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by Jim Farmer
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December 10, 2010 00:00 |
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Funny man Leslie Jordan is a popular fixture wherever he performs, but his brand of humor hits home particularly in the South. He returns to Atlanta this weekend with his new holiday show, “Deck Them Halls, Y’all!”
The work is a complete departure for the openly gay performer – and the best thing he has ever written, he admits. He was supposed to perform in London over the holiday season but instead will be there in February. With a few free months, his booker asked him to write something about growing up in the South. Jordan agreed, but his one stipulation is that he did not want to write about himself, feeling like he had exhausted all that material.
“In “Deck the Halls, Y’all!” he brings three original characters to life – “three generations of white trash,” Jordan quips.
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by Jim Farmer
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November 24, 2010 00:00 |
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Each year, the holiday season in Atlanta seems to grow longer and longer. The first week of November, for instance, saw the debut of “White Christmas,” the kind of production normally reserved for December. The long season, however, means there’s no shortage of holiday fare in local theaters, from the familiar to the edgy.
Of course, no holiday season would be complete without Horizon’s annual “The Santaland Diaries,” based on gay writer David Sedaris’ “Holidays on Ice.” This is the 12th year for the show, which stars Harold Leaver as the often grumpy, openly gay Crumpet, forced to serve as a department store elf one holiday season. Back is sidekick Enoch King, the usual doses of snideness and “plenty of fresh jokes and references,” promises Leaver.
“The Holiday Ice Spectacular” will feature laughs as well as skating. It stars a cast of 16, including some recognizable skating names. Among the cast is openly gay skater Michael Stack, who promises fun for all kinds of audiences, gay and straight.
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by Jim Farmer
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November 12, 2010 00:00 |
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“Ovo,” the new show by Cirque du Soleil that debuted in Atlanta last week, is set in the insect world, where bugs all of kind populate an onstage kingdom. A mysterious egg appears, piquing the interest of all the insects. Within the chaos, there is also something of a love story between a ladybug and a foreigner amidst themes of life and birth.
Cirque is also something of a love story for those who create the intricate circus of acrobatics, music, dance and theater. For many performers and producers, joining the troupe is the culmination of years of dreams and hard work.
Andrew Corbett at one time hoped to be a dancer with Cirque du Soleil, but working on the management side has been a great compromise. Corbett, who is gay, serves as an artistic assistant with Cirque.
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by Jim Farmer
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October 29, 2010 00:00 |
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During his long stage career, openly gay actor Erick Devine has found himself in quite a few Christmas-themed holiday shows. As luck would have it, he does so again this year, appearing in “Irving Berlin’s White Christmas,” debuting in Atlanta next week courtesy of Theater of the Stars.
According to Devine, the stage version follows the film pretty closely, with some exceptions. It’s set in 1954 on Christmas Eve, where two World War II Army buddies have a successful song and dance routine. After the two follow a pair of singing sisters to a Vermont lodge – belonging to their former commanding general — they decide to stage a Broadway revue in the hopes their Army pals can come out and help save the lodge. Devine stars as General Waverly, the gruff owner of the lodge.
He calls the gig a high point of his career.
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by Jim Farmer
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October 15, 2010 00:00 |
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Atlanta native Pearl Cleage’s work has always been embraced and supported by the LGBT community. Now she hopes her new production — “The Nacirema Society Requests the Honor of Your Presence at a Celebration of Their First One Hundred Years,” bowing next week at the Alliance — is met with the same level of enthusiasm.
Described by Cleage as a romantic comedy, “Nacirema” deals with the beloved tradition known as the cotillion, especially popular in the South. As a new group of African-American debutantes gets ready to meet society circa 1964 in Alabama, their strong-willed grandmothers try to take care of their romantic lives. Trouble comes, however, when one debutante decides she wants to forego the life and move to New York to be a writer, and the racial issues of the day stir up.
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