WELCOME TO OUR weekly curated column. Feature photo: The four provinces of Ireland represented in performances at Arís Theatre’s Celtic Shorts fundraiser event! See below for info and ticket link.
St. Patrick’s Day weekend
Magical Music Adventure. March 17. Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Ignite your imagination with the sounds of the ASO and the visual theatre of Magic Circle Mime Company. The whole family will enjoy learning about the Orchestra, its music, and the art of listening on this Magical Music Adventure. The program of music includes a storyline of attempted performances from various artistic disciplines complicated by the unexpected participation of two audience members. The ensuing action includes musical challenges between bugle and trumpet and tap dancing to ballet music. Tickets and info on the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra website.
Celtic Shorts. March 18. Arís Theatre @ The Shakespeare Tavern Playhouse. Join Arís Theatre for this fundraising event featuring short plays representing the provinces of Ireland! The program will include four “tiny” plays (3 – 5 minutes), each representing one of the four provinces of Ireland, excerpts from all of the plays Arís Theatre will produce this year, musical entertainment, and raffles! Cost of ticket includes a cornucopia of food, wine, and – naturally – Guinness! Doors open at 6:15pm for food and drinks, entertainment starts at 7:30pm. Advance tickets are $60, tickets at the door are $65. Tickets and info on the Arís Theatre website.
Last chance
South Pacific. March 8 – March 17. City Springs Theatre Company @ Sandy Springs Performing Arts Center. Join the City Springs Theatre Company for this 10-time Tony Award-winning classic! Love transcends the harsh realities of war and prejudice in this sweeping Pulitzer Prize-winning tale centered around two unlikely love affairs. Set on a tropical island during World War II, this timeless Rodgers and Hammerstein classic features some of the most beautiful music ever composed woven into an inspiring story cherished the world over. The beloved score’s songs include “Some Enchanted Evening,” “I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair,” and “There is Nothin’ Like a Dame” amidst big, Broadway performances and a chorus of American sailors and Navy nurses ready to take you to Bali Ha’i. Tickets and info on the City Springs Theatre Company website.
Driving Miss Daisy. Through March 17. Georgia Ensemble Theatre. Georgia Ensemble Theatre stages this classic Pulitzer Prize-winning show as a tribute to co-founder Robert J. Farley. Farley created the Alliance Theatre production that ran two full seasons in 1988-1990, and called this beloved story “the perfect play.” In the show, an unlikely friendship unfolds between Daisy Werthan and Hoke Colburn, set in Atlanta from 1948 to 1973. The show premiered Off-Broadway in 1987, and the film version won the 1989 Academy Award for best picture. This production is directed by Laurel Crowe, Farley’s daughter. Info on the Georgia Ensemble Theatre website. Discount tickets at PoshDealz.com.
Opening this weekend
I Am My Own Wife. Runs March 14 – March 30. Out Front Theatre Company. The Pulitzer and Tony Award-winning I Am My Own Wife is based on a true story, inspired by interviews conducted by the playwright over several years, and tells the fascinating tale of Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, a real-life German trans woman who managed to survive both the Nazi onslaught and the repressive East German Communist regime. Tickets and info on the Out Front Theatre Company website.
Tokens of Affection. Runs March 15 – March 30. Out of Box Theatre. Charlie is a software developer who happily lives alone and works from home in New York. His parents, Frank and Jackie, and his sister Claire and her husband Bruce all live in Connecticut. When, unexpectedly, Frank shows up at Charlie’s apartment and Jackie shows up at Claire’s house, the siblings must work to reignite their parents’ relationship so they will both continue being happily married and return to their own home. This sweet show explores love, family, and the durability of a decades-old marraige. Written by Georgia playwright Topher Payne, this show provides audiences both farcical comedy and heartfelt emotions. Tickets and info on the Out of Box Theatre website.
Coming soon
Falsettos. Runs March 20 – April 28. Actor’s Express. Falsettos is a musical with a book by William Finn and James Lapine, and music and lyrics by Finn. The show consists of March of the Falsettos and Falsettoland, the last two installments in one trio of one-act Off-Broadway musicals. When Marvin leaves Trina, his wife, for a young man named Whizzer, the pair and their precocious son work to salvage both their family ties and the plans for their son’s bar mitzvah. Included in the mix are a lovesick psychiatrist and the two lesbians next door. These characters navigate both happiness and heartbreak in this unique and touching musical. The show has its Broadway premiere in 1992 and was revived in 2016. Info on the Actor’s Express website. Discount tickets at PoshDealz.com.
Erma Bombeck: At Wit’s End. Runs March 22 – April 14. Aurora Theatre. The legendary humorist comes to life in this charming one-woman show. Erma Louise Bombeck achieved great popularity for her newspaper column that hilariously detailed suburban home life from the mid-1960s until the late 1990s. During this time, she wrote over 4,000 newspaper columns, using broad and sometimes eloquent humor, chronicling the ordinary life of a midwestern suburban housewife. Brought to life by Lane Carlock, this show captures the humor and unapologetic truth of a mother, housewife, and philosopher. Tickets and info on the Aurora Theatre website.
