Atlanta Theatre Shows August 2010

Atlanta Ga Today presents a guide to Atlanta Theatre for the month of August 2010. We are lucky to live in a city where there is such a variety of Atlanta plays to choose from including comedy, drama, musicals and horror.

12th Annual Essential Play Festival
07/07/2010 to 08/07/2010
Qualities of Starlight
by Gabriel Jason Dean, directed by Peter Hardy
The World Premiere of a twisted family comedy about a successful young astronomer who brings his wife home to the north Georgia mountains and the simple country household in which he grew up. And where his parents are now addicted to crystal meth. Winner of the 2010 Essential Theatre Playwriting Award.
Darker Face of the Earth
by Rita Dove, directed by Betty Hart
The Georgia Premiere of a stunning tragic drama by a Pulitzer Prize-winning African-American poet (and former Poet Laureate of the United States). The classic story of Oedipus is re-imagined on a slave plantation in the American South.
Sally and Glen at the Palace
by Peter Hardy, directed by Ellen McQueen
The Georgia Premiere of a comic drama about the growing friendship between two very different college students working together in the lobby of a 1970s movie theatre in a southern university town. Winner of a New Southern Theatre Festival Playwriting Award.
In Reperatory
Company: The Essential Theatre
Price: $12.00 – $24.00
Box Office: 877-840-0457
Free Parking Available
Pay Parking Available

The Dixie Swim Club
08/06/2010 to 08/14/2010
Five Southern women, whose friendships began many years ago on their college swim team, set aside a long weekend every August to recharge those relationships. Free from husbands, kids and jobs, they meet at the same beach cottage on North Carolina’s Outer Banks to catch up, laugh and meddle in each other’s lives. THE DIXIE SWIM CLUB focuses on four of those weekends and spans a period of thirty-three years.
Company: Centerstage North Theatre
Price: $12.00
Box Office: 770-516-3330

The Trip to Bountiful
07/30/2010 to 08/14/2010
This is the poignant story of Mrs. Watts, an aging widow living with her son and daughter-in-law in a three-room flat in Houston, Texas. Fearing that her presence may be an imposition on others, and chafing under the watchful eye of her daughter-in-law, Mrs. Watts imagines that if she can get away and return to her old home in the town of Bountiful, she is sure to regain her strength, dignity and peace of mind.
Company: Pumphouse Players
Price: $0.00
Box Office: 770-387-2610
Free Parking Available

STILL in Therapy
08/05/2010 to 08/15/2010
From Steve Solomon, star and creator of the hit Broadway smash: My Mother’s Italian, My Father’s Jewish & I’m In Therapy…the chaos continues in this hysterical prequel.  We go back with Steve from his baby years with his twin sister right up to the present. We’ll meet: Uncle Willie, Stuttering Cousin Bob, Demented Cousin Kenny, Steve’s new therapist, Cousin Sal (and Sal’s parole officer) and a myriad of astounding characters we know, love and tolerate from our own families; each one brought to life on stage by Steve using his gift for creating voices dialects and wacky sound effects that only add to the hilarity of each story.
Company: Center Theatre at the MJCCA
Price: $0.00
Box Office: 678-812-4002
Free Parking Available

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
08/13/2010 to 08/15/2010
This is the Biblical story of Joseph, the handsome young man who is Jacob’s favorite son, who is able to interpret dreams and has been given an amazing coat by his father. These facts lead Joseph’s eleven brothers, who are jealous of him, to sell him into slavery. Through a chain of events, Joseph ends up as Number Two man in  Egypt and in the end is able to save his family from starvation. The musical score blends popular song with country-western, calypso, French apache dance, and 1950s and 1960s rock and roll. Don’t miss out on this rousing, rollicking musical.
Company: APP Productions
Suitability: Family Friendly
Price: $12.00
Box Office: 770-234-8451
Free Parking Available

Dinner and a Diva
05/18/2010 to 12/21/2010
Three-course dinner w/ choice of entres
Hors d’oeuvres and cash bar at 6:30pm
Program starts at 7:00pm
includes wine with dinner, tax and tip
$55 per person
Live Opera peformance between courses
July — highlights from Carmen
featuring the talents of:
Valerie Beck – Mezzo Soprano
Brendan Callahan-Fitzgerald – Tenor
Gerald Yarbray – Baritone
Jennifer Zuiff – Soprano
Courtney Loner – Soprano
Ben Leaptrott – Accompanist
In August Highlights from La Boheme
In September Italian Night
Company: Capitol City Opera
Suitability: Family Friendly
Price: $55.00
Box Office: 404.634.6268

Improv Revolution – Thursday night Improv
12/10/2009 to 12/30/2010
The future of yesterday’s improv tomorrow – today! New formats, fresh faces and big ideas mark our ever-changing Thursday night testing ground for new improv formats and new improvisers.
This week, the first half of the show is Jawbreaker. Atlanta’s best and brightest upcoming stars compete via improv games and scenes to please a famous film director. The winner gets a starring role in their latest Hollywood blockbuster.
The second half of the show is ‘An Evening With’ where each Thursday evening belongs to a different member of the Dad’s Garage improv ensemble who gets and they get to do whatever they gosh darn well please. So expect some pretty awesome and radically badical improv to be thrown your way. Check out the schedule:
June 10th – Dan Triandiflou’s ‘True Crime’
*Please Note: This show is not appropriate for anyone not old enough
Company: Dad’s Garage
Suitability: Mature Content
Price: $12.00
Box Office: 404-523-3141
Public Transportation Available
Free Parking Available

Dinner and a Diva
06/17/2010 to 12/16/2010
Three-course dinner w/ choice of entres
Hors d’oeuvres and cash bar at 6:30pm
Program starts at 7:00pm
includes wine with dinner, tax and tip
$65 per person
Live Opera peformance between courses
In August:  Highlights from La Boheme
Company: Capitol City Opera
Price: $65.00
Box Office: 770.641.9131
Free Parking Available

Rocky Horror Picture Show w/ Live Cast
01/01/2010 to 12/25/2015
Lips Down On Dixie performs the interactive version of the Rocky Horror Picture Show.
Company: Lips Down on Dixie
Suitability: Mature Content
Price: $8.00
Box Office: 404-873-1939
Public Transportation Available
Free Parking Available

The August Threepeat: Midsummer Night’s Dream
08/19/2010 to 09/11/2010
(all new production!) Directed by Andrew Houchins
Dueling fairies, enchanted woods, a love triangle that turns hexagon…. watch the hilarity unravel right before your eyes in our all-new production!
Company: The New American Shakespeare Tavern
Price: $12.00 – $35.00
Box Office: 404-874-5299
Public Transportation Available
Pay Parking Available

Battle Acts
12/26/2009 to 12/18/2010
Individual improvisors compete head to head for laughs during this elimination tournament. Eight walk in and one walks out – The Champion of BattleActs!  Third Saturday of each month.
Company: Laughing Matters
Price: $15.00
Box Office: 404-376-3755
Free Parking Available
Pay Parking Available

TheatreSports – Saturday Night Improv
12/05/2009 to 12/25/2010
Our longest running improv show and an audience favorite for years, TheatreSports is a fast–paced improv competition featuring the best improvisers in the city. Consisting of two teams, a host/referee, judges to boo and hiss, and the infamous scum box – TheatreSports will have you in hysterics and in on the fun.
Discount tickets for this show are available thru AtlanTIX online and at the booths.  Click on Discount Tickets on the blue bar above to see list of tickets available online today.
Company: Dad’s Garage
Suitability: Mature Content
Price: $15.00
Box Office: 404-523-3141
Public Transportation Available
Free Parking Available

Ghost Tours of Lawrenceville
05/07/2010 to 09/25/2010
Lawrenceville Ghost Tours (Walking Tour) Lawrenceville, GA a quiet southern town born almost 200 years ago is home to some of the most bizarre and spooky tales ever told. Like other southern towns, Lawrenceville has a history rich in Native American culture, civil war stories and various quirky characters that have trod the pavement of it’s streets. But unlike most other southern towns, there’s a lot more para-normal than normal.
Take a scary stroll through haunted Lawrenceville and hear about:
•Flying Corpses
•The heiress who was kidnapped and buried alive
•What really happened at the old jail.
Join us (if you dare) for a 90-minute walking tour of some of Lawrenceville GA’s most
interesting places and the stories behind it’s most bizarre events, hauntingly told with
the charm and personality of a real southern storyteller.
Company: Aurora Theatre
Suitability: Family Friendly
Price: $6.00 – $12.00
Box Office: 678-226-6222
Free Parking Available

Rumplestilskin
08/07/2010 to 09/11/2010
Adapted by Bobby Box and Michael Haverty
Directed by Michael Haverty
“My daughter can spin straw into gold!” brags Kate’s father. Now she must find a way to make good on her father’s boast! A mysterious little man appears and offers his magical services…but for a terrible price. Based on the fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm, this marionette musical will spin grins onto the faces of kids and adults alike.
See website for more performances.
Company: Center for Puppetry Arts
Suitability: Family Friendly
Price: $16.00
Box Office: 404.873.3391
Public Transportation Available
Free Parking Available

Jack Gafford Band
08/21/2010 to 08/21/2010
FREE concert! Bring your lawn chairs and blankets. Tables can be reserved for $25. Lawn opens at 7pm and show starts at 7.30pm. This is a Cobb County facility and alcohol is not permitted.
Company: Mountain View Arts Alliance
Suitability: Family Friendly
Price: $0.00
Box Office: 770-509-2700

The August Threepeat: Taming of the Shrew
08/12/2010 to 09/04/2010
This summer, we bring back the Shakespeare comedies you know and love, in repertory! Love reigns in mysterious ways.
The Taming of the Shrew
Welcome to the Bard’s famous comedic “battle of the sexes.” Will Petruchio be able to tame his Kate, turning the “shrew” into a doting wife, or will the lady hold fast to her wild, independent ways? ASC’s Taming of the Shrew is a guaranteed evening of laughter and love.
Directed by Drew Reeves
Featuring J.C. Long as Petruchio and Maureen Yasko as Kate
Company: The New American Shakespeare Tavern
Suitability: Mature Content
Price: $12.00 – $35.00
Box Office: 404-874-5299
Public Transportation Available
Pay Parking Available

That’s Entertainment
08/13/2010 to 08/21/2010
A cabaret variety show filled with song, dance and scenes from your favorite movies and movie musicals!
Have dinner at one of Woodstock’s great restaurants across the street from the theater at 8534 Main St.
Call 678-494-4251 or go to www.tlaclive.org for tickets and information
Company: The Towne Lake Arts Center
Suitability: Family Friendly
Price: $12.00 – $15.00
Box Office: 678-494-4251
Free Parking Available

Shakin’ the Mess outta Misery
07/02/2010 to 08/22/2010
A joyous, exuberant celebration about the coming of age of a young girl and the eight loving Big Mamas who raised her. This circle of diverse Southern women prepare Daughter to go to the river – her rite of passage into womanhood. The stories they share are funny, sad, magical, and touching – tales of survival and healing. A soulfully insightful universal story.
By Shay Youngblood
Company: Horizon Theatre Company
Price: $21.00 – $33.00
Box Office: 404-584-7450 x100
Public Transportation Available
Free Parking Available

Love, Sex and the IRS
07/30/2010 to 08/28/2010
Try to cheat the IRS and look what happens! Here is a wild farce with twists of fate, sight gags, mistaken identities and hilarious comic lines. Jon Trachtman and Leslie Arthur are out of work musicians who room together in New York City. To save money, Jon has been filing tax returns listing the pair as a married couple. The day of reckoning comes when the Internal
Revenue Service informs the “couple” they’re going to be investigated by a Mr. Spinner. Leslie masquerades as a housewife, aided by Jon’s fiancée, Kate. Complicating matters further Leslie and Kate are having an affair behind Jon’s back, Jon’s mother drops in unexpectedly to meet her son’s fiancée, and Leslie’s ex girlfriend shows up demanding to know why Leslie has changed and won’t see her anymore.  This show is sure to make you laugh!
By William Van Zandt & Jane Milmore
Company: The Rosewater Theatre
Price: $15.12 – $19.26
Box Office: 770-640-5500
Public Transportation Available
Free Parking Available

Singin’ in the Rain
08/05/2010 to 09/05/2010
Based on the MGM film
Screenplay & Adaptation by Betty Comden & Adolf Green
Songs by Nacio Herb Brown & Arthur Freed
(Original Choreography by Gene Kelly & Stanley Donen)
The greatest movie musical of all time – It’s 1927 and Hollywood is in a panic over the transition from silent films to “talking pictures.” Enter leading man, Don Lockwood, who falls hard for chorus girl, Kathy Selden, despite Don’s leading lady Lina Lamont’s objections. With countless classic songs, amazing dancing, a flying cake and did we mention it RAINS?
Company: Aurora Theatre
Price: $21.00 – $32.00
Box Office: 678-226-6222
Free Parking Available

A Confederacy of Dunces
08/11/2010 to 08/29/2010
Like Shakespeare’s Falstaff, Ignatius Reilly of A Confederacy of Dunces has the bombastic comic power to subvert reality and his madcap adventures in the 1960s French Quarter of New Orleans prove to be as laugh out loud hilarious as they are brilliantly revelatory of the human condition. It is a tumultuous story, filled with the truly rendered accents and dialects of New Orleans rebels. Two voices, however, dominate: a sharp-eyed omniscient narrator and the sometimes hapless and self-destructive Ignatius J. Reilly. Despite those tendencies, Reilly composes brilliant sketches of his adversaries and dramatizes a set of restrained values that contrasts dramatically with the world in which he moves, through various insignificant jobs and sometimes slapstick mishaps. These are dramatically played off against the equally untidy lives of a host of supporting characters, including his comically oppressed mother, a radicalized girlfriend who taunts him from New York, a strip-bar operator, a pants factory owner, and a Keystonian New Orleans policeman. Richard Garner, Producing Artistic Director and Co-Founder of Georgia Shakespeare Festival, directs.
Prices range from $15 – $35 and can be purchased online at www.theatricaloutfit.org or by calling the Box Office at 678-528-1500.
Company: Theatrical Outfit
Price: $0.00
Box Office: 678-528-1500
Public Transportation Available
Pay Parking Available

Shopping and F***king
08/13/2010 to 09/04/2010
Two Pamela Lee-ish drag queens halt outside the dimly lit doorway of New York Theatre Workshop. “Shopping and Fu**ing!” they squeal in unison, reading a poster for Mark Ravenhill’s new play. “Girlfriend,” sighs the taller one, “this is the story of my life.”
Company: The Process Theatre Co.
Suitability: Mature Content
Price: $25.00
Box Office: 404-897-1802
Free Parking Available

Stealing Dixie, a Civil War Drama
08/04/2010 to 09/12/2010
A gripping portrayal of Andrews’ Raiders, a band of Northern soldiers and sympathizers, who pulled off a daring scheme to steal the General, a Confederate Army locomotive, and were later hanged in Atlanta for treason.  The raiders hatched their plot in what is known as the Kennesaw House, a stone’s throw from Theatre in the Square.  A world premier by Phillip DePoy.
Prices TBA later
Company: Theatre in the Square
Price: $0.00
Box Office: 770-422-8369
Free Parking Available
Pay Parking Available

The Graduate
08/12/2010 to 08/29/2010
The Graduate brings the quintessential movie hit of the sixties, one of the most popular films of all time, vividly to life on stage.  It is the classic story of a young man coming of age and trying to find himself.  In doing so, he takes a few wrong paths down his journey of life…
A college student spends his first summer out of school in the arms of his father’s best friend’s wife.  Meanwhile, he is falling in love with the man’s daughter.
Company: Gypsy Theatre Company
Suitability: Mature Content
Price: $15.00 – $20.00
Box Office: 770-781-9178
Free Parking Available

The August Threepeat: As You Like It
08/13/2010 to 09/02/2010
Directed by Jeff Watkins
What will Rosalind have to do to find and keep her Orlando? Join us on a romp through the Forest of Arden where everyone from jesters to shepherds finds love.
Company: The New American Shakespeare Tavern
Price: $12.00 – $35.00
Box Office: 404-874-5299
Public Transportation Available
Pay Parking Available

Related Articles:
Atlanta Comedy Shows – current information on comedy and improv shows at comedy clubs in Atlanta.
Atlanta Music Shows – features musical performances and events around Atlanta GA.
Atlanta Dance – dance and ballet performances around Atlanta.

Atlanta Comedy Shows for July 2010

Laughing Matters @ Manuel’s Tavern
01/02/2010 to 11/06/2010
General Improv, 1st Saturday of each month
Company: Laughing Matters
Price: $12.00
Box Office: 404-225-5000
Public Transportation Available
Free Parking Available

Luenell…Live!
07/09/2010 to 07/09/2010
Luenell…Live!: Arkansas native LUENELL (one of those rare one name stars) is coming to Atlanta by virtue of pure grit and determination to continue living out her dream. The single Mom rags-to-respectability story is hers alone to tell and she does so with no holds barred. Her notable appearances in feature films (Borat’s Hooker with a Heart of Gold), television (B.E.T.’s Comic View) and as a regular on videos and the comedy club circuit has her pegged as one of America’s funniest and fastest rising comediennes on the scene today. Her take no prisoners approach…bawdy, brash, cantankerous yet lovable “tell it like it is” brand of humor has audiences from all walks of life rolling in the aisles. With her deadpan, direct, get down, and at times, decidedly daring delivery of zingers about life and the human experience as she has lived it has reviewers and entertainment powers taking full notice. Alternately dubbed as a “comedy demolition machine” and a “sidesplitting high wired act without a net, urban and mainstream audiences alike are discovering Luenell’s comic genius, realizing that this “Bad Girl of Comedy” is a force to be reckoned with.
Company: 14th Street Playhouse
Suitability: Mature Content
Price: $15.00 – $32.00
Box Office: 404-733-5000
Public Transportation Available
Pay Parking Available

HOT PROPERTY
07/09/2010 to 07/17/2010
Fred Carmichael’s irresistible comedy “Hot Property” is fueled by laughs, mistaken identities and even a “sting”. It’s the story of a down-on-his-luck land developer and his late mother’s sensational, headed toward “best-selling” novel, which was stolen by a crafty con artist and published as his own. Is it woe to the land developer? What does a troop of deliciously endearing professional actors have to do with it? You’ll see!
Company: Polk Street Players
Suitability: Family Friendly
Price: $12.50
Box Office: (770)218-9669
Free Parking Available

Hamlet! the Musical
07/09/2010 to 08/08/2010
If Hamlet were a musical, it would be HAMLET! THE MUSICAL! This ain’t your mamma’s Shakespeare (nor the Tavern’s typical take either). But never fear, fans, we’re not changing our style, just having some fun! Join us as we turn this Shakespearean tragedy into a musical comedy with music ranging from Rock & Roll to Vegas Lounge Act to Gospel!
Book by Shakespeare (edited by Eddie Levi Lee and Rebecca Wackler)
Lyrics by Lee, Wackler, and Phillip DePoy
Music by Phillip DePoy
Additional concept and materials by Drew Reeves and Renee Clark
Company: The New American Shakespeare Tavern
Suitability: Mature Content
Price: $13.00 – $35.00
Box Office: 404-874-5299
Public Transportation Available
Pay Parking Available

Improv Revolution – Thursday night Improv
12/10/2009 to 12/30/2010
The future of yesterday’s improv tomorrow – today! New formats, fresh faces and big ideas mark our ever-changing Thursday night testing ground for new improv formats and new improvisers.
This week, the first half of the show is Jawbreaker. Atlanta’s best and brightest upcoming stars compete via improv games and scenes to please a famous film director. The winner gets a starring role in their latest Hollywood blockbuster.
The second half of the show is ‘An Evening With’ where each Thursday evening belongs to a different member of the Dad’s Garage improv ensemble who gets and they get to do whatever they gosh darn well please. So expect some pretty awesome and radically badical improv to be thrown your way. June 10th – Dan Triandiflou’s ‘True Crime’
*Please Note: This show is not appropriate for anyone not old enough
Company: Dad’s Garage
Suitability: Mature Content
Price: $12.00
Box Office: 404-523-3141
Public Transportation Available
Free Parking Available

Samurai Davis Jr. and Dim Sum’s Super Mega Happy Fun Time Improv Show!
05/07/2010 to 07/30/2010
This truly outrageous Japanese–style game show is like Let’s Make A Deal meets Double Dare meets Dad’s Garage. Improvisers choose from 3 closed doors and must incorporate whatever’s lurking behind them in their scene, and the losing team is punished in a number of disturbingly hilarious (and often painful or stinky) ways. With crazy hosts, adorably sassy sailor girls, karaoke breaks, and bizarre stunts – this show is like nothing you’ve ever seen before.
Company: Dad’s Garage
Suitability: Mature Content
Price: $12.00
Box Office: 404-523-3141
Public Transportation Available
Free Parking Available

TheatreSports – Saturday Night Improv
12/05/2009 to 12/25/2010
Our longest running improv show and an audience favorite for years, TheatreSports is a fast–paced improv competition featuring the best improvisers in the city. Consisting of two teams, a host/referee, judges to boo and hiss, and the infamous scum box – TheatreSports will have you in hysterics and in on the fun.
Discount tickets for this show are available thru AtlanTIX online and at the booths. Click on Discount Tickets on the blue bar above to see list of tickets available online today.
Company: Dad’s Garage
Suitability: Mature Content
Price: $15.00
Box Office: 404-523-3141
Public Transportation Available
Free Parking Available

Battle Acts
12/26/2009 to 12/18/2010
Individual improvisors compete head to head for laughs during this elimination tournament. Eight walk in and one walks out – The Champion of BattleActs! Third Saturday of each month.
Company: Laughing Matters
Price: $15.00
Box Office: 404-376-3755
Free Parking Available
Pay Parking Available

Last Call for The Phantom of the Opera

The Fabulous Fox Theatre says farewell to The Phantom of the Opera. After the tour leaves Atlanta it will travel to Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Los Angeles before retiring in November. For those still wanting to see the mysterious and difigured musical master your best bet will be Broadway.

The Phantom of the Opera is based upon Gaston Leroux’s serialized novel. The show originally opened up on Broadway in 1988 and won seven Tony awards including best musical in a season which also featured Cabaret and Dreamgirls.

The Phantom of the Opera is easily the longest-running show in history. Andrew Lloyd Weber’s musical masterpiece is now into its 22nd year and has grossed over 1.5 billion dollars. For those still wanting to hear, feel and see the power of the music of the night, Phantom of the Opera tickets are still available here.

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