Atlanta Shopping
Access Atlanta (www.accessatlanta.com) lists the latest events information online, while Ticketmaster (tel: (404) 249 6400; www.ticketmaster.com) is the agency for all cultural bookings. AtlanTIX (tel: (404) 588 9890; www.atlantaperforms.com) sells same day/half-price tickets for various shows. The ticket booths are located at the Visitors Center at Underground Atlanta, 65 Upper Alabama Street, and at Lenox Square.
Music: The 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 have toured Europe and the Americas extensively. Programmes often feature classical-pop, with at least one distinctly non-classical concert each month. The orchestra performs at the Atlanta Symphony Hall (tel: (404) 733 4900; www.atlantasymphony.org) in the Woodruff Arts Center; the Delta Classic Chastain Park Amphitheatre, 135 West Wieuca Road (tel: (404) 733 4955; www.classicchastain.com), and at the newly opened Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at Encore Park (tel: (404) 733-5010; www.vzwamp.com).
Theatre: The Art Deco Islamic extravaganza Fox Theatre, 660 Peachtree Street (tel: (404) 881 2100; 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. The Atlanta Opera (tel: (404) 881 8801; www.atlantaopera.org) is at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center at 2800 Cobb Galleria Parkway. It stages four operas each year. The Alliance Theater Company (tel: (404) 733 5000; www.alliancetheatre.org) is based at the Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree Street Northeast (http://woodruffcenter.org), and performs modern American drama with an occasional European piece. The 14th Street Playhouse, also part of the Woodruff Arts Center but based at 173 14th Street (tel: (404) 733 4738 (box office) or 733 4750 (recorded information); www.14thstplayhouse.org), is an umbrella space that showcases the work of many small theatre companies.
The New American Shakespeare Tavern, 499 Peachtree Street Northeast (tel: (404) 874 5299; www.shakespearetavern.com), pays homage to the Bard with a Globe-like theatre experience. Lastly, the Theatre in the Square, 11 Whitlock Avenue, in Marietta (tel: (770) 422 8369; www.theatreinthesquare.com), is housed in an old cotton warehouse and produces plays that reflect local history and feature local writers. It is only 20-minute drive from Atlanta and worth a visit.
Dance: The oldest continually operating company in the US, the Atlanta Ballet, 1400 West Peachtree Street Northwest (tel: (404) 873 5811; www.atlantaballet.com), is over 75 years old and performs during autumn, winter and spring. Presentations are held at the Fox Theatre (see Theatre above). A new home for the ballet is under construction and should be completed by summer 2010. The Robert Ferst Center for the Arts at the Georgia Institute of Technology, 349 Ferst Drive Northwest (tel: (404) 894 9600; www.ferstcenter.gatech.edu) features jazz, dance, theatre and classical music.
Film: Multi-screen movie houses screen Hollywood releases and the international distributors' list. The 1920s Fox Theatre (see Theatre above) hosts the Coca-Cola Summer Film Festival with both classic and contemporary hits on the biggest screen in town. The film programme offered by the Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree Street (tel: (404) 733 4200; www.woodruff-arts.org), includes a remarkable range of foreign films, while the Goethe-Institute, Colony Square (tel: (404) 892 2388; www.goethe.de/uk/atl/enindex.htm), shows German films every Wednesday evening in their auditorium.
Movies shot on location in Atlanta include Sharky's Machine (1981), Driving Miss Daisy (1989) and Sweet Home Alabama (2002). Parts of Apollo 13 (1995) were filmed on top of Stone Mountain. Recent films that used Atlanta as its setting include Mad Black Woman (2004), Madea's Family Reunion (2005), We Are Marshall (2006), The Closer (2007) and The Preacher's Kid (2008).
Literary Notes: Margaret Mitchell, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece about the antebellum and post-Civil War South, Gone with the Wind (1936), is the city's favourite literary child. The book has sold more hardcover copies in the USA than any book other than the Bible. After 70 years, it still sells over 250,000 copies per year.
Tom Wolfe recently moved decidedly upmarket and set A Man in Full (1998) among the rich and powerful bankers and real-estate magnates of the suburb of Buckhead in Atlanta. It reveals a seamy underside to their upper-crust lives and the city very nearly banned the author from ever setting foot in Atlanta again. More light-heartedly, The Cat Who Robbed A Bank (2000), a mystery by Lillian Jackson Braun, stars a wealthy Atlanta auction buyer. Leaving Atlanta (2003), by Tayari Jones, is a murder mystery based on fact. Up-and-coming Atlanta novelist George Weinstein (Jake and the Tiger Flight) is working on a children's series based on the Tiger Flight Formation Flight Team.
In the non-fiction arena, the Southern Architecture Foundation has published the Architecture of James Means (2001), a designer of some of the local stately homes.
Tours of Atlanta
Fresh ideas are just one click away...
Travel Deals for Atlanta
-
Finland Activity & adventure holidays Finnish Lapland has enormous areas of untouched wilderness and mile upon mile of wild rolling fells. This vast open countryside, sparkling in the winter sunshine, just begs to be explored by
-
Orlando Adrenaline Whether you’re enjoying the hair-raising delights of the world’s only flying rollercoaster called Manta at SeaWorld or racing through the Everglades on an airboat in search of alligators, one thing’s for
-
Cambodia Luxury holidays Today Cambodia is symbolised by awesome Angkor Wat, the largest man-made religious structure in the world. However, Cambodia is also home to some of the finest boutique hotels in the world
-
Laos Inspire Me When the French colonised Indochina they had a saying: "The Vietnamese grow the rice, the Cambodians watch the rice grow, and the Lao people listen to the rice grow." This is
-
Vietnam Cultural breaks Vietnam is a country with a rich and varied history that is now firmly focused on her bright future. This is why it has become one of the hottest destinations for
-
Dominican Republic Family holidays The Dominican Republic has soared in popularity as a tropical hotspot for families seeking sun, sand and an affordable holiday in the Caribbean. The island's main attraction is magnificent golden sand