MUSIC
Jazz vocalist and pianist Diana Krall returns to Atlanta Wednesday, April 20, for a concert at Symphony Hall. Krall has become the preeminent jazz vocalist of her generation, to the point that her voice overshadows her equally impressive talent as a pianist. She is touring in support of her 2020 album, This Dream of You, which was recorded in 2016-17 but left unfinished for a time following the death of Krall’s longtime collaborator and producer Tommy LiPuma. 8 p.m. Tickets start at $100. Proof of a Covid vaccination or recent negative test is required.
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Texas songwriter Radney Foster has written hits for Keith Urban, Foster & Lloyd, The Dixie Chicks and his own “Nobody Wins.” After a health scare in 2015, Foster began to work on a collection of short stories that turned into a companion piece for an album of new songs: For You To See The Stars. Foster performs Thursday, April 14, at 7 p.m. at Eddie’s Attic. Tickets start at $30. Masks are recommended.
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Asheville bluegrass icons the Steep Canyon Rangers (who have served as the backup group for Steve Martin in addition to performing their own music) return to Atlanta Thursday, April 14, for a show at the Variety Playhouse at 8 p.m.. The band formed during college at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and have backed up Martin (who is also a comedian and actor of some renown when he’s not playing the banjo) for more than a decade. No Covid restrictions are in place. Tickets start at $22.
ART+DESIGN
The Zuckerman Museum of Art is open for extended hours Thursday from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. There will be a presentation at 7 p.m. about artists’ books by publisher Sue Gosin, president of Dieu Donnè Press and Paper, New York. Guests will be able to print their own poems during an interactive poem-in-your-pocket activity as part of the National Poetry Month festivities. The first 100 guests receive a free goodie bag. Drop in any time. Free. Registration encouraged. Masks required.
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Dr. Amanda H. Hellman, curator of the exhibit And I Must Scream, will give a gallery talk Friday at noon. The exhibition features works by 10 contemporary artists who employ monstrous figures and forms around five themes: corruption and human rights violations, displacement, environmental destruction, the Covid pandemic and renewal. ArtsATL critic Louise E. Shaw wrote that the exhibit “brilliantly visualizes the monsters we live with. The Carlos Museum should be celebrated for introducing Atlanta to these artists” and bringing attention to these world crises. Level 3 Gallery, Carlos Museum. Free. Due to increased risk, unvaccinated guests are encouraged to wear masks.
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Curator Karen Comer Lowe will give a tour of Genevieve Gaignard’s exhibition This is America: The Unsettling Contradictions of American Identity at Atlanta Contemporary. The exhibit addresses the inequities of racial perceptions with deceptively cozy collages and heavily nostalgia-filled installations of domestic interiors. Thursday 6-8 p.m. Free. Registration required. First come, first serve. Masks optional.
DANCE
Search History is the first full-length performance work by Atlanta choreographer Leo Briggs. It’s “an ode to the expansiveness of our queer past, the rich complexity of our queer present and the necessity of our queer future.” 7 Stages. Friday and Saturday 8 p.m. $15. Venmo or cash at the door only. Reservations recommended. Masks optional.
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Beacon Dance’s D. Patton White will direct a new sound and movement work in response to the way Covid has transformed society. At Least Six Feet: Who Decides . . . Who Belongs? uses humor and pathos to express the isolation, frustration, fear and uncertainty experienced during the pandemic. Audience members get to create their own unique face mask. Free. Saturday 1-2 p.m. Atlanta BeltLine adjacent to Best End Brewing Company.
THEATER
The 50th anniversary U.S. tour of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Jesus Christ Superstar that decamps at the Fox Theatre on April 19 boasts elements familiar and new. At the tour’s most recent stop, in Washington, Washington Post reviewer Thomas Floyd wrote, “By returning the 1971 musical to its rock opera roots and giving its characters guitars, hand mics and a skid-row edge, director Timothy Sheader seems more interested in a visceral retelling of Jesus’s final days than an intelligible one. In that regard, this Olivier Award-winning revival, which launched in London in 2016 before transferring stateside . . . succeeds by augmenting Webber’s celebrated score with seat-shaking bass lines, sharp guitar riffs and kinetic choreography.” Check out ArtsATL’s interview on Friday with Atlantan Omar Lopez-Cepero, who portrays Judas. Through April 24. Masks welcomed but not required.
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If you’re a fan of musicals who is all about the songs and less concerned about the stories surrounding them, two current productions merit your attention before they close on Sunday. Dominion Entertainment Group is presenting Mahalia: A Gospel Musical at Southwest Arts Center, and Georgia Ensemble Theatre is staging the world premiere of Pretty Pants Bandit in Roswell. ArtsATL critic Kelundra Smith had reservations about Mahalia’s “limited” script, but raved about Maiesha McQueen as Mahalia Jackson for making “Jackson’s songs her own.” Smith also wrote, “If it’s a jukebox musical you want, this is giving it. The entire cast can absolutely sing.” Meanwhile, Chase Peacock and Jessica De Maria’s Pretty Pants tells the story of Marie Baker, who conducted a crime spree in 1930s Miami, leaving the men she robbed with their pants down. “For all of its plot holes,” Smith wrote in her review, “Pretty Pants Bandit is wholly original and highly energetic.” Protocols for Mahalia: Temperature check at entry, masks required. For Pretty Pants: Unvaccinated patrons asked — and vaccinated patrons encouraged — to wear masks.
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The Chicago-set Wolf at the End of the Block explores the murky details around a late-night attack that may have been a hate crime. The monologue-heavy Theatrical Outfit show “is less a drama about who done it (although that is certainly an intriguing element) than the exact circumstances and grey shadings of all those directly and indirectly involved,” ArtsATL critic Jim Farmer wrote. Playwright Ike Holter “nails the city vibe and the tension between its citizens of color and cops.” Through April 24. Masks and, for patrons 12 and older, proof of vaccination required (or a negative test within 24 hours).
FILM
Heads-up: The Atlanta Film Festival returns with in-person screenings (and some virtual elements) April 21 through May 1. Venues for the 46th edition include Plaza Theatre, Dad’s Garage and the Carter Center. Nearly 10,000 films and creative media (music videos, episodic pilots, virtual reality) were submitted for consideration this year, and 153 made the cut. The opening night feature is the thriller 892 and closing night presentation is the Disney+ documentary Mija, both showing at the Plaza.
