ATLRetro

Decided it might make more sense to run Weekend Update on Friday mornings than on Thursdays. You can still find out about Thursday activities, of course, in This Week in Retro Atlanta on Mondays. And of course, you can plan ahead for the whole weekend.

Friday March 4

Blair Crimmins.

Legendary pianist George Winston tickles the ivories at Variety Playhouse. Blair Crimmins and the Hookers provide a 1920s Vaudeville atmosphere during amagical Fernbank Museum of Natural History’s Martinis and IMAX themed“Night of the Kraken” tying in with its current MYTHIC CREATURES: DRAGONS, UNICORNS AND MERMAIDS special exhibition which will be open for viewing that night. Also, hear they’ll be serving up special mythic-themed cocktails, including a Krakentini, featuring Kraken rum, Silver Scream Spookshow‘s Professor Morte will be a special guest, and there’s a costume contest planned, too, so don your most mythical duds. Just about to post a last-minute interview with Blair about the fanciful festivities, so be sure to check that out.

Celebrate Mardi Gras early and decadently, or rather BART-I GRAS, with the insane crew of Avondale Estates’ Bart Webb Studios and the sexy and sassy Syrens of the South, Big Easy cuisine provided by Zatarain’s, beads, masks, and the first Bart-i Bra contest where the best decorated bra will be judged to crown the first Queen or King of Bart-i Gras.

Saturday March 5

Rhodes Hall, nicknamed by many as "Rhodes Castle" for its Gothic turrets.

The Atlanta Preservation Center launches its annual The Phoenix Flies: A Celebration of Living Landmarks, so-named after the iconic symbol of Atlanta—the mythical bird that burns and is reborn similar to the city post-Civil War. The event which runs through March 20 offers a chance to take its neighborhood historical walking tours for free, as well as experience additional behind-the-scenes peeks inside Atlanta’s most famous buildings of eras gone by. The schedule today includes tours of Rhodes Hall, Fox Theatre, Piedmont Park, Druid Hills, Historic Downtown, Grant Park, Burns Club, Ponce de Leon Apartments, Ansley Park, and the African-American Grounds of Oakland Cemetery. For a complete schedule of events, click here.

At night, Atlanta rockabilly trio Hot Rod Walt and the Psycho Devilles rev up  and let loose about cool cars and mean women at Dixie Tavern in Marietta. Start your St. Paddy’s Day celebrating early at Shamrock Fest at Park Tavern, featuring U2 covers at 6:30 PM by Uno Dos Tres Catorce: a PleaseRock Tribute to U2, and Yacht Rock Revuerocks back to the ’70s afterwards at 8:30 PM. Breeze Kings are back for a second show this week at Northside Tavern, with Ralph Ellis. DJ Romeo Cologne transforms the sensationally seedy Clermont Lounge into a ’70s disco/funk inferno.

Sunday March 6

Charles Fellingham.

Atlanta Preservation’s Phoenix Flies continues with tours of Rhodes Hall, Grant Park, the Catholic Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Inman Park, Ansley Park, the Front Lines of the Battle of Atlanta, the Jewish Grounds of Oakland and Tracking Time, featuring a chance to learn about the old trolley lines and visit the old Stone Mountain trolley barn at ART Station. Then head to Jerry Farber’s Side Door for Sundays with Sinatra, featuring Frank Sinatra impersonator deluxe Charles Fellingham and special guests.

Ongoing

Good grief, CB’s an adolescent now, his little sister’s a goth, his ex-girlfriend’s in a mental hospital for setting too many fires, his friends are all drunk, and when his dog dies from rabies after killing a “little yellow bird,” he starts to question the existence of an afterlife. That’s the wacked-out premise of DOG SEES GOD: CONFESSIONS OF A TEENAGE BLOCKHEAD, a black comedy inspired by the popular PEANUTS comic strip and performed by the new Fabrefaction Theatre Company, which runs through March 13.

Tinkerbell (Yetter) flies with Peter Pan (Ciaran Joyce). Photo credit: Ed Krieger.

KOOL KAT Emily Yetter stars as a precocious, politically incorrect Tinkerbell in J.M. BARRIE’S PETER PAN under the big tent at Pemberton Place, next to the World of Coca-Cola.  Performances have been extended through April 10.

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec died in 1901, but it’s not a stretch to say that his vibrant posters and prints of showgirls, nightclub stars and the café culture influenced the 20th century romantic view of Paris and still inspire today’s burlesque performers. The High Museum of Art’s dynamic new special exhibition, TOULOUSE-LAUTREC AND FRIENDS: THE IRENE AND HOWARD STEIN COLLECTION, runs through May 1. Also at the High through May 29 is the MOMA-organized HENRI CARTIER-BRESSON: THE MODERN CENTURY, another blockbuster exhibit showcasing a photographer and photojournalist who captured on film many of the seminal moments  of the 20th century from World War II to the assassination of Ghandi, China’s cultural revolution to civil rights and consumer culture in America.

For more weekend fun, tune back in on Monday for This Week in Retro Atlanta. If you know of a cool happening next week, send suggestions to ATLRetro@gmail.com.