Want to get your culture on? Our recommendations include “Libby at the Express,” featuring singer extraordinaire Libby Whittemore and her alter ego, Miss Connie Sue Day (pictured), the 31st Lady of Country Music. You’ll leave with the holiday spirit, or else! (Photo by BreeAnne Clowdus)
RECOMMENDED
Libby at the Express. BEGINS FRIDAY | THROUGH DEC. 21. For many of us, it’s not Christmas in Atlanta without singer Libby Whittemore and her alter ego, Miss Connie Sue Day, the 31st Lady of Country Music. Thank goodness both could clear their schedules for this annual holiday gig at Actor’s Express. If you see Connie Sue’s Blue Bird Wanderlodge parked in the deck, you’ll know she has arrived. Prepare yourself. Expect holiday favorites, the Connie Sue Day-penned “Twelve Days of a White Trash Christmas” and more than several stockings full of laughs. 7:30 p.m. $40 plus tax. 887 W. Marietta St. in the King Plow Arts Center. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.875.2791. (Photo by BreeAnne Clowdus)
Lyle the Crocodile. THROUGH DEC. 28. Synchronicity Theatre greets the holidays with this family musical about a croc who turns up in a family’s bathtub. He tap dances, too. Based on the books Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile and The House on East 88th Street by Bernard Waber. Although the kids will be entertained, there’s also plenty of wit for adults to enjoy. 7:30 p.m. Friday; 1 & 4 p.m. Saturday; and 2 & 5 p.m. Sunday. Also at 2 p.m. Dec. 22-23; 11 a.m. Dec. 24; and 2 p.m. Dec. 26. $10-$40. Synchronicity Theatre at Peachtree Point, 1545 Peachtree St. N.E. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.484.8636. (Pictured, from left: Joseph Masson, Daniel Hilton, Brandon Partrick, Sarah Peavy and Hannah Zeldin. Photo by KVC Photography.)
The Snow Queen. THROUGH DEC. 23. Recommended, if you can get a ticket. Call ahead; shows are being added. World premiere. Serenbe Playhouse stages its first winter show with this classic tale of loyalty, redemption and love. Adapter Rachel Teagle (Alice in Wonderland, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz) introduces us to brave, young Gerda, who’s on an epic quest to save her brother from the mysterious Snow Queen and the chill creeping into his heart. Based on Hans Christian Andersen’s original tale. $15 & $20. Swann Ridge in Serenbe, 10640 Serenbe Lane, Chattahoochee Hills. Directions HERE. Details, tickets HERE or at 770.463.1110. (Pictured: Allie Southwood as Gerda and Alex Towers as Bjorn. Photo by BreeAnne Clowdus)
NEW THIS WEEKEND
Atlanta Ballet’s Nutcracker. THROUGH DEC. 28. Join the sugar plum fairies, mischievous mice and inhabitants of lands near and far in this dreamscape brought to life by the ballet’s athletic, artful dancers and Tchaikovsky’s timeless score. The Georgia Youth Choir sings in Act 1’s snow scene. Performance times vary, schedule HERE. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.892.3303. $27-$142. Fox Theatre, 660 Peachtree St. N.E. For more on this season’s Nut, see the ENCORE FEATURE.
THIS WEEKEND ONLY
Christmas With the ASO. TONIGHT & SATURDAY. For more than four decades, these classic concerts have featured the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Morehouse College Glee Club and Gwinnett Young Singers, conducted by the ASO’s Norman Mackenzie. Capture the spirit of the holidays with the orchestra’s iconic story of Christmas, created by the great Robert Shaw. 8 tonight; 2 & 8 p.m. Saturday. $25-$70. Atlanta Symphony Hall, Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree St. N.E. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.733.5000. Ticket discounts (tonight only) at PoshDealz.com.
NOW PLAYING
The 12 Dates of Christmas. THROUGH DEC. 20. Actor-director Jaclyn Hofmann laces up her funny shoes to reprise the sad story of Mary, who, while watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on TV, sees her fiancé kiss another woman. Over the next year, she’s set up, hooked up, strung up and fed up as she navigates the dating world. Times vary (runs in repertory with Anthony P. Rodriguez’s one-man A Christmas Carol). Details HERE. This week: 8 tonight-Saturday & Tuesday-Wednesday. $20. Aurora Theatre, 128 E. Pike St., Lawrenceville. Free, covered, attached parking in city deck at 153 E. Crogan St. Details, tickets HERE or at 678.226.6222. Ticket discounts at PoshDealz.com.
Christmas Canteen. THROUGH DEC. 21. This nostalgic revue is Gwinnett’s longest-running theatrical holiday tradition. Its singing, dancing cast includes Randi Garza, Brandon O’Dell and Bryant Smith, among others. Runs in conjunction with Aurora Theatre‘s Festival of Trees. 8 p.m. Wednesday-Friday; 2:30 & 8 p.m. Saturday; and 2:30 p.m. Sunday. Sold out: tonight-Saturday, Dec. 14 & 21. Check before you go! $20 and up. 128 E. Pike St., Lawrenceville. Free, covered, attached parking in city deck at 153 E. Crogan St. Details, tickets HERE or at 678.226.6222. Ticket discounts at PoshDealz.com. (Pictured, from left: O’Dell, Garza and Smith. Photo by Chris Bartelski)
A Christmas Carol. THROUGH DEC. 24. David de Vries takes over the “bah, humbugs” this season — the 25th for this staging — succeeding longtime Ebenezer Scrooge Chris Kayser. You know the story: miserly Scrooge, the ghosts, the Cratchit family and a spiritual reawakening. What sets the Alliance Theatre staging apart is its multicultural casting, its sumptuous sets and costumes, and its cast of finely tuned choristers. Show times vary. Schedule HERE. The critics: “Based on the pure spectacle of its production values, the Alliance Theatre’s 25th annual staging is an undeniable feast for the eyes. But, as food for thought or for the soul, the show is less substantial” (Bert Osborne, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution). This week: 8 p.m. Friday; 2:30 & 8 p.m. Saturday; 2:30 p.m. Sunday and 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. $17.50-$72. Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree St. N.E. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.733.5000. For more on de Vries, see this ENCORE FEATURE. (Pictured: Elizabeth Diane Wells as the Ghost of Christmas Past. Photo by Greg Mooney)
It’s a Wonderful Laugh. THROUGH DEC. 20. Dad’s Garage Theatre Company parodies the classic movie It’s a Wonderful Life as only it can, with a scripted work by artistic director Kevin Gillese. Bedford Falls never saw it coming. Ages 18 and up only. May contain cursing, sexual innuendo, violence and/or nudity. Dad’s Garage at the Alliance Theatre’s Hertz Stage, Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree St. N.E. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.733.5000. For more on Kevin Gillese and It’s a Wonderful Laugh, see this ENCORE FEATURE.
LOOKING AHEAD
Krampus Xmas. DEC. 18-20. 7 Stages presents its fifth annual anti-Christmas rock ‘n’ roll fest with the help of the Little Five Points Rockstar Orchestra, Syrens of the South (burlesque) and a bagful of anti-Santas including La Befana, a sexy witch who’ll rip out your internal organs and replace them with trash. Ho, ho, ho, indeed. You’re invited to leave the kids at home, grab an ice-cold bucket of PBR and dig into some perverse glee. Age 18 and up only; IDs will be checked at the door. 8 p.m. $20 in advance; $25 at the door. 1105 Euclid Ave. N.E. Details, tickets HERE.
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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 listed above. Please email: kathy@encoreatlanta.com.
