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Culture Cultural Events: In the days of its Confederate greatness, Atlanta was a cultural centre with big aspirations. The Fox Theatre glitters with its former pretensions, but the outdoor Shakespeare Festival is likely to strike more of a chord with homesick Europeans. The major cultural venue is the Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree Street (tel: (404) 733 5000). This glass and stone modern architectural showpiece was erected by the then head of Coca-Cola, Donald Woodruff, as a non-profit-making service to the community. It commemorates a 1962 plane crash at Orly, Paris, which killed 106 Atlanta citizens, and one of the buildings is still known as the Memorial Arts Building. The Center, now spread around a campus, hosts a continuing series of cultural events; and is home to the High Museum of Arts (see the Key Attractions section), three theatres, exhibition galleries, and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, the Alliance Theater Company, the 14th Street Playhouse, as well as children's and Afro-American groups. There is a web site (www.e2Atlanta.com ) that has a list of the latest events and venues with telephone numbers and links to the appropriate web sites. Ticketmaster (tel: (404) 249 6400) is the agency for immediate bookings. Music: The celebrated Atlanta Symphony Orchestra was founded in the 1940s but only became full time in 1968. Fame struck when they played at President Carter's inaugural concert; they now record with Telearc and have toured Europe and the Americas extensively. They have just been through a hiatus caused by the departure of conductor Joel Levi; his replacements, Donald Runnicles as conductor and musical director Robert Spano, have now planned a full season of concerts for 2000/01. The programme tends to be safe and unadventurous classical-pop, with at least one distinctly non-classical concert each month. The orchestra performs either at the Atlanta Symphony Hall (tel: (404) 733 4536) at the Woodruff Arts Center, or the Chastain Park Amphitheatre, 135 West Wieuca Road (tel: (404) 872 1115 or 733 5000). Theatre: The Art Deco Islamic extravaganza Fox Theatre, 660 Peachtree Street (tel: (404) 881 2100; web site: www.foxtheatre.org ) - known as the 'Fabulous Fox' - is a National Historic Landmark and an attraction in its own right, with a star-studded foyer, fantastic balconies and exotic gilding. It is also home to the Atlanta Opera and stages ballet, concerts and Broadway productions of hit musicals like The Phantom of the Opera. The Alliance Theater Company perform modern American drama with an occasional European piece at the Woodruff Arts Center. The Chastain Park Amphitheatre (see above) has an open-air programme in summer, as does the Lakewood Amphitheatre (tel: (404) 249 6400), near the airport. The Theatre in the Square, 11 Whitlock Avenue, in Marietta (tel: (770) 422 8369), is housed in an old cotton warehouse, and produces plays that reflect local history and feature local writers. It is only 20 minutes' drive from Atlanta and worth a visit. Dance: The Atlanta Ballet (tel: (404) 817 8700) - the oldest continuously operating ballet company in the USA - performs during autumn, winter and spring. Performances are held at the Fox Theatre and GA Tech. Film: Multi-screen movie houses cater for the American film-going public. They all screen Hollywood releases and the international distributors' list. The 1920s Fox Theatre hosts the Coca-Cola Summer Film Festival with both classic and contemporary hits on the biggest screen in town; the Arabian palace decor and fantasy lighting adds to the enjoyment and the restored organ provides an introduction to the show. The film programme offered by the Woodruff Arts Center includes a remarkable range of foreign films. Cultural events: The Mayor of Atlanta, Bill Campbell, has encouraged two remarkable musical festivals. For a week at the end of August, during the Montreux Atlanta Music Festival, a medley of music to appeal to all tastes, especially Latin and black, including jazz, R&B, rock, reggae and African music, as well as country and blues, fills Atlanta's parks and open spaces. Principal centres are the Centennial Olympic Park and Piedmont Park; admission to all events is free. The Atlanta Jazz Festival, running for ten days in May, aims a little upmarket, attracting some of the biggest names in jazz to a lively programme of traditional jazz played out by well-known bands in various venues all over the city. The Georgia Shakespeare Festival (tel: (404) 264 0020; web site www.gashakespeare.org) is held in the landscaped grounds of the Gothic Oglethorpe University during July. It is not only Shakespeare that is performed; last season's offerings included Moliere's Tartuffe. The audience can enjoy a picnic on the grass before the start of the performance. Literary Notes Margaret Mitchell, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece about the antebellum South, Gone With the Wind (1936), is the city's favourite literary child. The book is best remembered through the film of the same name. More recently, Tom Wolfe moved decidedly up-market and set A Man in Full (1998) among the rich and powerful bankers and real-estate magnates of the suburb of Buckhead in Atlanta. More lightheartedly, The Cat Who Robbed a Bank, a mystery by Lilian Jackson Braun, stars a wealthy Atlanta auction buyer. In the non-fiction field, the Southern Architecture Foundation have published The Architecture of James Means, designer of some of the local stately homes. Elton John is Atlanta's most famous foreign resident and, as well as giving local concerts, he has lent his photographic collection to the High Museum of Art for exhibition. |