Serenbe Playhouse begins its seventh season, dubbed “a season of surrender,” in a week with a reimagined version of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Carousel. Happily for the company, but perhaps less so for audiences, most Saturday performances are already sold out. [R&H Theatricals, which licenses the show, gave Serenbe last-minute permission to add seats to all performances. Still, if Carousel is in your plans, you’d be wise to get tickets soon.]
Carousel, which runs through April 10, is followed by Charlotte’s Web, Of Mice & Men and Miss Saigon, plus the return of the holiday-themed Sleepy Hollow Experience and Snow Queen. Details on season tickets, four-show flex passes and single tickets HERE or at 770.463.1110.
Serenbe, a professional theater company in the Chattahoochee Hills/Palmetto area south of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, is committed to producing bold new works and reinvented classics that connect art, nature and community. Translated: Expect to be surprised and go knowing that every show is performed outdoors in a different setting on the property. Here’s a closer look:
Carousel
MARCH 24-APRIL 10. Rodgers & Hammerstein’s 1945 game-changer (the team’s personal favorite) returns many actors from Serenbe’s 2014 staging of Oklahoma!, including Edward McCreary (Curly) as Billy Bigelow, Kelly Chapin Martin (Laurey) as Julie Jordan, Jessica Miesel (Ado Annie) as Carrie Pipperidge and Lala Cochran (Aunt Eller) as Mrs. Mullin/Starkeeper.
The musical, set on coastal Maine near the end of the 19th century, features a score that includes “If I Loved You,” “June Is Bustin’ Out All Over” and “You’ll Never Walk Alone.”
The show that Time magazine named the best musical of the 20th century, will look a bit different at Serenbe. The production will pop out of an actual working fair, says founder & executive/artistic director Brian Clowdus.
“Patrons can come early to enjoy the rides, play games and experience all the sights, sounds and tastes of a turn-of-the-century country fair, complete with a side show,” Clowdus says.
“We are really pushing the boundaries of the darkness of the fair,” he says, “by creating stock characters you will get to know throughout the evening (Bearded Lady, Siamese Twins, etc.) and immersing you into the dark beauty of Carousel while encouraging you to step right up and follow Billy’s journey.”
Clowdus directs, with music direction by Chris Brent Davis and choreography by Bubba Carr.
$30-$35. 8 p.m. Wednesday-Sunday; 2:30 p.m. matinees April 3 + 10 (most Saturdays sold out). The fair opens one hour before show time plus noon-5 p.m. April 2 + 9.
Charlotte’s Web
MAY 27-JULY 31. Wilbur, a charismatic young pig, does not want to become bacon or ham. Thanks to his spider-friend Charlotte, he doesn’t have to. This 1952 E.B. White tale tells truths about life and death and ultimately proves that love can conquer all when you find enough courage to take your place in the world. This adaptation is by Joseph Robinette and will include such Serenbe residents as piglets, ducks, cows and horses. Ryan Oliveti directs.
$10-$20. 11 a.m. Friday + Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday.
Of Mice & Men
JUNE 9-26. John Steinbeck’s 1937 novella explores the friendship, fate and fortitude of two farmhands in Salinas Valley, Calif. Daniel Parvis plays George, the smart small guy; Blake Burgess is Lennie, a slow giant of a man. The drama will be set amid Serenbe’s working farm, made over to resemble a Depression-era dust bowl with real horses wandering about.
$25-$30. 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday plus June 12 + 19 (Sunday) and June 15 + 22 (Wednesday).
Miss Saigon
JULY 21-AUG. 7. Adventure, tragedy and the Vietnam War surround this 1991 musical takeoff on the Puccini opera Madama Butterfly. In this version, an American GI falls desperately in love with a Vietnamese barmaid. Serenbe is the first professional Atlanta theater to take on this huge and epic piece, and promises a staging that includes a Huey helicopter used in Vietnam. The Broadway original by Claude-Michel Schönberg, Alain Boublil and Richard Maltby Jr. ran almost 10 years and launched the career of Lea Salonga, a Tony Award winner for the role of Kim. Clowdus, Davis and Carr return as director, music director and choreographer.
$30-$35. 8 p.m. Wednesday-Sunday.
The Sleepy Hollow Experience
SEPT. 29-NOV. 6. The Headless Horseman rides again! Serenbe’s Sleepy Hollow — named one of the Top 5 Halloween plays in the country by American Theatre magazine — returns for a fourth haunting. Serenbe’s challenge to itelf: Make it the most hair-raising, spine-chilling iteration yet. Oliveti re-creates Clowdus’ original staging. Tickets not yet on sale.
The Snow Queen
DEC. 1-23. The story of best friends Gerda and Kai, and the evil queen who separates them, takes its third turn at Serenbe. It’s adapted by frequent Serenbe collaborator Rachel Teagle from the Hans Christian Andersen tale that also led to the Disney movie Frozen. The 50-minute show takes place outdoors in a dark environment, is family-friendly, performed rain or shine and requires walking. Weather-appropriate clothing advised. Oliveti re-creates Clowdus’ original staging. Tickets not yet on sale.
