With all the good stuff happening now you’d need a month of weekends to see it all … but try. One not to miss: “I and You” by Lauren Gunderson, which ends its Aurora Theatre run Sunday. Pictured: Devon Hales and J.L. Reed. Photo by Chris Bartelski.
Recommended
I and You. CLOSES SUNDAY. None of Decatur-bred, San Francisco-based playwright Lauren Gunderson’s considerable works has achieved the acclaim of this award-winning two-character drama about teenage classmates and the strange, transcendent connection between them. $20. 8 tonight-Friday; 2:30 p.m. Sunday. Harvel Lab, Aurora Theatre, 128 East Pike St., Lawrenceville. Free, covered, attached parking in city deck at 153 East Crogan St. Details, tickets HERE or at 678.226.6222.
[VIDEO: GUNDERSON ON “I AND YOU”]
Moxie. THROUGH FEB. 28. This world premiere is a big deal. The script, by Atlanta playwrights Lane Carlock and Brian Kurlander, was developed in part in the first year of the Alliance Theatre’s Reiser Atlanta Artists Lab. The story: A Marine in Afghanistan connects with his son by crafting a handmade book. As the unfinished book travels the world, it picks up more stories and a mystical force. At Theatrical Outfit. $20-$55. 7:30 p.m. Wednesday-Friday; 2:30 + 7:30 p.m. Saturday; and 2:30 p.m. Sunday. Balzer Theater at Herren’s, 84 Luckie St. N.W. Details, tickets HERE or at 678.528.1500. Discount tickets (tonight only) at PoshDealz.com.
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. THROUGH FEB. 28. Kevin Harry is the main reason to see this Actor’s Express version of Stephen Sondheim’s dark musical. Harry (AE’s Murder Ballad, Aurora’s Les Miserables) plays the revenge-bent barber with a baritone made of iron-fisted velvet. Deborah Bowman (Serenbe’s A Streetcar Named Desire) is his Mrs. Lovett, a scheming partner in crime and the making of meat pies. Benjamin Davis makes a wonderfully lovesick Anthony. $21-$40. 8 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday. Selling out, so plan ahead. At the King Plow Arts Center, 887 West Marietta St. N.W. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.607.7469.
New this weekend
Fancy Nancy the Musical. OPENS FRIDAY | THROUGH MARCH 19. Based on the uber-popular Fancy Nancy book series. Fancy Nancy and her best friend can’t wait to play mermaids in their ballet school production, but Nancy is cast as a boring tree. Can she bring her signature style to a small role and stay true to her fancy philosophy? Julie Skrzypek directs, with musical direction by S. Renee Clark and choreography by Danielle Mills. $15-$30. 7:30 p.m. Friday; 1 + 4 p.m. Saturday; 2 + 5 p.m. Sunday. Student matinees at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday-Thursday (call ahead to verify performance). Synchronicity Theatre, 1545 Peachtree St. N.E. (in the Peachtree Pointe building). Details, tickets HERE or at 404.484.8636.
Start Down. THROUGH MARCH 6. World premiere. Eleanor Burgess’ play, the 2016 winner of the Alliance/Kendeda Graduate Playwriting Competition, questions the way we live, the way we educate our children and our core values around technology. Inspired by his girlfriend’s high school teaching career and eager to create a cutting-edge product, a software developer forms a company dedicated to making online tutorials tailored to individual student needs. $20-$39. 7:30 Tuesday-Thursday; 8 p.m. Friday; 2:30 + 8 p.m. Saturday; 2:30 + 7:30 p.m. Sunday. Hertz Stage, Alliance Theatre, Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree St. N.E. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.733.5000.
[FEATURE: READ MORE ABOUT START DOWN AND ITS PLAYWRIGHT]
Woman of the Year. OPENS TONIGHT | THROUGH MARCH 12. Take a stroll through a calendar year in a pair of high heels and see the seasons from a lady’s perspective. This scripted Dad’s Garage show says it will smash the patriarchy right through the glass ceiling and package the pieces in a nice bow. Written by Dad’s regulars Perry Frost, Linnea Frye and Megan Leahy, among others. Contains blood, adult language, sexual innuendo and violence. $10.50-$20.50 (cheapest when purchased online). 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday. At the new Dad’s Garage, 569 Ezzard St. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.523.3141.
This weekend only
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. TONIGHT + SATURDAY. Karen Gomyo plays Tchaikovsky’s Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D Major, Opus 35. Plus, Stravinsky’s Petrushka (1947 version) and Islamey, Opus 18, by Mily Balakirev. Romanian conductor Cristian Măcelaru is on the podium. $20-$89. Concerts at 8 p.m. Symphony Hall, Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree St. N.E. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.733.5000.
[AUDIO: HEAR PROGRAM EXCERPTS]
Still playing
American Buffalo. THROUGH MARCH 6. Three small-time criminals pull off a big-time heist in this oft-produced play by Pulitzer Prize winner David Mamet (Glengarry Glen Ross). Neal A. Ghant (Race, the Alliance’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest) leads the True Colors Theatre cast. The scathing drama, first produced on Broadway in 1977, has since been revived twice (1983, 2008). Adult language; for ages 15 and up. $15-$60. 8 p.m. Wednesday-Friday; 2:30 + 8 p.m. Saturday; and 2:30 p.m. Sunday. Southwest Arts Center, 915 New Hope Road. Details HERE. Tickets HERE or at 877.725.8849 (Ticket Alternative).
The Full Monty. THROUGH FEB. 28. Good reviews (Bert Osborne in the AJC) have greeted Atlanta Lyric Theatre‘s staging of this 2000 Broadway hit. The premise: A group of unemployed steelworkers weigh whether to raise much-needed cash by becoming male strippers for one night only. $38-$58. 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday; 2 p.m. only on Feb. 28. Jennie T. Anderson Theatre, Cobb County Civic Center Complex, 548 S. Marietta Parkway, Marietta. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.377.9948.
The Toxic Avenger. THROUGH MARCH 13. Horizon Theatre presents off-Broadway’s 2008-09 Outer Critics Circle Award-winning rock musical, based on the 1984 superhero horror comedy movie. It features Nick Arapoglou — who’s been away from the stage too long — as our hero. Also in the cast: Leslie Bellair, Julissa Sabino and Michael Stiggers. $25 and up. 8 p.m. Wednesday-Friday; 3 + 8:30 p.m. Saturday; 5 p.m. Sunday. At Austin and Euclid avenues in Little Five Points/Inman Park. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.584.7450.
Next week
ASO: Frankenstein premiere, Peter Serkin. FEB. 25 + 27. The Frankenstein Symphony features music from San Francisco-born composer Mark Grey’s full-length opera, based on the Mary Shelley novel. The much-celebrated Peter Serkin is featured on Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 1. $20-$79. 8 nightly. Symphony Hall, Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree St. N.E. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.733.5000.
[AUDIO: HEAR AN EXCERPT FROM THE BRAHMS]
Peter and the Starcatcher. OPENS FEB. 25 | THROUGH MARCH 13. Georgia Ensemble is one of the first regional theaters to get the rights to this swashbuckling Peter Pan prequel, which ran on Broadway in 2012-13. A cast of 12 creates more than 100 characters in this play with music by Rick Elice (Jersey Boys). $25-$35. 7:30 p.m. Wednesday; 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday; 2:30 p.m. Sunday; plus 4 p.m. matinees March 5 + 12. GET performs at the Roswell Cultural Arts Center, 950 Forrest St.,, Roswell. Details, tickets HERE or at 770.641.1260.
