2011-2012 Performing Arts Series
Click on an image to learn more about each performance.

Yesterday: A Tribute to the Beatles
Friday, October 7, 2011 at 8:00 p.m.
Advance: GIAHA Members - $15 adults, $10 seniors (65+), $5 ages 18 and under
Non-Members - $20/$15/$5
Day of show: Members - $20 adults, $15 seniors (65+), $5 ages 18 and under
Non-Members - $25/$20/$5

Relive the incredible excitement of the most influential group in the history of pop music. The #1 Beatles tribute act in the world recreates the group's historic performances on The Ed Sullivan Show, at The Hollywood Bowl and at Shea Stadium in this amazing musical tour through the greatest hits of the Beatles' entire career. These four performers have thrilled audiences worldwide with their convincing and accurate portrayals of John, Paul, George and Ringo and outstanding vocals and musicianship.

You'll be transported to a bygone era that still captivates those who were there as well as younger audiences who have discovered the Beatles' music for themselves.

The same night of the show, the public is invited to the opening reception for "Magical Mystery Tour," a juried exhibit of work by artists interpreting the music and iconography of this legendary group. The reception lasts from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m., and runs throughout the month of October. Click here for more info.

Purchase tickets

More about The Beatles

Back to top

Shame the Devil: An Audience with Fanny Kemble
Thursday & Saturday, November 3 & 5, 2011 at 8:00 p.m.
Sunday, November 6, 2011 at 3:00 p.m.
NOTE: NO PERFORMANCE ON FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 4
Advance: GIAHA Members - $15 adults, $10 seniors (65+), $5 ages 18 and under
Non-Members - $20/$15/$5
Day of show: Members - $20 adults, $15 seniors (65+), $5 ages 18 and under
Non-Members - $25/$20/$5

To commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, GIAHA presents this engrossing one-woman show, an insightful first-hand glimpse into our local history and its place in the momentous struggle between North and South.

Shame the Devil is told through the words of Fanny Kemble, the famed 19th century English actress who married plantation owner Pierce Butler in 1834. Like the war that would tear the nation in two a few decades later, their opposing views eventually took them from blissful union to bitter split. The play takes up the story in 1850, a year after their divorce, when Fanny finds her name and her bold anti-slavery writings publicly slandered by her ex.  

GIAHA Executive Director Heather Heath, who has enthralled local audiences with her performances in Private Lives, The Little Foxes, Happy Days, and many other productions, will once again portray Fanny, a role she has taken on twice before.

In conjunction with this production, GIAHA also presents an exhibit of photography by three outstanding artists who have captured many of the significant historical sites - and some that are less well known - from around our coastal region. "Picturing Our History" features the work of Troup Nightingale, Brian Brown, and Mike McCall. For more info, click here.

Purchase tickets

More about Fanny Kemble

Back to top

A Christmas Carol
Friday-Saturday, December 16-17, 2011 at 8:00 p.m.
Sunday, December 18. 2011 at 3:00 p.m.
Advance: GIAHA Members - $15 adults, $10 seniors (65+), $5 ages 18 and under
Non-Members - $20/$15/$5
Day of show: Members - $20 adults, $15 seniors (65+), $5 ages 18 and under
Non-Members - $25/$20/$5

A beloved holiday tradition we all look forward to year after year, celebrating its 10th anniversary production in 2011.  It’s Charles Dickens’ familiar tale of Ebenezer Scrooge and the spirits who teach him the true meaning of Christmas, featuring some of the Golden Isles' most talented performers of all ages. And once again, Brunswick Mayor Bryan Thompson will be recreating his unforgettable performance as the miserly old Scrooge himself. Young and old alike, whether you’ve heard the story a hundred times or never before, you’ll want to share this funny, spooky and always pertinent holiday show with family and friends.

PRESENTING SPONSOR BANK OF AMERICA MERRILL LYNCH

Purchase tickets

More about Charles Dickens' classic story

More about Victorian Christmas traditions

Back to top

Opera-tizers
Sunday, January 22, 2012 at 3:00 p.m.
Advance: GIAHA Members - $15 adults, $10 seniors (65+), $5 ages 18 and under
Non-Members - $20/$15/$5
Day of show: Members - $20 adults, $15 seniors (65+), $5 ages 18 and under
Non-Members - $25/$20/$5

Golden Isles audiences were thrilled to have opera on the Ritz stage last season, as the sold-out performance of La Boheme proved. And opera is back again early in the new year, a delicious plateful of greatest hits and memorable moments from the world's most famous operas.

Peach State Opera, Georgia's premiere touring opera company, performs staged scenes and arias (with narration) from Rigoletto, The Magic Flute, Porgy and Bess, The Marriage of Figaro, I Pagliacci, La Traviata, Carmen and more, with all the humor, pathos, romance, intrigue, and passion that opera fans love. Featuring outstanding musicianship and colorful staging, Opera-tizers is a great treat for aficionados and a wonderful introduction for those less familiar with this timeless art form.

Purchase tickets

More about the Peach State Opera

Back to top

The Maltese Falcon: An Old-Fashioned Radio Play
Saturday, February 25, 2012 at 8:00 p.m.
Sunday, February 26, 2012 at 3:00 p.m.
Advance: GIAHA Members - $15 adults, $10 seniors (65+), $5 ages 18 and under
Non-Members - $20/$15/$5
Day of show: Members - $20 adults, $15 seniors (65+), $5 ages 18 and under
Non-Members - $25/$20/$5

SPONSORED BY NED CASH JEWELERS AND QUANTUM COMMUNICATIONS/WGIG-AM 1440

Every year, we present a performance for The Big Read that's great fun and quite different than anything we've done before: a multi-media adaptation of Fahrenheit 451, a broadcast reading of To Kill a Mockingbird, a one-man show about the life and work of Edgar Allen Poe, and a concert of the greatest hits of the 1920s for The Great Gatsby. For this next installment of the popular community-wide reading initiative, we've got a real treat for our local readers and audiences.

This year's book, Dashiell Hammett's The Maltese Falcon, is written in that great hard-boiled style that defined much of Hollywood and radio dialogue in the 1930s and 40s. Made into a successful motion picture, the book was also a popular presentation on the Lux Radio Theater, a broadcast venue that featured most of Hollywood's greatest stars in famous roles. This original production recreates the 1943 Lux broadcast just as they did it in the old days—in front of a live audience with sound effects, an announcer, and full period costuming.  All the excitement, mystery, and dark romance of Hammett's tale comes to life, along with the humor and glamour of old-time radio drama.

Directed by Heather Heath, technical direction by T.J. Thompson; featuring Bryan Thompson as Sam Spade, Marion Kennedy as Brigid O'Shaughnessy, Rob Nixon as Caspar Gutman, David Millman as Joel Cairo, and Kelly Dobbin as Effie, with Scott Ryfun of Qantum as the announcer, and Gary Coleman, Ben Daley, Stan Kyker, Gerry Mise, and Evy Berman Wright. Plus a special appearance by our sponsor, Peggy Parrish of Ned Cash Jewelers.

Purchase tickets

Full details and schedule for The Big Read

More about The Maltese Falcon

Back to top

Highwaymen Live: A Musical Tribute
Friday, March 30, 2012 at 8:00 p.m.
Advance: GIAHA Members - $15 adults, $10 seniors (65+), $5 ages 18 and under
Non-Members - $20/$15/$5
Day of show: Members - $20 adults, $15 seniors (65+), $5 ages 18 and under
Non-Members - $25/$20/$5

Relive the glory days, when country music was made by "Good Men, Country Men, the Highwaymen." The greatest country music super group in history, the Highwaymen was formed in 1985 and traveled the world performing for millions. You'll be absolutely spellbound as these three tribute musicians recreate the originals (Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings) with amazing fidelity - every song, every hit, just as you remember them. If you're a country music fan, be sure to catch this must-see event.

The show features Rusty Evans, who sold out the Ritz in November 2007 with his remarkable tribute to Johnny Cash.

Purchase tickets

Back to top

Collected Stories by Donald Margulies
A CO-PRODUCTION WITH BRUNSWICK ACTORS THEATRE
PRESENTED AT ART DOWNTOWN, 1413 NEWCASTLE ST., DOWNTOWN BRUNSWICK
Friday & Saturday, April 13-14 & 20-21, 2012 at 8:00 p.m.
Sunday April 15 & 22, 2012 at 3:00 p.m.
Advance: GIAHA Members - $15 adults, $10 seniors (65+), $5 ages 18 and under
Non-Members - $20/$15/$5
Day of show: Members - $20 adults, $15 seniors (65+), $5 ages 18 and under
Non-Members - $25/$20/$5

The conflict between the established artist and the adulatory fan who becomes a protégé, disciple, colleague and friend—and finally threatening rival—is one of those great topics. It is handled with great honesty and insight in in Donald Margulies's provocative play, Collected Stories, which confronts the prominent short-story writer Ruth Steiner with her student-turned-confidante-turned-competitor Lisa Morrison.

Literate and stimulating, with sharply-written characters and incisive dialogue, Margulies' play is a dramatic tour de force starting with delightful wit and a touch of humor, then steadily pulling you toward its moving conclusion.

"With his fine ear for detail, Margulies creates an authentic, insular world, and he gives      equal weight to the opposing viewpoints of two formidable characters." —LA Times
"Margulies holds the rich ore of his material up to the light so that it sends beams in      every direction…always fluid and lively, the play is thick with ideas, like a stockpot of      good stew." —Village Voice
"This is probably Margulies' best play to date…" —NY Post

GIAHA partners with Brunswick Actors Theatre to bring this complex, compelling work to the Golden Isles for the first time, starring Heather Heath as Ruth and Lucy Lynn Bryson as Lisa. The play is directed by Rob Nixon, who staged the Ritz productions of Fahrenheit 451, The Little Foxes, and Happy Days.

Purchase tickets

More about Donald Margulies

Back to top