WELCOME TO OUR weekly curated column. Feature photo: Goodnight, Tyler playwright, B.J. TIndal (left), and director, Kent Gash, at the show’s first rehearsal. Goodnight, Tyler opens this week. Photo by A’riel Tinter.
Opening this weekend
Goodnight, Tyler. Through March 10. Hertz Stage @ Alliance Theatre. Join the Alliance Theatre at the world premiere of Goodnight, Tyler by B.J. Tindal. The winner of the 2019 Alliance/Kendeda National Graduate Playwriting Competition, Tindal’s show portrays Tyler’s friends and family reeling after their loved one’s death at the hands of a police officer. The show illuminates the characters’ different perceptions of the incident, and the complexity surrounding their varied reactions to the devastating news. Tyler tries desperately to control the narrative surrounding his death, haunting his friends in an attempt to express his desired legacy. While the show is often humorous, its overarching questions aren’t necessarily light – How will Tyler be remembered? And who will shape his legacy? Tickets and info on the Alliance Theatre website.
Closing this weekend
Fun Home. Through February 23. Out of Box Theatre. Alison Bechdel is reeling from the unexpected death of her father. In grieving, she explores memories of her childhood: spending time at the family business (the Bechdel Funeral Home), discovering and discerning her sexuality, and the mysteries surrounding her father – a capricious but brilliant man whose secrets defined much of Alison’s childhood and family life. Adult Alison narrates a series of non-linear vignettes portraying these memories and exploring their meaning through her grown-up eyes. The show, adapted from Alison Bechdel’s graphic memoir of the same name, has received numerous awards and honors. The show was a Pulitzer Prize for Drama finalist in 2014 and, in 2015, the original Broadway production was nominated for twelve and won five (including best musical) Tony Awards. Tickets and info on the Out of Box Theatre website.
An Octoroon. Through February 24. Actor’s Express. An imaginative new work from Branden Jacobs-Jenkins (2016’s Appropriate) turns 19th-century melodrama on its ear. The script, which won off-Broadway’s 2014 Obie Award for best new play, puts the antebellum South on a collision course with 21st-century cultural politics. Trouble has been brewing at the Terrebonne Plantation ever since Judge Peyton died. Money is low, an evil overseer is up to no good, and the heir to the estate is in love with the wrong person. Jacobs-Jenkins, 33, was named a MacArthur Foundation Fellow in 2016 and has twice been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. Donya K. Washington, an Alliance Theatre producer, directs. Her cast of 11 includes Isake Akanke (Cardboard Piano), Neal A. Ghant (The Motherf**ker With the Hat) and Parris Sarter (Angels in America). Tickets and info on the Actor’s Express website. Discount tickets at PoshDealz.com.
Wedding Singer. Through February 24. Atlanta Lyric Theatre. Based on the popular Adam Sandler movie, The Wedding Singer transports audiences to the decade of big hair and popped collars. Life of the party Robbie Hart is the most popular wedding singer in all New Jersey until his fiancé leaves him at the altar. Heartbroken, Robbie ruins weddings and makes enemies of wedding guests with his newly-disenchanted opinion about weddings. With the help of his bandmates and grandmother, Robbie gets back on his feet. Robbie finds love again with a waitress, Julia, who has some less-than-ideal wedding plans of her own: she is engaged to Wall Street shark Glen. Watch Robbie and Julia find their way through love’s challenges to the tunes of energetic, ‘80s-inspired songs and with totally righteous ‘80s-inspired costumes. Tickets and info on the Atlanta Lyric Theatre website.
Still running
A Streetcar Named Desire. Through March 3. Theatre Buford @ Buford Community Center. Join as Theatre Buford brings to life this Tennessee Williams classic. The well-known drama follows former schoolteacher Blanche DuBois as she leaves small-town Mississippi for New Orleans. There, she moves in with her sister, Stella, and her husband, Stanley Kowalski. Stella and Stanley’s already volatile relationship is further troubled by the arrival of Blanche, who is fragile, neurotic, and desperately seeking someplace in the world to call her own. Theatre Buford performs in the Sylvia Beard Theatre at the Buford Community Center. Tickets and info on the Theatre Buford website.
Skelton Crew. Through March 3. Kenny Leon’s True Colors Theatre Company @ Fulton County Southwest Arts Center. Written by Dominique Morisseau, a MacArthur Fellow, Skeleton Crew is part of The Detroit Project trilogy. This three-play series examines the sociopolitical history of Detroit at its cross-sections of race and policing, of labor and recession, of property ownership and gentrification. The Skeleton Crew explores the significance of work to workers and the threatening impact of layoffs. Set in 2008’s Great Recession, The Skeleton Crew follows factory workers at the last auto stamping plant in Detroit as rumors of their plant’s imminent closing begin to trigger anxiety and instability. The group, a strongly connected work family, must balance prioritizing their own well-being and need to survive with their sense of loyalty to each other. Tickets and info on the True Colors Theatre Company website.
Coming soon
Les Misérables. Runs February 26 – March 3. Broadway in Atlanta @ Fox Theatre. Broadway in Atlanta brings Les Misérables to the Fox Theatre! Les Misérables began its life as a concept album by creators Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg. Now in its 32nd year, the show continues to break box offices records and is known worldwide. The show has been famously produced in 44 countries and translated to 22 languages. Set in 19th-century France and based on the eponymous novel by Victo Hugo, the show introduced many now-beloved songs to musical theatre repertoire, including “I Dreamed A Dream,” “On My Own,” “One Day More,” and many more. This epic and uplifting story has become one of the most celebrated musicals in musical theatre history. Tickets and info on the Fox Theatre website.
The Pitmen Painters. Runs February 27 – March 24. Theatrical Outfit. Based on a true story, The Pitmen Painters shares the story of a group of miners (and a dentist) who, after becoming students of art appreciation, find themselves in a whole new world of high society, avant-garde artists, and prestigious collections. Though their horizons have been expanded beyond the daily life of miners, they still take the risks associated with the profession each day. The Pitmen Painters presents challenges societal perceptions of art and artists, raising questions of character, class, talent, privilege, and the universal desire for a deeper, more meaningful life. Tickets and info on the Theatrical Outfit website.
