Looking for something cultural to do this weekend and beyond? Our select list of recommendations includes “Miracle on South Division Street” at Stage Door Players, in which real-life mother and son Susan Shalhoub-Larkin and Tony Larkin play members of a dysfunctional and very Catholic family.
RECOMMENDED
Race. FINAL WEEKEND. Two high-profile lawyers — one black, one white — are called to defend a wealthy white client charged with raping a black woman in this “intellectually salacious” (Chicago Tribune) thriller from David Mamet. The cast: Andrew Benator, Neal Ghant, Tiffany Hobbs and Ric Reitz. Expect adult language. The critics: “An intense and riveting production” (Andrew Alexander, ArtsATL.com); “An open-and-shut case of scintillating theater” (Bert Osborne, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution). $15-$50. 8 tonight-Friday; 2:30 & 8 p.m. Saturday; and 2:30 p.m. Sunday. True Colors Theatre Company at the Southwest Arts Center, 915 New Hope Road S.W. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.532.1901. (Pictured: Neal Ghant and Andrew Benator as the lawyers. Photo by Josh Lamkin)
THIS WEEKEND ONLY
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. TONIGHT-SATURDAY. World premiere. Music director Robert Spano and soloists Jessica Rivera and Stuart Skelton join the ASO for Fire Angels, composed by Mark Grey and Niloufar Talebi for the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attack in New York City. The original piece has been expanded for full orchestra, which is what the ASO will debut. $24-$75. 8 p.m. Pre-concert talk begins at 7 p.m. (tonight only). Atlanta Symphony Hall, Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree St. N.E. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.733.5000.
Modern Choreographic Voices. FRIDAY-SUNDAY. Atlanta Ballet performs work by some of today’s most in-demand contemporary choreographers. The program includes “Secus” by Ohad Naharin, “Seven Sonatas” by Alexei Ratmansky and a new work by company member Tara Lee, now in her 18th season with Atlanta Ballet. Note: Discretion advised; contains partial nudity. $20-$120. 8 p.m. Friday; 2 & 8 p.m. Saturday; and 2 p.m. Sunday. Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center, 2800 Galleria Parkway, Atlanta. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.892.3303.
OPENING THIS WEEKEND
Maple and Vine. IN PREVIEWS | OPENS SATURDAY. The “darkly playful” (The New York Times) story of a modern couple who have have become allergic to their 21st-century lives and attempt to escape to simpler times by joining a community of 1950s re-enactors. At Actor’s Express. The cast, led by Kate Donadio and Michael Sung-Ho, includes John Benzinger, Jeremy Harrison and Tiffany Morgan. The playwright is Jordan Harrison (2008’s Finn in the Underworld). $26-$45. Through April 20. 8 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday. 887 W. Marietta St. in the King Plow Arts Center. Details, tickets (buy online and save) HERE or at 404.607.SHOW.
Miracle on South Division Street. OPENS SATURDAY | THROUGH APRIL 13. Regional premiere. Stage Door Players takes on this comedy/drama about the Nowak family of Buffalo, N.Y., led by matriarch Clara, who runs a soup kitchen and tends to the family heirloom, a 20-foot shrine commemorating the day in 1942 when the Blessed Virgin Mary materialized in her father’s barber shop. The cast features the mother-son duo of Susan Shalhoub-Larkin and Tony Larkin, who’ve never been on a professional stage together before, as well as Kara Cantrell and Kelly Criss. $22-$27. 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday; 2:30 p.m. Sunday. 5339 Chamblee-Dunwoody Road, Dunwoody. Details HERE. For tickets call 770.396.1726.
CLOSING THIS WEEKEND
Red Badge of Courage. CLOSES SUNDAY. A co-production of 7 Stages and Kennesaw State University, using live actors, tabletop puppetry, projected silhouettes and animation to tell Stephen Crane’s story about the Civil War and a Union soldier named Henry Fleming. The critics: “Can be dense and difficult to unpack but provides a fascinatingly feverish theatrical experience” (Curt Holman, Creative Loafing); “An inventive one-act production [that] manages to capture the novel’s depiction of the chaos of war and its overall haunting tone, as well as its absurdist, existentialist edge” (Andrew Alexander, ArtsATL.com). $10-$20. 8 tonight; 2 & 8 p.m. Saturday; 5 p.m. Sunday. 1105 Euclid Ave. N.E. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.523.7647. Listen to the creators discuss their show in this ENCORE VIDEO. Discount tickets at PoshDealz.com.
Weather Rocks! CLOSES SUNDAY. Kids of all ages can discover Mother Nature’s secrets in this original musical featuring rockin’ meteorologists who share fun facts about rain, snow, hurricanes and sunshine. Written by Jon Ludwig. Five actors use hand-and-rod, rod, marionette, shadow and black-light puppets to share the story. $16.50; under 2 free. 10 & 11:30 a.m. today-Friday; noon & 2 p.m. Saturday; and 1 & 3 p.m. Sunday. Center for Puppetry Arts, 1404 Spring St. N.W. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.873.3391. Discount tickets at PoshDealz.com.
NOW PLAYING
Elemeno Pea. THROUGH APRIL 13. Horizon Theatre’s season continues with this dark comedy set at summer’s end on Martha’s Vineyard, where the haves and have-nots are all flying without a net. The cast: Cynthia D. Barker (Third Country), Adam Fristoe (Venus in Fur at Actor’s Express), Tony Guerrero, Cara Mantella and Tiffany Porter. Includes explicit language and adult situations. Recommended for ages 16 and up. The critics: “Playwright Molly Smith Metzler’s script keeps things at a broad, sitcom-level pitch, and director Heidi Cline McKerley cranks it up to 11…. The show’s greatest strength is its cast” (Andrew Alexander, ArtsATL.com). $20-$30. 8 p.m. Wednesday-Friday; 3 & 8:30 p.m. Saturday; and 5 p.m. Sunday. 1083 Austin Ave. N.E. at Euclid Avenue. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.584.7450. Discount tickets at PoshDealz.com. For more on the Horizon season, see this ENCORE FEATURE.
The Tall Girls. THROUGH MARCH 30. World premiere. The Alliance Theatre’s Hertz Stage season concludes with this basketball drama by Meg Miroshnik (winner of the 2012-13 Alliance/Kendeda National Graduate Playwriting Competition with The Fairy Tale Lives of Russian Girls). We’re in the Dust Bowl town of Pure Prairie in the 1930s, where sometimes basketball is the only way out, even for a girl. The critics: “An intense if somewhat wobbly game of hoops” (Wendell Brock, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution); “One of the show’s many strengths is its fantastic cast” (Andrew Alexander, ArtsATL.com). $33-$38. 7:30 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday; 8 p.m. Friday; 2:30 & 8 p.m. Saturday; and 2:30 & 7:30 p.m. Sunday. 1280 Peachtree St. N.E. Details, tickets HERE. Get the story behind the play in this ENCORE FEATURE. For more on the theater’s 2013-14 season, see this ENCORE CONVERSATION. (Pictured: Emily Kitchens as Jean, the protagonist in The Tall Girls. Photo by Greg Mooney)
The Unauthorized Autobiography of Samantha Brown. THROUGH APRIL 6. Regional premiere. Aurora Theatre stages this 2009 musical about a high school grad who has everything a teenager wants: brains, a boyfriend, functional parents and an acceptance letter to the college of her choice. Her bags are packed, and she’s ready to take off, but something is holding her back. $25-$35. 8 p.m. Wednesday-Friday; 2:30 & 8 p.m. Saturday; and 2:30 p.m. Sunday. Also at 10 a.m. April 2 (replacing evening show, $16). 128 East Pike St., Lawrenceville. Free, attached, covered parking in city of Lawrenceville deck at 153 Crogan St. Details, tickets HERE or at 678.226.6222. Discount tickets at PoshDealz.com.
LOOKING AHEAD
1001 Nights: A Love Story About Loving Stories. OPENS TUESDAY | THROUGH APRIL 6. Using only her imagination — and her Broadway voice — a princess saves a whole kingdom from an evil decree. Genies, jesters, 40 thieves and other fantastical creations come to life in this inventive staging of an early hit by Tony Award winner Robert Lopez (Avenue Q, The Book of Mormon). Presented by New York’s Flying Carpet Theatre Company at the Center for Puppetry Arts. Hand-and-rod, rod and shadow puppets are used. $16.50; under 2 free. 10 a.m. & noon Tuesday-Thursday; 10 a.m. & 8 p.m. Friday; 3 & 8 p.m. Saturday; and 2 & 5 p.m. Sunday. 1404 Spring St. N.W. Details HERE or at 404.873.3391.
The Best Game. OPENS MARCH 28 | THROUGH APRIL 13. A highly driven NYU student takes a risky detour when she decides to seek out her long-lost father in this world premiere from Rising Sage Theatre (formerly 3 Hill Productions). The script is by Rising Sage co-founder Paris Crayton III and features Isake Akanke and Gerard Catus (“Law & Order: SVU,” “The Wire”). $20 advance; $25 at the door. 8 p.m. Thursday-Friday; 2 & 8 p.m. Saturday; and 2:30 p.m. Sunday. Porter Sanford Performing Arts Center, 3181 Rainbow Drive, Decatur. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.500.SAGE.
A Tribute to Marvin Hamlisch. MARCH 28-29. The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra celebrates the musical achievements of award-winning composer Marvin Hamlisch (Broadway’s A Chorus Line), (the movie The Way We Were). Larry Blank is on the podium. He’s joined by vocalists Donna McKechnie (a Tony Award winner for A Chorus Line), Jodi Benson (Broadway’s Crazy for You, Disney’s The Little Mermaid) and Doug LaBrecque. $22-$60. 8 p.m. Atlanta Symphony Hall, Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree St. N.E. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.733.5000.
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Kathy Janich, Encore Atlanta’s managing editor, has been seeing, working in or covering the performing arts for most of her life. Please email: kathy@encoreatlanta.com.
