“Nick’s Flamingo Grill” ends its world premiere run at the Alliance Theatre, Steve Yockey’s “Reykjavik” opens at Actor’s Express and “The Royale” continues punching at Theatrical Outfit. Read on for details on these and much more in our weekly curated column. Pictured: Ben Thorpe in “Reykjavik.” Photo by Kevin Harry. Composite by Ashley Earles-Bennett.
Top picks
Nick’s Flamingo Grill. CLOSES SUNDAY. An Alliance Theatre world premiere musical. Atlanta playwright Phillip DePoy (Edward Foote) tells the story of two friends, ex-WWII GIs turned jazz musicians, who’ve had great success in Paris nightclubs. Convinced their mixed-race act will be a hit back home, they return to 1950s Georgia. Inspired by the true tale of Atlanta’s first integrated, although short-lived, nightclub. Features 10 original songs by DePoy and musical director Tyrone Jackson. Tinashe Kajese-Bolden directs. Recommended for age 14 and up. $20-$55; $10 teens. 7:30 p.m. Thursday; 8 p.m. Friday; 2:30 + 8 p.m. Saturday; and 2:30 + 7:30 p.m. Sunday. Hertz Stage, Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree St. NE. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.733.5000.
[MEET THE MULTITALENTED MR. DePOY]
Reykjavik. IN PREVIEWS. OPENS SATURDAY. Reykjavik at Actor’s Express unfolds beneath the otherworldly glow of the Northern Lights, where tourists and locals mingle in the shadows of Iceland’s capital city. As told by Los Angeles-based playwright Steve Yockey, an Atlanta favorite with a strong national reputation, eight interconnected vignettes play out. We eavesdrop on lovers, siblings, hotel employees, sex workers and even some birds with really strong opinions. In true Yockey style (Pluto, Blackberry Winter, Wolves, Octopus), this collision of sex and danger introduces a world in which the supernatural is closer than we think. The six-person cast is directed by frequent Express (and Yockey) collaborator Melissa Foulger and features such familiar faces as Stephanie Friedman, Eliana Marianes, Joe Sykes and Ben Thorpe (Alliance Theatre’s Hand to God). This is a National New Play Network rolling world premiere. $20 (Thursday-Friday previews). $42 opening night. Regularly $33-$35 and subject to change based on demand. Through Nov. 18. 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.
The Royale. THROUGH NOV. 4. At Theatrical Outfit. Playwright Marco Ramirez takes a stylized, blazingly theatrical look at the segregated world of boxing at the turn of the 20th century. The New York Times called his piece “original and graceful.” The 2013 drama is loosely based on the life of Jack Johnson, the first black world heavyweight champion (fictionalized in the 1968 Pulitzer-winning drama The Great White Hope, which made James Earl Jones a star). Patdro Harris (Fly, Nina Simone) directs. His cast: Garrett Turner as Jay “The Sport” Jackson, Cynthia D. Barker, Marlon Burnley, Rob Cleveland and Brian Kurlander. $18-$51 plus fees. 7:30 p.m. Wednesday-Friday; 2:30 + 7:30 p.m. Saturday; 2:30 p.m. Sunday. The Balzer Theater at Herren’s, 84 Luckie St. NW (two blocks from the Peachtree Center MARTA station). Details, tickets HERE or at 678.528.1500.
This weekend only
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. THURSDAY + SATURDAY. Principal guest conductor Donald Runnicles takes the podium for the first time this season for Britten’s War Requiem, an English choral masterpiece. Written for the consecration of England’s Coventry Cathedral in 1962, it weaves verses from the Latin Mass for the Dead with World War I battlefield poems by Wilfred Owen, a British commander killed in action a week before the war’s end. Runnicles is joined by the ASO Chorus, the Gwinnett Young Singers and three soloists — Russian soprano Evelina Dobračeva, American tenor Thomas Cooley and Canadian baritone Russell Braun. $17-$93. 8 nightly. Symphony Hall, Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree St. NE. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.733.5000.
Opening this week
I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti. OPENS THURSDAY. Georgia Ensemble Theatre in Roswell presents this one-woman romantic comedy with live, onstage cooking (eight audience members can sit onstage and dine as the show progresses). The piece is based on the 2009 book I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti: A Memoir of Good Food and Bad Boyfriends by Giulia Melucci. I Loved, I Lost has been described as “a foodie’s dream version of ‘Sex and the City.'” Atlanta actor Jennifer Levison, perhaps better known for her Souper Jenny eateries, is the lone cast member. Rachel May, Synchronicity Theatre artistic director, directs. $26-$42. Through Nov. 11. 7:30 p.m. Wednesday; 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday; 2:30 p.m. Sunday. Also at 4 p.m. Nov. 3 + 10. GET performs in the Roswell Cultural Arts Center, 959 Forrest St. Details, tickets HERE or at 770.641.1260. Discount tickets at PoshDealz.com.
Macbeth. IN PREVIEWS. OPENS FRIDAY. This two-week run at the Shakespeare Tavern Playhouse casts Matt Nitchie in the title role. One fateful evening, three weird sisters greet Macbeth and Banquo with visions of what could be. Do their magical prophecies lead to blood-curdling, murderous and tragic events in Scotland? Or, are Macbeth and his wife to blame? Dani Herd is Lady Macbeth. $22-$45 ($15 preview Thursday). Through Nov. 4. 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday; 6:30 p.m. Sunday. Pub menu and spirited beverages available. 499 Peachtree St. NE. Parking recommended in Emory University Hospital Midtown deck across Peachtree Street. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.874.5299, Ext. 0. Discount Tavern gift cards at PoshDealz.com.
The View Upstairs. OPENS THURSDAY. At Out Front Theatre Company. The 2017 off-Broadway musical follows a young fashion designer (Kyle Larkins) in modern-day New Orleans. When he buys an abandoned building in the French Quarter, he’s transported to the UpStairs Lounge, a vibrant 1970s gay bar where a forgotten community comes to life. The piece is based on a 1973 arson attack at the Big Easy’s real-life UpStairs Lounge, which killed 32. Paul Conroy, Out Front’s founder and artistic director, directs. His cast includes Justin Dilley, Tony Hayes, Felicia Hernandez, Quinn Xavier Hernandez, Keena Redding Hunt, Trevor Perry, Jamie Smith, John Henry Ward and Byron Wigfall. $25. Through Nov. 10. 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday; 3 p.m. Sunday. 999 Brady Ave. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.448.2755. Discount tickets at PoshDealz.com.
For Halloween
The Ghastly Dreadfuls. CLOSES SATURDAY. At the Center for Puppetry Arts. The Dreadfuls rise from the dead for another frightful weekend of ghost stories and musical numbers. The show, written by the Center’s Jon Ludwig and Jason Hines, has become an Atlanta cult classic since its debut more than a decade ago. Go for the spine-tingling fun, intricate puppetry, original songs and stories, and vaudeville stylings. This season’s Dreadfuls: Hines, Ludwig, Scott DePoy, Kristin Haverty, Reay Kaplan, Spencer Stephens and Robert Strickland. A beer-and-wine cash bar will open before the show and at intermission. The Ghastly Dreadfuls is recommended for age 18 and up. $25 nonmembers; $18.50 members. 8 nightly. 1404 Spring St. NW. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.873.3391.
The Edgar Allan Poe Experience. THROUGH OCT. 31. At the Wren’s Nest in collaboration with Brian Clowdus Experiences. Venture through one of Atlanta’s most historic homes with this immersive event and become part of some of Poe’s most thrillingly famous tales, including The Raven, The Tell-Tale Heart and The Fall of the House of Usher. The actors: Truman Griffin, Robert Lee Hindsman, Courtney Locke, Shannon McCarren and Skye Passmore. $40-$45. 8 p.m. Wednesday-Thursday + Sunday; 8 + 10 p.m. Friday-Saturday. The Wren’s Nest, now a cultural center and once the home of Uncle Remus and Brer Rabbit creator Joel Chandler Harris (1848-1908), preserves Harris’ legacy and the heritage of African-American folklore through storytelling, tours and student publishing. 11050 Ralph D. Abernathy Blvd. SW. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.753.7735.
The Sleepy Hollow Experience. EXTENDED THROUGH NOV. 11. The Headless Horseman rides again as Serenbe Playhouse presents a sixth season of its outdoor fright fest. Washington Irving’s 1820 horror story follows schoolmaster Ichabod Crane and his efforts to win the heart of Katrina Van Tassel. This year’s show is a new adaptation by artistic director Brian Clowdus. The cast: Erik Poger Abrahamsen, Erin Burnett, Jeremy Gee, Anna Lanier, Jordan Patrick and Madison Welch. $30-$45 (rain insurance available). 8 p.m. Wednesday-Thursday; 8 + 10:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday. Family-friendly stagings at 2 p.m. Saturday-Sunday include fall festival events before the show and at intermission. Note: Tickets have been added to previously sold-out performances. Done in the Horseman’s Meadow. Most Serenbe shows require a walk along a (sometimes muddy) path. Appropriate footwear suggested. Sleepy Hollow is a traveling show, without seating. For mobility assistance (parking, accessibility cart, chairs, etc.), contact the box office. Serenbe is at 9110 Selborne Lane in Chattahoochee Hills. Details, tickets HERE or at 770.463.1110. Discount tickets at PoshDealz.com.
Next week
Not About Heroes. PREVIEWS NOV. 1. OPENS NOV. 2. Arís Theatre commemorates the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I with this story of the friendship between a shell-shocked British soldier and a famous poet. Wilfred Owen, 24, meets poet, protester and soldier Siegfried Sassoon at Scotland’s Craiglockhart War Hospital. Their mutual love of words and disillusionment with war draws them together. The script is by British playwright Stephen MacDonald (1933-2009). Chris Harding is Owen; Eric Lang is Sassoon. Both are Atlanta-based actors. Frank Miller, a longtime theater lecturer at Georgia State University, directs. $18-$28. Through Nov. 18. 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday; 2:30 p.m. Sunday. 7 Stages BackStage space, 1105 Euclid Ave. NE. Tickets HERE.
West Side Story. NOV. 3-11. The Atlanta Opera presents the American musical classic by Leonard Bernstein, Jerome Robbins, Arthur Laurents and Stephen Sondheim about battling gangs in 1950s New York. The score is indelible — “Maria,” “Tonight,” “America,” “Cool,” “I Feel Pretty” and “Somewhere,” among others. American soprano Vanessa Becerra is Maria, with American tenor Andrew Bidlack as Tony, American baritone Brian Vu as Riff and DJ Petrosino as Bernardo, a role he performed in August at The Bernstein Centennial Celebration at Tanglewood Music Center in western Massachusetts. Internationally recognized director Francesca Zambello directs. Sung in English with English supertitles. $43-$139. 8 p.m. Nov. 3, 9 + 10; 7:30 p.m. Nov. 6; and 3 p.m. Nov. 11. Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, 2800 Cobb Galleria Parkway, Atlanta. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.881.8885.
