Looking for something cultural to do this weekend and beyond? Our select list of recommendations includes the Broadway tour of “Evita,” which finishes its weeklong run at the Fox Theatre on Sunday. Pictured: Caroline Bowman as Eva and Josh Young as Che. Photo by Richard Termine.
RECOMMENDED
Cowgirls. THROUGH JUNE 29. Horizon Theatre reprises its 1999 hit with a whole new cast of singers and instrumentalists. It’s Beethoven-meets-bluegrass when the classical Coghill Trio is mistakenly booked for the grand reopening of a country music roadhouse. Cowgirls doesn’t pretend to be anything more than it is, a rousing good time. $25-$60. 8 p.m. Wednesday-Friday; 3 and 8:30 p.m. Saturday; and 5 p.m. Sunday. 1083 Austin Ave. N.E. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.584.7450.
End of the Rainbow. THROUGH JUNE 15. Actor’s Express closes its season with this look at the last comeback attempt of Judy Garland (Natasha Drena). Features such standards as “The Man That Got Away,” “Come Rain or Come Shine” and “Over the Rainbow.” The critics: “Drena imbues the Garland mystique with the megawatt intensity of a supernova” (Wendell Brock, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution); “Hearing Drena perform ‘I Can’t Give You Anything But Love’ is worth the price of admission alone. But the play’s mix of drama and music is occasionally awkward” (Andrew Alexander, ArtsATL.com). $15-$40 plus fees. 8 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday; 5 p.m. Sunday. King Plow Arts Center, 887 W. Marietta St. N.W. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.607.7469. Discount tickets at PoshDealz.com. (Pictured, from left, Tony Larkin, Drena as Garland, and Bill Newberry. Photo by BreeAnne Clowdus)
Evita. THROUGH SUNDAY. This early success by the team of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber made Patti LuPone a Broadway star. This version of the Tony Award-winning musical, based on the slightly retooled 2013 Broadway revival, again tells the story of poor girl Eva Duarte and her determined rise to power, the presidential palace and a cult-like following. Presented by Broadway in Atlanta. The critics: “It completely rocked my world…. This is not only the best Evita I have ever witnessed; it ranks among the best productions in memory” (Wendell Brock, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution). $30-$80. 7:30 tonight; 8 p.m. Friday; 2 & 8 p.m. Saturday; and 1 & 6:30 p.m. Sunday. Fox Theatre, 660 Peachtree St. N.E. Details, tickets HERE or at 855.285.8499. For more on the show and Josh Young, who plays Che, see this ENCORE FEATURE.
THIS WEEKEND ONLY
Aida. TONIGHT, SATURDAY-SUNDAY. The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and maestro Robert Spano close out the season with Verdi’s operatic masterpiece. Soprano Latonia Moore and mezzo-soprano Michelle DeYoung solo. $24-$75. 8 tonight; 7:30 p.m. Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday. Symphony Hall, Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree St. N.E. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.733.5000.
One-Minute Play Festival. SUNDAY-MONDAY. Atlanta’s third annual One-Minute Play Festival (#1MPF), part of a New York-based franchise, features the work of more than 50 Atlanta or Georgia-based playwrights (and a few who used to call the ATL home), more than 10 directors and an untold number of actors. It’s smart, fast, frantic fun. Playwrights include Margaret Baldwin, Gabriel Jason Dean, Suehyla El-Attar, Karla Jennings, Vynnie Meli, Theroun d’Arcy Patterson, Steve Yockey and many more. $20. 6 and 8 p.m. Sunday; 8 p.m. Monday. Actor’s Express, 887 West Marietta St. N.W. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.875.1606. See who’s writing in this ENCORE FEATURE.
Shakespeare in the Park: As You Like It. THROUGH SUNDAY. Georgia Shakespeare returns to Piedmont Park with this frothy tale about disguises and the magical forest of Arden. The 3,000 free seats are gone. $10; $250 for tables of six. 7:30 nightly, rain or shine. 1071 Piedmont Ave. N.E. Details HERE. Tickets HERE or at 404.504.1473.
CLOSING THIS WEEKEND
Godspell. THROUGH SUNDAY. The 1970s musical based on the Gospel according to St. Matthew was updated during a 2012 run on Broadway, and that’s what audiences are seeing at Stage Door Players. Brian Clowdus (Serenbe Playhouse artistic director) directs a cast of young professionals. The critics: “Technically and musically, it’s a triumph” (Jim Farmer, ArtsATL.com).$12-$27. Check for sellouts before you go. 8 tonight-Saturday; 2:30 p.m. Sunday. 5339 Chamblee-Dunwoody Road. Details, tickets HERE or at 770.396.1726. (Photo by BreeAnne Clowdus)
OPENING THIS WEEKEND
Levi. TONIGHT-JUNE 22. In this world premiere from Atlanta playwright Paris Crayton III and Rising Sage Theatre, a self-proclaimed free-spirited radical returns home for the first time in 13 years when he hears his father’s church is being torn down. Featuring stage and TV actor Taurean Blacque (“Hill Street Blues”). $25 plus fees. 8 p.m. Thursday-Friday; 2 & 8 p.m. Saturday; and 2:30 p.m. Sunday. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.500-SAGE. See this ENCORE SNAPSHOT for more on writer-actor Crayton.
The New Electric Ballroom. TONIGHT-JUNE 15. Things aren’t what they seem since the night the Roller Royle came and took away two sisters’ hearts. This comic drama by Irish playwright Enda Walsh mixes naturalism and fantasy and marks the arrival of the Celtic-themed Arís Theatre, a new player on the metro scene. Kathleen McManus directs a cast including Barbara Cole-Uterhardt, Patricia French, Steve Hudson and Holly Stevenson. Arís (ah-REESH) is the Irish word for “again!” Not suitable for children. $15-$25. 8 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday; 5 p.m. Sunday. Georgia Public Broadcasting, Studio B, 260 14th St. N.E. Details, tickets HERE. Discount tickets at PoshDealz.com.
NOW PLAYING
Atlanta Fringe Festival. TONIGHT-SUNDAY. The third annual fest celebrates works on the fringe of mainstream offerings. This year’s lineup features 22 lucky productions, pulled from a hatful of applicants. Each will be performed five times over the four days for a total of 110 performances. The acts come from 11 states and Canada. Full lineup HERE. Venues: 7 Stages’ mainstage, the Big House on Ponce, the Highland Inn Ballroom, Horizons School and the Wrecking Bar Brewpub’s Marianna event space. $10 single tickets; $40 for six-show passes; $60 for 10-show passes; $99 for all-access passes.
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. THROUGH AUG. 2. Serenbe Playhouse promises a one-of-a-kind retelling of the classic L. Frank Baum story with a bookish Dorothy who creates magic in her own backyard and with visuals created by the Center for Puppetry Arts out of organic and reclaimed materials. Adapted by Rachel Teagle. Directed by Brian Clowdus. Performed outdoors in the Animal Village (enter at The Inn). You’re asked to bring your own seating. $15; $10 ages 13 and under. 11 a.m. Friday-Saturday. Also, because of ticket demand, 2 p.m. Sunday shows have been added on June 15, 22 & 29 and Jul 13, 20 &27. 10950 Hutcheson Ferry Road, Chattahoochee Hills. Details HERE. Tickets HERE. Discount tickets at PoshDealz.com. (Photo by BreeAnne Clowdus)
LOOKING AHEAD
Criminal Hearts. JUNE 12-22. Weird Sisters Theatre Project begins its fourth summer of production with this quirky comedy by Jane Martin, best described, perhaps, as a cross between the movies Thelma & Louise and The Grifters. It’s set in Chicago and peopled by an agoraphobic (Sarah Elizabeth Wallis), her estranged husband (Matt Felton), a would-be burglar (Tiffany Porter) and her accomplice (Vinnie Mascola). $20. 8 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday; 2:30 p.m. Sunday. At Aurora Theatre, 128 E. Pike St., Lawrenceville. Free, attached, covered parking in city of Lawrenceville deck (enter at 153 E. Crogan St.). Tickets, details HERE or 678.226.6222. Join ENCORE ATLANTA for a live video chat/pajama party with three of the Weird Sisters at 11 a.m. June 11. Click HERE.
C.S. Lewis On Stage. JUNE 19-29. Actor-director-playwright Tom Key embodies the personality and fiction of the author of The Chronicles of Narnia, The Screwtape Letters and much, much more. Lewis, known to his friends as Jack, is considered one of the great thinkers of the 20th century. $25-$35. 7:30 p.m. June 19-20 & 26-27; 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. June 21 & 28; and 2:30 p.m. June 22 & 29. Theatrical Outfit at the Balzer Theater at Herren’s, 84 Luckie St. N.W. Details, tickets HERE or at 678.528.1500. (Photo by BreeAnne Clowdus)
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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 and Weird Sisters Theatre Project mentioned above. Please email: kathy@encoreatlanta.com.
