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Atlanta Events in July 2011

Tue, 05 Jul 2011 19:03:00 GMT

7/4

The Running and the Stunning
The forty-second annual AJC Peachtree Road Race, the world’s largest 10K run, gets under way just after sunrise. If you’ve still got enough energy after sunset, fireworks will light up the sky at locations such as Lenox Square, Turner Field, and Stone Mountain. peachtreeroadrace.org; lenoxsquare.com; braves.com; stonemountainpark.com

Photograph of Jazz on the Lawn,

courtesy of Callanwolde Fine Arts Center

7/5–10

Rock of Ages

Former American Idol contestant and Tony Award nominee Constantine Maroulis stars in this loving tribute to 1980s hair bands. foxtheatre.org

7/5–22

Shakespeare Does Kipling

The Georgia Shakespeare Festival presents a musical adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book, originally commissioned by the Orlando Shakespeare Theater. gashakespeare.org

7/7–17

The National Black Arts Festival

Various locations will host the annual festival—many events are free—celebrating the diverse cultural contributions of African Americans from the O’Jays to expressionist painter Trenton Doyle Hancock. nbaf.org

7/8

Music of ABBA by Arrival with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra

This Swedish tribute band looks and sounds like the real thing. classicchastain.com
Indigo Girls at Atlanta Botanical Garden

Decatur’s favorite feminist folkies return. concertsinthegarden.org

7/12

Rihanna and Cee Lo
You’d be “Crazy” to miss two of R&B’s hottest stars together at Chastain Park. Rihanna just logged her tenth number one hit more quickly (five years after her first) than any artist in the Billboard Hot 100’s history. And even without Gnarls Barkley, Atlanta’s Cee Lo Green is on a roll, starring on NBC’s The Voice. chastainseries.com

7/14–28
Vive la France!
Huff Harrington Fine Art gallery tips its chapeau to Bastille Day, France’s equivalent to our Independence Day, with a two-week celebration. See works by both French artists and Americans inspired by the native land of Monet and Matisse. huffharrington.com

7/16–17

Butterflies Are Free
But the festival costs ten bucks. Insects formerly known as caterpillars star at Chattahoochee Nature Center’s Flying Colors Butterfly Festival. This fundraiser will feature crafts, face painting, and a costume parade. chattnaturecenter.org

7/17
Britney Spears

The former underaged sex symbol and overexposed train wreck makes Atlanta a stop on her comeback trail. philipsarena.com

7/18
Ben Mezrich Talks about Sex on the Moon

The writer whose book inspired the film The Social Network reads from his latest, Sex on the Moon, at the Marcus Jewish Community Center’s Zaban Park. atlantajcc.org

7/18–24
Atlanta Tennis Championships

Top pros like Mardy Fish, John Isner, and Sam Querrey at the Raquet Club of the South. atlantatennischampionships.com

7/20–8/6
Solitary Interpretations by Victor Mirabelli

Moody new works by the impressionist painter. lagerquistgallery.net

7/20–8/7
Married Alive!

This musical romp documents connubial bliss from “Niagara to Viagra” at Stone Mountain’s ART Station. artstation.org

7/21
Peter Frampton

chastainseries.com

7/22
Emmylou Harris

Part of the Atlanta Botanical Garden summer series. concertsinthegarden.org

7/26
Sapphire

Outwrite Bookstore & Coffeehouse presents the author whose book Push inspired the 2009 film Precious, at Saint Mark United Methodist Church. outwritebooks.com

7/27–31
Stripped

A football-themed play with former Green Bay Packer Dorsey Levens and Real Housewife Lisa Hartwell. ferstcenter.gatech.edu

7/29

Jazz on the Lawn
Callanwolde Fine Arts Center’s outdoor series features the contemporary jazz of keyboardist Madoca and her band. Also check out vocalists Lindsay Appel on July 8 and the swinging sounds of Gwen Hughes on August 12. callanwolde.org

7/29–30
Southeast Kickball Fest

Teams can register as late as July 27. At Georgia Tech Rec Turf Fields. southeastkickballfest.com

Through 7/31
Mixing Metaphors: The Aesthetic, the Social, and the Political in African American Art

Ninety works, from prints by Jacob Lawrence to photos by Gordon Parks, at the Carter Center. jimmycarterlibrary.org

Through 12/2
Maynard on the Move
The People’s Mayor: Maynard Jackson and the Politics of Transformation is curated by the Atlanta University Center’s Robert W. Woodruff Library. Exhibits include rarely seen correspondence and photos of the first African American mayor of a major Southern city. mjexhibit.auctr.edu

Atlanta Events in June 2011

Wed, 01 Jun 2011 12:00:00 GMT

1. Willie Nelson’s Country Throwdown
Nelson’s second annual outdoor tour comes to Coolray Field, home of the Gwinnett Braves (who will be away playing the Indianapolis Indians). The show features seven headliners, plus emerging artists on the Bluebird Cafe stage. (6/12)

2. Life in the Park
One winter day in the life of homeless buddies Humphrey and Constance. A musical drama written by Gary W. Heath and directed by North Atlanta High School grad Allen Worthy makes its world premiere at 14th Street Playhouse. (6/3–6/26)

3. Team Up!
Explore the science behind the sport at Imagine It! The Children’s Museum of Atlanta. Measure the speed of your fastball. Ride a snowboard down a virtual mountain. Make the perfect bounce pass. (6/11–9/11)

4. Puccini’s Madama Butterfly
The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra stages one of its Theater of a Concert performances, an innovative genre combining live music with visual elements such as film clips, lighting effects, art installations, and semistaged opera. (6/9, 6/11–6/12)

5. Bard Bash
The Shakespeare Tavern presents an “irreverent, hilarious, high-speed romp” through the complete works of William Shakespeare. Yes, that’s all thirty-seven plays and 154 sonnets—performed by three actors in two hours! Othello goes hip-hop, and Titus Andronicus hosts a cooking show. (6/16–7/31)

Little Five Points: Also on the calendar
1. The Monkees (6/3, Chastain Park)
2. Josh Groban (6/8, Gwinnett Center)
3. Rent by the Atlanta Lyric Theatre (6/10–6/26, The Strand)
4. The Swan House author Elizabeth Musser (6/14, Atlanta History Center)
5. AthFest (6/22–6/26, downtown Athens)

Photograph by Danny Clinch

Atlanta Events in May 2011

Mon, 02 May 2011 12:00:00 GMT

1. Hooligans in Wondaland
With Atlanta rapper B.o.B, Bruno Mars and Janelle Monáe wowed Grammy audiences in February. Now Mars—who won best male pop vocal performance—and Monáe bring their retro soul Hooligans tour to the Fox Theatre. (5/10)

2. Zoetic Dance
The Zoetic Dance Ensemble adapts its critically acclaimed show, Wet, for the Fountain of Rings at Centennial Olympic Park. This is one contemporary dance troupe that doesn’t take itself too seriously—look for the Slip ’N Slide. (5/20–21)

3. GWTW Seventy-Fifth Anniversary
Celebrate the seventy-fifth anniversary of one of the best-selling novels of all time at the home of author Margaret Mitchell. Living-history performers and local historians tell stories of the Civil War and 1920s Atlanta. (5/14)

4. Lemony Snicket & ASO
In the tradition of Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf comes Lemony Snicket’s The Composer Is Dead. A musical score and murder mystery by the author of A Series of Unfortunate Events helps another young generation appreciate the orchestra. At Atlanta Symphony Hall. (5/15)

5. Hair
The Tony Award–winning revival of the psychedelic 1967 musical comes to the Fox Theatre. Channel your inner flower child and be prepared for audience participation (don’t worry, you’ll keep your clothes on). (5/17–22)

Little Five Points: Also on the calendar

1. Taste of Marietta (5/1)
2. Atlanta Botanical Garden’s Gardens for Connoisseurs Tour (5/7–8)
3. Jefferson Starship (5/11, Variety Playhouse)
4. Kenny Chesney (5/20, Aaron’s Amphitheatre at Lakewood)
5. Atlanta Jazz Festival (5/28–30, Piedmont Park)

Atlanta Events in April 2011

Fri, 01 Apr 2011 12:00:00 GMT

1. Lady Gaga
With her third studio album, Born This Way, due out next month, the Grammy-winning artist rolls into Gwinnett Center. No word on whether she’ll arrive in a golden egg. (4/18)

2. Così Fan Tutte
Mozart’s comic romance was the subject of much gossip in the Austrian court when it debuted. Later, it was considered too scandalous and was rarely performed during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The Atlanta Opera’s rendition proves it is still a gem—the story of star-crossed young lovers as timeless as Shakespeare. (4/9, 12, 15, and 17)

3. Symphony Showhouse
Atlanta’s premiere decorators showhouse will be at a grand new English Regency–inspired residence on West Wesley Road designed by classicist William T. Baker. The annual fundraiser supports the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. (4/15–5/8)

4. Dogwood Festival
The award-winning festival celebrates its seventy-fifth year by teaming up with the Atlanta History Center and the Margaret Mitchell House, in conjunction with the seventy-fifth anniversary of GWTW. Joint events will add to the popular artists market, live performances, and exhibits in Piedmont Park. (4/15–17)

5. Suspended Animation
Though the audience can see the puppeteer manipulating the marionette strings, the characters seem convincingly alive in this Center for Puppetry Arts production. Phillip Huber’s PG-rated cabaret proves once again that puppets are not just for kids. (4/15–17)

Little Five Points: Also on the calendar

1. Atlanta Home Show (4/1–3, Cobb Galleria Centre)
2. Atlanta Steeplechase (4/16, Kingston Downs, Kingston)
3. Dahlonega’s Bear on the Square Mountain Festival (4/16–17)
4. Georgia Renaissance Festival (4/16–6/5)
5. Druid Hills Home and Garden Tour & Artist Market (4/29–5/1)

Photograph by Caroline Kilgore

Atlanta Events in March 2011

Tue, 01 Mar 2011 22:01:00 GMT

1. Zap! Pow! Bam!
This interactive exhibit, originated by the William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum in 2004, returns from its long national tour. Icons such as Superman, Batman, Captain Marvel, Wonder Woman, and Captain America inspired Americans during the tumultuous thirties and forties. (through 4/24)

2. MODA’s New Digs
Check out the Museum of Design Atlanta’s new location across from the High Museum with its opening exhibit, Passione Italiana: Design of the Italian Motorcycle. MODA is the only museum in the Southeast dedicated to how design affects our daily lives. (3/20–6/13)

3. Phoenix Flies
The Atlanta Preservation Center hosts its eighth annual series, launched to celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of saving the Fox Theatre—a feat that marked a turnaround in the city’s attitude toward preservation. There will be more than 100 tours and events at landmarks such as the Kreigshaber House, aka the Wrecking Bar. (3/5–3/20)

4. Jerry’s Habima Theatre
Georgia’s only theatrical company featuring adult actors with developmental disabilities, directed and produced by professionals, presents its 2011 show, Happy Days: A New Musical, at the Marcus Jewish Community Center. This is the troupe’s eighteenth inspiring and entertaining season. (3/31–4/10)

5. John Williams at Spivey Hall
Performances by this master of classical guitar always sell out at Spivey Hall. Born in Australia, the versatile artist has a wide-ranging, international repertoire, from classical guitar concertos to Irish folk tunes to movie scores. (3/20)

Little Five Points: Also on the calendar

1. Stomp (3/2–3/6, Fox Theatre)
2. Argentine Tango Music (3/23, Schwartz Center for Performing Arts)
3. Russian National Ballet Theatre (3/28, Fox Theatre)
4. Contemporary Talks by ACAC (3/15, 3/23, and 4/26, see thecontemporary.org for venues)
5. Eudora Welty: Exposures and Reflections (through 5/8, Atlanta History Center)

Detective Comics #71 cover art by Jerry Robinson

Atlanta Events in February 2011

Tue, 01 Feb 2011 13:00:00 GMT

1. Barnum’s Funundrum
Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey’s Greatest Show on Earth rolls back into town. Flying trapeze artists! Contortionists! High-wire acts! Elephants! Clowns! Hopefully, no zebras will escape from Philips Arena this year. (2/17–21)

2. Henri Cartier-Bresson
The High Museum presents the first major U.S. retrospective of the iconic French photographer’s work in thirty years. Images by this groundbreaking photojournalist often graced the covers of Life and Paris Match. (2/19–5/29)

3. Porgy & Bess
The Atlanta Opera teams up with the University of Kentucky to create high-definition video sets for this year’s production of the Gershwin classic at Cobb Energy Centre. (2/26 and 3/1, 4, and 6)

4. African Art & Religion
The Michael C. Carlos Museum exhibit Divine Intervention explores the traditional African belief that art is a bridge between the human and the divine. It includes more than fifty spiritual artifacts from twenty-plus cultures. (2/5–12/4)

5. Atlanta Jewish Film Festival
Last year’s tenth anniversary season set record attendance, leading the AJFF—Atlanta’s largest film festival—to expand this year. Look for moving dramas, animated features, and intriguing documentaries such as the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Against the Tide, which chronicles American indifference during the Holocaust. (2/8–27)

Little Five Points: Also on the calendar

1. Art Papers Art Auction (2/5, Mason Murer Fine Art)
2. Georgia Perennial Plant Association Annual Symposium (2/5, Atlanta Botanical Garden)
3. The Bach Bowl on Super Bowl Sunday (2/6, Schwartz Center at Emory)
4. Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (2/10–13, Fox Theatre)
5. The Atlanta Ballet’s Sleeping Beauty (2/11–13, Cobb Energy Centre)

Photograph courtesy of the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival

Atlanta Events in January 2011

Tue, 04 Jan 2011 13:00:00 GMT

1. Toulouse-Lautrec at the High
Irene and Howard Stein’s recent donation of forty-seven works by fin de siécle Parisian artists is considered one of the most significant gifts in the High Museum’s history. See Toulouse-Lautrec and friends—including Edgar Degas and Paul Gauguin—in this debut exhibit. (1/29–5/1)

2. Mozart & Bruckner
In the tenth year of their collaboration, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra music director Robert Spano and principal guest conductor Donald Runnicles team up for a rare joint performance. Spano performs Mozart’s Piano Concerto no. 20, and Runnicles revisits Bruckner’s Eighth Symphony. (1/27–29)

3. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Service Summit
Celebrate the holiday in a way that would make our hero proud. Hands On Atlanta hosts its annual Freedom Rally at the Ferst Center, featuring music, dance, and prominent speakers. Afterward, volunteers will prepare 50,000 food boxes for the needy. Register for this and more at handsonatlanta.org. (1/17)

4. Peter Pan
Both the audience and the actors will take off for Neverland in a 360-degree theater with high-def screens three times the size of IMAX. Atlanta is only the fourth city to host this high-tech version of J.M. Barrie’s classic, staged in a 100-foot-tall tent at Pemberton Place. (1/21–3/20)

5. Spotlight on Art
Open to the public, Trinity School’s annual art auction has been one of Atlanta’s best-kept secrets for thirty years. Known for featuring up-and-comers, it has also attracted national talent such as Radcliffe Bailey, Robert Rauschenberg, and Benny Andrews. On campus. (1/31–2/5)

Little Five Points: Also on the calendar

1. State Ballet Theatre of Russia: Swan Lake (1/13, Ferst Center)
2. Broadsword (1/13–2/12, Actor’s Express)
3. Bring It On: The Musical (1/15–2/20, Alliance Theatre)
4. Blue Man Group (1/18–1/23, Fox Theatre)
5. Honda Battle of the Bands (1/29, Georgia Dome)

Image of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec's La Clownesse au Moulin Rouge, 1897

Atlanta Events in December 2010

Wed, 01 Dec 2010 13:00:00 GMT

1. Carolina Chocolate Drops
They’ve rocked Spoleto and inspired standing ovations at the Grand Ole Opry’s Ryman Auditorium. Adored by the likes of NPR’s All Things Considered and Garden & Gun magazine, these African American banjo and string musicians bring heartfelt energy to Southern roots music. At Variety Playhouse. (12/4)

2. Holiday Home Tours
Enjoy festive decorations at local tours: Decatur Holiday Candlelight Tour of Homes (12/3–4), Madison’s Heritage Holiday Tour of Homes (12/3–4), the Marietta Pilgrimage (12/4–5), and Avondale Estates’ Christmas Tour of Homes (12/12).

3. Christmas at Callanwolde
Why drive to the Biltmore House when Atlanta’s own patrician estate will be dressed for the holidays? A favorite decades-long tradition returns after a seven-year hiatus, as designers deck the halls of the Candlers’ historic Gothic-Tudor mansion. Watch for events such as the teddy bear tea. (12/1–12)

4. Affordable Art at Young Blood Gallery & Boutique
The popular Poncey-Highland gallery stages Home, its biannual exhibition of small, affordable works. Fifty artists contribute pieces incorporating some element from their homes. Includes a trunk show by Indie Craft Experience. (12/4–26)

5. Atlanta Celtic Christmas Concert
This eighteenth annual Emory event features Celtic and Appalachian music, dance, poetry, and storytelling—starring Moya Brennan, the “first lady of Celtic music,” whose fans include U2’s Bono. Break out the tartans at the Schwartz Center. (12/18–19)

Little Five Points: Also on the calendar

1. The Children’s Christmas Parade (12/4, choa.org, Downtown)
2. Usher OMG Tour (12/5, Philips Arena)
3. Holiday Lights by the Atlanta Gay Men’s Chorus (12/10–11, Cathedral of St. Philip)
4. Amy Grant and Vince Gill (12/20, Fox Theatre)
5. Black Nativity by True Colors Theatre Company (through 12/30, Southwest Arts Center)

Photograph by Julie Roberts

Atlanta Events in November 2010

Wed, 24 Nov 2010 16:39:00 GMT

1. Around the Globe with the CDC

Angélique Kidjo

Photojournalist David Snyder traveled to Kenya, Brazil, Peru, Haiti, India, and U.S. cities to document the Centers for Disease Control’s impact around the world. His images and field notes are on display at the CDC’s Global Health Odyssey Museum. (through 1/14)

2. MJCCA Book Festival
The Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta stages its nineteenth annual festival. See New York Times bestselling authors Pat Conroy, Wendy Mogel (Blessings of a Skinned Knee), Sara Gruen (Water for Elephants), and Yann Martel (Life of Pi). (11/6–20)

3. Cirque du Soleil’s Ovo
Deborah Colker, Cirque du Soleil’s first female director, stages Ovo (“egg” in Portuguese), a colorful ecosystem where insects “work, eat, crawl, flutter, play, fight, and look for love,” at Atlantic Station. (11/4–1/2)

4. Angélique Kidjo at the Rialto
Born in West Africa, this Grammy-winning artist performed in the World Cup opening ceremonies. Her new album—a mix of African tradition and Western pop, plus a little Bollywood—includes collaborations with Bono, John Legend, and Dianne Reeves. Don't miss her performance at the Rialto. (11/13)

5. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
The Center for Puppetry Arts opens the first licensed stage production of the beloved 1964 animated classic. Puppet designer Jason von Hinezmeyer has watched the original more than 200 times to create faithful reproductions of characters such as Rudolph, Yukon Cornelius, and the Abominable Snow Monster. (11/18–1/2)

Little Five Points: Also on the calendar

1. Irving Berlin’s White Christmas (11/2–7, Fox Theatre)
2. Lady Antebellum (11/12, Fox Theatre)
3. Little Things Mean a Lot (11/18–1/8, Swan Coach House)
4. Astor Holiday Rink (11/25–1/3, St. Regis Atlanta)
5. Vienna Boys’ Choir (11/28, Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre)

Photograph by Nabil Elderkin

Atlanta Events in October 2010

Thu, 30 Sep 2010 20:00:00 GMT

1. HOToberFest
The nation’s largest consumer-judged beer competition returns to Glenwood Park. Adults pick their faves among more than 130 craft beers, plus sample another forty small-batch brews. Attendees of all ages enjoy live music, a sustainable artists market, and kids activities. All for charity and all presented “off the grid” via solar, wind, and biodiesel power. (10/2)

2. Celebrate Halloween
Opportunities abound for frightful fun: Netherworld, one of the nation’s top-ranked haunted attractions, runs nightly. This is the only time of year you can tour Oakland Cemetery by candlelight. Main Street Players turns its venue into a haunted theater, and Emory’s organist becomes Count Dracula for a scary recital at the Schwartz Center for Performing Arts.

3. Pat Conroy
The Southern literary icon and his wife, novelist Cassandra King, discuss the writing life for Georgia Perimeter College at two free, public events. See this month's books column for more on Conroy’s new book, My Reading Life. (10/6, GPC Clarkston campus; 10/7, Burge Plantation, Mansfield)

4. Moulin Rouge
Life was a cabaret in fin de siècle Paris. Join the Atlanta Ballet for a high-kicking good time at the nightclub immortalized by artist Toulouse-Lautrec. Let this story of young love and stardom carry you along far more glamorous avenues than the Cobb Energy Centre’s I-75. (10/22–31)

5. The Eagles in Piedmont Park

Following the likes of Dave Matthews and Paul McCartney, the Eagles will headline this year’s Green Concert, which supports the park’s fifty-three-acre expansion and promotes environmental sustainability. Ready for a tequila sunset? (10/15)

Little Five Points: Also on the calendar

1. Ansley Park Tour of Homes (10/2–3, see ansleypark.org)
2. Atlanta 2-Day Walk for Breast Cancer (10/2–3, see 2daywalk.org)
3. Making America’s Music (10/2–1/9, Imagine It! The Children’s Museum of Atlanta)
4. The Dalai Lama visits Emory (10/17–10/19, see dalailama.emory.edu)
5. Atlanta Celebrates Photography (through 10/31, see acpinfo.org)

Photograph by Bruce Monk, courtesy of Royal Winnipeg Ballet