Atlanta Weekend Best Bets: March 9-11,2012

The Atlanta Opera presents “The Golden Ticket,” a new comic opera based on Roald Dahl’s classic  book “Charlie and the  Chocolate Factory,” also the inspiration for the  film “Willie Wonka and  the Chocolate Factory. Performances are at 8 p.m. March 9 and 3 p.m. March 11 at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts  Centre.
The Atlanta Opera presents “The Golden Ticket,” a new comic opera based on Roald Dahl’s classic book “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” also the inspiration for the film “Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Performances are at 8 p.m. March 9 and 3 p.m. March 11 at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre.

FRIDAY

Stage: After being swept away from her parents, Little Noodle must journey across the grocery store to find her way home in “Adventures of Little Noodle.” It continues through April 1 at the Center for Puppetry Arts.

Stage: In “I Just Stopped By to See the Man,” three lost souls collide with a musical landscape choked with the loss and beauty of the Delta blues. The show opens March 9 and continues through April 8 at the Alliance Theatre.

Comedy: Tom Rhodes has been on HBO, “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” filmed two half  hour specials for “Comedy Central Presents” and hosted a late night talk show in Amsterdam for  Dutch television. He’ll bring his stand-up comedy to the Punchline  March 8-11.

Festival: Southeastern Cowboy Poetry Gathering is a celebration of the cowboy, his music, his poetry and more. There will be a  chuck wagon cook-off along with fiddle, mandolin, guitar and banjo  contests. March 9-11 at the Booth  Western Art   Museum in Cartersville.

Fair, families: Hit the midway and take a ride on some classic attractions at the Atlanta Fair, from the  Ferris wheel and the merry- go-round to more thrill-inducing rides.  And don’t miss the deep- fried decadence of the food. It continues in the Turner Field Gray Parking lot through April 8.

Flowers: Join the Atlanta Orchid Society for the annual Atlanta Orchid Show and Sale. It starts at 9 a.m. March 9 and continues through March 11.

Visual arts: Some of the nation’s top craft artists converge at the American Craft Council Atlanta Show at the Cobb Galleria Centre through March 11

Stage: The Atlanta Shakespeare Company continues its chronological run through the Bard’s comedies with “The Merry Wives of Windsor.” The show continues through April 1 at the New American Shakespeare Tavern in Atlanta.

Stage: Snow White may get more than she wishes for in “Snow White’s Birthday Surprises” when the evil Queen returns just when the Prince throws her a surprise  birthday party. It runs through March 10 at New Dawn Theater Company in  Duluth.

Stage: Three older gentlemen who share a large home need to rent out their fourth bedroom to help with the rent in “The New Kid on the Block.” Their problem seems answered when Will shows up, except Will turns out  to be a woman. It runs through March 25 at Act1 Theater in  Alpharetta.

Stage: In Synchronicity Theatre’s “Brilliant Traces,” a bedraggled young woman in full bridal gear breaks into a remote  Alaska cabin, belts down some whiskey and faints. The young man she’s  disturbed is amazed and bewildered, and annoyed at the forced  cohabitation. The show continues through March 25 at 7  Stages in Little Five Points.

Stage: “The Drowsy Chaperone” is a show-within-a-show about a die-hard musical fan who plays his    favorite cast album, a 1928 smash hit, and the show magically comes to    life. It continues through March 10 at OnStage Atlanta  in  Decatur.

Stage: “Red” is John Logan’s dramatic portrait of abstract expressionist painter      Mark Rothko. The Theatrical Outfit production continues at the Balzer   Theater at Herren’s in downtown    Atlanta through March 11.

Stage: Horizon Theatre Company brings back its successful 2011 production,  “Avenue Q, “ an  upbeat,  puppet-filled musical that is most definitely for grown-ups. It  runs through April 1.

Stage, families: A swamp chorus sings backup in “Petite Rouge,” a foot-stomping, family-friendly zydeco musical steeped in hot sauce    and based on the tale of Little Red Riding Hood. The Synchronicity    Theatre production runs through March 25 at 7 Stages  in Little  Five  Points.

Music, stage: The Atlanta Opera presents “The Golden Ticket,” a new comic opera based on Roald Dahl’s classic  book “Charlie and the  Chocolate Factory,” also the inspiration for the  film “Willie Wonka and  the Chocolate Factory. Performances are at 8 p.m. March 9 and 3 p.m. March 11 at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts  Centre.

Flowers: Spring is in the air and it’s popping out of the ground at the Atlanta Botanical Garden during “Atlanta Blooms.” Catch the profusion of hyacinths, crocuses, tulips and daffodils at  this second annual floral tribute to the season of rebirth. Check the Garden’s website to see what’s in bloom. The event continues through April 29.

Stage: Atlanta playwright Pearl Cleage examines the lives of four female former slaves in “Flyin’ West.” The women search for a better life in the West, away from the  uncertainties of the post Civil War South. It continues through April 8 at Theatre In the  Square in Marietta.

SATURDAY

Music: Atlanta Symphony Orchestra performs Bach’s choral masterpiece, “St. Matthew’s Passion,” at 8 p.m. March 10 at Atlanta Symphony Hall.

Music: Celebrate with one of Atlanta’s most beloved singer-songwriters at the Shawn Mullins Birthday Bash. There will be two shows at 7 and 9:30 p.m. March 10 at Eddie’s Attic.

Music: The Earl Smith Strand Theatre in Marietta hosts Jazz on the Square with flutist Althea Rene and saxophonist Jeff Sparks at 6 and 8 p.m. March 10.

Music: The Georgia Symphony Orchestra is joined by pianist Martina Filjak for Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 1. The concert begins at 8 p.m. March 10 at the Bailey Performance  Center at Kennesaw State University.

Music: The four women of Anonymous 4 will bring their stunning harmonies and medieval sacred music to Spivey Hall at 8:15 p.m. March 10.

Dance: The Trey McIntyre Project will be dancing to the music of Etta James, Preservation Hall Jazz Band and others beginning at 8 p.m. March 10 a the Rialto  Center for the Arts.

SUNDAY

Music: Southern Crescent Symphony Orchestra’s “Something Old, Something New” includes a new orchestral composition by Joel Puckett (the son of SCSO conductor  Michael Puckett) along with works by  Stravinsky’s and Suppé. The concert begins at 3 p.m. March 11 at Spivey Hall in Morrow.

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