Atlanta ShowGuide Summer 2019

Summer 2019

New Season, New Stage, Celebrate With Us

ALLIANCE THEATRE

Atlanta Opera’s Tomer Zvulun

Mojah Is On The Move

True Colors Celebrates Black Women

Center for Puppetry Arts 2019/20 Season

Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Summer Concerts in the Park

The Michael O’Neal Singers

Soak Up Some Summer in Decatur Carrie Preston Directs Buzz at Alabama Shakespeare Festival

4th Annual AMTF Examines Our Past To Inform Our Future

Atlanta ShowGuide Spotlights Performance Listings July – August 2019

Enjoy the Stroll, Feed Your Soul

Warm welcomes. Good times. Just minutes away on MARTA.

DECATUR ARTWAY

OUTDOOR SCULPTURE GALLERY

SECRET DOORS DECATUR ALL AROUND DOWNTOWN

THE BOOK AS ART

AUG. 9–SEPT. 27

VISITORS CENTER 113 Clairemont Ave., Decatur 30030 | visitdecaturga.com

Clockwise: Dreamsicle,

by Nathan Pierce; Chasm,

by Elizabeth Ashcroft; Secret Door by Heather Muse.

The cast of the Alliance Theatre’s 2018/19 production of EVER AFTER. Photo by Greg Mooney

contents

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The Atlanta Opera’s Tomer Zvulun’s Immersive Experiences

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The 2019-2020 season at the Center for Puppetry Arts is on!

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Soak Up Some Summer in Decatur

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Carrie Preston Directs Buzz at Alabama Shakespeare Festival

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Mojah Is On The Move

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4th Annual AMTF Examines Our Past To Inform Our Future

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True Colors’ 17th Season Celebrates Black Women

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The Michael O’Neal Singers: Bringing Choral Music to the Ears That Need to Hear It

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Atlanta ShowGuide Spotlights

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Season Tickets for the Alliance Theatre’s 2019/20 Season

Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Summer Concerts in the Park

Performance Listings July – August 2019 Atlanta ShowGuide Venues & More

On the Cover: The cast of the Alliance Theatre’s 2018/19 production of EVER AFTER. Photo by Greg Mooney.

Thanks to Stella Daugherty, Photo Editor Visit us online at www.atlantashowguide.com Like us on facebook.com/ATLshowGuideMagazine Contact us at sales@atlantashowguide.com or 770-559-1591

CREATIVE PROCESS:

The Atlanta Opera’s Tomer Zvulun Strategizes Audience Building with Immersive Experiences

By Holley Calmes

Tomer Zvulum, Photo by Jeff Roffman

“O

ne of the greatest influences on my work has been the time I’ve spent in the Executive Program at Harvard,” explains Israeli born Tomer Zvulun, General and Artistic Manager of the Atlanta Opera. “What I took from there was a simple business idea: if you don’t change with the times, you’re going to die.”

Zvulun has learned this lesson well.

Ticket sales for the Opera’s performances, particularly for those in unusual locales, have increased by over 500%.

“Audiences today expect the latest and greatest in terms of storytelling and technology,” Zvulun states. “We live in a generation where people’s attention span is short.

They expect to be entertained, to be constantly stimulated. The way we approach our productions is a combination of storytelling through music with the most powerful voices out there, and with very strong design elements. We infuse a lot of our productions with technological developments in storytelling. I think that the productions shown in the last few years demonstrate that.”

Upcoming events include both familiar and new operas centered around strong female leads, such as the upcoming “Frida” on October 5th – 13th.

“Our approach to all of these operas with strong female roles is to empower

these women and show how they get out of situations with the upper hand,” says Zvulun.

The Opera will incorporate several strategies to accomplish this.

“Number one is the power of live performance. Number two is the power of the unamplified human voice. Number three is the power of music.”

Number four is a bit more unique: the power of an unusual, immersive experience.

“Seeing an Opera in a Jazz, Tango or Flamenco bar, botanical gardens, or a planetarium is attractive to many people and is absolutely unique,” says Zvulun.

Incorporating new technological production with exciting performance staging is working to bring more people into the art form.

“One of the strategies we are embracing is ‘immersive opera,’” explains Zvulun. “Some of our productions have happened in unusual spaces. The audience is able to have a drink, something to eat while they watch, and they feel a stronger interaction with the artists.”

“Atlanta is a magnificent city in the middle of a forest where the sun often shines,” he continues. “It’s no wonder many of us want to be outside, so we are bringing the Opera to the people, in different locations as well as in a theatre. It’s a fresh approach that is doing incredibly well for us.”

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Pete the Cat, Chris Hunt Photography

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The 2019-2020 season at the Center for Puppetry Arts is on!

he Family Series opens she acts like a bird! This beloved with a classic tale story about unlikely friendship reimagined through a and self-discovery will take contemporary, urban lens. Trash flight in January 2020. Then, the becomes treasure as characters coolest feline on the planet, Pete come to life through the use of the Cat returns. This blockbuster “found-object” puppetry in this production is based on the New original production of Beauty York Times best-selling book and the Beast. This fractured series by Georgia authors Kim fairytale is for everyone. and James Dean.

On July 30, over a dozen This season’s guest artist Gingerbread Man, animal puppets and two farmlineup includes Animal Amigos, Photo by Richard Parsons a bilingual Spanish/English hand puppeteers take the stage in Old MacDonald’s Farm. production by Mesner Puppet This award-winning Theater Theater of Kansas City, Missouri; for the Very Young production The Headless Horseman of was adapted and directed by Sleepy Silly Hollow by Frogtown Amy Sweeney and is focused Mountain Puppeteers of Bar on sound, movement, and Harbor, Maine; The Adventures interaction between puppets of the Gingerbread Man by All Milo the Magnificent, and the Center’s youngest Hands Productions of Atlanta; Photo by Alex Vernon audiences. In the fall, audiences Milo the Magnificent by Alex & head to SPACE! in a rock-n-roll intergalactic Olmsted of Takoma Park, Maryland; and The voyage through the solar system. Then the Big Bad Little Red Pig Show by Lee Bryan, celebrated Atlanta tradition Rudolph the That Puppet Guy of Atlanta.

Red-Nosed Reindeer™ flies back into town The New Directions Series for Adults to brighten the holiday season. and Teens includes New Owner by The The New Year will create a brandLast Great Hunt of Perth, Australia; Atlanta’s new production based on the best-selling Halloween cult classic The Ghastly children’s book by Janell Cannon, Stellaluna.

Dreadfuls; and Xperimental Puppetry A baby bat accidentally falls into a nest Theater (XPT), which will continue a long of bird fledglings where she is graciously tradition of presenting bold, original works in accepted as one of the family — as long as adult puppetry.

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Kimball House Summer in the City

Soak Up Some Summer in Decatur Where it’s Cooler!

Beach Party

Decatur Book Fest

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ompelling art, music everywhere, buzzworthy dining and shopping, warm welcomes and good times — that’s a day in Decatur. Recently voted best neighborhood by Creative Loafing readers, the city of Decatur invites you here for more “Best of Atlanta” experiences. Shop at “indie” boutiques, galleries, and salons including Little Shop of Stories (best book store) and Worthmore Jewelers (best jewelry store). Nibble and sip at culinary hot spots, among them The White Bull (best new restaurant) and Chai Pani (best Indian food). Make the after-hours scene for live music at Eddie’s Attic (best music venue), and hand-crafted cocktails at Kimball House (best oysters, best service), and small plates at The Iberian Pig (best Spanish food, best tapas). Treat yourself with a frozen delight from Butter and Cream or Steel City Pops.

a can’t-miss sculpture on Church Street (#decaturga for yourInsta). Look down for Secret Doors Decatur, and #lookupdecatur for art works installed on light poles. Buskers bring music, magic, dancing and fun to our downtown streets. Decatur’s Beach Party on June 21 celebrates summer with a sandy beach, live music and dancing. Free! As summer breezes along, artsy events return, beginning with The Book As Art. This juried show of artists books opens Aug. 9 and runs through Sept. 27 at Decatur Library, 215 Sycamore St. Admission is free, and you can find out more at thebookasart.com. And on Labor Day weekend the Decatur Book Festival returns with lively world-class author talks, book signings, and a popular street market. Most events are free, but some may require ticket reservations. Get the details at decaturbookfestival.com.

Get here! Hop on MARTA to the Decatur station at our downtown square. Get the delightful details at visitdecaturga.com. Or stop by the Visitors Center for friendly tips and pocket-size guides to all of the best that Decatur has to offer.

We Have Art and Music Everywhere Enjoy the stroll and take in our Artway public art series, with five sculptures installed around downtown and five on view in Oakhurst Village south of the square. Check out “Something We Had to Go Through,”

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Joe Knezevich and Courtney Patterson in the Alliance Theatre’s 2018/19 production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” at the Atlanta Botanical Garden. Photo by Greg Mooney

Season Tickets are On Sale Now for the Alliance Theatre’s 2019/20 Season

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eason tickets are the best way to experience shows at the Alliance Theatre. They provide the best rates (up to 22% off on single ticket prices) and the best seats before tickets go on sale to the public.

The Alliance’s new lineup for the 2019/20 season includes three world premieres, two Broadway-scale musicals, award-winning new plays, three productions for youth and families, and the 30th anniversary of the Alliance’s holiday classic, A Christmas Carol.

The 2019/20 Alliance Series marks the first full season on its brand new performance space, the Coca-Cola Stage at Alliance Theatre. Productions include Becoming Nancy, a huge-hearted new musical about family, first loves, and finding your own spotlight directed by two-time Tony Award winner Jerry Mitchell (Kinky Boots, Hairspray); Maybe Happy Ending, an award-winning new musical about what makes us human directed by two-time Tony nominee Michael Arden (Once on This Island, Spring Awakening); and the timely and poignant play Sweat, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama about the repercussions of America’s economic decline.

The 2019/20 Hertz Series includes

Small Mouth Sounds, an Off-Broadway hit comedy and 2016 Critics’ Pick (The New York Times, New York Magazine, Time Out New York) that follows six strangers in search of serenity at a silent wellness retreat; Courtenay’s Cabaret: Home for the Holidays, a night filled with music, stories, and holiday cheer with Atlanta performer Courtenay Collins; Seize the King, a propulsive and timely modern reinterpretation of Shakespeare’s Richard III; and 53% Of, winner of the Alliance/ Kendeda National Graduate Playwriting Competition.

The Alliance will also produce three productions for Youth and Families including, Max Makes A Million, a world-premiere based on Maira Kalman’s charming children’s book; Ghost, the Alliance’s fall production for middle & high school audiences based on the popular YA novel that was a National Book Award finalist for young people’s literature; and Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed: The Rock Experience, a tail-shaking, empowering message of individuality, with classic Mo Willems humor for all ages.

Season tickets are available now — to purchase and learn more visit www. alliancetheatre.org/seasontickets.

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“Hamlet,” courtesy of Bedlam

Carrie Preston Directs World Premiere of Buzz at Alabama Shakespeare Festival

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n September, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, located in historic Montgomery, Alabama, will present three innovative productions to wrap up its extraordinary 2018-2019 season.

From September 4 through September 15, ASF will stage the world premiere of Buzz, written by Susan Ferrara. Emmy Awardwinning actress and Macon, Georgia native Carrie Preston returns to ASF to direct the cutting-edge play, which will be performed in an alternative space, ensuring that every performance is a unique experience for the audience.

Buzz is about charismatic, visionary director Mary Ann “Buzz” Goodbody, who was one of five women to direct theatre in the UK in the 1970s and the first woman to direct at the Royal Shakespeare Company.

During her eight-year tenure at RSC, she developed plays in The Other Place, a small theatrical space that lent itself to experimental productions. There, she famously directed a then-unknown Ben Kingsley in the title role of Hamlet, but four days after it opened, Buzz was gone.

“We think of Buzz as a fighter, a trailblazer, a leader, and an iconoclast,” said Preston.

“Like so many of history’s forgotten women, very few people have heard of her. Everyone

knows Ben Kingsley.

Why don’t they know the name of the woman who helped put that man on the map? We want to remedy that.”

In 1994, a proCarrie Preston duction of Hamlet coincidentally brought Preston to ASF, where she portrayed Ophelia. It was during that time she met her husband, Emmy Award-winning actor Michael Emerson, who appeared as Guildenstern in the play.

Shakespeare’s famous story about the distressed Danish prince also will be performed at ASF this September. New York’s Bedlam Theater Company will call the Octagon Stage home while producing two classics — Hamlet and George Bernard Shaw’s Saint Joan. Four actors from the groundbreaking company will present full, nontraditional productions of each play, which have been hailed as “invigorating,” “lively and brisk,” and “masterful” by critics. Hamlet will run from September 5 through October 6, and Saint Joan will run from September 12 through October 5.

For more information or to purchase tickets, visit asf.net.

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June 22 July 14

&

A Midsummer Night’s Dream July 19 - August 11

ShakespeareTavern.com A unique theatre experience.

Four blocks south of Fox Theatre on Peachtree St

School

Street

BK Productions Presents

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A I M A MAMM i

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SUMMER PERFORMANCES

As You Like It

C u m m i n g

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Directed by Kyle Larsen Choreographed by Buddy Stotts

SEPT. 5-29

schoolstreetplayhouse.com 101 School Street Cumming, GA

Thurs-Sat 8 PM Sunday 3 PM

Kikora Franklin & Terrie Ajile Axam

Mojah Is On The Move

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oin the “Mojah Movement” and experience “Mojah”, Dance of the African Diaspora Sunday July 21, 2019 at the Woodruff Arts Center, Rich Theatre. Mojah is a part of Atlanta’s Dance Culture. Mojah is a Modern African dance technique designed to be a classical form for African related dance. Creator Terrie Ajile Axam acknowledges that her continued efforts to research, teach, choreograph and perform her technique stands on the shoulders of dance pioneers Pearl Primus and Katherine Dunham, who laid a foundation for African and African derived concert dance in America in the 1940’s. Today Mojah, among other inventive techniques, helps continue this historical and cultural legacy.

Ajile attended New York University working on her PhD in dance but left to study under Katherine Dunham in East St. Louis. Ms. Dunham began her work in the 1930’s over 40 years before Ajile began the exploration of her work. Katherine Dunham, dancer, choreographer and anthropologist redesigned the art of

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modern dance by introducing elements from African and Caribbean folk cultures. Ajile explains Ms. Dunham is a gift to the dance world and a treasure to the Mojah technique.

In addition to this, master drummer of Total Dance, Oginga Love studied, trained, and performed under the Dunham program for 15 years.

In 2011, Penn State’s Dance Program hosted the Mojah Fusion Festival as the technique entered into the realm of academic research and scholarship. That platform became significant to the growth, expansion and relevance of Mojah as a cultural, artistic form and marked a monumental step forward in its evolution.

This upcoming showcase will present the pioneering work of Ajile and the other artists who have contributed to the teaching and evolution of Mojah Dance.

Mojah dancers well versed in the Mojah dance technique will exhibit their talent and influence of the dance form. The Mojah showcase is made possible in part by a faculty research grant from the Penn State College of Arts and Architecture. Associate Professor Kikora Franklin has partnered in the exhibition of the Mojah work. Join us for an exciting evening.

Terrie Ajile Axam

www.tsw-design.com

Designing beautiful, inviting and sustainable communities, buildings and greenspaces that lift the spirit and fire the imagination.

Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Summer Concerts in the Park

Photo by Jeff Roffman

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rab your picnic basket and join the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (ASO) on Piedmont Park’s Oak Hill for two free concerts under the stars on Wednesday, June 12, 2019, and Wednesday, June 19, 2019, at 7:30 p.m.

Tchaikovsky and More on June 12, will be led by ASO Music Director Robert Spano and will feature Christopher Theofanidis’ Rainbow Body, Rossini’s Overture to The Barber of Seville and Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony.

The evening will begin with a pre-concert performance from the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra (ASYO) at 6:30 p.m., conducted by ASO Associate Conductor and ASYO Music Director Stephen Mulligan.

On June 19, Mulligan returns to lead the ASO and an all-star lineup

of vocalists from the opera world for Opera’s Greatest Hits, featuring selections from Carmen, La bohème, Porgy and Bess and more. Vocalists for this performance will include soprano Jacqueline Echols, mezzosoprano Tichina Vaughn, tenor Frederick Ballentine, baritone Nmon Ford and bass Morris Robinson.

“It is an honor to return to the stage at Piedmont Park to continue this beloved Atlantan tradition,” said Spano. “Since the first performances with Robert Shaw in 1976, Atlantans have been coming together each summer to share in their love of music and this great city.”

Concertgoers may purchase food and beverages from Atlanta food trucks, as well as beer, wine and cocktail stations that will be on site. Visit aso.org/PiedmontPark for more information.

Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Concerts in the Park are presented by the Charles Loridans Foundation, Inc., and additional funding is provided by Fulton County Arts and Culture, the Georgia Council for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts and the City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs.

Photo by Jeff Roffman

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4th Annual AMTF Examines Our Past To Inform Our Future

Photos by Casey Gardner Photography

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Wonder Women

“Me Too” movement and online dating trend.

• Ebenezer: A Reconstruction Concert – inspired by the events of Ebenezer Creek, which saw countless freed slaves betrayed by their Northern liberators, this musical follows the mold of the contemporary song cycle to explore how we reinvent ourselves in the face of truth.

• Land Girls – inspired by the 80,000 young women who sustained the farms of Great Britain during WWII, this new musical offers a reminder that friendship and forgiveness are powerful forces against hate.

• The Collins Boy – against the backdrop of Los Angeles, a hunger for front-page news, and the corruptive ways of the LAPD, this musical examines the true story of the Wineville Chicken Coop Murders and a mother’s love against all odds.

The selected works for 2019 will be performed on August 5th and 6th & August 12th and 13th at 8 p.m. at Theatrical Outfit in downtown Atlanta. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.TheAMTF.com.

ntering into its fourth year, the Atlanta Musical Theatre Festival (AMTF) is once again looking to redefine all expectations, with a new home and four new musicals that speak to the essence of culture and community. AMTF is moving into the heart of downtown Atlanta with its new home — Theatrical Outfit. Known for stories that stir the soul, this new home is perfect for a line up of musicals that tackle todays headlines in unexpected ways. Year four of AMTF promises to be bigger, better, and braver than ever before.

“The third annual festival was a big step forward for AMTF. We had four totally diverse pieces, from both local and national writers,” said Artistic Director & Founder Benjamin Taylor Davis. “We’re living in a time period when the recipe for the new Broadway musical is changing, and we love being a part of that new process. Atlanta has proven for three years now, that the community is craving an event like ours. I can’t wait to see what happens in year four.“ The Official Selections for 2019 are: • Closing Doors – a musical about liberation, validation, and appreciation of one’s self through the lens of the

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Best New Play Incubator

ElectroBike FLATTENS Atlanta’s Hills

Atlanta Magazine, 2018

2019 Essential Theatre Playwriting Award Winners

Emily McClain Slaying Holofernes

Ben Thorpe Babyshower for the Antichrist

July 26-August 25, 2019 West End Performing Arts Center www.EssentialTheatre.com

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“School Girls,” Photo

by Craig Schwartz

True Colors’ 17th Season Celebrates Black Women

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ncoming Artistic Director Jamil Jude and True Colors Theatre Company are thrilled to announce the 2019 – 2020 season, “She Griots.” The three productions of this 17th season focus on strong women playwrights, storytellers, historians, and leaders of various generations. The season opens in September, when True Colors will conclude Dominique Morisseau’s The Detroit Project Trilogy with “Paradise Blue”. Set in 1949, Paradise Blue explores a jazz club in Detroit’s Black Bottom, a neighborhood on the verge of urban renewal and radical change. February 2020 brings Jocelyn Bioh’s comedic hit “School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play” to the stage. This production follows a group of young women at a Ghanaian boarding school vying to participate in the Miss Ghana Pageant and ultimately, the Miss Global Universe Pageant. The season closes with George Brant’s “Marie & Rosetta”, a play with music that tells the story of Sister Rosetta Tharpe and her protégée Marie Knight, as they develop the relationship that led them to become a dynamic singing duo.

“In dedicating this season to these

griots — these Black women — we seek to respond to a gap in the American Theatre where women are woefully underrepresented, with Black women making up an even smaller percentage,” shared Jamil Jude. “We hope to shine the light on several designers, directors, musicians, actors, and creatives whose work is often overlooked as a means of active resistance to the idea that these artists don’t exist. We believe that this season’s offerings further our vision — to be a theater that thrives at the nexus of artistic excellence and civic engagement.”

Jude is referring to a study conducted by the Dramatist’s Guild and the Lilly Awards, which found that only 3.4 percent of plays on American stages are written by women of color. This season, True Colors will celebrate Black women storytellers.

Each play in the 2019-2020 season will be written by Black women or will feature all-Black women casts. In 2020, the year of Jubilee, all True Colors-produced plays will feature a Black woman director and all-Black women casts, with Marie and Rosetta featuring an all-Black women artistic design team.

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Dancical Productions, Inc. Presents

MOJAH

Dance of the African Diaspora

Sunday, July 21, 2019 | 5:00 pm Woodruff Arts Center, Rich Theatre | 1280 Peachtree Street NE Atlanta, GA 30309

“This project was made possible in part by a Faculty Research Grant from the Penn State College of Arts and Architecture”

For ticket information visit

www.dancicalproductions.com or call 770-256-6400

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The Michael O’Neal Singers: Bringing Choral Music to the Ears That Need to Hear It

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ince its inception in 1989, The Michael O’Neal Singers organization (MOS) has provided a unique opportunity to the north metropolitan Atlanta community to experience musical presentations of engaging variety and artistic excellence. Recent concerts have included choral-orchestral masterworks, hits from popular American movies, a St. Patrick’s Day-themed Irish program, jazzy favorites from the Great American songbook, opera choruses, bluegrass and gospel music, and Beatles ballads.

But MOS is also committed to provide musical outreach. Recognizing the power of music to provide enrichment, joy, comfort, and renewal, the MOS organization strives to serve its community not only with inperson performances, but though recordings, videos, and live-streamed performances.

MOS has produced a recording entitled MOS Remembers, and distributes CDs at no charge to those suffering Alzheimer’s disease or age-related dementia. The music of MOS is available digitally at no charge via Spotify, Amazon Alexa, YouTube, and a host of other online sources. MOS also livestreams its concerts for free, in order that those who are no longer able to attend live

choral performances may still experience the power and healing that choral song provides.

MOS recognizes the power vocal music has to connect and heal, and so offers choral opportunities to the community at large by hosting an annual December Messiah SingAlong and a non-auditioned Summer Singers program. In addition, MOS provides opportunities at many of its concerts for the audience to become part of the music-making and sing along with the chorus. This season, MOS will combine its commitment to outreach with its mission to provide live choral music concerts, and present Alzheimer’s Stories, by composer Robert Cohen and librettist Herschel Garfein. This work includes a segment entitled “For the Caregivers,” which offers comfort and hope to those who care for and love someone who has this disease. This amazing work concludes with the following words: “They sense what they cannot show.

Love and music are the last things to go. Sing anything.”

Visit MOS on the web at www. mosingers.com or call 770.594.7974 to learn more about these CDs, the MOS Remembers project, and the MOS 2019-2020 concert season.

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ATLANTA SHOWGUIDE SPOTLIGHTS Alliance Theatre summer camps are on sale now!

On-Stage with Atlanta Symphony Orchestra

For more than 40 years, the Alliance Theatre has proudly offered drama camps to the Atlanta community, providing opportunities for children and teens to expand their creativity and collaboration skills through the process of making theater.

Having grown the program to satellite locations, there are more opportunities for students to get involved in locations like First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta, the Galloway School, the Lovett School, Mount Paran Christian School, Alpharetta Arts Center, Grove Park, and Oglethorpe University. Through creative writing, improv, and performing, the Alliance offers a unique opportunity for students to fully participate in the joy of creating theater. Please consider spending a portion of your summer with the Alliance. Classes range from 1-2 weeks, and run May through August. www.alliancetheatre.org/dramacamp

Academy Award and 3x Grammy winning hip hop artist, actor, film producer, and activist, Common joins the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra on-stage for a unique concert experience showcasing selections from the forthcoming album “Let Love Have the Last Word”, along with some of his most memorable hits.

Don’t miss this iconic, multi-talented artist at Cadence Bank Amphitheatre at Chastain Park on June 29 alongside your very own Atlanta Symphony! For tickets and information, please visit atlantasymphony.org.

4th Annual Atlanta Musical Theatre Festival set to run August 5, 6, 12, & 13.

The Atlanta Musical Theatre Festival, the premiere musical theatre festival in the Southeast, is taking over Downtown Atlanta thanks to its new home — Theatrical Outfit! In just three years, AMTF has connected more than 250 artists and provided them with the resources they need to develop new musicals here in Atlanta. After a recordbreaking year of submissions, The AMTF is thrilled to bring 4 NEW MUSICALS to Atlanta for another unforgettable festival! Join us! For more information and tickets, visit www.TheAMTF.com.

Atlanta Master Chorale Announces 20192020 Concert Season Join the Atlanta Master Chorale for our 2019-2020 concert season. The season will commence with All Creatures, Great and Small, an exploration of music about birds, animals and fauna (Oct. 4th & 5th). Celebrate the holidays with the Christmas with Atlanta Master Chorale Concert, featuring three performances (Dec. 13th, 14th & 15th).

Questions and Queries will explore “Who are we?” and “Why are we here?” (March 6th & 7th). The season will close with Beethoven, a concert honoring the 250th anniversary of his birth (May 1st & May 2nd). Season tickets are now available! For more information, visit www.atlantamasterchorale.org/concerts.

Atlanta Shakespeare Company Starts All Over Again Having completed performing all of Shakespeare’s plays for the second time (officially on June 1, 2019), the Atlanta Shakespeare Company starts all over again! This summer is full of laughter and

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ATLANTA SHOWGUIDE SPOTLIGHTS mischief in the woods as we jaunt through the forest of Arden in As You Like It and then get lost with lovers and fairies in the Athenean woods in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Cap everything off with The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) in August and you have three terrific reasons to spend your summer with us at The Shakespeare Tavern Playhouse in Midtown. ShakespeareTavern.com

Mayhem ensues. The storyline for Mama Mia is brought together with the wonderful musical score written by Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson. ABBA was a Swedish pop music group formed in Stockholm in 1972.

They became one of the most commercially successful acts in the history of pop music. schoolstreetplayhouse.com

Mojah Dance Festival is July 15-20 Dancical Productions, Inc. is excited to present the 2019 Mojah Dance Festival which will be held July 15th – 20th at Total Dance Studio. This high energy Modern African dance technique will bring a host of Mojah dancers together to share in this annual experience. Mojah dance choreography will be showcased on July 21st at the Woodruff Arts Center/ Rich Theatre. In conjunction with Terrie Ajile Axam, Oginga Love, master drummer, Dawn Axam, director of Axam Dance Theatre Experience and Kikora Franklin, Associate Professor of Theatre/ Dance artistically contribute to the Mojah technique. For more information visit www. dancicalproductions.com

Alabama Shakespeare Festival Wraps up with Buzz After a summer hiatus, Alabama Shakespeare Festival will present three innovative productions to wrap up its 2018-2019 season. Buzz is the story of Mary Ann “Buzz” Goodbody, the first female director at the Royal Shakespeare Company in the 1970s. Written by Susan Ferrara and directed by Emmy Award-winning actress and Macon, Georgia native Carrie Preston, this world-premiere play will take place in an ingenious theatrical space at ASF. On the Octagon Stage in September, acclaimed theatre company Bedlam will perform nontraditional productions of Hamlet and Saint Joan with a cast of four actors. For more details, visit asf.net.

Welcome Summer, Decatur-style with Art, Music and Fun! Decatur’s Beach Party is June 21 with a sandy beach, live music and dancing. Free! Enjoy the stroll and look down for Secret Doors Decatur, and #lookupdecatur for art works installed on light poles. Five sculptures are placed around downtown, and buskers bring music, art, and magic. Treat yourself with a frozen delight from Steel City Pops, or soak up some summer at sidewalk tables outside The White Bull, Café Lily, Steinbecks, and Avellino’s. Hop on MARTA, and stop by the Visitors Center at 113 Clairemont Ave. for local tips and guides.

School Street Playhouse Presents Mama Mia

Three colors: Turquoise PMS 326, Red-orange PMS 173, Purple PMS 242

A young 20 yr. old girl, Sophie, lives with her mother Donna on an idyllic Greek Island.

She is about to be married and wishes for only one thing: that her father walk her down the aisle. The only problem is that she doesn’t know who her father is. After she finds her mom’s diary from the year she was born, she invites three men who could possibly be that man. Sophie is convinced that she will know her father as soon as she sees him but soon realizes that she hasn’t a clue.

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Essential Theatre Gives Georgia Playwrights a Voice for the 21 Years Named Best New Play Incubator by Atlanta Magazine in 2018, Essential Theatre has given Georgia playwrights a voice for the past 21 years, producing 30+ World Premieres and helping launch the careers of nation-wide successes like Topher Payne and Lauren Gunderson. The 2019 Essential Theatre Play Festival premieres the work of two brand-new talents: Emily McClain’s SLAYING HOLOFERNES (a passionate and provocative play about women’s struggle for justice, set in both modern Atlanta and Renaissance Italy, including the amazing true story of 17thcentury painter Artemesia Gentileschi) and Ben Thorpe’s BABYSHOWER FOR THE ANTICHRIST (A dark, hilarious comedy following a group of barely-competent devil worshippers preparing to celebrate the birth of the Dark Lord). The Festival runs July 26 – August 25. Performance schedule and other details at www.EssentialTheatre.com.

2019-2020 MOS Season Kicks Off with a Concert by the 15th annual Michael O’Neal Summer Singers The Michael O’Neal Singers (MOS) organization has established itself as one of the premier community choruses in the area and is now celebrating its 31st season of operation. Composed of a symphonic chorus of over 140 auditioned voices and the Kaleidoscope vocal ensemble of 40, MOS provides a unique opportunity to north metropolitan Atlanta to experience choral presentations of artistic excellence and programmatic variety. The 2019-2020 MOS season kicks off with a concert by the 15th annual Michael O’Neal Summer Singers, entitled Mass Appeal, featuring three short masses by Haydn, Mozart, and Schubert, in

Roswell on August 4th. Visit www.mosingers.com or email staff@mosingers.com for more information about The Michael O’Neal Singers.

Reimagining Classics with Center for Puppetry Arts A classic tale is reimagined through a contemporary, urban lens. In this original production of Beauty and the Beast, trash becomes treasure as characters come to life through the use of “found-object” puppetry and true love prevails by way of a magical rose. A fractured fairy tale for everyone. June 11-July 28.

On July 30, over a dozen animal puppets and two farm-hand puppeteers take the stage in Old MacDonald’s Farm.

This award-winning Theater for the Very Young production was adapted and directed by Amy Sweeney and is focused on sound, movement, and interaction between puppets and the Center’s youngest audiences. http://puppet.org

True Colors Presents East Texas Hot Links Greed, corruption, and Jim Crow intertwine in East Texas Hot Links. It’s 1955 in the piney woods of East Texas, and Charlesetta’s Top O’ the Hill Cafe is one of the only public places where black locals can gather for comfort, solace and companionship. In a community dominated by the Ku Klux Klan, young black men have begun disappearing and turning up dead. The patrons of the Top O’ the Hill must join forces to protect one of their own.

A compelling character study reminiscent of The Twilight Zone is coming to Atlanta’s Southwest Arts Center. Tickets at www. truecolorstheatre.org.

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ATLANTA PERFORMANCE GUIDE SUMMER Performance guide courtesy of atlantaplanit.com

KIDS SHOWS:

MUSICAL THEATER

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST 6/11-7/28/19 Prices: $19.50/Non-Members, $9.75/ Members Center for Puppetry Arts 1404 Spring St NW Atlanta TIX: 404.873.3391 Puppet.org

FIVE GUYS NAMED MOE 5/29-6/30/19 Prices: $15-$51 Theatrical Outfit at Balzer Theater at Herren’s 84 Luckie St. NW, Atlanta TIX: 678-528-1500 theatricaloutfit.org

ROSWELL SUMMER PUPPET SERIES: THE PIED PICKER 7/1-7/7/19 ROSWELL SUMMER PUPPET SERIES: THE GIANT, THE BEANSTALK, AND JACK 7/8-7/13/19 ROSWELL SUMMER PUPPET SERIES: THE FAIRY TAILOR 7/15-7/20/19 Price:$5 per show.

Roswell Cultural Arts Center 950 Forest St, Roswell TIX: 770-594-6232 roswellcac.com OLD MACDONALD’S FARM – THEATER FOR THE VERY YOUNG 7/30-9/1/19 Prices: $19.50/Non-Members $9.75/ Members Center for Puppetry Arts 1404 Spring St NW Atlanta TIX: 404.873.3391 Puppet.org THE WIGGLES 8/19/19 Price:$40 Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre 2800 Cobb Galleria Pkwy, Atlanta TIX: 770-916-2800 cobbenergycentre.com

MAX MAKES A MILLION 6/20-7/21/19 Price:$5-$15 Alliance Theatre Hertz Stage at Alliance Theatre 1280 Peachtree Street NE, Atlanta TIX 404-733-5000 www.alliancetheatre.org/max HAIR 7/3-8/18/19 Price: $45-$60 Serenbe Playhouse The Wildflower Meadow 10950 Hutchesons Ferry Rd Chattahoochee Hills TIX: 770-463-1110 www.serenbeplayhouse.com/

HEY WILLY, SEE THE PYRAMIDS 7/20-28/19 Price: Free - $10 Alliance Theatre Black Box Theatre at Alliance Theatre 1280 Peachtree Street NE, Atlanta TIX: 404-733-5000 alliancetheatre.org/heywilly CATS 8/6-8/11/19 Price: $35-$106 Fox Theatre 660 Peachtree St. NE, Atlanta TIX: 855-285-8499 foxtheatre.org WAR PAINT 8/16-9/1/19 Price: $43-$68 Atlanta Lyric Theatre Jennie T. Anderson Theatre 548 S. Marietta Pkwy SE, Marietta TIX: 404-377-9948 www.atlantalyric.com

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MAMMA MIA 9/5-29/19 Price (range):$30 BK Productions School Street Playhouse 101 School Street Cumming TIX: 770 781-9178 schoolstreetplayhouse.com

THEATER: POCAHONTAS 6/13-8/4/19 Price: $13-$25 Serenbe Playhouse 10950 Hutchesons Ferry Rd Chattahoochee Hills TIX: 770-463-1110 www.serenbeplayhouse.com/ AS YOU LIKE IT 6/22-7/14/19 Price: $25-$45 Atlanta Shakespeare Company The Shakespeare Tavern Playhouse 499 Peachtree St NE Atlanta TIX: 404-874-5299 ShakespeareTavern.com LITTLE BLACK DRESS 7/10-14/19 Price: $35-$85 Earl and Rachel Smith Strand Theatre 117 North Park Square TIX: 770.293.0080 www.strandmarietta.org JOHN LEGUIZAMO – LATIN HISTORY FOR MORONS 7/10/19 Price:$45-$150 Fox Theatre, 660 Peachtree St. NE, Atlanta TIX: 855-285-8499 foxtheatre.org

Diany Rodriguez in the Alliance Theatre’s 2018/19 production of “Nick’s Flamingo Grill”.

Photo by Greg Mooney.

EAST TEXAS HOT LINKS 7/16-8/11/19 Prices: $15+ Kenny Leon’s True Colors Theatre Company Southwest Arts Center 915 New Hope Road, Atlanta TIX: 888-479-6300 www.truecolorstheatre.org

ATLANTA SHORTSFEST 7/11-7/13/19 Price: $40 Synchronicity Theatre 1545 Peachtree St. NE, Atlanta TIX: 404-484-8636 synchrotheatre.com

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM 7/19-8/11 Price: $25-$45 Atlanta Shakespeare Company The Shakespeare Tavern Playhouse 499 Peachtree St NE Atlanta TIX: 404-874-5299 ShakespeareTavern.com

SWEET WATER TASTE 7/12-8/18/19 Price (range): $30+ Horizon Theatre Company Horizon Theatre 1083 Austin Avenue, Atlanta TIX: (404) 584-7450 www.horizontheatre.com

SLAYING HOLOFERNES 7/26-8/24/19 Price: $20-25 Essential Theatre, Inc, West End Performing Arts Center 945 Ralph David Abernathy Blvd, Atlanta TIX: www.EssentialTheatre.com or EssentialTheatre.Tix.com

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ATLANTA PERFORMANCE GUIDE SUMMER BABYSHOWER FOR THE ANTICHRIST 8/2-25/19 Price: $20-25 Essential Theatre, Inc West End Performing Arts Center 945 Ralph David Abernathy Blvd, Atlanta TIX: EssentialTheatre.com or EssentialTheatre.Tix.com

THE POETIC STAGE PLAY “BURN” 8-25-19/19 Price: $30.50-$42.00 Jenesis Peaks Entertainment Infinite Energy Theater 6400 Sugarloaf Parkway, Duluth TIX: 770-813-7600 BUZZ 9/4-9/15/19 Price: $50 Alabama Shakespeare Festival 1 Festival Drive, Montgomery, AL TIX: 334.271.5353 asf.net

THE COMPLETE WORKS OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (ABRIDGED) 8/17-9/1/19 Price: $25-$45 Atlanta Shakespeare Company The Shakespeare Tavern Playhouse 499 Peachtree St NE Atlanta TIX: 404-874-5299 ShakespeareTavern.com

HAMLET 9/5-10/6/19 Price: $26 - $58 Alabama Shakespeare Festival Octagon Stage 1 Festival Drive, Montgomery, AL TIX: 334.271.5353 asf.net

Chaz Duffy, Tiffany Tatreau, Scott Redmond, Lillian Castillo, and Kholby Wardell in the Alliance Theatre’s 2018/19 production of “Ride the Cyclone”. Photo by Chris Helton

SAINT JOAN 9/12-10/5/19 Price: $26 – $58 Alabama Shakespeare Festival – Octagon Stage 1 Festival Drive, Montgomery, AL TIX: 334.271.5353 asf.net

CONCERTS GORDON LIGHTFOOT 7/22/19 Price: $45-$120 Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre 2800 Cobb Galleria Pkwy, Atlanta TIX: 770-916-2800 cobbenergycentre.com PEACE & LOVE TOUR 7/23/19 Price: $22.00-$61.00 Infinite Energy Theater 6400 Sugarloaf Parkway, Duluth TIX: 770-813-7600 www.InfiniteEnergyCenter.com ABBA – THE CONCERT 7/27/19 Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre 2800 Cobb Galleria Pkwy, Atlanta TIX: 770-916-2800 cobbenergycentre.com

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MASS APPEAL: HAYDN, MOZART, AND SCHUBERT 8/4/19 @ 3:00 p.m. Price: $15-$77 The 15th Annual Michael O’Neal Summer Singers Roswell UMC 814 Mimosa Boulevard, RoswelL TIX: 770.594.7974 www.mosingers.com MICHAEL CAVANAUGH: A NIGHT OF BILLY JOEL 8/10/19 Price:$40 Jennie T. Anderson Theatre 548 S. Marietta Pkwy SE, Marietta TIX: www.andersontheatre.org

DANCE: TERMINUS MODERN BALLET THEATRE: ART OVER DINNER 7/18/19 Price:$85 Grange Hall Gallery 10640 Serenbe Lane, Chattahoochee Hills TIX: 770-463-1110: www.serenbeplayhouse.com/

MOJAH SECOND LINE: DANCE OF THE AFRICAN DIASPORA 7/21/19 @ 5:00 pm Price: $20-$25 Total Dance/Dancical Productions, Inc. Woodruff Arts Center, Rich Theatre 1280 Peachtree Street NE Atlanta TIX: (404)-752- 0980 www.dancicalproductions. com

FESTVALS: BARBECUE AND BLUEGRASS: A 4TH OF JULY CELEBRATION! 7/4/19 Price: Free!

Barrington Hall 535 Barrington Dr, Roswell TIX: 770-640-3855 roswellgov.com

Jeremiah Parker Hobbs, Molly Coyne, Niki Badua, Scott E. DePoy, and Neal Ghant in the Alliance Theatre’s 2018/19 production of }The Wizard of Oz”. Photo by Greg Mooney

ATLANTA PERFORMANCE GUIDE SUMMER ALIVE IN ROSWELL 7/18 & 8/15/19 Price: Free!

Roswell City Hall 38 Hill St, Roswell, 30075 TIX: 770-641-3727 roswellgov.com

PIEDMONT PARK ARTS FESTIVAL 8/17-18/19 Price: Free!

Piedmont Park 1071 Piedmont Ave, Atlanta TIX: 404-875-7275 piedmontpark.org

2019 ESSENTIAL THEATRE PLAY FESTIVAL 7/26-8/25/19 Price: $20-25 Essential Theatre, Inc West End Performing Arts Center 945 Ralph David Abernathy Blvd, Atlanta TIX: EssentialTheatre.com or EssentialTheatre.

Tix.com

DECATUR BOOK FESTIVAL 8/30-9/1/19 Price: Free!

Decatur Square W. Ponce de Leon Ave. and Church St, Decatur TIX: decaturbookfestival.com DECATUR HAS THE ART, MUSIC AND SUMMER FUN! Decatur Beach Party, June 21, free Last Call artist reception at Agnes Scott Dalton Gallery, June 16, free.

Pied Piper Parade, concert & fireworks, July 4, free The Book As Art juried exhibition opens Aug. 9, free W. Ponce de Leon Ave. and Church St, Decatur TIX: decaturbookfestival.com

4TH ANNUAL ATLANTA MUSICAL THEATRE FESTIVAL 8/5, 8/6, 8/12, & 8/13/19 Price: $17-$50 Atlanta Musical Theatre Festival Theatrical Outfit 84 Luckie St NW, Atlanta TIX: (678) 528-1500 www.theamtf.com DECATUR BBQ, BLUES & BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL 8/10/19 Price: Free!-$20 Legacy Park 500 S Columbia Dr, Decatur TIX: decaturbbqfestival.com

Joe Sykes, Mabel Tyler, Maria Rodriguez-Sager, Isake Akanke, Caleb Baumann, and Grant Chapman in the Alliance Theatre’s 2018/19 production of “Winniethe-Pooh”. Photo by Greg Mooney

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ATLANTA SHOWGUIDE VENUES & MORE 7Stages

High Museum of Art

Serenbe Playhouse

Actor’s Express

Horizon Theatre

Southwest Arts Center

Alliance Theater

Infinite Energy Center

Synchronicity Theatre

Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau

Jennie T. Anderson Theatre

Symphony Hall

Judy Jacobs Gallery

Theatrical Outfit

King Plow Arts Ctr

Tolbert Yilmaz School of Dance

Center for Puppetry Arts Cobb Energy Centre Conant Performing Arts Center Decatur Visitor Center Explore Gwinnett Ferst Center @ Ga Tech Georgia Ensemble Theatre

Marietta’s New Theatre in the Square

Tula Gallery

Out Front Theatre Company

The Shakespeare Tavern

Porter Sanford Arts Center

Woodruff Arts Center

Rialto Center for the Arts Roswell Cultural Arts Center

Greater Atlanta’s Performing Arts Magazine In print and online at www.atlantashowguide.com

Contact us at sales@atlantashowguide.com or 770-559-1591 Like us on Facebook (http://facebook.com/ATLShowGuideMagazine) to keep up with Atlanta’s latest performing arts news!

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