tn-500_press_princess_merrick_trevesWant to get your culture on? Our recommendations include “The Elephant Man,” a critical hit at Georgia Ensemble Theatre with (from left) Jonathan Horne as the disfigured John Merrick and Sam R. Ross as the doctor who befriends him. Photo by Martina Schmidt.

 

RECOMMENDED

The Elephant Man. THROUGH NOV. 16. This 1979 Tony Award-winning best play is based on the life of John Merrick (1862-1890), a Londoner born with disfiguring skin and bone diseases, who travels from freak shows to high society. At Georgia Ensemble Theatre. The critics: “Stylistically evocative and thoroughly moving. … Stunning” (Bert Osborne, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution). $10-$35. 8 p.m. Thursday & Friday; 4 & 8 p.m. Saturday; and 2:30 p.m. Sunday. Georgia Ensemble Theatre at the Roswell Cultural Arts Center, 950 Forrest St., Roswell. Details, tickets HERE or at 770.641.1260. Map HERE. Ticket discounts at PoshDealz.com.

Thumb_1415_ButterflyMadama Butterfly. SATURDAY and NOV. 11, 14 & 16. The Atlanta Opera opens its season with a new production of Puccini’s story of love and sacrifice. This is the first season programmed by general & artistic director Tomer Zvulun, who joined the company in June 2013. Russian-American soprano Dina Kuznetsova sings the title role, with tenor Adam Diegel making his Atlanta debut as Pinkerton. $26-$137 plus fees (season tickets also available). 8 p.m. Saturday & Nov. 14; 7:30 p.m. Nov. 11; and 3 p.m. Nov. 16. Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, 2800 Cobb Galleria Parkway, Atlanta. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.881.8885.

MurderBallad-1Murder Ballad. IN PREVIEWS | OPENS SATURDAY. What happens when a love triangle goes bad? Find out at Actor’s Express, which stages this sexy rock musical, a 2013 off-Broadway hit called “steamy and fun” by The New York Times. Director Freddie Ashley’s cast: Kristen Browne, Jessica De Maria, Jeremy Harrison and Kevin Harry. Through Dec. 7.  Previews at 8 tonight-Friday ($20). Opens at 8 p.m. Saturday  ($40, includes post-show reception). Regularly $26-$45 plus fees (buy online and save $2). $41-$60 VIP tickets include bistro table seating and a drink voucher). King Plow Arts Center, 887 W. Marietta St. Tickets, details HERE or at 404.607.7469. Discount tickets at PoshDealz.com. (Pictured, from left: Harrison, Browne and Harry)

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White Rabbit Red Rabbit. THROUGH NOV. 22. Cwazy wabbit. Out of Hand Theater brings us another out-of-the-box experience, a one-person piece done without rehearsal, director or set and by a different actor doing a cold reading each time. This week’s performances: 8 p.m. Friday at Synchronicity Theatre (actor Brian Kurlander); also at 8 p.m. (cocktails 6:30 p.m.) Friday with Theatre du Reve at The Besharat Gallery (actor Christof Veillon, in French); and 8 p.m. Saturday with the Weird Sisters Theatre Project at the Alliance Theatre’s third-floor Black Box (actor Veronika Duerr). $20-$25 plus fees. Details, tickets and a complete schedule HERE. For more, see this ENCORE FEATURE.

 

OPENING THIS WEEKEND

chainzChainz/Broken. OPENS TONIGHT | THROUGH NOV. 16. Rising Sage Theatre presents eight more performances of this double bill by playwright/co-founder Paris Crayton III. In Chainz, four men who come together in a police holding cell, learn about each other and how they’re an endangered species in America. In Broken, five women talk about children they’ve lost to gun violence. $15 ($25 reserved). 8 tonight; 2 & 8 p.m. Saturday; and 2:30 p.m. Sunday at the West End Arts Center, 945 Ralph David Abernathy Way S.W. 404.756.6465. 8 p.m. Nov. 14; 2 & 8 p.m. Nov. 15; and 2:30 p.m. Nov. 16 at the Porter Sanford III Performing Arts Center, 3181 Rainbow Drive, Decatur, 404.687.2731. Details HERE. Tickets at West End HERE. Tickets at Porter Sanford HERE.

 

CLOSING THIS WEEKEND

tn-500_magnolias3Steel Magnolias. CLOSES SUNDAY. This celebrated Southern classic of family and friendship is set in and around Truvy’s Beauty Parlor, where a group of strong and beautiful women in a small Louisiana parish deal with life, death and other daily stuff. Directed by two-time Tony Award-winning actor Judith Ivey at the Alliance Theatre. It received mixed reviews. 7:30 tonight; 8 p.m. Friday; 2:30 & 8 p.m. Saturday; and 2:30 & 7:30 p.m. Sunday. $25-$68. Mainstage, Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree St. N.E. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.733.5000. For more, see this ENCORE FEATURE. (Pictured, from left: Deirdre Lovejoy, Beth Broderick, Sarah Stiles and Becky Ann Baker. Photo by Greg Mooney)

 

NOW PLAYING 

Chicago. CLOSES SUNDAY. Come for the old razzle dazzle, a taste of the Windy City in the 1920s or a host of “not guiltys.” Atlanta Lyric Theatre kicks up the crime rate with this musical first seen on Broadway in 1975. What’s a little murder, greed and corruption among friends? (P.S. Don’t bring the kids.) $30-$50. 8 tonight-Friday; 2 & 8 p.m. Saturday; and 2 p.m. Sunday. Jennie T. Anderson Theatre, Cobb County Civic Center Complex, 548 S. Marietta Parkway, Marietta. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.377.9948. Ticket discounts at PoshDealz.com.

 

LOOKING AHEAD

10433894_714001841970171_2874508407271249806_n (2)Urban Nutcracker. NOV. 20-23 | FOUR PERFORMANCES ONLY. Ballethnic Dance Company reprises its annual holiday tradition. This Nut takes place on Sweet Auburn Avenue in 1940s Atlanta. It’s a soulful, whimsical journey with such characters at  the Reggae Ragdolls, the Black Russian, Mother Spice and her tumbling Spice Drops, the bubbly Coca Cola Pas de Six, and the elegant Brown Sugar with her Chocolatier. 7:30 p.m. Thursday; 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday; and 2 p.m. Sunday. $39-$52. Ferst Center for the Arts on the Georgia Tech campus, 349 Ferst Drive N.W. Details HERE. Tickets HERE. Questions at 404.894.9600.

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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 Synchronicity Theatre mentioned above. Please email: kathy@encoreatlanta.com.

 

About Kathy Janich

Kathy Janich is a longtime arts journalist who has been seeing, working in or writing about the performing arts for most of her life. She's a member of the Theatre Communications Group, the Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas, Americans for the Arts and the National Arts Marketing Project. Full disclosure: She’s also an artistic associate at Synchronicity Theatre.

View all posts by Kathy Janich