends. Crumpet (Harold M. Leaver) shares the down-and-dirty details of life as a Macy’s Department Store elf. The script by satirist David Sedaris details a less-fruitful stop in his career and is not for children. With Enoch King and Lala Cochran. $25-$45. 8 tonight-Thursday. Horizon Theatre, 1105 Euclid Ave. N.E. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.584.7450. Note: Horizon has tickets for Thursday only; discount tickets for both tonight and Thursday at PoshDealz.com.
The Snow Queen. CLOSES TODAY. The story of best friends Gerda and Kai, and the evil queen who separates them, completes its run at Serenbe Playhouse. Adapted by frequent Serenbe collaborator Rachel Teagle from the Hans Christian Andersen tale that also led to the Disney movie Frozen. The 50-minute show takes place outdoors, is family-friendly, performed rain or shine, requires walking and takes place in a dark environment. Weather-appropriate clothing advised. 6 p.m. 10642 Serenbe Lane, Chattahoochee Hills. Directions HERE. Details HERE or at 770.463.1110. Note: The box office is sold out, but a few discount tickets ($10) remain on PoshDealz.com.
Next week
Charley’s Aunt. OPENS JAN. 7 | CLOSES JAN. 24. Director David Crowe (Romeo and Juliet) trains his eye on this cross-dressing farce, a chestnut from 1892. At Georgia Ensemble Theatre, with a cast that promises good things: Hugh Adams, Joanna Daniel, Scott DePoy, Stephanie Friedman, Rachel Garner, Charles Green, Steve Hudson and Joe Sykes. The story: Jack loves Kitty, and Charley loves Amy. But things are about to get complicated, and it requires a young man donning bloomers and a corset to set things straight. $26-$35. 7:30 p.m. Wednesday; 8 p.m. Thursday-Friday; and 2:30 p.m. Sunday. Also at 4 p.m. Jan. 16 + 23. Roswell Cultural Arts Center, 950 Forrest St., Roswell. Details, tickets HERE or at 770.641.1260. Discount tickets at PoshDealz.com.
Coming up
The Book of Mormon. OPENS JAN. 12 | THROUGH JAN. 24. Those shiny-faced Mormon missionaries return to Atlanta (and Uganda) for a two-week run of equal-opportunity offensiveness, fun and a surprising amount of heart. The New York company is in its fifth year on Broadway. Atlanta sees one of two national touring companies. The show, by Matt Stone and Trey Parker (“South Park”) and Robert Lopez (Avenue Q), won nine Tony awards, including best musical. $35-$150. Fox Theatre, 660 Peachtree St. N.E. Details, tickets HERE, in person at the Fox tickets office or at 855.285.8499.
Disgraced. PREVIEWS JAN. 27 | OPENS FEB. 3. Winner of the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for drama, a Tony Award nominee for best play, the most-produced play in America this season and soon to be an HBO movie. American playwright Ayad Akhtar tells the story of a lawyer who’s rapidly moving up the corporate ladder while distancing himself from his Muslim roots. When he and his wife host a dinner party, friendly conversation becomes something far deeper and more dangerous. Post-show conversations follow most performances. Note: Contains profanity, extreme violence and adult themes. Recommended for ages 17 and up. Through Feb. 14. 7:30 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday; 8 p.m. Friday; 2:30 + 8 p.m. Saturday; and 2:30 + 7:30 p.m. (no show at 2:30 p.m. Jan. 30). Alliance Theatre, Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree St. N.E. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.733.5000. Discount tickets at PoshDealz.com.
I and You. OPENS JAN. 29 | THROUGH FEB. 21. Decatur-bred, San Francisco-based playwright Lauren Gunderson’s plays are done throughout the country, yet none has achieved the acclaim of this two-character drama about teenage classmates and the strange and transcendent connections between them and us. Winner of the 2014 Steinberg/American Theatre Critics Association new play award. $20. 8 p.m. Thursday-Friday; 2:30 p.m. Sunday. Harvel Lab, Aurora Theatre, 128 East Pike St., Lawrenceville. Free, covered, attached parking in city deck at 153 East Crogan St. Details, tickets HERE or at 678.226.6222.
Moxie. PREVIEWS JAN. 28-29 | OPENS JAN. 30. World premiere. An American Marine in Afghanistan connects with his son across the world by crafting a handmade book. As the unfinished book journeys around the world, all who touch it are sparked to add their personal stories, contributing to its mystical force. The script by Atlanta playwrights Brian Kurlander and Lane Carlock was developed in part in the inaugural year of the Alliance Theatre’s Reiser Atlanta Artists Lab. The 11-member cast is led by Carolyn Cook and Bobby Labartino. At Theatrical Outfit. $20-$55. Through Feb. 21. 7:30 p.m. Wednesday-Friday; 2:30 + 7:30 p.m. Saturday (7:30 p.m. show only on opening night); and 2:30 p.m. Sunday. Balzer Theater at Herren’s, 84 Luckie St. N.W. Details, tickets HERE or at 678.528.1500.
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. JAN. 23-FEB. 22. The musical considered by many to be Stephen Sondheim’s masterwork comes to Actor’s Express with Kevin Harry (Murder Ballad, Aurora’s Les Miserables) as Todd and Deborah Bowman (Serenbe’s A Streetcar Named Desire) as the scheming Mrs. Lovett. Revenge, murder, meat pies and macabre fun are all on the menu. Directed by Freddie Ashley. This 1980 musical thriller won eight Tony awards, including best musical, best score, best actor (Len Cariou) and best actress (Angela Lansbury). $21-$40. At the King Plow Arts Center, 887 West Marietta St. N.W. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.607.7469.
Wit. OPENS JAN. 14 | THROUGH FEB. 7. Atlanta educator Margaret Edson’s one and only play won the 1999 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. In this iteration at Aurora Theatre, Mary Lynn Owen plays Dr. Vivian Bearing, an exacting university English professor who’s dying of ovarian cancer and learning life lessons along the way. Chris Kayser doubles as Vivian’s chief oncologist and father. $30-$50. 8 p.m. Wednesday-Friday; 2:30 + 8 p.m. Saturday; and 2:30 p.m. Sunday. Also at 10 a.m. Feb. 3. 128 East Pike St., Lawrenceville. Free, covered, attached parking in city deck at 153 East Crogan St. Details, tickets HERE or at 678.226.6222.
