Looking for something cultural to do this weekend and beyond? Here are Encore Atlanta’s recommendations (in alphabetical order). Pictured: Jimi Kocina, left, and Tom Key in Theatrical Outfit’s “Red.” Photo by Josh Lamkin.
Avenue Q. Not for kids despite the puppets, and that’s part of the fun. This irreverent look at life after college continues playing to raucous crowds in its return to Horizon Theatre. Ten actors sing, dance and cut up to a score that includes “Everyone’s a Little Bit Racist,” “The Internet Is for Porn” and “What Do You Do With a B.A. in English?” Seriously, adults only. Winner of seven 2011-12 Suzi Bass Atlanta theater awards. Through March 11. 8 p.m. Wednesday-Friday; 3 and 8:30 p.m. Saturday; and 5 p.m. Sunday. 1083 Austin Ave. N.E., Atlanta, Ga., 30307. $20-$50. tickets.horizontheatre.com. 404.584.7450.
A Body of Water. Final weekend for this “mysterious journey with an unforeseen destination,” as the 2005 script by Lee Blessing (A Walk in the Woods, Eleemosynary) is described. With the terrific Tess Malis Kincaid. At Aurora Theatre in Lawrenceville. 8 tonight; 2:30 and 8 p.m. Saturday; and 2:30 p.m. Sunday. 128 Pike St., Lawrenceville, Ga., 30046. $20-$30. You’d be wise to call ahead to check ticket availability. 678.226.6222.
The Fabled Cinderella. You’ve never seen Cinderella like this. Life-size puppets, masks, magic and music tell the tale, an original production from Philadelphia’s Enchantment Theatre Company (last season’s Aladdin and the Arabian Nights). Jere Flint conducts the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. 1:30 and 3:30 p.m. Sunday. Symphony Hall, Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree St. N.E., Atlanta, Ga., 30309. Tickets: www.atlantasymphony.org, 404.733.5000.
The Fairytale Lives of Russian Girls. By Meg Miroshnik. This year’s winner of the Alliance/Kendeda National Graduate Playwriting Competition is a fractured fairy tale for adults in which 20-year-old Annie, an American, goes in search of her roots. What she finds is, well, strange, to say the least: a bear boyfriend, a craggy auntie and flying potatoes are just the beginning. Through Feb. 26 on the Hertz Stage. 7:30 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday; 8 p.m. Friday; 2:30 and 8 p.m. Saturday; and 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Sunday. Alliance Theatre, 1280 Peachtree St. N.E., Atlanta, Ga., 30309. $30. Tickets: alliancetheatre.org, 404.733.5000.
Mozart & Elgar. Roberto Minczuk conducts the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in a program featuring Wagner’s Prelude to Die Meistersinger, Elgar’s Cello Concerto, Mozart’s Symphony No. 35 or Haffner, and R. Strauss’ Der Rosenkavalier Suite. Gramophone has called German-Canadian cellist Johannes Moser, this program’s guest artist, “one of the finest among the astonishing gallery of young virtuoso cellists.” 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 17 and 19. Symphony Hall at the Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree St. N.E., Atlanta, Ga., 30309. $21-$79. www.atlantasymphony.org. 404.733.4900.
Red. The 2010 Tony Award winner for best play takes us inside the head and claustrophobic studio of enigmatic painter Mark Rothko, a 1960s modernist. The script may lack a big payoff, but the physical design and performances by Tom Key and Jimi Kocina are first-rate. Through March 11 at Theatrical Outfit. 84 Luckie St. N.W., Atlanta, Ga., 30303. $15 – $35. Tickets: theatricaloutfit.org or 877.725.8849. Visit POSHdealz.com for ticket discounts.
The Red Balloon. Final weekend. This story of magic, childhood and friendship by Theatre du Reve is finishing a return run. Based on the well-known 1956 movie and told in French and English with human actors, puppets and live music. Great for families. 8 tonight; 3 and 8 p.m. Saturday; 3 p.m. Sunday. At 7 Stages Backstage Theatre in Little Five Points, 1105 Euclid Ave. N.E., Atlanta, Ga., 30307. $30; discounts for students and senior citizens. Selling well, so please call ahead. $20-$30. 678.226.6222. Info: TdRcontact@gmail.com, 404.875.3829.
::
Kathy Janich has been seeing, writing about or working in theatre and the performing arts for most of her life. She spent 25 years in daily newspapers and was most recently on staff at Atlanta’s smart, bold and gutsy Synchronicity Theatre.
