The Radio Play Disaster
Lionheart Theatre
through February 4, 2024

The play by Don Zolidis deals with a self-imposed genius who runs a radio station and figures he knows how to pull off a real escapade by some aliens coming to town. Gregory Fitzgerald plays the boss, but he has some problems with an associate (Holli Majors) who isn’t buying.

Tanya Gilmer directs this opus dealing with an insane Battle of the Planets where anything that could go wrong certainly will do so. They’re just not making a bunch of happy campers as the mayor would confirm. With a cast of more than a dozen players, who come and go on their own course, the show runs about one hour. That’s one hour of total chaos.

But fear not, the lovely folks at Lionheart will see to it that you will get some goodies as they always do. More info and tickets at LionheartTheatre.org

La Bohème
Atlanta Opera

We know that Rent was adapted from Giacomo Puccini, but in actuality he adapted it from a novel by Henri Murger in the 1890s. Albeit may be sung in Italian, it really was sent in an artist’s garrett in Paris circa 1830. And by 1900 had been playing around the opera world including London and New York, etc.

Directed by Tomer Zvulun, the two male friends are Rodolfo (Long Long) and Marcello (Zachery Nelson). Schaunard (Jongwon Han), Alcindroro (Philip Kocorinos) also come and go onstage and in the local parks; while you dive into to the romance and health problems being dealt with by Musetta (Madison Leonard) and poor Mimi (Gabriella Reyes). Mimi lives downstairs but she’s got tragic illness which ends the only way it could.

One of the incredible assets of this production is that you don’t often see a standard opera brought to the stage with maybe more than 50 players at times. With great stage settings, costumes, props and voices that will resonate well beyond the four fairly short acts; this is one like Carmen in that it appeals to everybody, is a good one for introduciing young attendees to opera, and suitable for folks of all ethnicity and ages.

It closes January 28th, so if you sleep, you lose. Grab some seats and head for the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center. Full info and tickets at AtlantaOpera.org