Wanderlust weaves its way through Georgia Ensemble Theatre‘s 2016/17 lineup, with flights of fancy (or not) through love, death, time, foreign lands, freedom fights and 1956 Memphis.
This season, the company’s 24th, is the first full performance year with acoustical renovations in place at GET’s home, the Roswell Cultural Arts Center. Theatergoers should expect to hear what’s happening onstage better and, later this year, can take advantage of a state-of-the-art assisted-listening system.
GET performs mainstage and family series, and hosts concerts featuring the Joe Gransden Big Band. Look for those on Sept. 26; Dec. 12; Feb. 27, 2017; and April 10, 2017.
Early-bird mainstage subscriptions ($103-$143) are on sale through May 31. Select performances offer discounts for senior citizens and students ($88-$103). Details HERE or at 770.641.1260. The Roswell Cultural Arts Center is at 950 Forrest St. in Roswell.
Mainstage season
Ghost the Musical
SEPT. 15-OCT. 2. Based on the 1990 Patrick Swayze-Demi Moore movie but reimagine for the stage, as anyone who saw it at the Fox Theatre two seasons ago can attest. Of course it tells the story of lovers Sam and Molly, separated by murder and reunited by a psychic. Book and lyrics by Bruce Joel Rubin; music and lyrics by Dave Stewart (of the Eurythmics) and Glen Ballard (Michael Jackson’s Thriller). GET artistic director Robert J. Farley directs.
On the Verge, or The Geography of Yearning
NOV. 3-20. A comedy by Eric Overmyer that’s described as part “Twilight Zone” and part Back to the Future. It’s 1888, and three American women explore uncharted territory from Africa to the Himalayas, only to discover they’re lost in time, too. No director has been named. Synchronicity Theatre staged this fanciful piece in its early days (as Synchronicity Performance Group).
Greetings Friend Your Kind Assistance Is Required
JAN. 5-22, 2017. A world premiere comedy by award-winning Atlanta actor-playwright Topher Payne (Evelyn in Purgatory, Angry Fags, Swell Party). A retired schoolteacher reads a spam email with the subject line “Greetings Friend your kind assistance is required” and promptly recruits her best friend to help her rescue the captured crown prince of a mysterious kingdom. Battling guerrilla fighters and finding romance give the two a new purpose in life.
Having Our Say, the Delany Sisters’ First 100 Years
FEB. 16-MARCH 5, 2017. A comic drama based on the 1993 New York Times nonfiction best-seller. Centenarians Sadie and Bessie Delany cook and converse about the events and anecdotes that make up their rich family history. Sadie, 103, and Bessie, 101, were descended from slaves but became pioneering professional women whose reminiscences recall both happy and turbulent times.
Million Dollar Quartet
APRIL 6-23, 2017. A co-production with Atlanta Lyric Theatre. This musical recounts what happened when Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis met at tiny Sun Records in Memphis one December day in 1956. The score bristles with such hits as “Blue Suede Shoes,” “Great Balls of Fire,” “Walk the Line,” “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On” and “Hound Dog.” The musical got mixed reviews when it opened on Broadway in 2010, but it ran for 14 months. It, too, played the Fox Theatre in 2013. Atlanta Lyric artistic director Brandt Blocker directs.
Theater for Young Audiences season
GET performs these shows for school groups on field trips, and takes them to schools on tour. To book either, call the Education Department at 770.641.1260.
Junie B. Jones, The Musical
NOV. 12 ONLY (public performance). It’s Junie B.’s first day of school, and her teacher, Mr. Scary, thinks she might need glasses. What a way to begin first grade! Still to come: the kickball tournament. Good thing the cafeteria lady is friendly. Book and lyrics by Marcy Heisler; music by Zina Goldrich. Based on the book series by Barbara Park.
S.T.E.A.M. Team
JAN. 14, 2017 (only public performance). An encore run of playwright Topher Payne’s piece about five neighborhood friends who use their interests in science, technology, engineering, the arts and math to solve mysteries in their own backyards. The fun fades when they hit middle school — until a bully targets one of them. For ages 7-13.
And Then They Came for Me: Remembering the World of Anne Frank
FEB. 19, 2017 (only public performance). This multimedia performance written by James Still tells the story of the Holocaust’s hidden children. Two of Anne Frank, Eva Schloss and Ed Silverberg’s young friends recount their stories via video, as professional actors play them onstage. The performance launches the show’s 20th anniversary tour to area schools.
James and the Giant Peach
APRIL 22, 2017 (only public performance). A magic peach, an imprisoned boy and insect friends become part of James Henry Trotter’s incredible journey. Roald Dahl’s book, dramatized by Richard R. George, reveals the wickedness of some, the goodness of others and the indecision of many when faced with crises.
