Not to worry, parents.
Tellus Science Center’s RockFest, June 8 and 9, has nothing to do with the long-awaited (at least by some feverish keepers of the heavy-metal flame) reunion of Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath and other dinosaurs of rock that reemerge to conquer American amphitheaters every summer.
RockFest, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. both days, is quite the family-friendly affair, a show featuring 30 dealers selling gems, minerals, fossils, jewelry and more, accompanied by a host of children’s activities. Items for sale range from $2 rocks that budding geologists will want to collect to rings and necklaces different from the usual jewelry-store stock.
RockFest also has experts available to help identify meteorites and other mysterious treasures you may have collected. An outdoor rock wall is new this year.
More than 3,000 typically attend RockFest, which was held for more than two decades at the science center’s precursor, the Weinman Mineral Museum.
100 Tellus Drive (Exit 293 off I-75), Cartersville. 770-606-5700, www.tellusmuseum.org.
THEATER
Ukulele Orchestra pulls satiric strings
The fancifully named New York City-based theater company the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Brooklyn, which tailors its touring show “Missionary in Manhattan” to whatever city it’s playing, has a secret weapon for its Atlanta stop on June 9.
Atlanta native Kaleigh Malloy is a co-creator and part of the ensemble, if the only one who doesn’t call Brooklyn home (she’s moving from Philadelphia to Manhattan this summer).
Malloy, 25, has helped localize the marriage-lampooning musical about three sister-wives attempting to track down their husband, who may or may not have left them for his vocal coach, Gerard. (Got that?) In the version to be performed at the Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta, the characters have taken up in an abandoned Blockbuster in Dunwoody, ride MARTA and pursue a tip that their hubby has gotten an internship at the Midtown gay club Swinging Richards.
Malloy said “Missionary in Manhattan” “celebrates individualism and staying true to yourself when the world as you know it gets turned upside down.”
A portion of ticket sales ($20; $10 students) to the 3 p.m. performance will benefit the theater department at Malloy’s alma mater, North Springs Charter High School. In fact, other North Springs Charter alumni will perform a variety show before the Ukulele Orchestra takes the stage.
5342 Tilly Mill Road, Dunwoody. 678-812-4002, www.greatuke.com.
Leadership change for Theater of the Stars
Theater of the Stars announced a leadership change last week, with president Nicholas F. Manos resigning to focus on an executive producer role over touring productions of “Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story” and “Irving Berlin’s White Christmas.”
Vice president and general manager Brian D. Frey and CFO Robert A. Browne Jr. will lead the organization through the transition. Founder Christopher B. Manos continues as producer.
Theater of the Stars opens its 2013-14 season with the Buddy Holly musical at the Fox Theatre, July 9-14. www.theaterofthestars.com.
VISUAL ART
Swan Coach House gets crafty
The Swan Coach House Gallery transforms into something of a shop for its third annual “Summer Swan Invitational” showcasing contemporary Southern pottery and handmade objects.
Opening with a 6-9 p.m. June 6 reception, the exhibit runs through Aug. 10. But unlike typical Swan exhibits, buyers can take their purchases home with them instead of waiting for the show’s end. As they do, new works will be put on view.
Curator Marianne Lambert has selected a range of functional pottery for cooking and serving as well as decorative clay pieces, many featuring brightly colored glazes. The handmade, three-dimensional objects on view in the gallery include pieces made of wood, metal, glass, cement, sculpted clay, felt, crochet and knitting. Handmade totems will be shown outside the gallery entrance.
10 a.m-4 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays. 3130 Slaton Drive, Atlanta. 404-266-2636, www.swancoachhouse.com/gallery.
High installs installation works
Those interested in installation art will find interesting pieces newly on view at the High Museum of Art: Alfredo Jaar’s “The Fire Next Time” and “Drawing Instruments: Al Taylor’s Endcuts and Bat Parts.”
Last shown in 2005, Jaar’s work was the artist’s response to the racial inequality he observed when he moved to New York from his native Chile in 1981. In a precarious fashion, Jaar stacked large light boxes that illuminate enlarged and fractured photographs of civil rights demonstrations.
Taylor explores visual perception — the exchange between two-and-three-dimensional form — in “Endcuts” and “Bat Parts.” For instance, “Bat Parts II” (1994) incorporates a dissected aluminum baseball bat that the artist suspended from different gauges of metal wire. The piece gives the illusion that it is hovering unaided in mid-air even as the wires and their shadows create three-dimensional drawings in space.
The works are on view on the Wieland Pavilion's Skyway Level through Aug. 25. 1280 Peachtree St., Atlanta. 404-733-4444, www.high.org.
Contemporary’s Art Party to return in fall
For those of you who like to plan ahead, and we mean way ahead, mark your calendar for Oct. 19 for the return of the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center’s Art Party after an 11 year-hiatus. Some might remember the scene that Art Party used to be, and the Contemporary is hoping to rekindle that spirit with plenty of food, drink and, of course, art, both performance and exhibition.
The restart of Art Party marks the center's 40th anniversary. The party, during with facility renovations will be unveiled, goes from 7 p.m. until midnight. 404-688-1970, info@thecontemporary.org. ROSALIND BENTLEY
