Best Bets: Cinderella, Giselle, the Wizard are in town; plus Mozart, Little Feat, more

MUSIC

Nathalie Stutzmann, (above) who will become music director of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra for the 2022-23 season, returns to Atlanta March 17 and 18 at 8 p.m., and then March 20 at 3 p.m. She will conduct the orchestra and ASO Chorus in a program that includes Richard Strauss’ “Death and Transfiguration” and Mozart’s iconic Requiem. Stutzmann, who conducts with a super-charged energy, is only the second woman in history to lead a major American orchestra. Proof of vaccination or a recent negative Covid test is required. Tickets start at $23.

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One of the best bands of the ’70s, led by the late guitarist Lowell George, Little Feat never received the fan base that it deserved. The group’s landmark album was, of course, a live record: Waiting For Columbus, which encapsulated everything that was great about Little Feat. Now, 45 years after its release, the band will celebrate that album on a tour that brings them to Symphony Hall on Tuesday, March 22 at 8 p.m. The current lineup features two original band members, keyboardist Bill Payne and percussionist Sam Clayton. The featured guitarists are the legendary studio musician Fred Tackett and Scott Sharrard, who served as the late Gregg Allman’s music director. A vaccination or proof of a negative Covid test is required. Tickets start at $29.50.

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DANCE

Atlanta Ballet was rehearsing Giselle when the world locked down in March 2020. Now, finally, this much-loved romantic ballet has emerged from the wings. Jessica Assef portrays the trusting peasant girl Giselle, who goes mad and dies when she is betrayed by the two-timing nobleman Albrecht. It’s the role every ballerina aspires to, and features some of the most famous scenes in the ballet lexicon, performed here with a live orchestra. Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, Friday through Sunday. Tickets start at $25. Masks required. (Patrons no longer need proof of vaccination or negative Covid test).

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It’s great to experience dance in person again, but YAG: The Movie is well worth going two-dimensional. It’s the work of iconic Israeli choreographer and former Batsheva Dance Company director Ohad Naharin. YAG was the ensemble’s first production, adapted by Naharin for the screen during the pandemic. He describes it as the “collective memory of the family unit.” Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., Kennesaw State University Dance Theater, Marietta, and Friday through Sunday via ArtsKSU Virtual. Tickets $15-20. Masks encouraged at the theater.

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You could call TRY performance art, queer art, a futurist encounter, experimental movement or improvisation and you would be right on all counts. Two-time Bessie Award winner Ishmael Houston-Jones and his collaborators explore racial identity, gender identity, solidarity and more in this evening-long work. Set to electronic music improvised and composed live by Gabriel Nuñez de Arco and jose e. abad. B-Complex, Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Tickets $7. Registration recommended. Masks and proof of vaccination or Covid test required. [Same protocols required for the free Lunchtime in the Studio at Core Dance’s Decatur studios on Thursday, when the artists will talk about their work.]

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ART+DESIGN

Considering its size — a small gallery in a converted 1893 carriage house, a tiny basement and a garden shed – whitespace puts on some excellent contemporary exhibits. Opening Saturday in the main gallery is Paper Trails by Ann Stewart and Joe Camoosa, a mix of vibrant and understated abstract drawings and paintings. Silver Sight by Mac Balentine can be seen in whitespec (that’s the basement) and Transmuted Tracings by Martin Rickles Studio opens in shedpsace. (Yep, that’s the shed.) Opening reception Saturday 4 to 7 p.m. Masks required.

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Full Circle: Design Without End opens Friday at the Museum of Design Atlanta (MODA). Member preview day is Thursday. The exhibit explores design projects intended to strengthen and replenish ecosystems and help humans connect to nature. Most designers have a human-centered approach. Full Circle introduces regenerative design, which asks that we see ourselves, our actions and our “stuff” as small parts of much larger systems. Tickets $10. Members free. Masks required.

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Charmaine Minniefield is well known for her murals, but there is a lot more to her artistic vision. Indigo Prayers: A Celebration Story is an exhibition of work she created during a year-long residency in Gambia. You’ll see large-scale paintings inspired both by recent events and by Minniefield’s ongoing exploration of the Ring Shout, an early African American worship practice. Indigo Prayers: A Celebration Story affirms Black life and asserts Black identity as resistance against erasure, past and present. Carlos Museum, opening Sunday, through September 10. Tickets start at $6. Masks required for unvaccinated visitors.

THEATER 

Here’s the setup for Harrison David Rivers’ When Last We Flew, opening Thursday at Out Front Theatre Company: After stealing his local library’s only copy of Angels in America, misfit teenager Paul begins reading the landmark play and finds that his life and the lives of those around him in his small Kansas suburb are soon to change. Over the course of a seemingly ordinary day, extraordinary things start to happen. “I’m particularly excited, and slightly nervous,” director J.L. Reed said about the play’s regional premiere. “Though the play was published 12 years ago, the themes are timeless and particularly resonant today.” Through April 2. Proof of vaccination required (or, for those with an exemption to the vaccine, a negative PCR test no more than 48 hours old). Masks encouraged.

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Kevin Frisch of Cincinnati’s Frisch Marionettes said that he envisioned his company’s rendering of The Wizard of Oz, opening Thursday at the Center for Puppetry Arts, as a “tribute to America’s rich musical heritage.” So follow the yellow brick road and get ready to enjoy your family’s favorite characters as they sing spirituals, blues, ragtime, jazz and funk tunes. Through April 3. Masks encouraged.

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The Cinderella that Aurora Theatre is presenting in the new Lawrenceville Arts Center’s 500-seat Clyde & Sandra Strickland Grand Theatre is a 2013 update (book by Douglas Carter Beane) that boasts a more contemporary sensibility than those glass-slippered tales of yore. Why, Cinderella’s rotten stepsisters seem almost lovable in this production! The show “is sweet like your favorite candy from beginning to end,” ArtsATL reviewer Kelundra Smith wrote: “As Aurora’s co-founders Anthony Rodriguez and Ann-Carol Pence point out in their program note, with book banning, racial tension and bullying confronting us every day, Cinderella is a reminder that kindness always wins.” Through April 3. Masks optional for vaccinated patrons; unvaccinated patrons strongly encouraged to wear masks.

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FILM+TV

If you’re already mourning this as the final season of The Walking Dead, the Fandemic Tour, Friday through Sunday at Georgia World Congress Center, may just be your brew. It’s described as “the ultimate pop-culture, Walking Dead, sci-fi/horror and comic mashup.” Here’s how it all adds up: more than 50 celebrities, 46 panels, 56 individual and group photo/autograph ops, 11 anime screenings and one ultimate cosplay contest. Masks required; vaccination not required (but unvaccinated individuals cannot remove masks for photo ops unless allowed by the individual guest).

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BOOKS

Author and former New York Times reporter William Neuman will discuss his book, Things Are Never So Bad That They Can’t Get Worse, Tuesday, March 22, at 7 p.m. as part of the Atlanta History Center’s Author Talks series. Neuman’s book explores the collapse of Venezuela, and how it could impact the rest of the world. The book is a combination of journalism, memoir and history that chronicles Venezuela’s journal from an oil-rich nation to poverty and corruption. The event is virtual and free to attend. Registration is required.

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