Looking for something cultural to do this weekend and beyond? Here are Encore Atlanta’s recommendations (in alphabetical order). Pictured: pianist Robert Glasper of the Robert Glasper Experiment, performing at 9 p.m. Monday at the Atlanta Jazz Festival.
Atlanta Jazz Festival. Whether you like your jazz traditional or contemporary, smooth or jamming, with a big band swing or Latin groove, this 35th annual event has your beat. And it’s FREE. This three-day musical explosion is presented by the City of Atlanta Office of Cultural Affairs at Piedmont Park. Expect two stages, 27 acts, two kids’ areas, a jazz eco-area and plenty of vendors selling burgers, barbecue, beverages and art, jewelry and clothing. The lineup includes the Cyrus Chestnut Trio, vocalist Kathleen Bertrand, vibraphonist Roy Ayers, Edy Martinez and His Jazz Orchestra, Gregoire Maret, Tito Puente, the Laura Coyle Quintet, Grace Kelly and much, much more. 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Music starts at 1 p.m. each day. Piedmont Park in Midtown. Read more about the jazz fest HERE.
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra: Bruch & Mendelssohn. The orchestra plays an evening of baroque music featuring Handel’s Concerto Grosso in G, Bruch’s Scottish Fantasy, Gluck’s Dance of the Blessed Spirits and Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 4, with Nicholas McGegan conducting and Stefan Jackiw (“Talent that’s off the scales,” says The Washington Post) as the violin soloist on the Gluck Dance. 8 tonight-Saturday. $21-$79. Symphony Hall at the Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree St. N.E. www.atlantasymphony.org. 404.733.4900.
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. Through 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. FINAL WEEKEND. 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 bit about funny, directs an Aurora Theatre cast that includes Courtney Patterson and Suehyla El-Attar. 8 tonight-Friday; 2:30 and 8 p.m. Saturday; and 2:30 p.m. Sunday. $20-$30. Theater: 128 East Pike St., Lawrenceville. Free (attached) parking deck: 153 Crogan St. Tickets HERE or 678.266.6222. For discounts, visit poshdealz.com.
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. It 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 nimble 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 to 8 p.m. June 23 (call 404.584.7450, 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: Jordan Craig and Lindsey Lamb Archer (pictured) as well as 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.
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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.
