25
Feb

Senior Moments

Senior Moments
Art Station
through February 27, 2022

If you snooze, you lose. This is one of those chances to grab a seat at a small local theatre and get blown away by a show that is the quality of something you saw in the Village. Senior Moments is produced and performed by The Paris Dancers and 2d Act Performing Company, and they really bring down the house.

If you think that a dancer’s life is over in his/her thirties, then you may be excited to see this troupe of more than a dozen players hit the boards with all the style and energy of those 20 year olds.

Cherilynn Paris has worked with dancers for more than 50 years and this latest group is made up of dancers who are aged 56 to 82. Actually, most of them you will see are over 70, and not just sitting around watching the idiot box,

In this stellar presentation they work through dozens of numbers and what is mind blowing is the number of costume changes these ladies can go through. As most of us in the house would agree, the music and dance brings us back to the days of our youth, even though that was quite a while ago.

You can clap, sing along, and maybe even hit the stage for a few steps should you wish to do so. The show runs only through February 27th, so go on-line and get your tickets. Arts Station is located in the old Stone Mountain Village and the website is at ArtStation,com. Know they are VERY Covid observant, so bring your CDC cards and wear your masks and enjoy a wonderful evening you will never forget.

24
Feb

Lucky Stiff

Lucky Stiff
Marietta Theatre Company
through March 5, 2022

Hurry, hurry, hurry and go see one incredible big stage show in this little theatre just off Marietta Square. Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty based this incredible number on Michael Butterworth’s The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo.

What a delight when you go to a local cabaret style playhouse only to be wowed away by the story, music, and acting of such a terrific ensemble. Stephanie Earle directs this one and Brian Osborne is working the music board, while a cast of ten players come on in more than 15 roles.

It is a crazy story about an old guy who leaves a lot of money to a nephew, but only if the young guy takes him to Monte Carlo, Remind you of Weekend with Bernie? I can’t go into the details of the family and the story line, as that would be akin to telling you how the food tasted before you tried it. I can just promise you that you will be overjoyed by the whole show.

While the cast wends their way through more than 20 numbers in two acts you will be thinking how this one could easily be playing in the Big Apple. Especially if you’ve been to Monte Carlo and seen that posh casino.

The play is staged at the Lyric Studio on the Square, 12 Powder Springs St. And they have goodies available and do observe Covid protocols. More info and tickets at MariettaTheatre.com.

19
Feb

Boeing Boeing

Boeing Boeing
Center Stage North
through February 19, 2022

Playwright Marc Camoletti was raised in Geneva of French and Italian heritage. He wrote a few plays; with this one being his signature work and in 1991 it was included in the Guinness Book of Records as the most often performed French play. He was clearly influenced by Moliere. It is a classic French farce. Every time one door closes, another opens, and anything which could go wrong certainly does. The story line deals with Bernard, a randy American in Paris (Adam Brudnicki) who is getting it on with three different women, each of whom is under the impression that they are engaged to him.

Each of them is a “G” girl. Gloria (Megan Victoria) is an American stewardess working for TWA, Gabriella (Kate Jacoby) is an Italiana stew working for Alitalia, and Gretchen (Haley Skinner) is a Fraulein working for Lufthansa. Bernard has things worked out on a flimsy time schedule arranged to insure that no two of his lasses would be in Paris at the same time. He relies on his abilities to utilize alternate facts, but things don’t always work out as planned.

He is visited by an old school chum, Robert (Isaiah Gordon) who gets dragged into the abyss as things start go off-sked. And through it all the domestic servant, Berthe (Sarah E. Mitchell) strives to keep things in order; albeit most days that seems a somewhat impossible task.

I can’t get into details of the plot, because that’s for you to see and enjoy.
But I can tell you that the show runs about 2.5 hours, and this is a high energy gig with a zillion laughs in each of the two acts. It is a great comedy opus. For more info and tickets visit CenterStageNorth.net

19
Feb

Clybourne Park

Clybourne Park
OnStage Atlanta
through February 27, 2022

Bruce Norris’ play, Clybourne Park, is akin to a sequel to Raisin in the Sun, inasmuch as it deals with racial discrimination. It has been described as brutally funny, but I think the emphasis might be more brutality than humor.

You meet Russ and his wife, Bev. They’ve sold their home in the all-white Clybourne Park and are relocating to a site much closer to Russ’s workplace. Their housekeeper, Francine is helping them pack up. They do get some calls and visitors, including a guy from the local Rotary Club who is concerned about local images changing for the subdivision, and a pastor who finds himself stuck in the middle of a debate about to turn into a confrontation. All the players play at least 2 roles, as the story changes from 1959 with whites selling out to blacks; and current days with homes from black to white.

In Act 1, 1959. Russ has sold the property to a black buyer. Those were the days when having a black family invade a neighborhood gave rise to white flight and dropping prices. Ergo, the folks from the neighborhood are seriously against this sale, albeit there is nothing they can do, and Russ would not condescend to anything.

Come back after intermission and Act 2 is quite a different situation. The neighborhood became pretty much a black residential area but there are some folks who want to gentrify the area and now it is the blacks who get riled up about having those honkeys moving into their ’hood. There is also another complication in that the property may have some ghastly memories which will come out in the play. It was a time of difficulty for many people in 1959 as it was current days. Sort of a paradigm for “what goes around, comes around.”

Barbara Washington directed this one, which might very well have been in your own neighborhood. I recall hearing from a neighbor some years ago that a black family was moving into a home a couple of doors away from us. My response was to ask if the neighbor thought the new folks wanted something different for their family than he wished for his. Tickets and more info available at OnStageAtlanta.com

12
Feb

FIREBIRD

FIREBIRD
Atlanta Ballet
through February 13, 2022

What an incredible feat by our Atlanta Ballet company at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center. Yes, the production is titled as Igor Stravinsky’s Firebird; but it is sooooo much more.

For Artistic Director Gennadi Nedvigin brings to the stage three world premieres each introduced by a video about the inspirations to connect the audience to the choreographers, Dr. Rainbow’s Infinity Mirror with the music by Miracle Musical and choreographed by Darian Kane brings down the first curtain.

Then the premiere of Inherited to the score composed by, and played by Khari Joyner brings down the house with another round of appreciative applause. The choreography and the scenic design both by Anderson Souza.

And if that isn’t enough candy for your eyes and ears, the third premiere is Fauna, choreographed by Claudia Schrier to music by Judith Weir, Paul Creston and Claude Debussy. Another full scale presentation.

But then they end up with the Firebird, choreographed by Yuri Possokhov to the score you know so well since your early years. The Atlanta Ballet Orchestra under the baton of Jonathan McPhee is live and full scale. Alas, the show closes on the 13th, but could be a wonderful Valentines gift for one you adore if you go grab up your tickets right away, at AtlantaBallet.com

12
Feb

All the Natalie Portmans

All the Natalie Portmans
OutFront Theatre
through February 19, 2022

Playwright C. A. Johnson may have injected a lot of her own psyche into this work about a young girl trying to find her way through the dark alleys of life. In the play you meet Keyonna (Kayla Parker) who is still in school in her teen years, and dealing with coming out of the closet. She is always thinking about Natalie Portman, the brilliant actor and what roles she mastered.

Keyonna is addicted to Portman and keeps clipping every photo she can find of Portman to pin to her big bulletin board in the apartment she shares with her mother and brother. Her mother (Nhadyne Banton Brown) is deep into AA and when we meet her she is usually sloshed. That makes the mother-daughter relationship less than cordial most times. The brother, Samuel (Jared D. Howard) is working at a lousy job and there is a constant problem of how to pay the rent; as well as his own relationships in life.

Keyonna’s object of affection in real life is Chantel (Taloria Merricks) who may not always have the same emotional connection. So who is Keyonna to look to for help? Maybe it is only to Natalie Portman, who she imagines showing up in so many instances to guide her through life. It’s like the coach yelling out that you can do anything you want to do; just go do it. . . .

Nikki Toombs directs this poignant and hard working trip into the mind of Keyonna; and maybe a side trip into your own. It isn’t for the kiddies nor the Miss Prims, but it is a good doorway into what is often the highway of life for so many of us.

More info and tickets at OutFrontTheatre.com

11
Feb

Bright Half Life

Bright Half Life
Theatrical Outfit
through February 27, 2022

Tanya Barfield’s opus stars Park Krausen and Candy McLellan as two women working through a life together in heart and soul. Directed by Melissa Foulger, the actors move through time but not always on a set time line through 40 years together.

After all, any of us who have been with a life partner for many years, know how one day may have a load of stress while the next may be a day or joy; and nobody and no thing is always right all the time.

The show runs a little less than 2 hours, and there is no intermission. Theatre is downtown on Luckie Street, park in the garage just north of it and they have discount parking passes available. Good views from all seats and comfy. Take your CDC card and masks with you so you can behalf like a responsible adult. And speaking of adults, this really isn’t one for the kiddies. They’d get lost in it.

More info and tickets at TheatricalOutfit.org

11
Feb

Every Brilliant Thing

Every Brilliant Thing
Horizon Theatre
through February 27, 2022

This is not your usual stage production, but it is a lot of fun. The play, by Duncan Macmillan is an audience-interactive production in which three different actors take the stage as solo performers on alternate nights.

O’Neil Delapenha, Magan Hayes and Shelby Hofer rotate through the dates, under the direction of Jeff Adler. Members of the audience are pre-selected by the actor to respond to many requests for comments, each answer having been provided to the audience member in writing.

The show is set on a stage by the sisters Curley-Clay it runs about 100 minutes without intermission. The show is a grown up recalling the days of his youth when he started to keep a diary of every brilliant thing he thought about, observed, or took part in; be it a good ice cream cone, the school dance, or some kind of problem. It kind of makes you think back to your days of old.

The story is woven together with great joy among the audience and everybody has a good time. The theatre is easy to get to in Little 5 Points, with free parking, nice goodies, and good views from all seats. Make sure to bring your CDC card and mask with you behave like a grown-up. More info and tickets at HorizonTheatre.com

5
Feb

DREAM HOU$E

DREAM HOU$E
Alliance Theatre
through February 13, 2022

This very unusual show is being co-produced in association with Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven, and Baltimore Center Stage. Directed here by Laurie Woolery, the show by Eliana Pipes deals with a couple of Latinas who want to sell off the family home in a neighborhood that is going upscale; and may be not just as they recall it when growing up.

They hook up with a woman who runs a TV show like so many you know of, where they come in, fix up the place, list it and sell it. Julia (Darilyn Castillo) and Patricia (Jacqueline Correa) are the sisters, and they have their differences as most siblings do in our world. Marianna McClellan is the TV host who call the shots, and life doesn’t seem to work out just as one might have first thought. Especially when the renovation work starts to expose things from days and years past.

Stephanie Osin Cohen created a set that will blow you away. It is everything it is cracked up to be for a fine home worth 7 figures. The show moves along quite well with 4 ensemble members who come and go as production crew for the TV show.

Presented on the Hertz Stage, this is an easy venue with good views from every seat. Just know they will need to see you wearing your mask and have your CDC card with you. It is wonderful to see so many patrons really enjoying a show and staying safe for everybody at the same time.

For more info and tickets go to AllianceTheatre.org