THEATER
We all recall the original O. Henry short story that continues to inspire the holiday season. In Marietta Theatre in the Square’s final weekend of Gift of the Magi 2.0, reimagined by N. Emil Thomas, this classic gets an Atlanta twist as Jim, a streetcar driver in the 1950s, tries to buy his wife the ideal gift, only to learn an important lesson about what giving truly means. Tickets start at $35 and depend on seating.
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The educational theater nonprofit Red Phoenix is proud to present an all-teen version of the timeless favorite Chicago, this weekend only. Directed by Eric Bragg and choreographed by Anna Bragg with an all-teen cast, this performance will highlight the hard work and passion of up-and-coming theater talent. Tickets start at $20. 8560 Holcomb Bridge Rd. Suite 111, Alpharetta.
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Act for a Change, which uses artistic performance to benefit local charities, kicks off Cheering in the Dark at Windmill Arts Center this weekend. Featuring one-act plays created and performed by Atlantans, each performance of Cheering in the Dark benefits Paint Love, a nonprofit for bringing the arts into Title I classrooms. Tickets start at $25. 2823 Church Street, Atlanta.
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FILM/TV
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYMaMlRuLAM
Want to catch a glimpse — or more than a glimpse, really — of our own Mercedes-Benz Stadium at home on your very own TV? The feel-good flick Fantasy Football is now streaming on Paramount+ and features a number of must-see Atlanta scenes. Read more in ArtsATL writer Carol Badaracco Padgett’s recent interview with cast members and stadium crew, and get your popcorn ready.
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MUSIC
The final show for 2022 in Cooke Noontime Concert series will be Friday at noon at the Carlos Museum. The concert will feature Kyung and Michael Kim performing a program that includes Mozart, Brahms, Debussy and Ravel’s La valse. The duo is also expected to play some four-handed piano. The concert is free, but pre-registration is required.
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Season 9 America’s Got Talent finalists Sons of Serendip perform Sunday at 3 p.m. at Spivey Hall. The quartet, which features cello and harp, plays a blend of classical, jazz, pop and gospel. The group released the critically praised album Christmas: Beyond The Lights and will focus on holiday songs at the show. Tickets start at $40.
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Legendary trumpet player Herb Alpert performs Monday at 8 p.m. with his wife and vocalist Lani Hall at the Variety Playhouse. He rose to fame with Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass and such hits songs as “A Taste of Honey” and “This Guy’s In Love With You.” He has received nine Grammy Awards and has sold more than 72 million records. He was also the “A” in A&M Records, a label that was home to likes of Sheryl Crow, Peter Frampton, Cat Stevens and Supertramp. Tickets start at $48.
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ART+DESIGN
Atlanta-based artist Krista Clark has a new solo exhibit, After Barkley, at Sandler Hudson Gallery through January 6. The show features works on paper and wall sculptures, merging the architectural focus of Clark’s practice with her love of basketball. This series was triggered by several events: a pandemic, aging, loss and change. The documentary The Last Dance, about Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls, became a “life jacket” for Clark when the world was flooded with fear. In Clark’s words, “basketball saves.”
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Zipporah Camille Thompson will give a talk about her exhibit the ocean wept rainbows next Thursday, December 8, at MOCA GA. Thompson is a ceramist, weaver, sculptor and activist based in Atlanta. ArtsATL’s Jerry Cullum describes the show: “Thompson’s world has room for a socially committed environment of flash and glitter. It has a magical feel even when there is no literal magic involved. The assemblages combine elements as distinct from one another as digitally printed fabric and a repurposed automobile hood in frontier, or a chandelier chain and hair beads in deep and dreamy slumber.” 7 p.m. Registration required.
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Cullum also enjoyed Jaime Bull’s show The Stump Hole at Day & Night Projects through December 17. “One of Bull’s unnervingly witty, voluminous soft sculptures of the female body is exhibited alongside two photographs of differently arranged figures that Bull filled with beach sand at one of the Florida Panhandle’s eroding beaches,” he says. There is also video of Bull interacting with a large, ocean-worn tree stump on the beach, hence the exhibit’s title.
