New this week are “Thurgood” (Theatrical Outfit) and “Women in Jeopardy” (Aurora Theatre). Our top picks: “Anne Boleyn” (Synchronicity), “Freed Spirits” (Horizon) and “Ugly Lies the Bone” (Alliance, above). Last chance: “Threepenny Opera” (7 Stages). Pictured: Julie Jesneck and Lee Osorio in “Ugly Lies the Bone.” Photo by Greg Mooney
** Indicates an Encore Atlanta fall season best bet
Recommended
** Anne Boleyn. THROUGH OCT. 16. Regional premiere. Synchronicity Theatre calls this a “fresh, tantalizing take on a familiar tale of romance, betrayal and political intrigue.” Devout as she is ambitious, Anne deftly navigates courtly love, lust and lies in this revisionist history. Keeping her head is a different matter. Richard Garner directs. Brooke Owens is Anne Boleyn, Brian Hatch doubles as Henry VIII and James I. $15-$50. 8 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday; 5 p.m. Sunday. Synchronicity Theatre at Peachtree Pointe, 1545 Peachtree St. NE. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.484.8636.
** Freed Spirits. THROUGH OCT. 30. A world premiere by Atlanta-based playwright Daryl Lisa Fazio about a freak tornado that cuts through Atlanta’s historic Oakland Cemetery, exposing buried clues and evoking eerie sightings. With Suehyla El-Attar and Bryn Striepe. At Horizon Theatre. 8 p.m. Wednesday-Friday; 3 + 8:30 p.m. Saturday; and 5 p.m. Sunday. 1083 Austin Ave. NE (at Euclid Avenue). Details, tickets HERE or at 404.584.7450.
The Threepenny Opera. CLOSES SUNDAY. “The shark has pretty teeth, dear …” So goes the lyric in “Mack the Knife,” perhaps the best-known song from this 1928 piece by Bertolt Brecht (book & lyrics) and composer Kurt Weill. It has plenty of bite, too. Threepenny, inspired by German expressionism cinema, delves into power, sex and the evil things one does to survive in a corrupt world. The 7 Stages production is directed by Michael Haverty, with musical direction by Bryan Mercer. 8 tonight-Saturday; 5 p.m. Sunday. 1105 Euclid Ave. NE. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.523.7647.
Ugly Lies the Bone. THROUGH OCT. 9. This award-winning 2015 drama by Lindsey Ferrentino chronicles one soldier’s journey for physical and emotional healing after a traumatic injury in Afghanistan. It opens the Alliance Theatre’s Hertz Stage season. Ferrentino is a two-time Alliance/Kendeda National Graduate Playwriting Competition finalist (look for her Moonlight on the Bayou in February). Recommended for age 15+. $15 and up. 7:30 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday; 8 p.m. Friday; 2:30 + 8 p.m. Saturday; and 2:30 + 7:30 p.m. Sunday. Alliance Theatre, Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree St. NE. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.733.5000. Discount tickets at PoshDealz.com.
[INTERVIEW: BLAST OFF WITH THE AWARD-WINNING PLAYWRIGHT]
Openings
La Cucarachita Martina. THROUGH OCT. 9. When Martina discovers a penny and buys a tin of face powder, everyone wants to marry her. What she really wants is friendship, kindness, thoughtfulness and sharing. This production from New York’s Teatro SEA is based on a well-known Puerto Rican and Cuban children’s tale and told with Latin rock ’n’ roll. In English and Spanish. Uses tabletop, rod and body puppets. For ages 4+. $10.25 for Center for Puppetry Arts members; $20.50 nonmembers. 10 + 11:30 a.m. Wednesday-Friday; noon + 2 p.m. Saturday; 1 + 3 p.m. Sunday. 1404 Spring St. NW. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.873.3391.
The Sleepy Hollow Experience. OPENS TONIGHT | THROUGH NOV. 6. Ichabod Crane, Brom Bones, the Headless Horseman and friends return to Serenbe Playhouse for a fourth season of ghoulishly good fun amid the trees and shadows. Note: This is a traveling performance without seating, but chairs can be provided by request through the box office. $20-$30. 8 p.m. Wednesday-Thursday + Sunday; 8 + 10:30 p.m. Friday; 8 + 10:30 p.m. Oct. 15. (No late shows currently scheduled for Oct. 1, 8, 22 or 29.) The Horseman’s Meadow at Serenbe, 10950 Hutchesons Ferry Road, Chattahoochee Hills. Details, tickets HERE or at 770.463.1110. Discount tickets at PoshDealz.com.
Thurgood. PREVIEWS TONIGHT-FRIDAY | OPENS SATURDAY. Geoffrey D. Williams is Thurgood Marshall (1908-1993), the first African-American justice on the U.S. Supreme Court in this one-man staging at Theatrical Outfit. The 2006 script by George Stevens Jr. follows Marshall from back-alley Baltimore to Howard University law school, from his fight for equality in the South to a seat on the highest court in the land to his victorious challenge of segregation in the famous Brown vs. Board of Education case. In reviewing the show the Los Angeles Times said: “If the curriculum in schools were presented with half as much personality, the gaps in our knowledge wouldn’t be so pronounced.” Eric J. Little directs. Through Oct. 16. $20-$50. 7:30 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday; 2:30 p.m. Sunday. Also at 11 a.m. Oct. 6 and 2:30 p.m. Oct. 8 + 15. 100 Luckie St. NW. Details, tickets HERE or at 678.528.1500.
Women in Jeopardy. OPENS TONIGHT | THROUGH OCT. 23. Southeastern premiere. Aurora Theatre brings Wendy MacLeod’s flirtatious comedy to its larger stage. The 2015 piece follows the happenings of two middle-aged women who trade their wineglasses for spyglasses. Cast includes Caroline Arapoglou, Andrew Benator, Lala Cochran, Katie Kneeland, Kerrie Seymour and Justin Walker. Think of it as Thelma & Louise meets The First Wives Club. $20-$55. 8 p.m. Tuesday-Friday; 2:30 + 8 p.m. Saturday; 2:30 p.m. Sunday. $16 + up for 10 a.m. show Oct. 19. 128 E. Pike St., Lawrenceville. Free, covered, attached parking in city of Lawrenceville deck at 153 E. Crogan St. Details, tickets HERE or at 678.226.6222.
This weekend only
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra: Pops. FRIDAY-SATURDAY. Principal pops conductor Michael Krajewski leads the ASO and guests in a program titled UK Rocks! An “Across the Pond” Spectacular featuring music from Queen (“Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Someone to Love”), Pete Townsend (“Pinball Wizard” and the overture from Tommy), Paul McCartney (“Maybe I’m Amazed”), McCartney and John Lennon (“A Day in the Life”), Van Morrison (“Moondance”) and many others. Joining the ASO are vocalists Storm Large from Pink Martini and Shem von Schroeck from Rock Tenors. $22-$65. 8 nightly. Symphony Hall, Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree St. NE. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.733.5000.
Opera With an Edge. SUNDAY ONLY. Get a taste of the season ahead at The Atlanta Opera and meet the up-and-coming artists of the inaugural Atlanta Opera Studio. You’ll hear musical moments from Mozart’s The Abduction From the Seraglio, Kevin Puts’ Silent Night, Donizetti’s Don Pasquale and Puccini’s Turandot. Guests include tenor Jay Hunter Morris, soprano Maria Valdes and the Atlanta Opera Chorus. $10 general admission. 3 p.m. Cobb Energy Centre, 2800 Cobb Galleria Parkway. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.881.8885.
[MEET THE MEMBERS OF THE ATLANTA OPERA STUDIO]
Last chance
Ghost the Musical. CLOSES SUNDAY. Southeastern premiere. Georgia Ensemble Theatre stages a reimagined version of the show that played Broadway briefly in 2012. You’re more likely to remember the 1990 movie with Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore and the Oscar-winning Whoopi Goldberg. Chase Peacock (most recently in Serenbe Playhouse’s Miss Saigon) is Sam, with Kylie Brown (GET’s Hello, Dolly! as Molly). $30 + up. 8 tonight-Friday; 4 + 8 p.m. Saturday; 2:30 p.m. Sunday. 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.
Still running
Singles in Agriculture. THROUGH OCT. 9. This 2015 comedy by Abby Rosebrock, a South Carolina-born, New York-based playwright/actor, is the first of five shows in Aurora Theatre‘s intimate Harvel Lab Series. Singles happens in a Texas hotel room on the final night of an annual dating convention for single farmers. That’s when a goat-loving Army widow pursues romance with a fundamentalist dairy farmer. New York critics called Singles “a triumph” and “a sexy, startling and ultimately uplifting piece of theater.” There is, in fact, a real dating service called Singles in Agriculture. $20-$30. 8 p.m. Thursday-Friday; 2:30 + 8 p.m. Saturday; 2:30 p.m. Sunday. 128 E. Pike St., Lawrenceville. Free, covered, attached parking in city of Lawrenceville deck at 153 E. Crogan St. Details, tickets HERE or at 678.226.6222.
Coming up
The Ghastly Dreadfuls. OCT. 12-29. Something for grown-ups at the Center for Puppetry Arts. This seasonal spooktacular by master storytellers Jon Ludwig and Jason Hines turns 10 as its almost-humans and various puppets portray a motley band of specters celebrating Halloween with creepy stories, frightful songs and devilish dances from around the world. Recommended for ages 18+. $25. 8 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday. 1404 Spring St. NW. Details HERE. Tickets HERE or at 404.873.3391.
