Theater & Film

Review: The Great War and old souls in “A November Day” at Center for Puppetry Arts

By DAVID LEE SIMMONS | Feb 18, 2011
Review: The Great War and old souls in “A November Day” at Center for Puppetry Arts

“A November Day: A War Story,” at the Center for Puppetry Arts, is intimate to the point of being unnerving, so poignant is Kathy Kim’s puppet-musical memoir about her grandfather’s war experiences. Kim and husband Andrew — partners at Thingumajig Theatre in West Yorkshire, England — use family lore and research to re-create a World [...]

Theater & Film

Review: 7 Stages sinks its teeth into Rob Thompson’s rock opera “Haus von Dracul”

By DAVID LEE SIMMONS | Feb 12, 2011
Review: 7 Stages sinks its teeth into Rob Thompson’s rock opera “Haus von Dracul”

Vampires in Little Five Points. What were the odds? It would seem like the ideal setting: gothic creatures of the night, tending to a treasured mythology in black, nesting in the cozy confines of 7 Stages. But beware: Rob Thompson’s rock-opera adaptation of the Dracula myth, “Haus Von Dracul,” is a work in progress. 7 [...]

Theater & Film

Critic’s pick: Handicapping the 10 Oscar short film nominees, including a few treasures

By Steve Murray | Feb 11, 2011
Critic’s pick: Handicapping the 10 Oscar short film nominees, including a few treasures

If you want to improve your odds in the Oscar betting pool — and enjoy some really lovely movies — check out the 10 short films nominated for this year’s Academy Awards, to be presented February 27. On the live-action side of things, probably the best film is writer-director Tanel Toom’s haunting “The Confession.” It starts [...]

Theater & Film

Critic’s pick: Atlanta Jewish Film Festival opens tonight, brings gems and rarities

By Felicia Feaster | Feb 8, 2011
Critic’s pick: Atlanta Jewish Film Festival opens tonight, brings gems and rarities

In a fairly remarkable feat, the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival, inaugurated in 2000, has become the second-largest Jewish film festival in the nation, behind San Francisco’s. This year the festival reaches higher still, by extending its run from 12 days to 20 and expanding from three venues to six. The festival is run by Kenny Blank, [...]

Theater & Film

Theater review: Alliance might have Broadway hit with sassy and clever “Bring It On”

By Phil Kloer | Jan 30, 2011
Eva (Kelly Felthous) and Campbell (Amanda Lea LaVergne) in "Bring It On." Photos by Greg Mooney

Don’t hate them because they’re beautiful. Or because they’re bitchy, conniving and too full of their own youthful coolness for their own good. Instead, love them for all that, and because the creative team of “Bring It On: The Musical” has pulled off the improbable task of turning a mediocre cheerleader movie into a dynamic [...]

Theater & Film

Theater review: Kenny Leon directs big-hearted “Broke-ology” at True Colors

By DAVID LEE SIMMONS | Jan 29, 2011
Theater review: Kenny Leon directs big-hearted “Broke-ology” at True Colors

“I’m stuck!” Malcolm King shouts in “Broke-ology,” and the promising college graduate knows he’s not alone. He knows that his older brother, Ennis, is stuck juggling work, a baby on the way and caring for their ailing father, William. Multiple sclerosis is sending William into a downward spiral, and everyone in the room frets that [...]