“Every production at Actor’s Express is designed to ignite something inside you. Our lineup of plays, musicals, concerts and digital content celebrate the breadth of the human experience.”
Freddie Ashley
Artistic Director of Actor’s Express
Marlon Andrew Burnley in Red Speedo (2021). Photo by Casey Gardner Ford.
After a year of virtual programming, Actor’s Express is ready to announce its return to the stage! Season 34 is full of dynamic, entertaining work, including a World Premiere and a co-production with Oglethorpe University Theatre. This is the moment we’ve all been waiting for…
February 6-23, 2025
Queen Marie Antoinette is a product of unadulterated extravagance and indulgence. However, things turn sour when the royal family’s popularity plummets and salacious rumors about Marie clang through the streets of France to the thrum of revolution; the clinking of crystal glasses devolves into the clatter of the guillotine. In this hilarious and audacious take on history’s most provocative icon, this young queen’s survival will hardly be a piece of a cake.
March 20 - April 19, 2025
Lincoln and Booth, African-American brothers, were named by their father as a sick joke. The two hustle for work, one to the tune of Three-Card Monte and the other working as Abraham Lincoln at an arcade. Cast in a life of poverty and violence, the legacy of their namesakes on their backs, these brothers battle more than mere sibling rivalry.
Sponsored by Counter Narrative Project
May 22-June 22, 2025
Set in 1964 at St.Nicholas Church School in the Bronx, the highly traditional and inflexible Sister Aloysius Beauvier becomes suspicious of the charming, progressive Father Flynn’s intentions with a student. Sister Aloysius is unwavering in her belief of Father Flynn’s wrongdoings, but for those around her the babble of lies and truths and questions and secrets lead them only to a place of doubt. John Patrick Shanley’s gripping play leaves audiences full of questions even until the last four chilling words.
Sponsored by Bruce Cohen
July 24-August 31, 2025
Frustrated with his day job ushering for Broadway musicals, a young, gay, Black writer decides to write a musical about a young, gay, Black writer who decides to write a musical about a young, gay, Black writer. Stuck in this “strange loop,” Usher takes us on a kaleidoscopic journey of identity, desire and self acceptance – backed up by an ensemble of voices who call it like they see it. By turns thought provoking and hilarious, A Strange Loop is a groundbreaking piece of theatre that won literally every Best Musical award on Broadway.
October 2-26, 2025
Everyone who ever died is still here – and Linda says she knows how to talk to all of them. Maybe you can too if you listen, if you really listen. In this startling thriller by the celebrated playwright of The Christians and A Doll’s House Part 2, Actor’s Express transforms into an intimate, eerie séance in which the truth burrows into the “thin place,” the delicate boundary between our world and the next.
Sponsored by Chris Schnieder
After a year of virtual programming, Actor’s Express is ready to announce its return to the stage! Season 34 is full of dynamic, entertaining work, including a World Premiere and a co-production with Oglethorpe University Theatre. This is the moment we’ve all been waiting for…
January 29 - March 8, 2026
It’s 1934 in Duluth, Minnesota and a group of restless travelers find respite from the Great Depression in a modest boarding house— a place where love and loss intertwine, and where music, resilience and hope breathe life into their weary spirits. Connor McPherson daringly transforms the cherished songs of Bob Dylan, weaving them into a tale as breathtaking as the tunes that underscore it.
April 9 - May 3, 2026
Breakups are never fun. It’s easy to romanticize all of the good times: star-gazing, waxing poetic about literature, that instant spark the first time your hands brushed. It’s even easier to forget about all of the bad times, like when they ghosted you after the perfect first date, or that one time you woke up in a shallow grave. From the brilliant mind behind Mercury and Pluto, Atlanta’s own Steve Yockey brings us another celestial, pitch-black comedy where two women learn that true love isn’t the only thing that bonds two people together…forever.
June 4 - 28, 2026
Dr. Vivian Bearing has spent her life mastering the art of intellect but keeping the world at arm’s length. When an unexpected diagnosis of ovarian cancer shatters the careful structure of her life, Vivian is confronted with questions that require a level of vulnerability that she has long avoided. What unfolds is a journey marked by courage, piercing wit, and unexpected grace, revealing the transformative humanity within her.
August 6 - 30, 2026
Pharus struggles to find his place at The Charles R. Drew Prep School for Boys, an esteemed institution committed to shaping the future of young Black men. This year, however, his talent has earned him the honor of leading the school’s renowned choir—an opportunity that calls upon him to be a leader to his peers, and earn the respect he so craves. Tarrell Alvin McCraney, the Oscar-winning writer of Moonlight, weaves together joyous gospel music with a coming-of-age story unlike any that you’ve witnessed before.
October 1 - 25, 2026
Millie and her partner Avery have landed back in Millie’s hometown of Mobile, Alabama, while Avery recovers from gender-affirming top surgery. Things spiral out of control when a nosy, evangelical family friend mistakes Avery’s top surgery to be a battle with breast cancer and makes a GoFundMe for the couple (all in the name of the good Lord, of course). Suddenly, Avery and Millie find themselves at the center of small-town gossip, flooded with donations they never asked for. As they wrestle with the decision to accept this money, they must decide if being unapologetically themselves comes with a price tag.
Loved Season 37? Now’s the chance to get your subscription for our five-show Season 38 at a discounted price!
Purchase a Standard Subscription for $199 and enjoy the convenience of one ticket per subscriber, plus the perk of a buddy pass to bring along a friend of your choice!
Level up with our All Access Pass for $214 and enjoy being a VIP with one ticket to the opening night of every show in our season, along with the exclusive ability to return to as many performances as your please; give us a call to our box office!
Wanna stay in the loop?
Join our class email list and stay up to date on education at AE.
EDUCATION AT AE
BEGINNER COSTUME DESIGN WITH APRIL CARSWELL
Mondays, April 28-June 2
7:00 PM-8:30 PM
Unleash your creativity in this hands-on class exploring the art of costume design! Learn how costumes bring characters to life through fabric, color, and storytelling. Learn from the Suzi award winning costume designer, April Andrew Carswell, whose work you may have seen in AE’s productions of An Octoroon, Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, Head Over Heels and Hedwig and the Angry Inch!
Freddie's Playlist: Divas and Icons
April 12 at 7:30PM
This fundraising cabaret stars top Atlanta talent and a setlist featuring hits by your favorite Divas and Icons curated by Freddie Ashley! Tickets are on sale now, and you can enjoy discounted tickets for just $45 when you purchase before March 26!
SEASON 38 GALA
To the benefit of ACTOR'S EXPRESS
Join us on November 8, 2025, at 7 PM for a special night of celebration to ring in the new season at Actor’s Express. Enjoy food, drinks, a fabulous cabaret curated by Artistic Director Freddie Ashley, and get ready to raise some funds to support your favorite Atlanta theatre.
Don’t miss this FEARLESS party!
All gala tickets include reserved table seating, complimentary drinks throughout the night, and a fabulous dinner.
VIP tables of 2, 6, or 10 with individual service are available by emailing [email protected] or calling 404-607-7469.
To donate an item to an auction or sponsor the event, please email [email protected].
To donate an item to an auction or sponsor the event, please email [email protected].
CONSTRUCTING DANCE
To benefit ACTOR'S EXPRESS
Join us on November 9, 2024 at 7 PM for a special night of celebration to ring in the new season at Actor’s Express. Enjoy food, drinks, a fabulous cabaret curated by Artistic Director Freddie Ashley, and get ready to raise some funds to support your favorite Atlanta theatre.
Don’t miss this FEARLESS party!
All gala tickets include reserved table seating, complimentary drinks throughout the night and fabulous dinner.
VIP tables of 2, 6, or 10 with individual service are available by emailing [email protected] or calling 404-607-7469.
Bidding is open to non-ticket holders and new items will be added daily. Bidding closes at 8 PM on 11/9.
LIKE FREE THEATRE?
THE CYCLE BREAKERS
August 26, 2024 @ 7 PM
The AE Apprentice Company presents a new play for their final hurrah! This is a free, non-ticketed event. Seating is first come, first serve!
A CABARET CONTEST
COSTUME CONTEST
AUGUST 1, 2024 @ 7PM
Come in your best Sally Bowles, Emcee, or Kit Kat Club outfit to win a free Season 37 Subscription and a drink ticket! For inspiration, click below to check out the Cabaret costume sketches by our designer, Nicole Cockel.
- If participating, you MUST check in at 6:40 PM with Amanda Washington at the box office
- Register for the contest in advance when purchasing your ticket and get 10% off your ticket with code KITKAT10
- All participants will receive premium seating
BRR-LESQUE WINTER SPECTACULAR
WITH THE CANDYBOX REVUE
December 6, 2025
8:00 PM
It’s time to slip into a scandalously festive burlesque show with The Candybox Revue! We’re serving glitz, giggles, and the kind of wintery holiday magic you definitely won’t find at the mall. It’s old-school glamour meets cheeky holiday cheer: one part tease, two parts twinkle, and a generous splash of rhinestones and peppermint perfection!
OLIVE & AGATHA'S
A GAY IN A MANGER
December 12-13, 2025
8:00 PM
Back again after their sold-out AE debut in 2025, the
hilarious “Olive & Agatha’s A Gay in a Manger” is not your
Sunday school nativity play.
Can you imagine two drag queens spending the night in a manger? Where would the wigs sleep? This evening of campy fun includes an irreverent retelling of the Nativity, brilliant improvisation, rousing musical numbers, and an audience game to find out who’s been “Naughty” and who’s been “Nice.”
LIBBY'S AT THE EXPRESS:
HO, HO, HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS AND A CONNIE SURE DAY CHRISTMAS
December 18-21
Thurs-Sat at 7:30 PM
Sun at 2:00 PM
The legendary Libby Whittemore is back at the Express with her annual holiday show Ho, Ho, Home for the Holidays and A Connie Sue Day Christmas. She is joined by the hilarious Connie Sue Day (the 31st Lady of Country Music) for one of Atlanta’s favorite holiday traditions.
LIBBY'S
AT THE EXPRESS
LIBBY COPY
