Want to get your culture on? Our recommendations include a modern take on a Sophocles classic, “Antigone, Presented by the Girls of St. Catherine’s,” a world premiere performed by the Alliance Theatre Teen Ensemble. Pictured (from left) are Samantha McMullen, Shelby Bice and the only professional actor in the piece, Matthew Myers.
RECOMMENDED
Antigone, Presented by the Girls of St. Catherine’s. CLOSES SATURDAY. A world premiere by 2014 Alliance/Kendeda National Graduate Playwriting Competition winner Madhuri Shekar (In Love and Warcraft). Shekar retells Sophocles’ classic tragedy through the lens of a contemporary all-girls Catholic high school. Performed by the Alliance Theatre Teen Ensemble. 8 tonight-Saturday. Hertz Stage, Alliance Theatre, 1280 Peachtree St. N.E. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.733.5000.
Blues for an Alabama Sky. CLOSES SUNDAY. Join the Alliance Theatre for this 20th anniversary staging of Pearl Cleage’s drama, a timeless look at hopeful dreams in hopeless days during the twilight of the Harlem Renaissance. $25 and up. 7:30 tonight; 8 p.m. Friday; 2:30 + 8 p.m. Saturday; and 2:30 + 7:30 p.m. Sunday. Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree St. N.E. Details HERE or at 404.733.5000. For more, see this ENCORE FEATURE. Discount tickets at PoshDealz.com. (Pictured: Neal A. Ghant and Crystal Fox. Photo by Jeff Roffman)
THIS WEEKEND ONLY
ASO: Leila Josefowicz + John Adams. TONIGHT + SATURDAY. Composer-conductor John Adams and violinist Leila Josefowicz bring their latest collaboration to Symphony Hall with Scheherazade.2, Symphony for Violin and Orchestra. The piece was written by Adams for Josefowicz, who champions modern composers. Also planned: The Enchanted Lake by Liadov and Respighi’s Pines of Rome. $20-$99. 8 tonight; 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Symphony Hall, Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree St. N.E. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.733.5000. (NOTE: The ASO’s 45th annual Decorators’ Show House & Gardens fundraiser runs through Sunday.)
Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra. SATURDAY ONLY. The 120-player strong ASYO presents its final concert of the year, a mix of classical masterworks and modern music, with conductor Joseph Young on the podium. $10. 1:30 p.m. Symphony Hall, Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree St. N.E. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.733.5000.
LAST CHANCE
The Breakers. CLOSES SUNDAY. World premiere. 7 Stages presents an interactive erotic thriller, which asks audience members to cast voyeuristic eyes on a mysterious couple (Angele Masters, Kevin Stillwell) whose betrayal creates a haunted house of passion, lies and destruction. For ages 21 and up. $22.50 advance; $25 at the door. 8 tonight-Friday; 8 + 10 p.m. Saturday; 5:30 p.m. Sunday. At the Goat Farm Arts Center, 1200 Foster St. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.523.7647. (Pictured: Masters and Stillwell. Photo by Arno Hunter Myers)
Pippin. THROUGH SUNDAY. Broadway in Atlanta presents the fantastical, award-winning revival of this 1972 musical, about a young prince searching for his place in the world. The Diane Paulus-directed staging, a blend of Broadway, circus and Cirque, won three 2013 Tonys, including best musical revival. This cast features Tony Award-winner John Rubinstein, the original Pippin, as Pippin’s father, Charlemagne. $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. Tickets HERE. For more, see this ENCORE FEATURE on John Rubinstein. (Pictured: Sasha Allen as the Leading Player. Photo by Joan Marcus)
Rocket Boys. CLOSES SUNDAY. Atlanta premiere. Legacy Theatre in Tyrone stages this new musical based on the best-selling New York Times memoir by Homer Hickam, the basis for the 1999 feature film October Sky, with Jake Gyllenhaal. This coming-of-age story, set at the dawn of the 1960s, is about a mother’s love, a father’s fears and a group of young men who dreamed of launching rockets into space. Music + lyrics by newcomers Dan Tramon + Diana Belkowski. $15-$25. 8 p.m. Friday; 3 + 8 p.m. Saturday; 3 p.m. Sunday. 1175 Senoia Road, Tyrone. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.895.1473.
OPENING THIS WEEKEND
Crazyanity. PREVIEWS TONIGHT | OPENS FRIDAY. Paul and Samantha have been happily dating for six years when their seemingly perfect relationship comes to a screeching halt. She realizes she wants more, an epiphany complicated when an elderly neighbor turns their routine game night into fight night. By Atlanta playwright Paris Crayton III. Through May 24. $15; $25 first-row reserved seats. Rising Sage Theatre at the West End Performing Arts Center, 945 Ralph David Abernathy Blvd. Details HERE, tickets HERE. (Pictured: Kenneth Camp and Starlett Hill. Photo by Jay Ray of Staticc Art & Life)
Hands on a Hardbody. OPENS TONIGHT | THROUGH MAY 31. Regional premiere. Dive deep into the heart of Texas at Aurora Theatre, where the lives of 10 strangers intertwine as they vie for a brand-new pickup truck. The soulful, rockabilly score is by Trey Anastasio and Amanda Green. The cast includes names you should recognize: Jeremy Aggers, Ricardo Aponte, Ben Davis, Laura Floyd, Randi Garza, Jill Hames, Steve Hudson, Rob Lawhon, Jessica Meisel, Wendy Melkonian, Eric Moore, Diany Rodriguez and Jeremy Wood. $30-$50. 8 p.m. Wednesday-Friday; 2:30 + 8 p.m. Saturday; 2:30 p.m. Sunday. Additional performance at 10 a.m. May 27 ($20-$30). 128 E. Pike St., Lawrenceville. Free, attached, covered parking in city deck at 153 E. Crogan St. Details, tickets HERE or at 678.226.6222.
NEXT WEEK
ASO: Roberto Abbado and Sergej Krylov. MAY 14 + 16. Italian conductor Roberto Abbado, a frequent Atlanta Symphony Orchestra guest, is on the podium for Berlioz’s Roman Carnival Overture, Boccherini’s Ritirate Notturna di Madrid and Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 4, Italian. Violinist Sergej Krylov performs Paganini’s Violin Concerto No. 5. $25-$104. 8 p.m. Thursday; 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Symphony Hall, Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree St. N.E. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.733.5000.
Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike. MAY 15-JUNE 28. Regional premiere. Horizon and Aurora theaters team up to present playwright Christopher Durang’s Tony Award-winning riff on all things Chekhov. Vanya (Bill Murphy) and his adopted sister, Sonia (Lala Cochran), live a quiet life in a Pennsylvania farmhouse, while their sister, Masha (Tess Malis Kincaid), travels the world as a movie star. Just as they’re issued a warning about their future, Masha returns with her boy toy, Spike (Edward McCreary), in tow. And so begins an unforgettable family reunion. The very talented Justin Anderson, Aurora’s associate artistic director, directs. Also in the cast: Denise Arribas and Danielle Deadwyler. $25 and up. 8 p.m. Wednesday-Friday; 3 + 8:30 p.m. Saturday; and 5 p.m. Sunday. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.584.7450. The comedy moves to Aurora Theatre in Lawrenceville for an Oct. 1-25 run.) Discount tickets at PoshDealz.com.
The Whale. PREVIEWS MAY 13-15 | OPENS MAY 16. Actor’s Express ends a stellar season with Samuel E. Hunter’s multi-award-winning off-Broadway hit. On the outskirts of Mormon Country, Idaho, a 600-pound recluse named Charlie hides away in his apartment, slowly eating himself to death and desperate to see his estranged daughter. This is one man’s last chance at redemption and of finding beauty in the most unexpected places. The cast: AE Artistic Director Freddie Ashley as Charlie, Kyle Brumley, Stephanie Friedman, Agnes L. Harty and Tiffany Porter. Through June 14. $26-$45. Director’s Rough Cut is 8 p.m. May 13 (pay what you can at the door). Previews at 8 p.m. May 14-15 ($20). Opens at 8 p.m. May 16 ($40, includes post-show reception). Regularly 8 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday. 887 W. Marietta St. in the King Plow Arts Center. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.607.7469. Discount tickets at PoshDealz.com. (Pictured: Ashley. Photo by BreeAnne Clowdus)
Xperimental Puppetry Theatre. MAY 14-17. More than 40 artists from 11 teams fill the Center for Puppetry Arts with short puppet performances and films in this annual event. Among the pieces: “Deus Ex Machina,” in which two explorers investigate a world of clockwork machinery; “The Nose,” a film in which a man loses his nose and finds it living a more interesting life on its own; and “A Penny Dreadful,” in which raconteurs tell a tall tale about a man driven crazy by the sun. For mature audiences. $12; $7 members. 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday; 5 p.m. Sunday (wine-beer bar opens at 7 p.m. Thursday-Saturday and 4 p.m. Sunday. Talkbacks with the artists follow every performance. 1404 Spring St. N.W. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.873.3391. (Pictured: A scene from 2014’s “Prologue.” Photo by Stephanie Richardson)
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Kathy Janich, Encore Atlanta’s managing editor, has been seeing, working in or writing about the performing arts for most of her life. Please email: kathy@encoreatlanta.com.
