Artists Among Us

Southern Playwright Talks Dark Side of His Work, Connections to Marietta

A former Cobb County resident and Osborne High School graduate talks about his upcoming and recently produced plays, which will be presented on Marietta Square.

Southern playwright Raymond Fast is gearing up for a production of two of his new plays, "Scorned" and "Touched," to open at Out of Box Theatre in Marietta, the Alley Stage of the former Theatre in the Square.  Fast began writing for the stage in 2005. Since then, his plays have been produced throughout Metro Atlanta, and from the American Midwest to New York City. He grew up in Cobb County, graduating from Osborne High School in 1981. He currently lives nearby in Dallas, Georgia.  Q: These plays are both very dark. Are they typical of your work? Fast: A lot of my plays deal with subjects that most people would probably consider dark, but "Scorned" and "Touched" are both way outside my normal box. Where many of my plays involve death or …

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Salute to America: A Musical Revue on Marietta Square

The Strand show will include traditional songs like "America the Beautiful" and "The Star Spangled Banner" and more contemporary numbers including "We’re an American Band" and "Born in the USA."

The Strand Theatre is brining Salute to America, an exciting new musical revue and tribute to both classic and new patriotic musi, to the stage this September. Featuring over 30 songs in 90 minutes, this show will include everything from traditional songs like America the Beautiful, The Battle Hymn of the Republic and The Star Spangled Banner to more contemporary numbers including We’re an American Band originally by Grand Funk Railroad to Born in the USA by Bruce Springsteen. “One of our goals in producing this show is to rekindle patriotism and hope for the future of this country even as we remember the terrible events of Sept. 11, 2001,” said director Earl Reece. “There is no better country in the world that the United States of America…

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Rescue Dog Steals the Show, the Heart of Marietta Actress

The Atlanta Lyric fostered and trained Buster, a Chihuahua mix in need of a home, for "Legally Blonde" in the hopes of helping him find a new home; what they didn't expect was for Buster to be adopted before the show opened.

When Atlanta Lyric Theatre needed a small dog to play the role of Brusier in the musical adaptation of Legally Blonde, the organization turned to Furkids. The role of Bruiser calls for a small, lively dog that goes off to Harvard Law School with Elle Woods, the blonde who’s not so dumb.  “The dog has to be charming, affectionate and smart enough to act during his scenes and stay quiet when the action of the play wasn’t on him,” said Brandt Blocker, Artistic Director and General Manager of Atlanta Lyric Theatre, who served as Stage Director.  Instead of choosing an animal trained as an actor, Atlanta Lyric Theatre management thought a homeless dog might fit the role while providing a good audience for Furkids and its homeless animals.  …

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Did You See 'Best of Broadway’ at the Strand?

“Best of Broadway” is a high-energy musical revue of fast-paced fun with knockout voices and jaw-dropping dancers performing the very best songs from the heart of American theater.

Every time I go to the Earl Smith Strand Theatre on Marietta Square, I am reminded of how powerful theater can be. From the classic feel of the lobby to the knockout voices of performers, the Strand immediately transports you into the majestic world of theater. With the always cheerful and helpful staff, it’s hard not to have your spirits uplifted just being there. But what makes me fall in love with the Strand is the energy. No matter how tired I am, I know that when I take my seat and the lights turn down everything is about to change. Best of Broadway has its final performance on Aug. 18 at 8 p.m. Directed by Earl Reece and choreographed by Sterling McClary and Julia Galasti, the show is a large-scale cabaret. A young cast of singers …

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Musicals Light Up Marietta This Weekend

If you missed one of last weekend's performances in Marietta, there is still time to catch it! "The Best of Broadway" at the Strand, "Legally Blonde" at the Civic Center, "Avenue Q" at the Alley Stage and "Sweeney Todd" are playing.

1. The bright lights of Broadway are coming to Marietta Square in a high-energy musical revue of fast paced fun with knockout voices and jaw-dropping dancers performing the very best songs from the heart of the American theatre industry. The Best of Broadway is the first of this year’s Strand produced revues to have a two weekend run through August 18. 2. Legally Blonde the Musical is coming to stage at The Cobb Civic Center’s Jennie T. Anderson Theatre through August 26. Get your pink on and join Atlanta Lyric Theatre for this all-singing, all-dancing, feel-good musical comedy. 3. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is a 1979 musical thriller 
with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and libretto by Hugh Wheeler. Catch the …

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Get Out to an Explosion of Theater, Music in Marietta

"The Best of Broadway" at the Strand Theatre, "Legally Blonde the Musical" at the Cobb Civic Center, "Avenue Q" at the Alley Stage and "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street"—it's a weekend full of theater and music in Marietta.

1. The bright lights of Broadway are coming to Marietta Square in a high-energy musical revue of fast paced fun with knockout voices and jaw-dropping dancers performing the very best songs from the heart of the American theatre industry. The Best of Broadway is the first of this year’s Strand produced revues to have a two weekend run from August 10-18. 2. Legally Blonde the Musical is coming to stage at The Cobb Civic Center’s Jennie T. Anderson Theatre August 10 through 26. Get your pink on and join Atlanta Lyric Theatre for this all-singing, all-dancing, feel-good musical comedy. 3. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is a 1979 musical thriller with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and libretto by Hugh Wheeler. Catch the …

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Legally Blonde the Musical Premiers in Marietta

Legally Blonde the Musical is coming to stage at The Cobb Civic Center’s Jennie T. Anderson Theatre August 10. Are you going to see it?

Legally Blonde the Musical is coming to stage at The Cobb Civic Center’s Jennie T. Anderson Theatre August 10 through 26. Get your pink on and join Atlanta Lyric Theatre for this all-singing, all-dancing, feel-good musical comedy. This award-winning Broadway musical sensation is based on the hit movie starring Reese Witherspoon. Legally Blonde the Musical follows college sweetheart and homecoming queen Elle Woods, played by The Lyric’s Alison Brannon Wilhoit, as she puts down the credit card, hits the books and heads for Harvard Law School in pursuit of her boyfriend Warner Huntington III, played by Matthew Ragas. There she encounters Professor Callahan, played by award-winning Atlanta actor Alan Kilpatrick, and proves that being true to …

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Video: 'Smoke on the Mountain' Returns to Marietta Square

The first in the ever-popular series featuring the singing Sanders Family, Smoke on the Mountain premiered at Marietta’s now-shuttered Theatre in the Square in 1991.

The bluegrass revival Smoke on the Mountain, starring members of the original Theatre in the Square cast, will be presented by the Atlanta Lyric Theatre from July 27 through Aug. 5 at the Strand Theatre. Smoke on the Mountain, the original runaway hit that spawned two sequels—Sanders Family Christmas and Mount Pleasant Homecoming—returns this summer.  If you’ve seen the other two, here’s an opportunity to see the first or to revisit the quirky family in their original gospel concert at Mount Pleasant Baptist Church. Smoke on the Mountain features a rural, gospel-singing Baptist family in 1930's North Carolina—loving father Burl, Bible-quoting mother Vera, twin brother Dennis and his star-struck twin sister Denise, the black sheep Uncle …

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Time to Get Out of the Box on Marietta Square

The former Theatre in the Square's Alley Stage is back in business. Out of Box Theatre, the company-in-residence with Next Stage Theatre Company, presents "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare" (abridged and revised).

Get ready to experience 16 comedies, 11 tragedies, 10 histories and assorted sonnets, all brought to you by three actors in 97 minutes. The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged and revised) will be presented by Out of Box Theatre in Next Stage's Alley Stage off Marietta Square through July 21. The Complete Works of William Shakespeare is directed by Out of Box's Artistic Director Carolyn Sheppard Choe and features Metro Atlanta Award winning actor Zip Rampy and 48 Hour Film Festival winners Matthew Young and Jared Young. All the world's a stage as these "three merry gentlemen in tights attempt to portray every work ever penned by the venerable Bard." Out of Box Theatre does offer this disclaimer: “Warning! This show is a high-…

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Strand's Motown Musical Revue: Soulful Voices, Lively Dances, Big Attitudes

The Strand Theatre on Marietta Square brings finger-snapping, show-stopping classics to the stage with a twist in this fun and interactive show.

You'll laugh, you'll dance, you'll sing, you'll clap, you'll swoon. The soulful sounds of The Temptations, Gladys Knight & the Pips, the Jackson 5, Smokey Robinson and all your Motown favorites are returning to the Strand Theatre in Mo' Motown. "Most people know and love the classic sounds of Motown," Assistant Director Catherine Rhodes said.  "Mo' Motown is a fast-paced, high-energy Motown extravaganza." The cast's passion and talent leaps off the stage. From Get Ready, the opening number, you'll discover an energy that is impossible to ignore. The performers bring back Heatwave, My Guy, Brick House and other classics in a fun, flirtatious, engaging and all-around powerful show. The voices are big, the dance moves are captivating, and the…

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