14 Shows Hitting Atlanta Stages This Summer

School may be out, but there's no shortage of theatre hitting stages this summer. With everything from a world premiere (WATER FOR ELEPHANTS) to some touring favorites (wicked) and plenty of family-friendly shows (SHERWOOD: THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD), there's something for everyone.

THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG at Aurora Theatre

Running May 25 - June 18, 2023. Tickets starting at $31.

Welcome to opening night of The Murder at Haversham Manor, where things are quickly going from bad to utterly disastrous. You'll see an unconscious leading lady, a corpse that can't play dead, and actors who trip over everything (including their lines); this Olivier Award-winning comedy is a hilarious hybrid of Monty Python and Sherlock Holmes. If you loved Noises Off, Boeing, Boeing and Don't Dress for Dinner, you are going to love this fall-down funny play that is so wrong... it's right.

HAIRSPRAY at The Fox Theatre

Running May 30 - June 4, 2023. Tickets starting at $35.

You Can't Stop the Beat! HAIRSPRAY, Broadway's Tony Award-winning musical comedy phenomenon is back on tour! Join 16-year-old Tracy Turnblad in 1960's Baltimore as she sets out to dance her way onto TV's most popular show. Can a girl with big dreams (and even bigger hair) change the world?

THE HUMANS at Theatrical Outfit

Running May 31 - June 25, 2023. Tickets starting at $15.

HIGH DRAMA. Named the 'Best Play of 2016' by every major publication including NPR & TimeOut New York, THE HUMANS takes a hopeful, heartbreaking, and humorous look at the decline of the American middle class, and one family's hopes and fears. Erik Blake has brought his family from Pennsylvania to celebrate Thanksgiving at his daughter's new apartment in the city, but as darkness falls, mysterious things start to happen, and family tensions reach a boiling point. THE HUMANS is Tony Award winning & Pulitzer Prize finalist that's "As Entertaining As It Is Honest" (New York Times).

IN THE CONTINUUM at Synchronicity Theatre

Running June 2-18, 2023. Tickets starting at $25.

A mirror with two faces. IN THE CONTINUUM is a parallel story of two women who face the growing AIDS crisis in America and Africa. Alike in ways that cross the borders of both Central LA and Zimbabwe. In a weekend two women face a similar journey of life-altering truths and fervent denial.

OBIE award-winning and Pulitzer Prize nominated drama IN THE CONTINUUM puts a human face on the devastating impact of AIDS in Africa and America through the lives of two unforgettably courageous women. Living worlds apart, one in South Central LA and the other in Zimbabwe, each experiences a kaleidoscopic weekend of life-changing revelations in this story of parallel denials and self-discoveries.

Sponsored by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation & the Black Leadership AIDS Crisis Coalition.

Ken Ludwig's SHERWOOD: THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD at Shakespeare Tavern

Running June 3 - July 2, 2023. Tickets starting at $15.

Pirates of the Caribbean meets Men In Tights!

Come along for a rip-roaring romp through Sherwood Forest with all the thrills, laughter and romance you could ever ask for! SHERWOOD: THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD tells the enduring story of a hero of the people who takes on the ruthless powers that be. So get ready to duck a quarterstaff or two - you won't want to miss a moment of the swashbuckling fun! Good for the whole family!

WATER FOR ELEPHANTS at Alliance Theatre

Running June 7 - July 9, 2023. Tickets starting at $47.

ROMANCE, DECEPTION, AND MAGIC BENEATH THE BIG TOP OF A TRAVELING CIRCUS.

Based on the critically acclaimed and best-selling novel, WATER FOR ELEPHANTS takes you on an adventure filled with romance, deception, and a little bit of magic, all under the big top of a traveling circus.

Running towards a new life, Jacob Jankowski hitches a ride on a mysterious train. He finds himself in the heart of a traveling circus, the Benzini Bros Most Spectacular Show On Earth, with a new job, a new home, and a new family. When charismatic ringmaster August brings Rosie the elephant on as the new star attraction, Jacob and August's wife Marlena join forces to train her. As Jacob and Marlena's shared compassion develops into love, August's cruel nature surfaces, threatening to derail Jacob's life once more.

Brought to theatrical life by an internationally acclaimed and innovative creative team, WATER FOR ELEPHANTS will reignite your dreams of running away with the circus. This world premiere musical is directed by Jessica Stone (KIMBERLY AKIMBO), with a book by Rick Elice (JERSEY BOYS, PETER AND THE STARCATCHER), and a score by the award-winning PigPen Theatre Co. This adventure of love, family and belonging speaks to us all.

JESUS HOPPED THE "A" TRAIN at Actor's Express

Running June 8 - July 2, 2023. Tickets starting at $25.

WILL ONE MAN'S REDEMPTION LEAD TO ANOTHER'S DAMNATION?

At Rikers Island, a frightened young inmate confronts complex issues of faith when he crosses paths with a charismatic serial killer, a sadistic guard, and a jaded public defender. This potent play by Pulitzer Prize winner Stephen Adly Guirgis will hit you where you live and make you question what happens when God's justice differs from man's.

THE WIZ at True Colors Theatre Company

Running June 17 - July 2, 2023. Tickets starting at $20.

THE WIZ was a staple of True Colors' early years, when Artistic Director emeritus and co-Founder Kenny Leon directed it for four consecutive years - from 2004 to 2007 - as a means to bring young talent to the stage. Many of the young performers have gone to success on Broadway, on the big screen and in the recording studio.

This reimagining of the classic story is directed by Brian Jordan, Jr., well known to BET viewers as "Maurice Webb" on the popular show Sistas. Featuring an all-Atlanta cast. The production will honor the history, and illuminate the power of True Colors' artistic excellence in Black storytelling.

WICKED at The Fox Theatre

Running July 5-30, 2023. Tickets starting at $43.

WICKED, the Broadway sensation, looks at what happened in the Land of Oz...but from a different angle. Long before Dorothy arrives, there is another girl, born with emerald-green skin-smart, fiery, misunderstood, and possessing an extraordinary talent. When she meets a bubbly blonde who is exceptionally popular, their initial rivalry turns into the unlikeliest of friendships...until the world decides to call one "good," and the other one "wicked." From the first electrifying note to the final breathtaking moment, WICKED-the untold true story of the Witches of Oz-transfixes audiences with its wildly inventive story. It will send your spirits soaring to heights you'll never forget.

THE HOUSE THAT WILL NOT STAND at Horizon Theatre Company

Running July 7 - August 6, 2023. Tickets starting at $30.

A bewitching drama of desire, jealousy, murder and voodoo. Beartrice-a free woman of color-and her three unwed daughters face changing racial divides in the hot New Orleans summer of 1836 after the mysterious death of her white lover. A sensuous, humorous and gripping family drama of love and survival told in a rich and lyrical river of words, music and dance.

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM at Shakespeare Tavern

Running July 8-30, 2023. Tickets starting at $15.

A fairy King and Queen come across four runaway lovers and a gaggle of amateur actors trying to rehearse a play in the forest. The magical royal couple meddles with their mortal lives, culminating in a comical cluster of confusion. But don't worry, we'll get to the Bottom of it.

HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH at Actor's Express

Running July 21 - August 19, 2023. Tickets starting at $25.

ROCK OUT ATLANTA... SHE'S BAAAAACK!

Join "internationally ignored" rock singer Hedwig as she searches the world for stardom and love in this groundbreaking musical that has become one of the great cult classics of all time. A rock and roll explosion for anyone who has ever felt like a misfit, HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH will have you singing along and unleashing your own inner rock star.

THE COMPLETE WORKS OF William Shakespeare (ABRIDGED) at Shakespeare Tavern

Running August 5 - September 3, 2023. Tickets starting at $15.

An irreverent, hilarious, high-speed romp through all 37 of the Bard's plays (and 154 sonnets) in two hours! Titus Andronicus becomes a cooking show, all the Histories are performed as a football game, and we go NUTS with Hamlet! All of this performed by THREE ACTORS. It took ASC, with hundreds of actors, 26 years to complete Shakespeare's works the first time (this last time through, it only took us 8!) These three nerds will do 'em all in an evening. Show offs.

ROOTED at Horizon Theatre Company

Running August 25 - September 24, 2023. Tickets starting at $30.

In the small town of Millersville, plant researcher and YouTuber Emery Harris lives alone in a house in a tree named Mabel surrounded by plants that, other than her overbearing sister Hazel, are her only source of conversation. When Emery's calm and quiet is disrupted by a massive and growing crowd of YouTube channel devotees singing to her-their botanical, new-age messiah-she is forced to look down from the branches and face the outside world. This warm-hearted comedy digs into the power of plants and the intriguing, human, and often hilarious idiosyncracies of people.

Of note, The Atlanta Lyric Theatre has closed its doors after 42 years. Additionally, Georgia Ensemble Theatre announced that its MainStage season is moving venues for their 2023/2024 season, hosting productions at Jennie T. Anderson. Consider this your reminder to continue supporting local theatre!