This press release just in from Georgia Ensemble Theatre…

ROSWELL (May, 2010) – Artistic Director Robert J. Farley has announced the Georgia Ensemble Theatre & Conservatory’s 2010-2011 schedule of plays, the 18th season for the north metro Atlanta professional theatre.  The season represents a variety of comedy, drama and music, and includes a world premiere. Information on Georgia Ensemble Theatre’s extensive programming may be found on the Theatre’s website at www.get.org, or by calling 770-641-1260.

The Plays

September 2-19, 2010

THE BOYS NEXT DOOR

Comedy

Written by Tom Griffin

Directed by Tess Malis Kincaid

This touching and funny play focuses on four adult men living in a group home, along with their caring but overworked counselor.  Mingled with scenes from their daily lives, where “little things” sometimes become momentous (and often very funny), are moments of great poignancy.  We are reminded that those with special needs, like the rest …

Continue reading Georgia Ensemble Theatre announces 2010-11 season »

By Howard Pousner
hpousner@ajc.com

On the same week in which the High Museum of Art announced a three-year collaboration with Gainesville’s Brenau University,announced 5/18 the Woodruff Arts Center has said that it has taken a step toward building a conservatory for Atlanta Public School students.

Woodruff president and CEO Joe Bankoff and schools superintendent Beverly Hall signed a Memorandum of Understanding between the Woodruff and APS this monthmay to plan and create the Atlanta Studio Conservatory. The conservatory is envisioned as a place where 9th through 12th grade students could prepare for careers as professional performing artists or “trail blaze new creative frontiers and pioneer original 21st century opportunities,” according to aWoodruff press release.

The Woodruff included plans for an arts magnet school or music conservatory in its 25-year master plan unveiled last June.’09 In a master plan model, the facility was placed atop the MARTA Arts Center station, …

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By Howard Pousner
hpousner@ajc.com

A scorecard would be more handy than a Playbill at this particular moment to keep up with Atlanta director Kenny Leon and his oft-nominated Broadway revival of August Wilson’s “Fences.” To wit:
10 Tony Award nominations, including best direction of a play.
4 Outer Critics Circle Awards nominations, including best director.
3 Drama League Award nominations.
But focusing on “Fences,” as many have since Tony nominations were announced two weeks ago, runs the risk of overlooking a major, career-spanning award with which Leon will be honored on Friday in New York. The long-time Atlanta theater leader is set to receive the Julia Hansen Award for Excellence in Directing at a Drama League luncheon at the Marriott Marquis Times Square.
Denzel Washington, also oft-nominated for “Fences,” will present the award that, according to the Drama League, “can only be won once in a lifetime and is given to an individual whose work over time sets …

Continue reading Before Tonys, Kenny Leon receiving prestigious award on Friday »

By Howard Pousner
hpousner@ajc.com

In a time of cultural retrenchment because of the economy, the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival will expand to 20 days and add a fourth theater in 2011. The growth comes after the 10th edition of the city’s largest film festival drew a record 20,000 moviegoers over 12 days in January.
“The reason for this expansion is not just about more, but also improving the quality of the experience of our patrons,” AJFF executive director Kenny Blank said in an exclusive interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “We threatened to become in some ways victims of our own success.”
Blank was referring to the fact that nearly 60 percent of the festival’s 76 screenings in January sold out, in some cases weeks in advance, and audiences for all showings averaged 83 percent of capacity. Lines often formed as much as an hour before showtimes and even caused a few tense exchanges between moviegoers jostling for the best seats.
“We’ve been blessed …

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By Howard Pousner
hpousner@ajc.com

The High Museum of Art and Gainesville’s Brenau University are forging a partnership that promises to expand the school’s arts curriculum and give the museum a wider audience, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has learned.
The High and Brenau will formally announce Tuesday a three-year collaboration beginning in August in which the university gets close access to the museum’s exhibitions, collections, programs and staff expertise. The partnership is the first of its kind for both institutions.
Brenau students and faculty will receive free or discounted admission to High exhibits and collections, as well as get the opportunity to participate in internships, attend lectures and partake of behind-the-scenes museum programs.
Brenau President Ed Schrader called the partnership “creative and groundbreaking” in an exclusive interview with the AJC, and he said he hopes it will be a model that the new partners can teach to other art and …

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By Howard Pousner
hpousner@ajc.com

Former Marietta resident Caroline Cavallo, who was pictured in the recent Atlanta Ballet exhibit celebrating its 80th anniversary, has won the Danish equivalent of a Tony Award. Cavallo won the Reumert Award for dancer of the year for her Royal Danish Ballet performance in “Dances at a Gathering.” The 12th edition of the Reumert Awards was held this month at the Royal Theatre’s Old Stage in Copenhagen . Cavallo was all of 19 when she left Atlanta Ballet to join the Royal Danish Ballet in 1989.

Continue reading Former Atlanta Ballet dancer wins Danish award »

By Howard Pousner
hpousner@ajc.com

The Georgia Humanities Council honored nine individuals and three organizations at the 25th Governor’s Awards in the Humanities luncheon at the Georgia Railroad Freight Depot on Tuesday. Those receiving Governor’s Awards included:

Carmen Bernal, Buford, a native of Cuba and teacher of foreign languages.
Deborah Ann Sieg Bowen, Blackshear, leader with the Okefenokee Heritage Center and Okefenokee Arts and Entertainment Alliance.
Mary Ellen Brooks, Athens, director of the Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library at the University of Georgia.
Rudolph Byrd, Atlanta, Emory University professor and director of the James Weldon Johnson Institute for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies.
Rita Elliott, Rincon, curator of exhibits and archeology at the Coastal Heritage Society who created the ArchaeoBus, which travels the state with permanent archaeology exhibits.
Robynn Greer Holland, Locust Grove, former social studies coordinator for Clayton …

Continue reading 12 Governor’s Awards in the Humanities given out Tuesday »

New National Endowment for the Humanities chairman Jim Leach wonders why we can’t all get along, or at least be civil in public discourse.

Leach, who became NEH chairman in August 2009 after representing Iowa in the U.S. House of Representatives for 30 years, brings his 50-state American Civility Tour to Atlanta on Tuesday. He will give a public lecture at 10:30 a.m., before the 25th Governor’s Awards in the Humanities luncheon at the Georgia Railroad Freight Depot.

In a Miami address earlier this month, Leach expressed concern that common respect in American society is waning while expressions of hate are on the rise. “On talk radio, on the Internet, on cable TV, wars of words are incessant,” he said. “It is as if the public is being given a steady diet of those who polarize rather than those who seek common ground.”

Tickets, $50, will be available at the door for Leach’s talk and the Governor’s Awards luncheon, which will honor three organizations and nine individuals, …

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By Howard Pousner
hpousner@ajc.com

Even before economists officially acknowledged the recession with the “r” word, Theatre in the Square was feeling acute pain from corporate backers backing away.
So, after nearly three years of funding declines and mounting debt, now just under $300,000, the Marietta troupe took this week’s news of a $75,000 grant from the Metropolitan Atlanta Arts Fund as a show of moral support to go along with the much-needed financial support.
“We really feel we’ve turned a significant corner,” said Raye Varney, managing director of the 27-year-old company. “And the arts fund support, for the second year in a row, has been critical.”
Theatre in the Square, Theatrical Outfit and True Colors Theatre Company received top grants of $75,000 each from the fund, which announced awards of $500,000 to 10 groups as part of its Atlanta Arts Recovery initiative. The initiative was launched last year when the fund added a second round of annual grants, …

Continue reading Grant helps Theatre in the Square: ‘We’ve turned a … corner’ »

By Howard Pousner
hpousner@ajc.com

The High Museum of Art has been selected for a prestigious international role, as co-presenter of an exhibit on American architecture at the 12th Venice Biennale of Architecture.

The High and 306090 Inc. are co-organizers of the exhibit “Workshopping: An American Model of Architectural Practice” at the U.S. Pavilion, presented by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State. The exhibit will run Aug. 29-Nov. 21.

Co-curated by High modern and contemporary art curator Michael Rooks, “Workshopping” will feature the work of seven American collectives and architects, including Atlanta’s John Portman & Associates. The focus will be on how architects can initiate action in remedying an urban problem or challenge.

“We wanted to use this platform to propose that architecture constitutes the shared space of ideas in research, social engagement, and public-private initiatives — the foundational values of …

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