Tinashe Kajese News

Putting on a brand-new, original musical can be a daunting and challenging task for any theatre company. If you're doing a golden oldie such as, say, Camelot, you have a familiar score, and just about everyone knows the songs. Then again, Camelot was new once and someone had to give it a go, so I applaud the Alliance Theatre for kicking off their 50th anniversary season with Nick's Flamingo Grill, a new jazz musical written by Atlanta playwright Phillip DePoy. The show fits very nicely into the Hertz Stage, a beautiful black box space with the stage in the center and audience members on either side, making the story an intimate experience and getting all of us to feel as though we are the jazz club audience during the musical numbers. And what numbers they are! But more on that later.

The Alliance Theatre is pleased to present the world premiere production of Nick's Flamingo Grill, by award-winning Atlanta playwright and author Phillip DePoy.  Nick's Flamingo Grill is inspired by the true story of the first integrated jazz club in Atlanta and will debut on the Hertz Stage September 29 - October 28, 2018.  Opening night is Thursday, October 4.   

This week, Atlanta audiences get to see Kenny Leon's latest directorial work showcasing a group of talented actors bringing to life Colman Domingo's authentically relatable family drama DOT.

Artistic Director Kenny Leon and True Colors Theatre Company present Colman Domingo's Dot this July. In its Atlanta debut, Dot takes a light-hearted look at an illness facing all communities. Through the interactions of widowed matriarch Dotty and her family, mental health in the Black community is explored. As Dotty struggles to hold onto her memory-a result of her Alzheimer's diagnosis-her children must fight to balance care for their mother and care for themselves. Crackling with humor, this dramedy grapples with aging parents, midlife crises, and the strength of family.

Artistic Director Kenny Leon and True Colors Theatre Company present Colman Domingo's Dot this July. In its Atlanta debut, Dot takes a light-hearted look at an illness facing all communities. Through the interactions of widowed matriarch Dotty and her family, mental health in the Black community is explored. As Dotty struggles to hold onto her memory-a result of her Alzheimer's diagnosis-her children must fight to balance care for their mother and care for themselves. Crackling with humor, this dramedy grapples with aging parents, midlife crises, and the strength of family.

The Alliance Theatre is making another stop on the road, this time at the Fulton County Southwest Arts Center where they're presenting a pair of one-act plays, Hospice and Pointing at the Moon, both by celebrated playwright Pearl Cleage.  BroadwayWorld caught up with Pearl Cleage to talk about her work. 

The Alliance Theatre is pleased to announce its upcoming production TWO ONE-ACT PLAYS BY PEARL CLEAGE, featuring Hospice and Pointing at the Moon, performed back-to-back.  Pearl Cleage is a beloved Atlanta author and playwright, perhaps best known for her novel What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day, an Oprah Book Club selection, and her play Blues for an Alabama Sky.  Hospice was first performed in 1983 and was honored with five AUDELCO Awards for achievement Off Broadway; Pointing at the Moon is a world premiere.  Performances are March 23 - April 15, 2018, at the Southwest Arts Center while the Alliance Theatre undergoes a complete renovation.  Opening night is Thursday, March 29. 

The winners of the 13th Annual Suzi Bass Awards have been decided!

The Suzi Bass Awards revealed nominations for the 2016-2017 Atlanta professional theatre season on Monday evening, September 18, to patrons and industry artists.

When the 1998 film Shakespeare in Love trotted away with seven Academy Awards, including one celebrating the original screenplay by Tom Stoppard and Marc Norman, nobody could have been particularly surprised. The nimble script and lavish period design made it a veritable shoe-in for Oscar gold. Now, under the capable pen of Lee Hall, the stage adaptation, which made its much-anticipated premiere on this side of the pond at the Stratford Festival in 2016, is poised to enjoy a long and lively life in regional theatre. And we need no ghost come from the grave to tell us this. The Alliance Theatre's charming and well-acted production, running through September 24 at the Conant Performing Arts Center at Oglethorpe University, tells the story of this play's prospects for an illustrious future as it adeptly showcases the play's delicious explorations of both the Elizabethan theatre and the craft of writing and previews the possibilities for inventive staging that the script welcomes.

Rehearsals are underway for Alliance Theatre's upcoming production of Shakespeare in Love, based on the 1998 film that won seven Academy Awards including Best Picture. Georgia Shakespeare co-founder and Artistic Director Richard Garner is directing this love letter to William Shakespeare in his company's former home at Oglethorpe University's Conant Performing Arts Center while the Alliance Theatre undergoes a complete renovation. Performances are August 30 - September 24, 2017.  Opening night is Today, September 6. BroadwayWorld has a sneak peek at the company in rehearsal below!

Rehearsals are underway for Alliance Theatre's upcoming production of Shakespeare in Love, based on the 1998 film that won seven Academy Awards including Best Picture. Georgia Shakespeare co-founder and Artistic Director Richard Garner is directing this love letter to William Shakespeare in his company's former home at Oglethorpe University's Conant Performing Arts Center while the Alliance Theatre undergoes a complete renovation. Performances are August 30 - September 24, 2017.  Opening night is Wednesday, September 6. BroadwayWorld has a sneak peek at the company in rehearsal below!

The Alliance Theatre is pleased to announce the cast and creative team behind its upcoming regional premiere of Shakespeare in Love, based on the 1998 film that won seven Academy Awards including Best Picture. 

The regional premiere of Eclipsed, Danai Gurira's play that opened at the Public Theater in 2015 to significant critical praise before transferring to Broadway in 2016, is currently running at Synchronicity Theatre through June 25. The play, which garnered six Tony Award nominations, tells the story of five Liberian women and their struggles to survive during the Second Liberian Civil War. I caught up with Tinashe Kajese, a notable Atlanta actor and the director of Synchronicity's production of Eclipsed, to talk to her about her experience with the show.

Synchronicity Theatre will present the regional premiere of Danai Gurira's historic Eclipsed, which tracks the lives of five Liberian women and their tales of survival near the end of the Second Liberian Civil War.

Synchronicity Theatre's 19th season features a world premiere and several regional premieres, including the Tony-winning drama, Eclipsed.

Actor's Express continues its 2015-2016 season with the world premiere of Janine Nabers' SERIAL BLACK FACE, a gripping drama set against the backdrop of the Atlanta Child Murders of the late 1970s, running tonight, April 2, through April 24. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

Actor's Express continues its 2015-2016 season with the world premiere of Janine Nabers' SERIAL BLACK FACE, a gripping drama set against the backdrop of the Atlanta Child Murders of the late 1970s, running April 2-24. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

Actor's Express continues its 2015-2016 season with the world premiere of Janine Nabers' SERIAL BLACK FACE, a gripping drama set against the backdrop of the Atlanta Child Murders of the late 1970s, running April 2-24. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

The Alliance Theatre presents the Atlanta premiere of DISGRACED, the provocative Pulitzer Prize-winning and Tony Award-nominated play on culture and identity by Ayad Akhtar. DISGRACED was included in The New York Times Best of 2014 list for theater. As the most produced play in regional theater this season, DISGRACED has received impassioned audience response for its bold exploration of identity, religion, and class in the complex landscape of 21st Century urban America. The Alliance's production will be directed by Artistic Director, Susan V. Booth and runs on the Alliance Stage January 27 - February 14, 2016. BroadwayWorld has a sneak peek at the company in rehearsal below!