Want to put some culture in your weekend? See a show! Our top recommendation is “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” at the Alliance Theatre, featuring a who’s who of Atlanta actors, including, from left: Neal A. Ghant, Richard Garner, Tess Malis Kincaid, Jeremy Proulx, Ann Marie Gideon, David de Vries and Terry Guest. Photo by Greg Mooney.
RECOMMENDED
arts|DBF. SATURDAY-SUNDAY ONLY. The AJC Decatur Book Festival has lined up plenty of free theater, music, chalk art and other sorts of fun for the third art|DBF, the arts-festival-within-the-book-festival held in downtown Decatur. Performances run from 10 a.m. to 6:15 p.m. Saturday, and noon-5 p.m. Sunday at sites in and around downtown. Again, it’s free. For a rundown on what’s happening, please see the blue box at the right.
Memphis. PREVIEWS SEPT 10-12 | OPENS SEPT. 12. This Theatrical Outfit/Aurora Theatre co-pro moves intown, not to the Outfit’s Balzer Theatre space but to the Rialto Center for the Arts. A musical inspired by true events, Memphis isn’t the best piece of theater you’ll ever see, but the 27-member cast and nine-piece band joyfully tear up the joint. The show, which did win the 2010 Tony Award for best best musical (weak season), features pioneering disc jockey Huey Calhoun who moves Southern rock ‘n’ roll from radio to TV. $25-$60. Directed by the Outfit’s Tom Key. Musical direction by Aurora’s Ann-Carol Pence. $20 + $35 previews (7:30 p.m. Sept. 10-11, 2:30 p.m. Sept. 12). $46 + $50 opening at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 12. Regularly $40-$48. 7:30 p.m. Wednesday-Friday; 2:30 + 7:30 p.m. Saturday; and 2:30 p.m. Sunday. The Rialto is at 80 Forsyth St. N.W. Details, tickets HERE or at 678.528.1500. Discount tickets at PoshDealz.com.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. IN PREVIEWS | OPENS SEPT. 9. The Alliance Theatre has assembled a who’s who of Atlanta actors to tell this story of rebel Randle P. McMurphy, who gets himself committed to a mental hospital instead of serving jail time. There, he runs head-on into the stern, unforgiving Nurse Ratched, and a fierce battle of wills commences. Neal A. Ghant is McMurphy; Tess Malis Kincaid is Nurse Ratched. The ensemble includes a few names you should recognize: Richard Garner, Ann Marie Gideon, Chris Kayser, Joe Knezevich, Bethany Anne Lind, Eric Mendenhall and Anthony Rodriguez. $20-$68. Through Oct. 20. 7:30 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday; 8 p.m. Friday; 2:30 + 8 p.m. Saturday; and 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Sunday. Several special events are scheduled with this staging; details HERE. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.733.5000. For more, see this ENCORE FEATURE.
OPENING THIS WEEKEND
Class Act. OPENS TONIGHT | THROUGH SEPT. 19. Rising Sage Theatre Company opens its season with this drama by Oregon playwright Rich Rubin, winner of its Visiting Playwright Series slot, about a young African-American student at a prestigious East Coast university who volunteers to portray a prostitute in an in-class, role-playing exercise. $15-$25. 8 p.m. Thursday-Friday; 2+ 8 p.m. Saturday; and 2:30 p.m. Sunday. West End Performing Arts Center, 945 Ralph David Abernathy Blvd. S.W. Details, tickets HERE.
COMING UP
Calendar Girls. OPENS SEPT. 10 | THROUGH OCT. 4. Georgia Ensemble Theatre opens its 2015-16 season with the U.S. premiere of this comedy-drama based on the 2003 feature film. Nine friends from a British women’s club find their bond tested when a fundraising effort for the local hospital gains an international spotlight. $30 and up. 7:30 p.m. Wednesday; 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday; 2:30 p.m. Sunday. Also at 4 p.m. Sept. 19 + 26. Roswell Cultural Arts Center, 950 Forrest St., Roswell. Details HERE or at 770.641.1260. Discount tickets at PoshDealz.com. (Pictured: Alex Bond. Photo by BreeAnne Clowdus)
Celles d’en Haut (Women on Top). SEPT. 10-20. A Théâtre du Rêve and 7 Stages co-production. See it in English or French. Inspired by Dante’s Inferno, Thomas Mann’s The Magic Mountain and film stills from Cindy Sherman. Celles d’en haut, set in an “establishment” on an isolated mountaintop, celebrates women of all ages and their relationships. Wicked humor is promised. The four-person cast features Atlanta favorites Carolyn Cook and Park Krausen. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.523.7647. Discount tickets at PoshDealz.com.
Stupid F*cking Bird. PREVIEWS SEPT. 9-11 | OPENS SEPT. 12. Playwright Aaron Posner’s sort-of adaptation of Chekhov’s The Seagull had its world premiere at D.C.’s Woolly Mammoth in 2013. The Washington Post described it as “a funny, moving slugfest, a ripe mashup of mock and awe.” The Actor’s Express cast includes Lane Carlock, Matt Felton, Stephanie Friedman and Theo Harness. $20 previews; $40 opening night with reception. Regularly $26. 8 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday. King Plow Arts Center, 887 W. Marietta St. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.607.7469. Discount tickets at PoshDealz.com. (Pictured: Robert Lee Hindsman. Photo by BreeAnne Clowdus)
Winter Journey (Winterreise). SEPT. 12-20. The Atlanta Opera opens its season with a theatrical version of Franz Schubert’s famed song cycle, a romantic journey that tells the story of unrequited love. This production is essentially an “illustrated” Winter Journey, with a projection-mapped set that acts as a self-contained landscape that transforms from song to song. Baritone David Adam Moore sings the title role. In German with English subtitles. $35-$45. 8 p.m. Sept. 12 at Kennesaw State University, Bailey Performing Arts Center. Also, 7:30 p.m. Sept. 17; 8 p.m. Sept. 19; and 3 p.m. Sept. 20 at the Conant Performing Arts Center on the Oglethorpe University campus, 4484 Peachtree Road N.E. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.881.8885.
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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.
