Looking for something cultural to do this weekend and beyond? Our select list of recommendations includes Horton Foote’s “Dividing the Estate,” in its final weekend at Theatrical Outfit with a cast of thousands, including husband-and-wife Mark Kincaid and Tess Malis Kincaid. Photo by BreeAnne Clowdus.
RECOMMENDED
Blackberry Winter. THROUGH SATURDAY. Out of Hand Theater presents a workshop production of this new play about Alzheimer’s disease. The script is by Atlanta-bred, Los Angeles-based playwright Steve Yockey (Pluto, Wolves, Octopus, etc.) and features actor Carolyn Cook. The piece recounts one woman’s memories of caring for her aging mother and the challenging decisions they face. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the Alzheimer’s Association. $15. 8 p.m. Horizon Theatre, 1083 Euclid Ave. N.E. at Austin Avenue. Details, tickets HERE.
Dividing the Estate. CLOSES SUNDAY. Matriarch Stella Gordon is determined not to divide her 100-year-old Texas estate, despite her family’s looming financial crises. Her three children have other ideas. Theatrical Outfit stages Horton Foote’s dark comedy with a 13-member cast of who’s who among Atlanta actors: Mary Lynn Owen as Stella, Elizabeth Wells Berkes, S. Renee Clark, Rob Cleveland, Danielle Deadwyler, Caroline Freedlund, Marianne Hammock, Bart Hansard, Mark Kincaid, Tess Malis Kincaid, Jessica Miesel, Maria Rodriguez-Sager and Scott Warren. Tom Key directs. $20-$35. The critics: “Superb. … It plays like a delicious mix of Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes, the TV sitcom ‘Mama’s Family’ and Tracy Letts’ August: Osage County” (Wendell Brock, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution); “A long, interesting, darkly funny, many-peopled story. Where it surpasses August is in its richness, its sense of history, present and future; the sense of complicated, if unsavory, relationships between its people. … Foote’s story is sociological as well as psychological” (Andrew Alexander, ArtsATL.com). 7:30 tonight-Friday; 2:30 & 7:30 p.m. Saturday; and 2:30 p.m. Sunday. Balzer Theater at Herren’s, 84 Luckie St. N.W. Details, tickets HERE or at 1.877.725.8849. See what Theatrical Outfit has planned in its 2014-15 season in this ENCORE FEATURE.
Mariela in the Desert. THROUGH APRIL 27. It’s 1950 and artists Mariela and José are living an isolated life in the northern Mexico desert, haunted by the ghost of their young son. José is very ill and Mariela sends a telegram to their daughter encouraging her to come home. Where once the walls were beautifully decorated, now only one painting remains, and it is shrouded in mystery. In Spanish with English supertitles. Part of Aurora Theatre’s Teatro del Sol series. $15. 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday; 2:30 p.m. Sunday. 128 E. Pike St., Lawrenceville. Free, covered, attached parking in city lot at 153 E. Crogan St., Lawrenceville. Details HERE or at 678.226.6222.
Maurice Hines Is Tappin’ Thru Life. THROUGH MAY 4. The lifelong performer and Tony Award nominee (Sophisticated Ladies, Uptown … It’s Hot!) narrates his own story in this musical, which also pays tribute to his Tony Award-winning brother, Gregory, and singers from Frank Sinatra to Lena Horne. The show also features the all-female, nine-piece Diva Orchestra. A co-production of the Alliance Theatre, Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., and the Cleveland Play House. $30-$75. The critics: “A class act. … Elegant, timeless and possessing the seasoned showman’s ability to step onstage and create an environment that’s simultaneously intimate and communal” (Andrew Alexander, ArtsATL.com); “Makes the case that he’s the last of the great vaudevillains … sassy, charismatic and ever upbeat” (Wendell Brock, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution). 7:30 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday; 8 p.m. Friday; 2:30 & 8 p.m. Saturday; and 2:30 & 7:30 p.m. Sunday. Alliance Theatre mainstage, Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree St. N.E. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.733.5000. (Photo by Teresa Wood)
CLOSING THIS WEEKEND
Annie. CLOSES SUNDAY. The little orphan who never stops singing and dancing is at Atlanta Lyric Theatre. The 1977 musical has proven its mettle with stagings and revivals all over the country. The Lyric version features Kevin Harry (Javert in Aurora Theatre’s award-winning Les Miserables) as Daddy Warbucks. $25-$50. 8 tonight-Friday; 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday. Jennie T. Anderson Theatre at the Cobb Country Civic Center complex, 548 S. Marietta Parkway, Marietta. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.377.9948. (Pictured: Sarah Charles Lewis as Annie, Kevin Harry as Daddy Warbucks and an unidentified canine as Sandy)
Maple and Vine. THROUGH SUNDAY. The “darkly playful” (The New York Times) story of a modern couple who’s grown weary of their 21st-century lives and tries to escape by joining a community of 1950s re-enactors. At Actor’s Express. The critics: “The lighter and less serious, the better” (Bert Osborne, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution). 8 tonight-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.
NOW PLAYING
Camelot. THROUGH APRIL 27. Georgia Ensemble Theatre stages the lush Lerner and Loewe musical about King Arthur, his queen and the Knights of the Round Table. Cast features Bryant Smith (Valjean in Aurora Theatre’s award-winning Les Miserables) as Arthur, Jennifer Acker as Guenevere, Jeremy Wood as Lancelot, and Chris Kayser at King Pellinore/Merlyn. $15-$39. Through April 27. 7:30 p.m. Wednesday; 8 p.m. Thursday-Friday; 4 and 8 p.m. Saturday; and 2:30 p.m. Sunday. Georgia Ensemble Theatre at Roswell Cultural Arts Center, 950 Forrest St., Roswell. Details, tickets HERE or at 770.641.1260.
Macbeth. THROUGH MAY 4. Witches. Prophecy. Greed. Power. Lust. Which one seals the fate of Macbeth and his country? Journey to Scotland via the New American Shakespeare Tavern, with Jacob York as the tragic hero and Veronika Duerr as his diabolical Lady. $15-$36. 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday; 6:30 p.m. Sunday. 499 Peachtree St. N.E. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.874.5299.
LOOKING AHEAD
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. APRIL 24 & 26. Maestro Robert Spano leads the orchestra and chorus in Britten’s War Requiem, written more than 50 years ago to honor Britain’s fallen soldiers. $24-$75. 8 p.m. Thursday; 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Atlanta Symphony Hall, Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree St. N.E. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.733.5000.
The Barber of Seville. OPENS APRIL 26 | THROUGH MAY 4. Atlanta Opera presents the Rossini comedy about a wily barber named Figaro who aids Count Almaviva in wooing the radiant maiden Rosina. Sung in Italian with projected English translations. With Sidney Outlaw as Figaro, Javier Abreu as the Count and Irene Roberts as Rosina. $26-$140. 7:30 p.m. Tuesday; 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday; and 3 p.m. Sunday. Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center, 2800 Cobb Galleria Parkway, Atlanta. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.881.8885.
Letters to Sala. APRIL 23-27. The story of a young girl’s survival in wartime Germany adapted from the book Sala’s Gift and based on a true account. Sala Garncarz was 16 in 1940 when she was sent to a German forced labor camp. After liberation in 1945, she came to America as a war bride and never spoke of her wartime experience. In 1991, on the eve of major surgery, the 67-year-old grandmother revealed more than 300 letters and photos, collected and hidden away in a “Spill and Spell” game box that chronicled her five years in seven camps. Featuring Susan Shalhoub Larkin, Rachel Garner and Rachel Frawley. $27. 8 p.m. Wednesday-Thursday; noon Friday; and 2 p.m. Sunday. Presented by Company J and Stage Door Players at the MJCCA’s Morris and Rae Frank Theatre, 5342 Tilly Mill Road, Dunwoody. Details HERE or at 678.812.4002. (Pictured: Susan Shalhoub Larkin as the grown Sala)
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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. Full disclosure: She’s affiliated with Theatrical Outfit mentioned above. Please email: kathy@encoreatlanta.com.
