Looking for something cultural to do this weekend and beyond? Here are Encore Atlanta’s recommendations (in alphabetical order). Pictured: LaLa Cochran and Allan Edwards as Tooty and Bubba, two of the many characters they play in “Waffle Palace” at Horizon Theatre.
Copenhagen. FINAL WEEKEND. Toward the end of World War II, two of the world’s top physicists met in Copenhagen. About a bomb. The details of their meeting have never been revealed, and the two never spoke to each other again. Playwright Michael Frayn presents his own ideas of the event in this 2000 Tony Award winner. Featuring Stuart Schleuse as Werner Heisenberg, Curtis Krick as Niels Bohr and Lorilyn Harper as Margrethe Bohr. Directed by Maggie McEnerny. 8 p.m. Friday; 2:30 and 8 p.m. Saturday; and 2:30 p.m. Sunday. $15 online; $23 at the door. Academy Theatre, Reservations: 404.474.8332 or HERE. Tickets online HERE. Read more about director Maggie McEnerny HERE.
18th Annual Modern Atlanta Dance Festival. This yearly event gives us the chance to see works by some of the metro area’s best modern and contemporary dance artists and companies. Expect performances by Zoetic Dance Ensemble, Kerry Lee, Rhythmix Dance & Performing Arts Company, Refuge Dance Company, SIDEWAYS Contemporary Dance Company and Full Radius Dance. 8 p.m. Saturday. $20 (please call 770.395.2654). Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta in Zaban Park, 5342 Tilly Mill Road, Dunwoody.
Jersey Boys. The musical bio about the Four Seasons returns to the Fox Theatre with its warts-and-all portrayal of four guys from a tough neighborhood who made it big in the world of pop music. This isn’t a jukebox musical; it actually has a story line, and a pretty good one. Each member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame quartet — Frankie Valli, Bob Gaudio, Tommy DeVito and Nick Massi — gets to tell the story from his point of view. Winner of the 2006 Tony Award for best musical and now in its 11th year on Broadway. May 22-June 10. 8 p.m. Tuesday-Friday; 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday; and 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sunday (no 6:30 p.m. show June 10). $20-$135. Presented by Broadway in Atlanta at the Fox Theatre, 660 Peachtree St. N.E. Tickets HERE or 1.800.745.3000. Read more about the making of Jersey Boys HERE.
The Fox on the Fairway. Playwright Ken Ludwig (Lend Me a Tenor, Moon Over Buffalo) turns his farcical focus to the country club set in this homage to the great British farces of the 1930s and ’40s. Dad’s Garage Artistic Director Kevin Gillese, who knows a little bit about funny, directs an Aurora Theatre cast that includes Courtney Patterson and Suehyla El-Attar. Through May 27. 8 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday; 2:30 p.m. Saturday-Sunday. $20-$30. Wednesday discount matinee ($16) on May 23. Theater: 128 East Pike St., Lawrenceville. Free (attached) parking deck: 153 Crogan St. Tickets HERE or 678.266.6222. For discounts, visit poshdealz.com.
New Choreographic Voices. Atlanta Ballet closes its season with an evening of world premieres: Rush by Christopher Wheeldon, Pavo by company dancer Tara Lee and Touch by Helen Pickett. Often the most vibrant and surprising performances of the year. 8 p.m. Friday; 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday; and 7 p.m. Sunday. $20-$88. Alliance Theatre, 1280 Peachtree St. N.E. Tickets HERE. Details at 404.873.5811. Read more about putting Voices together HERE. For discounts, visit poshdealz.com.
Russian Mastery: Rachmaninov & Shostakovich. The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra plays Elgar’s Cockaigne Overture, Rachmaninov’s Symphony No. 2 and Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with Vasily Petrenko, principal conductor of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, on the podium and Russian-born pianist Kirill Gerstein (left) as soloist. 8 tonight and Saturday; and 3 p.m. Sunday. $21-$79. Symphony Hall at the Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree St. N.E. www.atlantasymphony.org. 404.733.4900.
The Waffle Palace: Smothered, Covered and Scattered 24/7/365. WORLD PREMIERE. This loving sendup of that most Southern of institutions has heart and plenty of quirky humor, and comes to Horizon Theatre compliments of playwrights Eddie Levi Lee and Larry Larson. The plot: John Pickett (Larson) and his staff battle to keep their Midtown diner open against heavy odds. Co-Artistic Directors Lisa and Jeff Adler direct a cast featuring LaLa Cochran, Allan Edwards, Marguerite Hannah, Enoch King, Eric Mendenhall and Maria Rodriguez-Sager. In a bit of brilliant marketing, Horizon is selling waffle-flavored pastries at the theater, and will have Nana G’s Chicken & Waffles food truck outside the theater from 5-8 p.m. on May 19 and June 23 (call 404.584.7450 and buy a $13 meal voucher, and part of the proceeds benefit Horizon). Through July 1. 8 p.m. Wednesday-Friday; 3 and 8:30 p.m. Saturday; and 5 p.m. Sunday. $20-$30 plus taxes. 1083 Austin Ave. N.E. at Euclid Avenue. Tickets HERE or 404.584.7450.
Xanadu. Disco balls. Roller skates. ’80s hairstyles. What’s not to love? Actor’s Express wraps its season with this powder puff of a musical, a surprise hit in the 2007-08 Broadway season that parodies the Olivia Newton-John movie. Critics, save one, call it “silly fun” and “completely wacky, delightfully preposterous and totally irresistible.” But if you don’t like musicals, stay home! The cast: Lindsey Lamb Archer, Mary Nye Bennett, Greg Bosworth, Jordan Craig, Jill Hames, Marcie Millard, Christen C. Orr, Al Stilo and Craig Waldrip. Through June 16. 8 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday; and 2 p.m. Sunday. $25-$47 plus fees ($2 discount when you buy ONLINE). 887 W. Marietta St., in the King Plow Arts Center. Box office: 404.607.7469. For discounts, visit poshdealz.com.
Xperimental Puppetry Theater. Artists of all disciplines join forces to create bold, original experiments in puppetry for adult audiences. Be the first to experience these works-in-progress — 10 short performances and films that cover the myth of Medusa, an inside look at a lion taming act, and a budding young romance behind the scenes of a popular children’s science program. An artist talkback follows each performance. Age 18 and older only! 8 tonight-Saturday; and 5 p.m. Sunday. $12. Center for Puppetry Arts, 1404 Spring St. N.W. Tickets HERE, details HERE.
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Kathy Janich, Encore Atlanta’s managing editor, has been seeing, covering or working in the performing arts for most of her life. Please email: kathy@encoreatlanta.com.
