By Howard Pousner
hpousner@ajc.com

Marietta’s Theatre in the Square and Atlanta’s Theatrical Outfit and True Colors Theatre Company will receive grants of $75,000 each from the Metropolitan Atlanta Arts Fund, the AJC has learned.

The fund is distributing $500,000 to 10 groups as part of its Atlanta Arts Recovery initiative launched last year to help small and midsized nonprofit arts organizations weather the recession. Part of the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta, the fund distributed $1 million in two rounds of grants in 2009 (essentially doubling its giving), and plans to do the same this year and in 2011.

In addition to the three theater troupes, other groups receiving general operating support from the fund are: Madison-Morgan Cultural Center, Madison ($67,500), Actor’s Express ($65,000), Dad’s Garage ($50,000), Quinlan Visual Arts Center, Gainesville ($30,000), Atlanta Celebrates Photography ($25,000), Metropolitan Ballet Theatre ($25,000) and Atlanta Chamber …

Continue reading 10 metro arts groups get $500,000 in grants »

By Howard Pousner
hpousner@ajc.com

Kenny Leon, the Atlanta director who has dedicated his career to work that tears down the barriers that divide people, was nominated Tuesday for a Tony Award for “Fences.”
Leon’s best director nomination was one of 10 received by the Broadway revival of August Wilson’s drama, including nods for stars Denzel Washington and Viola Davis. “Fences” also was nominated for best revival of a play and for best scenic design, costume design, lighting design and other awards.
“It’s been a very humbling experience this morning,” said Leon, dry-throated and coughing from having taken so many congratulatory calls, by cellphone Tuesday afternoon as he walked down Broadway.
Since hearing about the multiple nominations, Leon, 54, said he’d thought a lot about his longtime friend and frequent collaborator Wilson, who died in 2005.
“I remember when August Wilson spent time in Atlanta, he said to me, ‘We’re not owed the awards; we’re …

Continue reading Leon’s ‘Fences’ earns 10 Tony nods »

By Howard Pousner
hpousner@ajc.com

For its 80th season, the Atlanta Ballet chose the slogan “Celebrate the past, ignite the future,” a juxtaposition that is in sharp focus in its final program, “Sheer Exhilaration,” which opens Thursday. Mixing classical and contemporary dance, it points to the road ahead with one world premiere and three company premieres while reviving seven favorite dances from its repertory.
Another nod to the rich history of the United States’ longest continuously operating ballet company is an 80-piece lobby exhibition of photos and artifacts, “Enduring Images: 80 Years of Atlanta Ballet.” The free exhibit will be open to the public, no ticket required, two hours before all five Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre shows through Sunday.
Idella Moore, the archivist brought in to organize the display and to more generally identify what historical resources relating to Atlanta Ballet were available here and elsewhere, started out concerned that …

Continue reading Ballet honors its rich history with exhibit marking 80 years »

By Howard Pousner
hpousner@ajc.com

The Mad Hatter 2010 event Saturday at the Woodruff Arts Center promises a morning of eccentric, family-friendly fun, creative chapeaus optional.
Colorful garb is encouraged for guests at this second annual participatory arts gathering that borrows its name, and a little of the antic spirit, from the Mad Hatter character in Lewis Carroll’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.”
It’s a fund-raiser for Young Audiences, the Woodruff division that presents educational arts programming in schools across Georgia. For parents, the event is a bit of a sampler platter of what their kids get to experience at Young Audiences programs in classrooms, cafeterias or auditoriums.
Performers will include musician Eric Litwin, author of the popular children’s book “Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes” (performing with musical storyteller Michael Levine), and Tip Tap Two, a duo that will show kids how to make music with their feet.
Interactive …

Continue reading Don a wild hat, support family-friendly arts »