What to see, what to do? Our top recommendations, in alphabetical order, are “Beyond Reasonable Doubt: The Troy Davis Project,” a world premiere at Synchronicity; “Ethel” at the Alliance; and “Serial Black Face” at Actor’s Express. Pictured: Tinashe Kinjase-Bolden and Imani Guy Duckette as mother and daughter. Photo by BreeAnne Clowdus.
Recommended
Beyond Reasonable Doubt: The Troy Davis Project. THROUGH MAY 1. World premiere. Atlanta playwright Lee Nowell and Synchronicity Theatre take on justice and race in this drama, four years in the making and based on trial transcripts, legal documents, photographs, letters, interviews, blog posts and published articles about the 2011 execution of Troy Anthony Davis for the murder of off-duty Savannah police officer Mark MacPhail. One act brings forth evidence of Davis’ guilt; the other, evidence of his innocence. They’re played in alternating order from night to night. A post-show conversation follows each performance. $20-$48. 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday; 5 p.m. Sunday. Synchronicity Theatre at Peachtree Pointe, 1545 Peachtree St. N.E. in Midtown. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.484.8636.
Ethel. EXTENDED THROUGH MAY 1. A one-woman glimpse into the magnificent and complicated life of legendary radio/stage/film star Ethel Waters (“Stormy Weather,” Cabin in the Sky). It’s written and performed by Atlanta-based Broadway regular Terry Burrell. The show includes such songs as “Dinah,” “Happiness Is Just a Thing Called Joe,” “His Eye Is on the Sparrow” and Am I Blue?” She must be doing something right — this is the show’s second two-week extension. Profanity, adult situations. For ages 11 + up. $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.
[READ MORE: BURRELL ON ‘ETHEL’S’ 20-YEAR JOURNEY TO THE STAGE]
Serial Black Face. THROUGH APRIL 24. One of the most-anticipated shows of the Atlanta season. This world premiere from Janine Nabers is set against the backdrop of the Atlanta Child Murders. It’s 1979, and a single mother copes with her son’s disappearance while dealing with a difficult teenage daughter and a new love. Nabers’ script won the 2014 Yale Drama Series, besting more than 1,600 entries from 41 countries. At Actor’s Express. $20-$40. 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.
[READ: AMERICAN THEATRE MAGAZINE DISCUSSES ‘BLACK FACE’]
Last chance
Into the Woods. CLOSES SUNDAY. Atlanta’s season of Sondheim concludes at Aurora Theatre with this award-winning musical (three Tonys, five Drama Desk awards), a collection of fractured fairy tales that explores what happens after “happily ever after.” Aurora’s take isn’t wholly successful but does include some fine Atlanta talent: Caroline Arapoglou (Rapunzel), Natasha Drena (the Witch), Wendy Melkonian (the Baker’s Wife). Adult content. Not. For. Children. 128 E. Pike St., Lawrenceville. Free, covered, attached parking in city deck at 153 E. Crogan St. Details, tickets HERE. Discount tickets at PoshDealz.com.
This weekend only
ASO: A world premiere and Brahms’ Requiem. TONIGHT + SATURDAY. Music director Robert Spano leads the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in a program featuring the world premiere of American composer Jonathan Leshnoff‘s Zohar and Brahms’ unparalleled German Requiem. Zohar explores the wonders and beauties of Jewish mysticism; the Requiem is performed with the orchestra, ASO Chorus, soprano soloist Jessica Rivera and baritenor soloist Nmon Ford. $29-$79. 8 nightly. Symphony Hall, Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree St. N.E. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.733.5000.
Twyla Tharp’s The Princess and the Goblin. FRIDAY-SUNDAY ONLY. Atlanta Ballet reprises the piece it introduced in 2012. This family-friendly ballet chronicles the adventures of a young princess on a quest to save her kingdom. Twyla Tharp, the renowned American choreographer and dancer, combines ballet’s formality with the wit of modern dance for a story of bravery and independence. $20-$127. 8 p.m. Friday; 2 + 8 p.m. Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday. Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, 2800 Cobb Galleria Parkway, Atlanta. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.892.3303. Discount tickets at PoshDealz.com.
New this weekend
Born for This: The BeBe Winans Story. IN PREVIEWS | OPENS APRIL 23. Universal themes run through this personal story, a new American musical, about Detroit-born gospel singers BeBe and CeCe Winans, who experience the ultimate in culture shock when invited to join Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker’s Praise the Lord Network. As the siblings encounter fame and fortune, BeBe must learn to balance his desire for success with a truer calling. At the Alliance Theatre. $20- $120. 7:30 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday; 8 p.m. Friday; 2:30 + 8 p.m. Saturday (no 2:30 show April 16 or 23); and 2:30 + 7:30 p.m. Sunday. Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree St. N.E. Tickets, details HERE or at 404.733.5000. Discount tickets at PoshDealz.com.
Sotto Voce. OPENS TONIGHT | THROUGH MAY 8. A story of the resiliency of true love and the enduring power of memories by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Nilo Cruz (Anna in the Tropics). It features German-born novelist Bemadette Kahn, who lost the love of her life during World War II, and a young Jewish-Cuban writer who contacts her decades later to research the ship’s tragic voyage. Cast: Marianne Fraulo, Louis Gregory and Denise Arribas. Justin Anderson directs. $20-$30. 8 p.m. Thursday–Saturday; 2:30 p.m. Saturday + Sunday. Aurora Theatre, 128 E. Pike St., Lawrenceville. Free, covered, attached parking in city deck at 153 E. Crogan St. Details, tickets HERE.
Still playing
Beauty & the Beast. THROUGH MAY 22. A fairy tale reimagined for contemporary times. In an urban setting, trash is turned to treasure, and true love prevails in a modern-day city with alley cats, beauty shops and exercise videos. Told with object and rod puppets and original music. Adapted and directed by Jon Ludwig, the Center for Puppetry Arts’ artistic director. For ages 4+. $20.50. 10 + 11:30 a.m. Tuesday-Friday; noon + 2 p.m. Saturday; and 1 + 3 p.m. Sunday. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.873.3391.
Dreamgirls. THROUGH APRIL 24. Kevin Harry (Sweeney Todd at Actor’s Express) plays Curtis Taylor Jr., a mogul in the mold of Berry Gordy Jr., who takes raw talent and a few girl groups (the Supremes?) and creates a soundtrack for the 1960s and ’70s. Kayce Grogan-Wallace plays Effie Melody White, the role that made Jennifer Holliday famous. At Atlanta Lyric Theatre. $38-$58. 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday. Also 2 p.m. April 23. Jennie T. Anderson Theatre at the Cobb Civic Center, 548 S. Marietta Parkway, Marietta. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.377.9948. Discount tickets at PoshDealz.com.
Sex With Strangers. THROUGH MAY 1. Playwright Laura Eason’s comedy about fame, cyber-identity and ambition concerns a 24-year-old sexcapades blogger and a 30-year-old writer who meet at a Michigan retreat. The two-person cast: Megan Hayes (The Hunger Games: Catching Fire), a longtime Atlanta actor-writer now based in Los Angeles, and Michael Shenefelt. $25 + up. At Horizon Theatre, 1083 Austin Ave. N.E. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.584.7450.
Yesterday and Today: The Interactive Beatles Experience. THROUGH APRIL 24. This touring show sets up shop at Georgia Ensemble Theatre to share the music of the Fab Four. Brothers Billy, Ryan and Matthew McGuigan avoid the bad-wigs-and-accents trap, sing as themselves and leave the song choices up to the audience. No two shows are alike. $25-$40. 7:30 p.m. Wednesday; 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday; 2:30 p.m. Sunday. Also at 4 p.m. April 16 + 23. At the Roswell Cultural Arts Center, 950 Forrest St., Roswell. Details, tickets HERE or at 770.641.1260. Discount tickets at PoshDealz.com.
Next week
ASO: Mahler’s Ninth. APRIL 21 + 23. Principle guest conductor Donald Runnicles leads the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in Mahler’s Ninth Symphony, composed in the wake of a daughter’s death and his wife’s affair. The epic work premiered after the composer’s death in 1911. $20-$89. 8 nightly. Symphony Hall, Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree St. N.E. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.733.5000.
Robert Shaw — Man of Many Voices. APRIL 24 ONLY. This film documentary looks at the life and legacy of Shaw, music director of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, for more than 20 years. The documentary uses a vast archive of photo, sound and motion picture images plus musical recordings from Shaw’s tremendously successful 60-year career. Actor David Hyde-Pierce narrates. $25-$50. 4 p.m. Symphony Hall, Woodruff Arts Center, 128 Peachtree St. N.E. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.733.5000.
[VIDEO: MORE ON THE FILM AND AN EXCERPT]
S.T.E.A.M. Team. APRIL 23 ONLY. A world premiere for family audiences by award-winning Atlanta playwright Topher Payne. Five neighborhood friends use their interests in science, technology, engineering, the arts and math to solve mysteries in their own backyards, but when they hit middle school, they have a lot less time to solve cul-de-sac capers. Then, one of their own is targeted by a bully, and the team gets back in action. For ages 7-13. $10. 11 a.m. only (the show will then tour schools through May). Georgia Ensemble Theatre at the Roswell Cultural Arts Center, 950 Forrest St., Roswell. Details, tickets HERE or at 770.641.1260.
