What to see, what to do. Topping our list: The Kendeda-winning world premiere of “Start Down” at the Alliance Theatre; the final weekend — and world premiere — of “Moxie” at Theatrical Outfit; and “Fancy Nancy the Musical,” based on the wildly popular children’s book series, at Synchronicity Theatre. Pictured: Eric Sharp (left) and Andrew Puckett in “Start Down.” Photo: Greg Mooney.
New this weekend
Edge in Unexpected Spaces. FRIDAY + MARCH 4-5. CORE Dance gives three performances as part of Off the EDGE, the biennial contemporary dance festival presented by Georgia State University’s Rialto Center for the Arts and Kennesaw State University. CORE dancers will perform commissions from Atlanta contemporary choreographers Gregory Catellier, Kristen O’Neal, Sharon Carelock and CORE member Erik Thurmond. 7:30 p.m. Friday at the High Museum of Art, 1280 Peachtree St. N.E. The performance is part of your museum admission. Also at 6 p.m. March 4-5 in the lobby of the 55 Park Place building downtown. Free. Details on the festival HERE.
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. OPENS SATURDAY | THROUGH MARCH 20. Tess Malis Kincaid (as the White Witch) and Enoch King (as Aslan the great lion) lead a nine-member Alliance Theatre cast in a family-friendly, one-act staging of the famous C.S. Lewis story about four siblings who journey through a wardrobe and into the land of Narnia. Expect the unexpected from the dancers and circus-type artists. Rosemary Newcott directs. $20 children; $35 adults. Opening day/night performances at 3:30 + 7 p.m. Regularly at 1 + 3:30 p.m. Saturday-Sunday. March 13 shows at 1:30 + 4 p.m. Alliance Theatre mainstage, Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree St. N.E. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.733.5000.
[READ MORE: SHOW’S DESIGN + PROPS BECOME LIVING, BREATHING THINGS]
This weekend only
ASO: Frankenstein premiere + Jorge Federico Osorio. TONIGHT + SATURDAY. The Frankenstein Symphony features music from San Francisco-born composer Mark Grey’s full-length opera, based on the Mary Shelley novel. Mexico’s Jorge Federico Osorio is featured on Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 1 (the previously announced Peter Serkin has withdrawn because of illness). $20-$79. 8 nightly. Symphony Hall, Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree St. N.E. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.733.5000.
[AUDIO: AN EXCERPT FROM THE BRAHMS]
Closing this weekend
The Full Monty. CLOSES SUNDAY. 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 in Buffalo, N.Y., weighs whether to raise much-needed cash by becoming male strippers for a single performance. Alan Kilpatrick directs. Fun fact: Atlanta native John Ellison Conlee was Tony-nominated for his work as Dave Bukatinsky. $38-$58. 8 tonight-Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday. Jennie T. Anderson Theatre, Cobb County Civic Center Complex, 548 S. Marietta Parkway, Marietta. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.377.9948. Discount tickets at PoshDealz.com.
Moxie. CLOSES SUNDAY. A world premiere and a big deal. The script, by Atlanta playwrights Lane Carlock and Brian Kurlander, was developed in part via the inaugural Alliance Theatre 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 tonight-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.
Still playing
American Buffalo. THROUGH MARCH 6. Three small-time crooks 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). Really 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).
Fancy Nancy the Musical. 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 school ballet, but Nancy is cast as 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 the great 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.
Peter and the Starcatcher. THROUGH MARCH 13. Georgia Ensemble becomes 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). Hold on tight! $25-$35. 7:30 p.m. Wednesday; 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday; 2:30 p.m. Sunday; 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. Discount tickets at PoshDealz.com.
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. Plot: Inspired by his girlfriend’s high-school teaching career and eager to create a cutting-edge product, a software developer forms a company that makes online tutorials tailored to individual student needs. $20-$39. 7:30 p.m. 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: ELEANOR BURGESS TALKS ABOUT HER PLAY, AND CHAMPAGNE]
The Toxic Avenger. THROUGH MARCH 13. Horizon Theatre presents the 2008-09 Outer Critics Circle Award-winning (off-Broadway) rock musical, based on the 1984 superhero horror comedy movie. It features Nick Arapoglou — who has been away from the stage too long — as the 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.
Woman of the Year. THROUGH MARCH 12. Take a stroll through a calendar year in a pair of high heels and see life from a lady’s perspective. This scripted, sketch-comedy show at Dad’s Garage says it will smash 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 (buy online and save money). 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday. At the new Dad’s Garage, 569 Ezzard St. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.523.3141.
Next week
Libby at the Express: Greatest Hits. MARCH 3-6. Powerhouse vocalist Libby Whittemore returns to Actor’s Express for a show dedicated to favorites from past AE cabarets. She’ll pull from shows about the 1960s, ’70s, the Gershwins, Rodgers & Hart and Broadway, among others. Dare we hope for “Mountain Greenery,” “You Don’t Own Me” and … wait for it … “Where the Boys Are?” Whittemore is joined onstage by Lisa Paige and Shawn Megordon and backed by Robert Strickland and His Super-Sized Combo. $40. 7:30 nightly. King Plow Arts Center, 887 W. Marietta St. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.607.7469.
The Revolutionists. PREVIEWS MARCH 3 | OPENS MARCH 4. 7 Stages presents a new play by award-winning, Decatur-born, San Francisco-based playwright Lauren Gunderson. Revisit 1793 Paris, during the Reign of Terror, where four powerful Frenchwomen tackle gender inequality, racial tension and rising violent radicalism while facing the guillotine and writing a play of their own. But it’s a comedy. Honest. Cast: Rachel Frawley, Stacy Melich, Parris Sarter and Park Krausen, as Marie Antoinette. $22.50. Through March 20. 1105 Euclid Ave. N.E. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.523.7647.
The Sound of Music. OPENS MARCH 1 | THROUGH MARCH 6. The refreshed version of the Rodgers & Hammerstein classic, directed by five-time Tony winner Jack O’Brien, has its eyes on Broadway. Ashley Brown, Broadway’s original Mary Poppins, plays the Mother Abbess. Newcomer Kerstin Anderson left her sophomore year of college to play Maria. At the Fox Theatre. $30-$100. 8 p.m. Tuesday; 7:30 p.m. Wednesday-Thursday; 8 p.m. Friday; 2 + 8 p.m. Saturday; and 1 + 6:30 p.m. Sunday. 660 Peachtree St. N.E. Details, tickets HERE or at 855.285.8499. Meet Ben Davis, who plays Captain von Trapp in this ENCORE FEATURE.
[VIDEO: A MONTAGE FROM THE NEW ‘SOUND OF MUSIC’]
