Want to get your culture on? Our recommendations this week include those crazy inhabitants of Horizon Theatre’s “Avenue Q,” performed at Oglethorpe University’s Conant Center. Rehearsing are Nick Arapoglou and Molly Coyne.
RECOMMENDED
Avenue Q. THROUGH JULY 12. Horizon Theatre takes its irreverent hit to the former home of Georgia Shakespeare, with both the original and PG-13 versions of this smart, hilarious and risqué Tony and Suzi Bass Award-winning musical. The neighbors are nice on Avenue Q, the only address you can afford when you’re fresh out of college, out of a job or just trying to find your purpose. (See the PG-13 version at 3 p.m. June 20, 5 p.m. June 28 or 8 p.m. July 8.) $30 and up; $50 tickets include a reserved table pre-show and a drink. 8 p.m. Wednesday-Friday; 3 + 8:30 p.m. Saturday; and 5 p.m. Sunday. Conant Center for the Performing Arts at Oglethorpe University, 4484 Peachtree Road N.E. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.584.7450. Discount tickets at PoshDealz.com.
Libby’s at the Express. FOUR SHOWS ONLY. Atlanta singer Libby Whittemore continues her salute to the 1970s with two full acts of tunes by the likes of Karen Carpenter, Elton John, the Bee Gees, Linda Ronstadt, Roberta Flack, Chicago, Three Dog Night, Cher, the Eagles, the Doobie Brothers, Jim Croce, the Spinners and the Beatles. If you haven’t heard Whittemore before, do yourself a favor and go. $40. 7:30 tonight-Sunday. Actor’s Express, King Plow Arts Center, 887 W. Marietta St. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.607.7469. (Photo by BreeAnne Clowdus)
Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike. THROUGH JUNE 28. Regional premiere. Horizon and Aurora theaters partner to present playwright Christopher Durang’s Tony Award-winning riff on all things Chekhov. Vanya and adopted sister Sonia live a quiet life in a Pennsylvania farmhouse, while sister Masha travels the world as a movie star — until she returns home with boy toy Spike in tow. $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. Runs Oct. 1-25 at Aurora Theatre in Lawrenceville.
TONIGHT ONLY
Wabi Sabi: Trip the Light Fantastic. TONIGHT ONLY. An evening of premieres by Atlanta Ballet’s Heath Gill, Sarah Hillmer and Tara Lee, and Meaghan Muller of Backside of the Tent Productions. See them dance among the luminous works of art in the Atlanta Botanical Garden’s Bruce Munro: Light Up the Garden installation. 8 p.m. Free with Light the Garden admission. $19.95; $13.95 ages 3-12. Atlanta Botanical Garden, 1345 Piedmont Ave. N.E. Details, tickets HERE. More on Wabi Sabi HERE. (Pictured: Bruce Munro’s “Forest of Light.” Photo by Jason Getz)
LAST CHANCE
The Artist Man and The Mother Woman. CLOSES SUNDAY. When Geoffrey discovers that art teachers are off-the-charts sexy, he decides to seek a wife, which doesn’t sit well with his doting mum. Scottish playwright Morna Pearson offers a savagely funny glimpse into the surreal universe of a spectacularly dysfunctional mother and son. At Arís Theatre, Atlanta’s stage for Celtic culture. Not appropriate for young audiences. $15-$25. 8 tonight-Saturday; 5 p.m. Sunday. Studio B, Georgia Public Broadcasting, 260 14th St. N.W. Free, covered parking. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.692.0053. Discount tickets at PoshDealz.com. (Pictured: Joanna Daniel)
NOW PLAYING
Barnum. THROUGH JUNE 28. The Prince of Humbug is the ringmaster in this 1980 Broadway bio-musical about P.T. Barnum, the famous showman whose life, tricks and hokum are on full display. This crowd-pleaser, with a tuneful score by Cy Coleman, ran for more than two years in New York. $30-$50. 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday. Additional show 2 p.m. June 27. Atlanta Lyric Theatre at the Jennie T. Anderson Theatre, Cobb County Civic Center Complex, 548 S. Marietta Parkway, Marietta. Details, tickets HERE. Discount tickets at PoshDealz.com.
Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Musical. THROUGH JUNE 28. The Alliance Theatre presents a musicalized version of the Mo Willems story about Trixie and Daddy, who take a trip to the laundromat. $15; $8 ages 6-17; 5 and under free. 10 + 11:30 a.m. Wednesday-Friday; 1 + 3:30 p.m. Saturday-Sunday. Alliance Theatre’s Hertz Stage, Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree St. N.E. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.733.5000. For more, see this ENCORE FEATURE.
The Secret Garden. THROUGH AUG. 2. World premiere. The coming-of-age story about recently orphaned Mary Lennox is adapted by playwright Rachel Teagle and performed in the new (and permanent) English Garden at Serenbe. Based on the Frances Hodgson Burnett book of the same name. $10-$20. 11 a.m. Friday-Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday. Serenbe Playhouse, 10950 Hutchesons Ferry Road, Chattahoochee Hills. Details, tickets HERE or at 770.463.1110. Discount tickets at PoshDealz.com.
A Streetcar Named Desire. TONIGHT-JUNE 28. Family dysfunction plays out in steamy New Orleans in Tennessee Williams’ 1948 Pulitzer Prize winner featuring the deceptions of Blanche Du Bois, Stanley Kowalski and wife Stella. The Serenbe Playhouse cast features Ann Marie Gideon as Stella, Matthew Davis as Stanley and Deborah Bowman as Blanche. Note: Tickets are selling quickly. 8:30 p.m. Wednesday-Sunday. $30; $25 students. At the (new) Art Farm Stage at Serenbe, 10455 Atlanta Newnan Road, Chattahoochee Hills. Directions HERE. Details, tickets HERE or at 770.463.1110. (Pictured: Bowman as Blanche. Photo by BreeAnne Clowdus)
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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.
