Hey, hey, all you Dancing Queens!  (My #1 wedding reception song…  Am I right?  Am I right??)  Mamma Mia is BACK in Atlanta for a very short – and spectacular – stint!

And, at the Fabulous Fox Theatre, no less! 

Gorms + I are celebrating completing the 3-Day tonight by dropping by Ecco to say “hello!” to our man, Eric, and then heading to the Fox to get our best Mamma Mia on!  Oh yes, there will be dancing.

Here’s the Q+DD on Mamma Mia:

Longing to discover the identity of her true father before she exchanges her wedding vows, the daughter of a once-rebellious single mother secretly invites a trio of paternal candidates to her upcoming wedding on the small Greek island in which she lives.

Mamma Mia is based on the songs of ABBA – a Swedish pop/ dance group active from 1972–1982.  ABBA was one of the most internationally popular pop groups of all time.

Mamma Mia awesomeness below…

Get your Mamma Mia tickets here: SUPER TROUPER! 

You have to act fast, though, because the show is only in town from tonight through November 6!

So go…”see that girl/ watch that scene/ diggin’ the dancing queen!” 

xx, L

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A few years ago, an old hair stylist of mine told me that his single favorite thing to do around Halloween-time was to go to the Center for Puppetry Arts (CfPA) in Midtown to see The Ghastly Dreadfuls show.  He explained it to me as a Halloween puppet show designed for teenagers and adults.  He said it was creepy, funny, incredibly impressive – and especially fun for first timers or folks unfamiliar with the complexity of puppeteering.  It sounded really interesting and like something I’d want to check out, but frankly, I wasn’t sure that I could convince anyone to join me.

Until now!  Scoutmob threw a Revel Party at the CfPA last night, and as soon as I found out about it I snagged two free tickets for Mrs. Casey (this chick is down for it all!) + I to join in on the fun!  Thank you, Scoutmob!

scoutmob revel party at the CfPA

We pre-puppeted at Ecco, and headed over to the CfPA a few minutes before the show to check out the Jim Henson exhibit. 

The only photo I have of the museum area is this one, which I happen to love. (I was scolded by the hipster puppet museum cop when I tried to take an iPhone photo within the exhibit…  She was intense.)  What I CAN tell you is that we saw a number of our favorite Sesame Street characters, we heard Kermit sing “The Rainbow Connection” (Kevin’s fav), and we ogled the Fraggle Rock + Labyrinth portions of the exhibit.  It was very cool.  But, it was also time to get a drink (priorities, people!), so we quickly shuffled downstairs to the bar “The Tavern of Lost Souls,” for some overpriced wine in plastic cups.

CfPA Atlanta

The downstairs area + theatre were all Halloween-ed out.  We loved! 

The stage + a sneak peek at one of the puppets:

SOOOO without further adieu, here’s the Q+DD on The Ghastly Dreadfuls (according to our friends at Creative Loafing):

“The Center for Puppetry Arts has an unflowing crypt’s worth of spooky stories composed for The Ghastly Dreadfuls, its annual anthology of comedic and scarifying short puppet shows.  Co-creators Jon Ludwig and Jason Von Hinezmeyer debuted the show in in 2006 as The Ghastly Dreadfuls: Compendium of Graveyard Tales and Other Curiosities, then revised it in 2008 as The Ghastly Dreadfuls II: Handbook of Practical Hauntings and Other Phantasmagoria.  Currently Ludwig and Von Hinezmeyer can cherry-pick their favorite tales of the lot, such as the witty, grisly “The Girl in the New Dress,” adapted from the story by Larry Letemplier, which unfolds – or maybe “unscrolls” would be a better word — on a single, seemingly endless sheet, in the style of old Coca-Cola advertisements.  You’ll recognize the music of “La Danse Macabre” by Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns, accompanying a skeleton dance worthy of Fantasia.”  Etc, etc, etc…  I don’t want to give away too much!

Y’all it was SO good!  The show was really well done – from the detailed puppets and impressive puppeteering to the creative stories and talented musicians.  It was funny, too!  I very much enjoyed it.  In my opinion, The Ghastly Dreadfuls is probably not for the novice theatre goer, but it IS for someone who is really passionate about theatre, off-beat humor +/or Halloween. 

if this photo looks blurry, you are probably drunk. stop drinking at work, readers... (JUST kidding.)

mrs. casey w/ her scoutmob moustache

I strongly suggest scheduling a date night this month to see The Ghastly Dreadfuls at the CfPA!  But do it soon because they only have performances on Wednesday – Saturday nights through October 29!

serious theatre-goers...

Still need more convincing??  Check out a behind-the-scenes preview HERE: The Ghastly Dreadfuls.

And, Happy (early) Halloween!!

xx, L

Center for Puppetry Arts
1404 Spring Street Northwest
Atlanta, GA 30309
404.873.3391
www.puppet.org

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Do you have tickets?  Do you have tickets?  DO YOU HAVE TICKETS OR WHAT?!?!  (Say yes…)  Celebrate, friends!!  It’s almost time for Wicked to hit Atlanta’s Fox Theatre! 

Here’s the Q+DD on Wicked:

Tony Award winning musical, Wicked, arrives at the Fox Theatre for three weeks this fall, from September 14 to October 9, 2011.  The musical is slated to hit 30 other North American cities as part of its current 2011 tour.  Wicked is based on Gregory Maguire’s book, Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, which is a parallel novel to the 1939 film, The Wizard of Oz.  It depicts the events that shaped the lives of Elphaba, a social outcast by virtue of her emerald skin color and very opinionated nature who eventually becomes the Wicked Witch, and Glinda, who becomes the Good Witch.  The musical has also spawned some incredibly popular show tunes such as “For Good,” “What Is This Feeling?” + “Defying Gravity,” among others.

ATTENTION ATLANTANS: Get your Wicked tickets here before they sell out: “Because I Knew You, I Have Been Changed For Good…”

This is one of my most favorite musicals ever!  It’s a fantastic show for everyone + the traveling cast was spectacular the last time it visited Atlanta!  You WILL NOT want to miss it!

“Something has changed within me/ Something is not the same/ I’m through with playing by the rules/ Of someone else’s game/ Too late for second guessing/ Too late to go back to sleep/ It’s time to trust my instincts/ Close my eyes and LEAP!”

OMG…can’t. even. wait!!  See you there!

xx, L

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Last night, I hosted a work event at the Fox Theatre + took colleagues to see Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

The show is in Atlanta through the weekend (the entire stint is June 21st – 26th) + stars former American Idol contestant Anthony Fedorov as “Joseph.”

(He looks totally creepy in that picture, but dude has an incredible voice.) 

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical based on the “coat of many colors” story of Joseph from the Book of Genesis.  Although I was familiar with the musical, I hadn’t seen it before.  I did, however, know the songs “Any Dream Will Do” and “Close Every Door” from singing in choir in high school.  (I know, I’m so cool…)  Anyway, the show was really cute – and short – even with an intermission it was just about two hours long. 

As a Hebrew school dropout (just look at me now! whee!), I took the story to be 100% accurate and am now surprisingly very excited about the Book of Genesis as it seems that they had western hoedowns, Elvis impersonators, Caribbean-themed and decade parties and were into neon colors as much as I am.  Now, folks, THAT is a book I can really get down with!

All joking aside, I found the play to be educational while also very entertaining.  Something about the musical felt sorta 80′s-ish to me, which honestly made me like it even more than I maybe otherwise would.   If that’s not enough to convince you to buy tickets to see Joseph this weekend, I’ll tell you that the tickets were cheaper than most I’ve bought recently for shows at the Fox + the musical features 50 local kids from the Atlanta area in the cast, which was pretty special.

Plus, the Fox is a very memorable place to take a special someone on a date! 

There are a few remaining shows over the weekend.  Deets here:

Friday, June 24: 8:00 p.m.
Saturday, June 25: 2:00 p.m. + 8:00 p.m.
Sunday, June 26: 1:30 p.m. + 7:00 p.m.

Check it out!  “Any dream will do” is an awesome song to have stuck in your head for the following week after seeing the show.  Go, Joseph, go!!

xx, L

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STOP what you’re doing right now and click HERE to purchase tickets for RENT at the Atlanta Lyric Theatre (at the Earl Smith Strand  Theatre in the (incredibly adorable) Marietta Square).  Listen, just do it. When have I ever steered you wrong? This show runs June 10 – 26th and since it is currently the 19th…time is of the essence.

Tickets in hand?  Ok good.  Moving on…

Greg and I went up there on Friday night because, lucky for me, my darling friend Kevin is playing Collins and he is so brilliant, I hate to miss anything he’s in. (There are few people for whom I’d brave 285/75 rush(ish) hour traffic…Fact.)

I should tell you that RENT is a show that holds a very special place in my heart.  RENT had it’s debut on Broadway in 1996 when I was an artsy-fartsy high school student studying musical theatre and I wore out that double disk soundtrack belting out every word of every song and the day I saw the show at the Nederlander Theatre in 1997 was a day I’ll never forget (I’m not ashamed to tell you that I laminated the ticket at Kinko’s and kept it in my wallet for YEARS.)  Later, as a working actress in NYC (read: superpoor), I spent money I probably didn’t really have to see it again in 2004 on a day I really needed a lift, and since moving to Atlanta, I’ve seen it twice on tour.   I was also lucky enough to see Baz Lurhmann’s Broadway production of La Bohème, Puccini’s opera on which RENT was based.  For me, all of these experiences were paradigm-shifting.

I say all that to say this: I’ve had some pretty incredible RENT experiences and Friday night’s at The Strand was no less.

I am literally begging you to go see this. There wasn’t one weak character. My favorite, of course, was Kevin – and not because I love him (I do) but because his voice is like velvet and when he’s on stage I absolutely cannot watch anything else.

My other favorites included Felicia Boswell as Mimi (seriously phenomenal…even over my severe envy of her figure which made me hate her just a little), Adam Payton as Angel (precious and so endearing) and Kenya Hamilton as Joanne (just the right mix of loveable and terrifying).  But truly, everyone in the show, without exception, is ridiculously talented.

The set was great and the choreography choices were fantastic.  And despite just a few minor acoustical issues, the entire show was pitch perfect for me.

Kevin with gorgeous actresses Kenya Hamilton (Joanne) and Alison Brannon (Maureen)... (sorry for ripping off your intellectual property, Ms. Hamilton)

You have just ONE more weekend to see it and for those of you who didn’t heed my command at the beginning of this post…get your tickets IMMEDIATELY. I mean, right NOW. (Click HERE)

No day but today, right?

xx, L

P. to the S.  We had a bite and a few beers afterwards at Hemingway’s in the square and danced all night to local band 7 Sharp 9 as they played re-imagined classic tunes.  I must say, we had a delightful evening in Marietta on Friday.

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