The Alliance Theatre closes one show and opens another. Both — the WWII-era “Sheltered” and Pearl Cleage’s “Hospice + Pointing at the Moon” — top this week’s curated Best Bets column. Also closing: Théâtre du Rêve’s “Il Etait Une Fois (Once Upon a Time).” Look, too, for Atlanta Ballet 2 to pop up at the High Museum of Art. Pictured, from left: Natalie Karp, Jennifer Schottstaedt and Eliana Marianes. Photo courtesy of Théâtre du Rêve.
** INDICATES AN ENCORE ATLANTA WINTER/SPRING SEASON TOP PICK.
Recommended
** Sheltered. CLOSES SUNDAY. Alliance Theatre world premiere. This drama, by New York-based playwright Alix Sobler, is the 2018 winner of the Alliance/Kendeda National Graduate Playwriting Competition. Her suspense story is based on true events and takes place in 1939, as World War II threatens Europe. Two ordinary Philadelphians make an extraordinary decision — to bring 50 Jewish children from Nazi-occupied territory to safety in America. Kimberly Senior, a freelance director from New York, leads a cast comprising Lauren Boyd, Amanda Drinkall, Park Krausen, Lee Osorio and John Skelley. For age 12 and up. $42; $10 teens. 7:30 p.m. Thursday; 8 p.m. Friday; 2:30 + 8 p.m. Saturday; 2:30 + 7:30 p.m. Sunday. Performed at Actor’s Express in the King Plow Arts Center, 887 West Marietta St. NW in West Midtown. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.733.5000.
[MEET THE PLAYWRIGHT + DIRECTOR BEHIND THE KENDEDA-WINNING ‘SHELTERED’]
New this week
** Hospice + Pointing at the Moon. PREVIEWS BEGIN FRIDAY | OPENS MARCH 29. Two one-acts become a single piece of theater in the hands of playwright Pearl Cleage and A-list Atlanta actors Terry Burrell and Tinashe Kajese-Bolden. Hospice dates to 1983; Pointing at the Moon is a world premiere. Both feature the same house in Atlanta’s West End and involve a character named Jenny Anderson, seen at two stages in life 30 years apart. Together, the one-acts wrestle with the complexities of womanhood and how a parent’s love — or a longing for that love — shapes us. $60-$75; $10 teens with high school or middle school ID. Through April 15. 7:30 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday; 8 p.m. Friday; 2:30 + 8 p.m. Saturday; 2:30 + 7:30 p.m. Sunday. Southwest Arts Center, 915 New Hope Road SW. Details, tickets HERE or 404.733.5000.
[CLEAGE + HER ACTORS ON THIS PROJECT AND WORKING TOGETHER]
This weekend only
Atlanta Ballet 2. FRIDAY + SATURDAY. The 12 members of Atlanta Ballet’s newest training ensemble give a pop-up performance at the High Museum of Art. The program includes a world premiere by Viktor Plotnikov; Apasionado (choreographed by Atlanta Ballet dancer Nadia Mara); Eclipsed (choreographed by Tina Bohnstedt); Enchantress and the Pas de Deux from Beauty and the Beast (both choreographed by Bruce Wells); and an excerpt from Vespertine (choreographed by Liam Scarlett). Free with High Museum admission ($14.50 age 6 and up; free age 5 and younger). 7 p.m. Friday; 1 p.m. Saturday. Performances last 45 minutes. Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree St. NE. High Museum tickets HERE or at 404.733.5000.
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. THURSDAY + SATURDAY. Music director Robert Spano leads the symphony, four soloists and the ASO Chamber Chorus in an evening of J.S. Bach music. Also scheduled: The world premiere of Miserere, the newest work from ASO composer (and bassist) Michael Kurth. The Bach lineup: Orchestral Suite No. 3, Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 and Cantata No. 80, “Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott.” The ASO’s guest soloists are British soprano Kim-Lillian Strebel, American mezzo-soprano Kelley O’Connor, American tenor David Walton and U.S.-based, New Zealand-born baritone Hadleigh Adams. $22-$97 (selling very well). 8 nightly. Symphony Hall, Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree St. NE. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.733.5000.
[ASO 18/19 SEASON SEES MORE BERNSTEIN, BEETHOVEN, BISS]
Last chance
Il Etait Une Fois (Once Upon a Time). CLOSES SUNDAY. A world premiere from Théâtre du Rêve (Theatre of the Dream), Atlanta’s French-language theater company. This piece, written and directed by Atlanta theater artist Carolyn Cook, was inspired by female writers who lived during the reign of Louis XIV and the stories they crafted in the salons of Paris. These stories carried subtle but subversive political ideas about the suppression of women’s legal rights, centuries before the #MeToo movement. The cast: Natalie Karp, Eliana Marianes and Jennifer Schottstaedt. In French, with English supertitles. $25; $21 senior citizens; $18 students. 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday; 3 p.m. Sunday. 7 Stages Backstage Theatre, 1105 Euclid Ave. NE. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.523.7647.
William Luce’s Barrymore. CLOSES SUNDAY. At the Shakespeare Tavern Playhouse. Catch up with idolized stage and screen actor John Barrymore a few months before his 1942 death, as he rehearses a revival of his 1920 Broadway triumph, Richard III. He mostly reminisces about his life, his loves and his alcoholism. Playhouse artistic director Jeffrey Watkins is Barrymore, with Nicholas Faircloth as Frank the Prompter. For mature audiences (profanity, sexual innuendo). $22-$45. 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday; 6:30 p.m. Sunday. Pub menu and full bar available. 499 Peachtree St. NE (parking suggested in the Emory University Hospital Midtown deck across the street). Details, tickets HERE or at 404.874.5299, Ext. 0.
Still running
Dr. Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat. THROUGH MAY 13. It’s fun to have fun, but you have to know how, says the sassy cat in the red-and-white hat. He’s feline full of mischief and magic in this stage telling, done with rod puppets and based on the 1957 children’s book by Theodor Geisel, aka Dr. Seuss. This Center for Puppetry Arts’ version was first produced by the National Theatre of Britain. The center’s Jon Ludwig directs here. For ages 4 and up. $11.25-$19.50. 10 + 11 a.m. Tuesday-Friday; 11 a.m. + 1 p.m. Saturday; and 1 + 3 p.m. Sunday (no shows April 1).. 1404 Spring St. NW. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.873.3391.
Next week
The Little Mermaid. OPENS MARCH 28. Go under the sea (or at least lakeside) with Serenbe Playhouse in Chattahoochee Hills. All Serenbe shows are outdoors and site-specific, so Ariel and Prince Eric, Flotsam and Jetsam and the rest will be spinning their musical tale at the Grange Lake at Serenbe. The Tony Award-nominated score includes “Part of Your World,” “Poor Unfortunate Souls” and, of course, “Under the Sea.” Miss Saigon‘s Niki Badua and Chase Peacock return as Ariel and Eric, with Deborah Bowman (Cabaret) as the deliciously evil Ursula. Look closely at the set: It’s made entirely of recycled items. $30-$43. Through April 22. 7:30 p.m. Wednesday-Thursday; 8 p.m. Friday; 2 + 8 p.m. Saturday; 2 + 7:30 p.m. Sunday. Details, tickets, directions HERE or at 770.463.1110. Discount tickets at PoshDealz.com.
