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2007 Index of Winners

Best Southern BOA Award Winner

Year » 2007
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » Oral Pleasures » Readers Pick
Mary Mac’s Tea Room

Best Southwestern BOA Award Winner

Year » 2007
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » Oral Pleasures » Readers Pick
Agave

Best Spanish/Tapas BOA Award Winner

Year » 2007
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » Oral Pleasures » Readers Pick
Pura Vida

Best Steaks BOA Award Winner

Year » 2007
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » Oral Pleasures » Readers Pick
Bone’s

Best Sushi BOA Award Winner

Year » 2007
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » Oral Pleasures » Readers Pick
Ru San’s

Best Take-Out Food BOA Award Winner

Year » 2007
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » Oral Pleasures » Readers Pick
Doc Chey’s Noodle House

Best Thai BOA Award Winner

Year » 2007
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » Oral Pleasures » Readers Pick
Surin of Thailand

Best Vegetarian/Vegan BOA Award Winner

Year » 2007
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » Oral Pleasures » Readers Pick
Soul Vegetarian Restaurant

Best Veggie Burger BOA Award Winner

Year » 2007
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » Oral Pleasures » Readers Pick
The Vortex

Best Vietnamese BOA Award Winner

Year » 2007
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » Oral Pleasures » Readers Pick
Co’m Vietnamese Grill

Best Wait Staff BOA Award Winner

Year » 2007
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » Oral Pleasures » Readers Pick
Real Chow Baby

Best Wait Staff BOA Award Winner

Year » 2007
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » Oral Pleasures » Readers Pick
Hooters

Best Wine Bar BOA Award Winner

Year » 2007
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » Oral Pleasures » Readers Pick
Krog Bar

Best Wine List BOA Award Winner

Year » 2007
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » Oral Pleasures » Readers Pick
The Grape

Best Place to See a Movie BOA Award Winner

Year » 2007
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Critics Pick
Starlight Drive-In Theatre and Flea Market
You can see the major Hollywood releases at practically any neighborhood cineplex, but will you enjoy the experience? At a time of high ticket prices and audience misbehavior, going to the movies can be more trouble than just waiting a few months for the DVD release. STARLIGHT SIX DRIVE-IN nearly alwaysmore...
You can see the major Hollywood releases at practically any neighborhood cineplex, but will you enjoy the experience? At a time of high ticket prices and audience misbehavior, going to the movies can be more trouble than just waiting a few months for the DVD release. STARLIGHT SIX DRIVE-IN nearly always guarantees a joyous communal experience, no matter whom you’re with, what snacks you’re eating or whether you’re watching Pirates of the Caribbean or Grindhouse. (Honorable mention: For technical excellence, check out Fernbank’s IMAX screen at least once.) less...

Best Theater Company BOA Award Winner

Year » 2007
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Critics Pick
Theatrical Outfit
Since opening the Balzer Theater at the old Herren’s Restaurant space alongside the Rialto Center for the Performing Arts, THEATRICAL OUTFIT has proven itself the best place in town to see a play. The Outfit originally relied heavily on theatrical chestnuts after making the risky move downtown, butmore...
Since opening the Balzer Theater at the old Herren’s Restaurant space alongside the Rialto Center for the Performing Arts, THEATRICAL OUTFIT has proven itself the best place in town to see a play. The Outfit originally relied heavily on theatrical chestnuts after making the risky move downtown, but has since presented increasingly daring and intriguing choices, particularly in the 2006-07 season. Shows such as Waiting to be Invited and Shiloh Rules addressed such eternal Southern themes as segregation and the Civil War from original perspectives, while The God Committee offered the kind of crackling, real-time excitement only live theater can provide. Is it worth the effort of going downtown? The answer is a resounding “Yes!” less...

Best Alternative Art Space BOA Award Winner

Year » 2007
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Critics Pick
Foundation One Gallery
627-B E. College Ave. 404-806-0925 http://www.foundationonegallery.com A welcoming, nicely laid-out East Decatur Station gallery with a Juxtapoz style, FOUNDATION ONE GALLERY is run by graphic designer and Moscow native Ivan Annikov. The gallery expresses Annikov’s taste for urban, graffiti and comic-inspiredmore...
627-B E. College Ave. 404-806-0925 http://www.foundationonegallery.com A welcoming, nicely laid-out East Decatur Station gallery with a Juxtapoz style, FOUNDATION ONE GALLERY is run by graphic designer and Moscow native Ivan Annikov. The gallery expresses Annikov’s taste for urban, graffiti and comic-inspired artists in Atlanta and farther afield, from Brooklyn to Finland. If you can’t make one of the sceney openings, the photo-packed website is the next best thing for checking out the art and the crowd. less...

Best Art Event BOA Award Winner

Year » 2007
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Critics Pick
Atlanta Celebrates Photography
Under executive director Anne Dennington’s tutelage (which will sadly end this year when she relocates with her husband) ATLANTA CELEBRATES PHOTOGRAPHY has grown into one of the city’s most anticipated events. Founded in 1999 by a group of photo historians and artists, the annual October series ofmore...
Under executive director Anne Dennington’s tutelage (which will sadly end this year when she relocates with her husband) ATLANTA CELEBRATES PHOTOGRAPHY has grown into one of the city’s most anticipated events. Founded in 1999 by a group of photo historians and artists, the annual October series of exhibitions and lectures and an increasingly interesting public art component have made a case for photography’s centrality on the Atlanta art scene. Each year the crowds grow, and the lecturers get better. This fall look for talks by 2004 Whitney Biennial vet Alec Soth, London-based Turner Prize nominee Sam Taylor-Wood and New York Times magazine deputy photo editor Kira Pollack. www.acpinfo.org less...

Best Art Exhibit BOA Award Winner

Year » 2007
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Critics Pick
Atlanta Photography Group Gallery
TULA Art Center 75 Bennett St., Suite B-1 404-605-0605 http://www.apgphoto.org It hasn

Best Art Exhibit in a Gallery BOA Award Winner

Year » 2007
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Critics Pick
David Yoakley Mitchell at Whitespace
814 Edgewood Ave. 404-688-1892 http://www.whitespace814.com Owner Susan Bridges watched viewers choke up and experience surges of emotion at an especially memorable, quietly beautiful show by DAVID YOAKLEY MITCHELL AT WHITESPACE. The Georgia-based photographer offered images of elderly family membersmore...
814 Edgewood Ave. 404-688-1892 http://www.whitespace814.com Owner Susan Bridges watched viewers choke up and experience surges of emotion at an especially memorable, quietly beautiful show by DAVID YOAKLEY MITCHELL AT WHITESPACE. The Georgia-based photographer offered images of elderly family members and speeding locomotives passing on the edge of small Southern towns. His most powerful images - which showed a rare tenderness and a clear eye for detail - were the tidy, personality-infused homes of a dying generation of Southerners. Mitchell’s show had an emotional depth that could take your breath away. The peaceful privacy of the alternative gallery - located in a former carriage house tucked behind an Inman Park Victorian - made the event all the more moving. less...

Best Art Exhibit in a Museum BOA Award Winner

Year » 2007
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Critics Pick
Morris Louis Now - An American Master Revisited
1280 Peachtree St. 404-733-4444 http://www.high.org The explosively hued MORRIS LOUIS NOW AN AMERICAN MASTER REVISITED was a memorable celebration of color and size at the High Museum. The retrospective was a welcome shout-out to old-school painting, featuring wall-sized

Best Bizarro Local News Story BOA Award Winner

Year » 2007
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » Cityscape » Readers Pick
The Movie Version of “Aqua Teen Hunger Force”
You can say a lot of things about the MOVIE VERSION OF “AQUA TEEN HUNGER FORCE,”

Best Coffee House/Coffeeshop BOA Award Winner

Year » 2007
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Critics Pick
Aurora Coffee in Little Five Points
468 Moreland Ave. 404-523-6856 http://www.auroracoffee.com Restaurants, hair salons, coffee huts “_ everyone seems to want to find a way to make art work in their businesses. But “curated”

Best Female Actor BOA Award Winner

Year » 2007
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Critics Pick
Linda Stephens in Turned Funny
LINDA STEPHENS’ acting is overdue for local recognition, but that’s partly due to her habit of gallivanting off to New York for such prestigious shows as the Broadway revival of The Man Who Came to Dinner. When she settled in for the role of beloved Atlanta Journal-Constitution columnist Celestinemore...
LINDA STEPHENS’ acting is overdue for local recognition, but that’s partly due to her habit of gallivanting off to New York for such prestigious shows as the Broadway revival of The Man Who Came to Dinner. When she settled in for the role of beloved Atlanta Journal-Constitution columnist Celestine Sibley in TURNED FUNNY at Theatre in the Square last fall, audiences enjoyed her company so much that the play inspired a summer remount and an upcoming holiday follow-up, Christmas at Sweet Apple. Stephens captured Sibley’s folksy spirit without sentiment or simple imitation, and conveyed the span of her life without seeming like a stunt. The past year saw exceptional performances by actresses (including Shelly McCook at Theatre in the Square’s Miss Witherspoon and Carolyn Cook at Horizon Theatre’s Nine Parts of Desire, but none made quite as strong a connection to audiences as Stephens playing Sibley. less...

Best Film Series BOA Award Winner

Year » 2007
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Critics Pick
Silver Scream Spook Show
1049 Ponce de Leon Ave. 404-873-1939 http://www.plazaatlanta.com With so much of Atlanta’s funky, retro edge being bulldozed or rent-hiked, those crazy kids over at the Plaza Theatre - led by the inspired husband-and-wife ownership of Gayle and Jonathan Rej - should be commended for their devotionmore...
1049 Ponce de Leon Ave. 404-873-1939 http://www.plazaatlanta.com With so much of Atlanta’s funky, retro edge being bulldozed or rent-hiked, those crazy kids over at the Plaza Theatre - led by the inspired husband-and-wife ownership of Gayle and Jonathan Rej - should be commended for their devotion to keeping the city real. The Rejs have really lit a fire under this Atlanta jewel and re-envisioned it for a new generation. The best testament to that vision is the SILVER SCREAM SPOOK SHOW. Outre film fan Shane Morton pays homage on the last weekend of every month to the old-school 1950s spook shows that combined scary movies with a cornball floor show. Morton’s shtick is as welcoming to the kids he wants to educate on the merits of vintage fright as it is to hipsters looking to rekindle a lost era. less...

Best Gallery BOA Award Winner

Year » 2007
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Critics Pick
Get This! Gallery
322 Peters St. 678-596-4451 http://www.getthisgallery.com GET THIS! GALLERY is a small but smartly curated space run by artist and musician Lloyd Benjamin, whose own artwork focuses on train yards. The gallery’s edgy artwork by musician Rick Froberg and train-jumping photographer Mike Brodie also keepsmore...
322 Peters St. 678-596-4451 http://www.getthisgallery.com GET THIS! GALLERY is a small but smartly curated space run by artist and musician Lloyd Benjamin, whose own artwork focuses on train yards. The gallery’s edgy artwork by musician Rick Froberg and train-jumping photographer Mike Brodie also keeps the Castleberry Hill neighborhood’s gentrifying, upscale tendencies in check. Benjamin’s eye for under-the-radar artists makes Get This! a noteworthy space with true vision. less...

Best Gallery BOA Award Winner

Year » 2007
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Critics Pick
Young Blood Boutique
636 N. Highland Ave. 404-627-0393 http://www.youngbloodgallery.com YOUNG BLOOD GALLERY has stepped it up on the national art front, mixing visiting artists with local talent that gives patrons a more comprehensive taste of what’s going on in the lowbrow art scene. The gallery’s well-curated boutiquemore...
636 N. Highland Ave. 404-627-0393 http://www.youngbloodgallery.com YOUNG BLOOD GALLERY has stepped it up on the national art front, mixing visiting artists with local talent that gives patrons a more comprehensive taste of what’s going on in the lowbrow art scene. The gallery’s well-curated boutique demonstrates its dedication to nurturing the local craft scene. It also hosts the Kraftwork event, where artists gather on the first Thursday of each month to sell their work. With a move to a new location in the works, we’re dying to see what this little-gallery-that-could pulls out of its bag of tricks next. less...

Best Gallery BOA Award Winner

Year » 2007
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Critics Pick
Beep Beep Gallery
696 Charles Allen Drive 404-429-3320 http://www.beepbeepgallery.com The BEEP BEEP GALLERY is a thumbnail-size storefront on Ponce de Leon Avenue’s dividing line between drug dealers and house-proud yuppies. A fresh new voice on the arts scene, the space has just celebrated its first year of existencemore...
696 Charles Allen Drive 404-429-3320 http://www.beepbeepgallery.com The BEEP BEEP GALLERY is a thumbnail-size storefront on Ponce de Leon Avenue’s dividing line between drug dealers and house-proud yuppies. A fresh new voice on the arts scene, the space has just celebrated its first year of existence and has made its mark with affordable art by often very emerging artists. The vibe is shaggy-cool for the YouTube and MySpace generation. Fans of the gallery’s unique countercultural groove can look forward to shows spotlighting Atlanta graffiti artists Born and Hense and a photography show to coincide with October’s Atlanta Celebrates Photography. less...

Best Local Actor BOA Award Winner

Year » 2007
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Critics Pick
Ed Helms
You might not guess that ED HELMS hails from Atlanta. Helms has specialized in the kind of swaggering false confidence that seems to define this country’s modern media, only carried to comic extremes. You imagine Helms-like characters as being cloned in factories to be America’s middle managers andmore...
You might not guess that ED HELMS hails from Atlanta. Helms has specialized in the kind of swaggering false confidence that seems to define this country’s modern media, only carried to comic extremes. You imagine Helms-like characters as being cloned in factories to be America’s middle managers and cable-news pundits, and not actually coming from real hometowns. Whether playing pugnacious dimwit Andy Bernard as a regular on NBC’s hit sitcom “The Office” less...

Best Local Author BOA Award Winner

Year » 2007
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Critics Pick
Jack Pendarvis
We’re crazy about JACK PENDARVIS. We aspire to write stories and humor pieces as clever, fresh and seemingly effortless as his Pushcart Prize-winning work. We’re thoroughly amused by his first short-story collection, The Mysterious Secret of the Valuable Treasure and this year’s follow-up, Yourmore...
We’re crazy about JACK PENDARVIS. We aspire to write stories and humor pieces as clever, fresh and seemingly effortless as his Pushcart Prize-winning work. We’re thoroughly amused by his first short-story collection, The Mysterious Secret of the Valuable Treasure and this year’s follow-up, Your Body Is Changing, particularly the title novella. We get a kick out of his blog, and can’t wait for his first novel, Awesome, to come out next year. We also think he’s a nice guy. jackpendarvis.blogspot.com less...

Best Local Blog/Zine BOA Award Winner

Year » 2007
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Critics Pick
The Signal
The dream of every young indie filmmaker came true for the directors of THE SIGNAL. Longtime local filmmakers David Bruckner, Dan Bush and Jacob Gentry banded together for a horror flick, told in three chapters, about a mysterious transmission that turns people into murderous lunatics. The Signal wasmore...
The dream of every young indie filmmaker came true for the directors of THE SIGNAL. Longtime local filmmakers David Bruckner, Dan Bush and Jacob Gentry banded together for a horror flick, told in three chapters, about a mysterious transmission that turns people into murderous lunatics. The Signal was accepted at the Sundance Film Festival, where it picked up a national distribution deal from ThinkFilm, which will release it to local theaters this fall. The initial success of The Signal is like a real-life version of Rocky (or maybe Rocky II, because Rocky lost in the first one). less...

Best Local Playwright BOA Award Winner

Year » 2007
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Critics Pick
Jean Sterrett
Playwrights usually draw attention by breaking social taboos or making splashy stylistic exercises. In her productions this year, playwright JEAN STERRETT took risks, but her plays also affirmed the nuts-and-bolts values of rich settings and complex characters. Sterrett received the Essential Theatremore...
Playwrights usually draw attention by breaking social taboos or making splashy stylistic exercises. In her productions this year, playwright JEAN STERRETT took risks, but her plays also affirmed the nuts-and-bolts values of rich settings and complex characters. Sterrett received the Essential Theatre Playwriting Award this year for Fix Me So I Can Stand, a knotty, insightful death-row drama set in South Georgia in the 1970s. Essential Theatre’s world-premiere production in the summer included a superb performance by Spencer Stephens. In Fix Me So I Can Stand - as well as Sterrett’s World War I drama The Summerhouse in April set in her native Australia and staged at Theatre Decatur - Sterrett showed such a vivid sense of place that Atlanta’s larger playhouses should give her work a look. less...

Best Local Stage Director BOA Award Winner

Year » 2007
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Critics Pick
Susan V. Booth
SUSAN V. BOOTH began her relationship with the Alliance Theatre as a freelance director, breezing in from Chicago and blowing audiences away with stunning stagings of such challenging shows as How I Learned to Drive. Since being named the Alliance’s artistic director in 2001, she’s directed smartmore...
SUSAN V. BOOTH began her relationship with the Alliance Theatre as a freelance director, breezing in from Chicago and blowing audiences away with stunning stagings of such challenging shows as How I Learned to Drive. Since being named the Alliance’s artistic director in 2001, she’s directed smart productions - including Proof and My Fair Lady - while leading Atlanta’s premiere playhouse. She’s always been reliable, but outdid herself when visiting Actor’s Express to direct Thom Pain (Based on Nothing). Booth took a potentially maddening one-man show about an evasive, self-loathing narrator (played to acerbic perfection by Chris Kayser) and made it utterly engrossing. She played no small role in the Alliance earning a Regional Theatre Tony Award this year. It’ll be fascinating to see what she does with John Patrick Shanley’s confrontational Pulitzer Prize-winner Doubt in 2008. less...

Best Male Actor BOA Award Winner

Year » 2007
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Critics Pick
Glynn Turman
As artistic director of True Colors Theatre, just as in his tenure at the Alliance Theatre, Kenny Leon brought in terrific actors from out of town. Even by the high standard he’s already set in Atlanta, he still found a standout performance with GLYNN TURMAN IN TRUE COLORS’ CEREMONIES IN DARK OLDmore...
As artistic director of True Colors Theatre, just as in his tenure at the Alliance Theatre, Kenny Leon brought in terrific actors from out of town. Even by the high standard he’s already set in Atlanta, he still found a standout performance with GLYNN TURMAN IN TRUE COLORS’ CEREMONIES IN DARK OLD MEN. Turman’s career includes the film Cooley High, TV’s “A Different World” less...

Best Male Actor BOA Award Winner

Year » 2007
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Critics Pick
Doyle Reynolds in I Am My Own Wife
The word “performance”

Best Movie Studio Shooting Flicks in Atlanta BOA Award Winner

Year » 2007
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Critics Pick
Turner Classic Movies’ “Funday Night At The Movies”
TURNER CLASSIC MOVIES’ “FUNDAY NIGHT AT THE MOVIES”

Best Patron of the Arts BOA Award Winner

Year » 2007
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Critics Pick
Art Papers
Art insiders have known for years that ART PAPERS is a local institution worth celebration for the depth of its coverage of the local scene and beyond. But the mainstream profile of the 31-year-old bimonthly art magazine has risen significantly since the arrival of Editor-in-Chief Sylvie Fortin in 2004.more...
Art insiders have known for years that ART PAPERS is a local institution worth celebration for the depth of its coverage of the local scene and beyond. But the mainstream profile of the 31-year-old bimonthly art magazine has risen significantly since the arrival of Editor-in-Chief Sylvie Fortin in 2004. And this year, the prestigious Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts awarded Art Papers a substantial $100,000 grant. www.artpapers.org less...

Best Photographer BOA Award Winner

Year » 2007
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Critics Pick
Jody Fausett
Drawing from his own Southern upbringing with a family that taxidermied for fun, JODY FAUSETT explores the uncanny line between the living and the dead in his memorable images of dead foxes, bobcats and other fauna hanging out in suburban living rooms. Fausett’s works merge a brooding sci-fi ambiancemore...
Drawing from his own Southern upbringing with a family that taxidermied for fun, JODY FAUSETT explores the uncanny line between the living and the dead in his memorable images of dead foxes, bobcats and other fauna hanging out in suburban living rooms. Fausett’s works merge a brooding sci-fi ambiance and David Lynch gothic into a haunting body of work. A fashion photographer by day who recently re-emigrated from Manhattan to the land of his birth, Fausett has milked the mysterious South for everything it’s worth. Locals appear to be paying attention, because Fausett’s photographs have received some serious play, showing up at venues across the city, including Whitespace and StudioSwan at Serenbe. less...

Best Place to Take the Kids BOA Award Winner

Year » 2007
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Critics Pick
Atlanta Contemporary Art Center
535 Means St. 404-688-1970 http://www.thecontemporary.org Anyone who

Best Play BOA Award Winner

Year » 2007
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Critics Pick
Neal Ghant
In David Mamet’s crass classic Glengarry Glen Ross, Ricky Roma rules the roost as the alpha male real-estate salesman. Roma’s been famously portrayed by such tough Italian-Americans as Joe Mantegna and Al Pacino. At the Alliance Hertz Stage’s production of Glengarry Glen Ross, African-Americanmore...
In David Mamet’s crass classic Glengarry Glen Ross, Ricky Roma rules the roost as the alpha male real-estate salesman. Roma’s been famously portrayed by such tough Italian-Americans as Joe Mantegna and Al Pacino. At the Alliance Hertz Stage’s production of Glengarry Glen Ross, African-American actor NEAL GHANT redefined the role, embodying the character’s challenge to the old-guard power structure without ever making the casting seem like a gimmick. Ghant played another young Turk in Mamet’s comedy A Life in the Theatre for Theatre in the Square, and proved similarly deft at alternating between menace, respect and a mesmerizing ability to “sell” less...

Best Play BOA Award Winner

Year » 2007
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Critics Pick
Tales of Edgar Allen Poe
Sometimes the Center for Puppetry Arts feels less like a playhouse than a haunted house. Spooky stuff seems to get the puppeteers’ creative juices flowing, notably with last year’s delightful Halloween show The Ghastly Dreadfuls’ Compendium of Graveyard Tales and Other Curiosities (to be remountedmore...
Sometimes the Center for Puppetry Arts feels less like a playhouse than a haunted house. Spooky stuff seems to get the puppeteers’ creative juices flowing, notably with last year’s delightful Halloween show The Ghastly Dreadfuls’ Compendium of Graveyard Tales and Other Curiosities (to be remounted this year). Even more impressive, though, was Bobby Box’s macabre tour through the work of one of America’s most famous writers in TALES OF EDGAR ALLEN POE. Staged in January, the production captured the rolling cadences of Poe’s verse and the grisly punch lines of his most notorious stories, while the sets and puppet designs offered gothic splendors like you’ve never seen. The play ended with a pair of blood-drenched hands, brought together to represent the fiendish fowl from “The Raven,” less...

Best Public Art/Artwork BOA Award Winner

Year » 2007
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Critics Pick
Dennis Oppenheim’s Alternative Land Art
1600 Peachtree St. 404-253-2700 http://www.scad.edu Since May, it’s been easy to count yourself fortunate if you get stuck in traffic on Peachtree Street in front of the Savannah College of Art and Design. Atlanta motorists who are typically deprived of contemporary art could view the internationallymore...
1600 Peachtree St. 404-253-2700 http://www.scad.edu Since May, it’s been easy to count yourself fortunate if you get stuck in traffic on Peachtree Street in front of the Savannah College of Art and Design. Atlanta motorists who are typically deprived of contemporary art could view the internationally known New York conceptualist and land artist DENNIS OPPENHEIM’S ALTERNATIVE LAND ART. The exhibition, a forest of “trash” less...

Best Theater Company BOA Award Winner

Year » 2007
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Critics Pick
Alliance Theatre
1280 Peachtree St. Woodruff Arts Center 404-733-5000 http://www.alliancetheatre.org National arts journalists often write about Atlanta as a

Best Visual Artist (Emerging) BOA Award Winner

Year » 2007
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Critics Pick
Fahamu Pecou
Providing a welcome infusion of humor into the city’s art scene, FAHAMU PECOU was one of the standout artists in this year’s eclectic Talent Show at the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center. With the humor of a comedian and the peacock attitude of a hip-hop star, Pecou produced a “60 Minutes”more...
Providing a welcome infusion of humor into the city’s art scene, FAHAMU PECOU was one of the standout artists in this year’s eclectic Talent Show at the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center. With the humor of a comedian and the peacock attitude of a hip-hop star, Pecou produced a “60 Minutes” less...

Best Visual Artist (Established) BOA Award Winner

Year » 2007
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Critics Pick
Radcliffe Bailey
He could easily rest on his laurels - the collection at the High Museum and a retrospective at the Birmingham Museum of Art - and rely on his frequent shows at New York’s Jack Shainman Gallery. But Atlanta-based artist RADCLIFFE BAILEY delved into new territory with his collaborative installationmore...
He could easily rest on his laurels - the collection at the High Museum and a retrospective at the Birmingham Museum of Art - and rely on his frequent shows at New York’s Jack Shainman Gallery. But Atlanta-based artist RADCLIFFE BAILEY delved into new territory with his collaborative installation projects this year at Solomon Projects and Clark Atlanta University Art Galleries. He also collaborated with Alejandro Aguilera for a show at Emory University’s Visual Arts Gallery. Bailey even showed off some of his own art collection this year when he loaned photographs by Mali portraitist Malick Sidible to the High Museum. http://www.solomonprojects.com/artistpage/bailey/about.html less...

Best Visual Artist (Established) BOA Award Winner

Year » 2007
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Critics Pick
Suellen Parker
With her work regularly featured on the cover of the New York Times magazine, Decatur photographer SUELLEN PARKER has an innovative style that melds sculpture and computer-manipulated imagery. Parker’s photographs of humanoid creatures offer eerie commentary on topics that range from our perverse culturemore...
With her work regularly featured on the cover of the New York Times magazine, Decatur photographer SUELLEN PARKER has an innovative style that melds sculpture and computer-manipulated imagery. Parker’s photographs of humanoid creatures offer eerie commentary on topics that range from our perverse culture of beauty to human loneliness. With disquieting content and technique to burn, she’s one of the city’s most visible - and most interesting - artists. www.suellenparker.com less...

Best Visual Artist (Established) BOA Award Winner

Year » 2007
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen » Critics Pick
Daniel Bozhov and Greta Pratt at the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center
535 Means St. 404-688-1970 http://www.thecontemporary.org This past year, Atlanta welcomed DANIEL BOZHKOV AND GRETA PRATT AT THE ATLANTA CONTEMPORARY ART CENTER. The result was a slightly wacky, smart and eye-catching show that promised more good things to come from this important Atlanta art center.more...
535 Means St. 404-688-1970 http://www.thecontemporary.org This past year, Atlanta welcomed DANIEL BOZHKOV AND GRETA PRATT AT THE ATLANTA CONTEMPORARY ART CENTER. The result was a slightly wacky, smart and eye-catching show that promised more good things to come from this important Atlanta art center. Bozhkov, a Bulgarian artist, offered a wiseacre conceptualism. He captured himself in Darth Vader garb, painted a mural at a Wal-Mart and bottled the scent of Ernest Hemingway in a cologne. His work was paired up beautifully with Pratt’s photographic portraits of Abraham Lincoln impersonators. less...

BOA Award Winner

Year » 2007
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » Cityscape
Peachtree Road Race
Nope, it’s not what you’re thinking. Although it, too, is on Peachtree Street. It involves a cast of about 55,000 people performing on a 6.2-mile-long stage, all wearing very similar costumes. (Except for the totally hot firemen who run in full regalia and make everyone a little jealous.) Nothingmore...
Nope, it’s not what you’re thinking. Although it, too, is on Peachtree Street. It involves a cast of about 55,000 people performing on a 6.2-mile-long stage, all wearing very similar costumes. (Except for the totally hot firemen who run in full regalia and make everyone a little jealous.) Nothing makes me happier about being an Atlantan than running the Peachtree Road Race. It creates a kind of instant community that begins when you pass fellow trainers on the street the weekends before the race, continues as you sit with fellow carb loaders at the pasta place of your choice the night before, and totally explodes on the Fourth of July. From the 65-year-old sweaty guy running Cardiac Crest backwards so he can better advise the twentysomethings behind him about how to pace themselves, to the always fantastic percussion-and-dance ensemble cheering runners in front of MOCA GA, to the overgrown frat boys alternating water stops with beer chugs you can’t write characters that good. ” As told to Curt Holman” less...

BOA Award Winner

Year » 2007
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » Cityscape
Adult Swim
I love the fact that ADULT SWIM is located here, not only because I often find myself gainfully involved in some of its projects (like composing multiple songs for ‘12 oz. Mouse,’ appearing in commercials for ‘Aqua Teen Hunger Force’ and acting in a soon-to-be-released live-action series), butmore...
I love the fact that ADULT SWIM is located here, not only because I often find myself gainfully involved in some of its projects (like composing multiple songs for ‘12 oz. Mouse,’ appearing in commercials for ‘Aqua Teen Hunger Force’ and acting in a soon-to-be-released live-action series), but because Adult Swim is one of Turner’s coolest programming ideas. Adult Swim also employs some of the country’s most talented comedic writers and animators who often branch out to produce their own interesting independent films. You can find crazy film projects from the likes of ‘Aqua Teen’ creators Matt Maiellaro and Dave Willis on SuperDeluxe.com. ‘Aqua Teen’ producer/editor Jay Edwards has produced and directed several film projects including his latest,”Stomp! Shout! Scream!” I love anything that nurtures this kind of local talent, and Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim proves especially to be just that kind of mother. ” As told to David Lee Simmons” less...

BOA Award Winner

Year » 2007
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » Poets, Artists, & Madmen
Dad’s Garage
I grew up with a love of theater. My mother was a theater major in college and would take me to New York every year to catch a show. I studied theater at a small college outside Boston and after moving to Atlanta in 1994, even tried out for an improv troupe. It was the most horrifying experience of mymore...
I grew up with a love of theater. My mother was a theater major in college and would take me to New York every year to catch a show. I studied theater at a small college outside Boston and after moving to Atlanta in 1994, even tried out for an improv troupe. It was the most horrifying experience of my life, because I wasn’t prepared. And after catching DAD’S GARAGE THEATRE with some friends, I became a huge fan. Once they did a stage production of “Debbie Does Dallas”. You just have to love the idea of doing a porno on stage knowing they’re not going to do anything on stage; it had these great jokes about the porno industry including, of course, bad acting. There’s no theater district in Atlanta, but there are so many of these hidden gems that some people don’t know about. In Atlanta, there’s always something cool going on; you just have to look a little harder to find it. But places like Dad’s Garage are worth the search. ” As told to David Lee Simmons” less...

 

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