Driving Miss Daisy
Georgia Ensemble Theatre
through July 21, 2019

In addition to GWTW, probably the most memorable tales dealing with life in our area have to be the trilogy of works by Alfred Uhry. He wrote Driving Miss Daisy, as well as Last Night of Ballyhoo and then Parade. Each a significant work in its own right.

Georgia Ensemble brought this work to their stage in Roswell recently and now is producing it at the Conant Performing Arts Center at Oglethorpe University. Laurel Crowe who dearly loves this work for many personal reasons, directs a superb cast of three players, who take us back in time.

Ellen McQueen is Miss Daisy, who ages gracefully through decades on stage. She’s a Jewish older woman who really shouldn’t be driving any more. Her son, Boolie (William S. Murphey) insists he can hire a driver for her; even though at the outset she rejects the idea in every way. But, time works wonders. Rob Cleveland plays Hoke, who is a black man hired to service the lady. The two men have played these roles several times before.

The time is in the 1950’s and things aren’t that good for Blacks in our town, nor elsewhere in the South. The keynote event of the script is the bombing of The Temple on October 12, 1958 and Dr. King’s speech at The Temple in the 1960’s.

Hoke and Daisy find that the glue which binds them to one another is far greater than any grit which could keep them apart and they wind up as the best of friends.

The show moves quite gracefully and you really get to feel as if you know each of these three good people; each of whom is somebody you wish you had for a friend today. And it makes us think how sometimes the more things change the more they may stay the same. Just turn on the news any day. This theatre is easy to get to in Brookhaven on Peachtree Road. Plenty of free parking, a safe neighborhood, good views from all seats and you may recall it as the former home of the Georgia Shakespeare Company. More info at GET.org

Max Makes a Million
Alliance Theatre
through July 21, 2019

It’s really a delight when a professional theatre company can stage a show that really appeals to kids of all ages. And “all ages” may mean from 4 to 94; for all the adults really enjoyed this one act opus with 5 great actors and a live musical trio on stage.

Liz Diamond adapted this one from the book of the same name by Maira Kalman. And she directs this super cast which brings us to meet Max (Ann Marie Gideon) who is a dog with wishes and plans for the future. Max understands that youngsters need not only their feelings of roots, such as being a canine, but also wings to soar to their heights, which in his case is moving one day to Paris.

For Max has some real talents such as doing paintings which are invisible, and writing poetry. He’s may have had some gallery events but who can critique an invisible sketch? And he knows that to get published you need an agent. That’s somebody who always gets a good percentage, and hardly ever really scores a deal.

But things change when Max’s agent calls to say he did a deal for a cool million dollars, and Max can fill all his dreams and do anything and go anywhere. So why not Paris?
Shelli Delgado, Diany Rodriguez, Tony Manna and Thomas Neal Antwon Ghant take the stage in about 20 different roles; and the costumes, moves and props are all first class. This show even has projected imagery which accents what is going on, and you’ll love that everything is going on. Justin Ellington did some original music and arrangements and Eric Baumgartner, Q Robinson and Jordan Shalhoup seem to be enjoying playing the numbers as much as we enjoyed hearing them.

This is a 40 minute one-act show which is absolutely perfect for introducing the kids to theatre. It is on the Hertz Stage at Woodruff Center and there are two shows both in morning hours; so easy to get to, to park, and then go grab a bite. And if your kids got a kick out of this one, you can also go across the plaza to the High Museum where you can help them enjoy some great works on visit. But Max Ernst is not the dog you now know. More info at AllianceTheatre.org

Come From Away
Fox Theatre
through June 30, 2019

Come back in time 18 years to the day that terrorists took down the World Trade Center, and brought NYC and the rest of this nation to desperate thoughts and great grief. It was one of those events that shall always remain etched into our memory with the images from the TV coverage, akin to the assassination of JFK in 1963 and the death of Princess Diana in 1997.

But, with all the news stories centered on New York, the Pentagon and the heroic fight in the plane over Pennsylvania; little was coming out about the support of our allies. Ergo, few of us knew of, nor recalled, that for several days all flying over any part of the USA was closed off, including commercial aircraft coming in from abroad. The shortest routes from western Europe often skirted around Newfoundland and Iceland, and many had to stop to refuel en route.

The province of Newfoundland and Labrador, is in Canada; and Newfoundland is on an island near nowhere. The small town of Gander is home to an important airfield, which serves both as a military base for the Canadian Air Force as well as serving commercial flights. The total population of Gander in 2000 was maybe 10,000 and many were fishermen.

This musical brings to the stage the tragedy and the humanity of 9/11 and is a series of vignettes as we deal with the passengers and crew of an American Airlines flight which was forced to land there and was detained for several days. What is real is how the passengers were from many backgrounds; Black, Caucasian, Islamic, Jewish, Christian, gay; and children were among them as well as pets who were confined to the luggage hold of the plane.

The passengers were desperate to contact family and friends to advise abut their situation and learn how the others were doing. The amount of info the passengers were provided about the attacks was limited, and the phone system was totally overloaded. So where would these 7,000 passengers and crews from more than three dozen trans-Atlantic flights sleep, eat and live?

The people of Gander stepped up to the plate in a marvelous way. Every personal and community asset was used to house, feed and care for these unexpected guests. It is a true story about some incredible people and it moves each of us. We see it as a living example of the concept that the more we know those of other cultures, the less inclined we may be to harm them. And there is truth in the concept that when we help others we are helping ourselves.

A dozen hard working performers tell their tales by 15 musical numbers played by the onstage band of 8 players. The musical numbers may not be like Annie or Cats, but the essence of the story is one that no one who sees it shall fail to retain. It kind of makes you wish you could visit Gander one day; although few, if any, of us will get to do so. More info at FoxTheatre.org

Dutchman
Appco Alumni Series
through June 23, 2019

Amiri Baraka penned this one 55 years ago, and I guess it suggests that the more things go, the more they can stay the same.

Dai’Sean Garrett makes his debut as a director for this one act show on the black box stage of the Aurora Theatre. Markell Williams shows up as Clay, a passenger on a subway car in New York City.  He’s a well attired and educated Black gent and he has to deal with a goof-ball White gal named Lula, who comes on to him on the subway car. Not likely to happen on the trains these days.

She admits that she lies a lot, but she also has almost ESP abilities when it comes to sizing people up. Their interaction starts off pretty calm, gets to be sublime, then gets to be a fight to the very end. A third player, Johnathan T. Anderson takes the next seat on the car in a cameo role for a couple of minutes as the show comes to it’s end.

Nobody gets killed in this version, although originally one of them did. The name for the show is thought to be derived from the slaves being brought to this new land by Dutch ships coming into New Amsterdam a/k/a NYC. It is not a show for kiddies nor Ms Prim. Yes, there are a few expletives; but more difficult to deal with is the use of the N-word so many times; regardless of which character is mouthing off.

The cast and crew do a fine job on a difficult short run, short script running about 50 minutes. And, hopefully each will benefit from this one as their careers go to the launch pad.

Hands of Color
Synchronicity Theatre
through June 30, 2019

We should stand and salute playwright Kimberly Monks for this poignant opus about racial divisions and diversions in this nation where all are supposedly created equal Thomas W. Jones II, directs a brilliant cast of five players who take the stage after a sorry event in a suburban setting.

As you watch the story unfold, you know that it could well be here, or anywhere. The tragedies of Ferguson five years ago and the events in Phoenix this week strongly suggest that the more things change the more they could stay the same.

Robert (Enoch King) was a black man with a family living in an allegedly safe community with his wife (Wendy Fox Williams) and young daughter, Stephanie (Therecia Lang). A neighbor, Thomas (Justin Walker), sees Robert hanging around and has concerns, not recognizing him as being on his own property. Robert meets his death in a brief and deadly encounter

Thomas’ wife (Emily Kleypas) had felt that Thomas was a bigot at work and in the hood. And both wives were torn apart by the catastrophe. The story evolves as Thomas is compelled to walk in another man’s shoes, literally and figuratively. And having done so, he starts to understand what it must be like to live the life that was cut short in the tragedy.

It is a world premiere of this work, which is going to play to many audiences who will be challenged and moved by what they see and hear and are compelled to think about. Most of us who have traveled to many other countries fully agree that the more you know people from other cultures, the less likely you are to want to kill them.

Please see this very moving work, which is performed in an easy to get to venue on Peachtree Street. More info at SynchroTheatre.com

The Friel Deal
Aris Theatre
through June 23, 2019

Brian Friel was an accomplished Irish playwright who was deeply into the works of Anton Chekhov. Chekhov wrote quite a few works about families, problems, and dealing with life in the old days in mother Russia. Friel took several of Chekhov’s stories and adapted them to having taken place in Ireland. He became known as the Irish Chekhov.

Aris has brought two of his one-act works to the back stage at 7 Stages in Little Five Points. The Bear, is not really about an animal, but about a ruffian who shows up at the estate of a grieving widow whose life was to be one of dressing in black and confining herself to her home. Erin Greenway plays Elena Ivanova Popova, and she is very withheld from visiting strangers, who knew her late spouse from days in the service. She wants her man-servant, Luka (Christ Schulz) to get rid of this “animal”, but that doesn’t work so well. The intruder, Gregory Stepanovitch Smirnov (Tamil Periasamy) is taking quite a liking to this woman, and things start to go down a slippery slope to find the end. It’s a lot of stress, directed by Kathleen McManus; but all comes right at the end.

In the second work, The Yalta Game, directed by Tim McDonough, we meet an attractive lady, Anna Sergeyevna (Christina Leidel) who is taking a break in Yalta while her husband is having some medical issues back in Moscow. She is a lady with a lap dog, and they catch the eye of an accountant from Moscow who is a philanderer playing his emotional cards at the resort. The interaction twixt the two really heats up, but where can it go? You have to try to figure it out for yourself as it plays out.

A sparse set, enhanced by very good actors, makes this 90 minute offering quite unusual, different and entertaining. It is on the black box stage at 7 Stages, and every seat has unobstructed view. Good concessions and you can bring your stuff into the theatre if you wish. More info at ArisTheatre.org

Morningside
Onstage Atlanta
through June 29, 2019

Atlanta playwright, Topher Payne put together a nutty story where a bunch of women show up for a baby shower. Well, maybe they don’t all show up, and that may be part of the story.

This show is an all female cast who really get into the party gone awry. Patty Mosley Nelson is the mother who is hosting the party and trying to get things set up in her garden area. Roxanne (Bobbie Elzey) is just hanging out, thinking that it must be five o’clock someplace. Any excuse is good enough for her. Felicia (Marquelle Young) is trying to help out, but it often seems like trying to ski up a hill. Same sort of situation for Louise (Lynn Grace).

Kate Ash and Rylee Bunton are the sisters Devyn and Clancy; and families are families, you get the idea? The other ladies you will meet are played by Laurie Winkel, Jillian Walzer and Lory Cox. This group of ladies includes a doctor, an architect, a realtor, bartender, and home makers; and each of them has her own set of values and expectations.

The cast all female, and the show is directed by Cathe Hall Payne. Barry N. West created a set that works perfectly, and the audience really felt as if they were invited to this social disaster. But they can also go to the concession stand at intermission, and get themselves a glass of Prosecco to join in with the ladies who party.

Note that Onstage has moved to a new facility which is located at 3041 N. Decatur Road just of East Ponce near 285. Like the previus venue every seat is comfy and has unobstructed view. But this house is a bit small, so get your reservations made sooner, rather than last minute. More info at OnstageAtlanta.com

Working
Out of Box Theatre
through June 22, 2019

Back in 1974 Studs Terkel wrote a book based on interviews with loads of ordinary working folks. It was Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do. A few years later Stephen Schwartz and Nina Faso took the story line and created this musical. It had a very brief run in NYC in 1978, but has been produced in many other localities in the past 40 years; because in reality while we think things may have changed, maybe they haven’t changed that much.

So you get to journey back in time with a dozen actors who sing their way through their work and ordeals. The 14 numbers they present in a cabaret fashion include numbers by workers who are delivery drivers, truck drivers, housewives, cleaning ladies, a stone mason, corporate executive, millworker and others.

Some of the numbers are by two composers who have heard of quite a bit. Lin-Manuel Miranda from Hamilton and Stephen Schwartz who did Godspell and other works.

Kristen Storla directed this one with music direction by Annie Cook. It is done on a thrust stage setting with seats on three sides, and every seat has an unobstructed close-up view.

This one is a very energetic production in which player gives it his/her all, be in solo or in chorus. More info at OutOfBoxTheatre.com

Five Guys Named Moe
Theatrical Outfit
through June 30, 2019

You may not quickly recall the King of the Jukebox, but you’ll recall some of Louis Jordan’s numbers. He was a very talented songwriter and singer and he also could play the sax and the keys.

In this cabaret style performance we meet Nomax (Sterling McClary) who is having some relationship concerns. The five Moes are going to mentor him and work him through things.

The classy swing styled Moes, Big Moe, Eat Moe, Four-eyed Moe, Little Moe, and No Moe are played to the hilt by Eric Moore Omar Madden, Lawrence Flowers, Eugene H. Russell, IV and with Trevor Rayshay Perry stepping in as well.

The six piece on-stage band has S. Renee Clark on the keyboard and as conductor, with Lorenzo Sanford on drums, Ramon Pooler on bass, Lester Walker on trumpet, Earl Ford on Trombone and James Robinson on the sax.

You will really move along to numbers like Messy Bessy, Let the Good Times Roll, and Choo Choo C’Boogie. As Act I comes to a close you’ll want to join in singing Push Ka Pi Shi Pie, and you may wish to join others who will dance away the act.

You will enjoy great numbers, great performers, and dance steps that will make you gasp when you witness them. They work through two dozen numbers and you’ll enjoy every one of them. It’s a great way to bring down the curtain on this season for the Theatrical Outfit.

But, . . . there’s more . . . Joe Gransden and his band will take the stage for one night only, June 23rd, when they present Lady Day Sings the Blues, with Terry Burrell stage center. More info at TheatricalOutfit.org

Oliver!
Atlanta Lyric Theatre
through June 23, 2019

You know a show is a standard when it runs 50+ years, and this one hit the boards in London 59 years ago. Dickens probably would have liked it, albeit Fagin’s antisemitism is toned down these days.

And while you may not recall all the details you know the young lad was in a workhouse, where all they got to eat was some gruel; and he is remembered for holding out his bowl and asking for more. Then he gets sold off to some baddies, and gets trained to pick a pocket or two.

Young Vinny Montague is fantastic as Oliver, and he is backed up by an ensemble of more than a dozen other young performers who do a fine job. You have to think you’ll see them as their careers progress.

Fagin is played by Jeff McKerley, and Heidi Cline McKerley directed this fine cast. The Artful Dodger, who is assigned to tutor Oliver, is played by Colby Howell. And Brian Kurlander comes on in Act II as the dangerous Bill Sikes. Daniel Cook is that meanie, Mr. Bumble; and Jennifer Alice Acker is Nancy, who gets caught up in all the situations.

But, know that even though there could be even more tragic endings at the London Bridge, that at least Oliver survives and there is some very good news breaking for him.

Cristina Dinella had the score timed perfectly and all worked well. You’ll want to quietly sing along to many of the numbers by Lionel Bart, such as Food, Glorious Food at the workhouse, You’ve Got to Pick a Pocket or Two in his first training session, the Oom-Pah-Pah number at the 3 Cripples Pub, and the funny Reviewing the Situation when Fagin contemplates retirement.

The show is fine for ages 8 to 98, and good views from every seat in the house. Plenty of free parking, but try to get there a little earlier for spaces closer to the entrance. This is another star on the banner for staging excellent musical shows. More info at AtlantaLyricTheatre.com