Terminus Modern Ballet Theatre, the company formed by five ex-Atlanta Ballet principals, debuts this weekend. Last call for “Boy” (Theatrical Outfit), “The Christians” (Actor’s Express) and “Sense and Sensibility” (Synchronicity). Pictured, clockwise from bottom center: John Welker, Tara Lee, Heath Gill, Christian Clark and Rachel Van Buskirk. Photo courtesy of TMBT.
** Indicates an Encore Atlanta fall/winter season top pick. See them all HERE.
Special event
Terminus Modern Ballet Theatre. TONIGHT-SUNDAY ONLY. This new company, formed by five longtime Atlanta Ballet dancers —Rachel Van Buskirk, Christian Clark, Heath Gill, Tara Lee and John Welker — debuts with a Lee-choreographed piece titled Exstasis. $25. 8 tonight-Friday; 2 + 8 p.m. Saturday; 5 p.m. Sunday. Note: All performances except the Saturday matinee are sold out, but getting on a waiting list is an option. Tickets remain for 2 p.m. Saturday. Westside Cultural Arts Center, 760 10th St. NW. (The company returns Nov. 17-19 with a piece titled Lore at Serenbe at Deer Hollow, 8455 Atlanta Newnan Road, Palmetto.)
[DANCERS’ ACHIEVEMENT NO SMALL FEAT]
Recommended
** Boy. CLOSES SUNDAY. At Theatrical Outfit. The Huffington Post called this drama “a smart, fresh transgender-play twist” and said, “It’s likely there are none like this one, certainly not any more beautifully realized.” Anna Ziegler’s 2016 piece spans 22 years and begins in 1968 Iowa after an accident, when a doctor persuades the parents of an infant boy to raise him as a girl. The drama is based on a true story. Atlanta actor Clifton Guterman, the Outfit’s associate artistic director, plays the title role. He’s directed by frequent collaborator Melissa Foulger, making her Outfit debut. Also in the cast: Daryl Lisa Fazio, Matt Lewis, Annie York and Outfit artistic director Tom Key. $22.50-$49. 7:30 tonight-Friday; 2:30 + 7:30 p.m. Saturday; and 2:30 p.m. Sunday. The Balzer Theater at Herren’s, 84 Luckie St. NW. Details, tickets HERE or at 678.528.1500.
** The Christians. CLOSES SUNDAY. This 2014 script by Lucas Hnath (Broadway’s A Doll’s House, Part 2) asks how far you’ll go for something to believe in. Actor’s Express calls it “a provocative excavation of modern faith.” The setting is a megachurch that’s rocked when its pastor discards fundamentalist Christianity for something more inclusive. Director Freddie Ashley’s cast is led by Brian Kurlander and Enoch King. Expect to hear church choirs, too. $28 (subject to change). 8 tonight-Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday. At the King Plow Arts Center, 887 West Marietta St. NW. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.607.7469. Discount tickets at PoshDealz.com.
** Project Dawn. THROUGH OCT. 29. At Horizon Theatre. This fact-based drama shows both sides of the judicial system as it depicts a program dedicated to rehabilitating sex workers instead of punishing them. Seven actors double as victims/participants and court staff. Artistic director Lisa Adler leads a cast of familiar Atlanta faces (Lane Carlock, Carolyn Cook, Marianne Fraulo, Maria Rodriguez-Sager, Bobbi Lynne Scott) and some that should be familiar soon: Brooke Owens, a Suzi Bass Award nominee for Synchronicity’s Anne Boleyn; and Christy Clark, Horizon’s Blackberry Daze). This National New Play Network rolling world premiere was written by Karen Hartman, who used a revolutionary Philadelphia court as the basis for her script. 8 p.m. Wednesday-Friday; 3 + 8:30 p.m. Saturday; 5 p.m. Sunday. 1083 Austin Ave. at Euclid Avenue. $25 and up. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.584.7450.
** Sense and Sensibility. CLOSES SUNDAY. A regional premiere at Synchronicity Theatre. Jane Austen is fun. Just ask playwright Kate Hamill. Her 2014 adaptation of the beloved novel ratchets up the energy level, using inventive staging and a cast of 10 to play the Dashwoods, the Ferrars and a busy bunch of gossips that show just how much privacy the private lives of Georgian-era Brits lacked. Artistic director Rachel May directs an athletic cast led by Shelli Delgado as Elinor Dashwood, Jennifer Schottstaedt as Marianne Dashwood, Justin Walker as Edward Ferrars and Bryant Smith as Colonel Brandon. $30. 8 tonight-Saturday; 5 p.m. Sunday. One Peachtree Pointe in Midtown, 1545 Peachtree St. NE. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.484.8636.
This weekend only
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. TONIGHT + SATURDAY. Chic. Inspired. Eclectic. Fun. Take a sonic journey with music director Robert Spano and the ASO. The program features the world premiere of American composer Michael Gandolfi’s A Garden Feeds also the Soul; Croatian-born composer/pianist Dejan Lazić in his own Piano Concerto “In Istrian Style”; and Rachmaninov’s Third Symphony. $22-$97. 8 nightly. Symphony Hall, Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree St. NE. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.733.5000. Discount tickets at PoshDealz.com.
Opening this week
Crossing Delancey. BEGINS SATURDAY | THROUGH NOV. 25. The Alliance Theatre stages the romantic comedy that inspired the 1988 movie of the same name. Bubbie is an 80-year-old Jewish grandmother determined to see granddaughter Izzy marry the right man. Izzy only has eyes for an author; Bubbie sets her sights on Sam the pickle man. Who will prevail? The cast includes Andrew Benator, Daniel Thomas May and Mary Lynn Owen. $10-$70. 7:30 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday; 8 p.m. Friday; 2:30 + 8 p.m. Saturday; and 2:30 + 7:30 p.m. Sunday. Performed at the Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta, 5342 Tilly Mill Road, as part of the Alliance’s 2017/18 on-the-road season, made necessary by renovations at its Woodruff Arts Center space. Tickets, details HERE or at 404.733.5000.
[EVERYBODY OUGHT TO HAVE A BUBBIE. READ MORE HERE.]
Closing this week
** Abigail/1702. CLOSES SUNDAY. Aurora Theatre catches up with Abigail (Arthur Miller’s The Crucible) 10 years later. Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa’s 2012 script finds her in Boston seeking salvation for the lives she ended and blood she spilled. Justin Anderson directs a cast led by Diany Rodriguez. You may know Aguirre-Sacasa from Say You Love Satan (Dad’s Garage, 2001), Weird Comic Book Fantasy (Dad’s, 2003) and Good Boys and True (Actor’s Express, 2010). This 90-minute drama has no intermission and contains mature themes. $20-$55. 8 tonight-Friday; 2:30 + 8 p.m. Saturday; 2:30 p.m. Sunday. 128 E. Pike St., Lawrenceville. $20-$55. Free, covered, attached parking in city deck at 153 E. Crogan St. Details, tickets HERE or at 678.226.6222. Discounts at PoshDealz.com.
Dial M for Murder. CLOSES SUNDAY. At Stage Door Players. Frederick Knott’s killer drama follows a man who married his wife for money and now plans to kill her. An alibi, a blackmail scheme and Scotland Yard are all part of the action before the case gets cracked. Kate Donadio MacQueen directs a cast that includes Charles Green, David Alan Grindstaff, Kristin Markiton, Chad N. Martin, Doyle Reynolds and Robert Egizio, Stage Door’s producing artistic director. $15-$33. 8 tonight-Saturday; 2:30 p.m. Sunday. At the North DeKalb Cultural Center, 5339 Chamblee-Dunwoody Road, Dunwoody. Details, tickets HERE or at 770.396.1726.
Still running
Charlotte’s Web. THROUGH OCT. 22. At the Center for Puppetry Arts. E.B. White’s novel comes to life with Wilbur the pig, Charlotte the spider and other barnyard animals portrayed with Czech Black and rod puppets. The cast: head puppeteer Amy Sweeney, Dolph Amick, Nikolas Carleo, Anna Caudle and Brian Harrison. $9.75 members, $19.50 nonmembers plus tax. 10 + 11:30 a.m. today-Friday; 11 a.m. + 1 p.m. Saturday; 1 + 3 p.m. Sunday. 1404 Spring St. NW. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.873.3391.
The Ghastly Dreadfuls. THROUGH OCT. 28. A Center for Puppetry Arts reprise for the 18-and-up crowd. This spooktacular musical salutes the season of ghosts and goblins. Written by artistic director Jon Ludwig and puppeteer Jason Hines. The ghoulish cast once again includes Scott DePoy, Reay Kaplan Maxwell and Spencer Stephens. $24. 8 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday. 1404 Spring St. NW. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.873.3391.
Macbeth. THROUGH OCT. 29. At the Shakespeare Tavern Playhouse. One fateful evening, three weird sisters greet Macbeth and Banquo with visions of what could be. Is it their magic or Macbeth (and his wife’s) hunger for power that sets in motion some of the most murderous events that Scotland has ever seen? With Matt Nitchie as Macbeth and Dani Herd as Lady Macbeth. Pub menu and libations available. $22-$45. 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday; 6:30 p.m. Sunday. 99 Peachtree St. NE (across from Emory University Hospital Midtown). Details, tickets HERE or at 404.874.5299. Discount gift cards at PoshDealz.com.
The Sleepy Hollow Experience. THROUGH NOV. 5. Serenbe Playhouse , call it Serenboo this time of year, reprises its annual Halloween season event with a new adaptation by artistic director Brian Clowdus and family performances at 2 p.m. Sundays throughout October, with a pumpkin patch, harvest games, popcorn, hot cider and a chance to meet the actors before the show and at intermission (grounds open at 1 p.m.). This season’s cast: Jennifer Alice Acker and Brandon Partrick as Storytellers, Blake Burgess as Brom Bones, Erin Burnett as Katrina Van Tassel and Chris Mayers as Ichabod Crane. Note: This is a traveling performance without seating, but chairs can be requested through the box office. $15-$40. Regularly at 8 p.m. Wednesday-Thursday; 8 + 10:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday; and 8 p.m. Sunday. Performed in the Horse’s Meadow at Serenbe. 10950 Hutchesons Ferry Road, Chattahoochee Hills. Details, tickets HERE or at 770.463.1110. Discount tickets at PoshDealz.com.
Next week
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. OCT. 19 + 21. Bernstein, Prokofiev and Ravel are three of a kind — cheeky, irrepressible, brazen and poetic. This weekend, French conductor Ludovic Morlot, music director of the Seattle Symphony, is on the podium for Bernstein’s witty “Divertimento”; Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 2 with guest artist Ray Chen (an artist “to die for,” says the Huffington Post); and Ravel’s La valse. $22-$97. 8 nightly. Symphony Hall, Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree St. NE. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.733.5000. Discount balcony tickets at PoshDealz.com.
