WABE Arts

🎭 Georgia Tech historian Matthew Hild spent years researching the woman behind the pop star — and he argues the most iconic thing Olivia Newton-John ever did wasn’t star in “Grease” or sing “Physical.” It was the cancer treatment center she fought to build in Australia, which now draws patients from around the world. Hild talks with WABE Arts and Culture Editor Sherri Daye Scott about why John Travolta compared Newton-John’s star power to Taylor Swift’s, how “Grease” erased her country music legacy, and the Atlanta ties that thread through her story. 🎵 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

🎭 Shakespeare’s “Macbeth,” reimagined as a ’90s sitcom, staged outdoors in a Georgia meadow. Producer Lena deLoache had never produced live theatre outside before writer and director Erin Stegeman invited her to help bring “M.A.C.B.E.T.H.” to life at Art Farm at Serenbe in Chattahoochee Hills. The world premiere opened May 8 and runs through May 17. deLoache talks with WABE Arts and Culture Editor Sherri Daye Scott about what the show actually is and what staging a world premiere outdoors in May in Georgia demands — technically, physically, and creatively. 🎭 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

🧵 Atlanta fiber artist Honey Pierre’s solo show “Notions” opened May 2 at One Contemporary Gallery, a survey of six years of work tracing her practice from canvas to punch needle and back to paper. Pierre talks with WABE Arts and Culture Editor Sherri Daye Scott about what people will find when they walk through the door, how she picked up punch-needle on YouTube during the pandemic, and what it means to be part of bringing a craft into fine-art spaces. Plus, One Contemporary Gallery Director and Curator Faron Manuel on why the title “Notions” fits and what the show reveals about where the textile art movement is headed.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

🎭 Atlanta Ballet opens the East Coast premiere of "Frida," a full-length narrative ballet about the life of Frida Kahlo, May 8–10 at Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre. Choreographer Annabelle Lopez Ochoa talks with WABE Arts and Culture Editor Sherri Daye Scott about how she put Kahlo's pain, resilience, and artistic legacy into movement. Plus, Fernanda Cámara of the Consulate General of Mexico in Atlanta on what the world gets wrong about Frida and what this production gets right.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

🎬 The Atlanta Film Festival marks its 50th anniversary this year Executive Director Chris Escobar traces how a short film by Ray McKinnon and Walton Goggins won the 2001 festival, qualified for the Oscars — and launched careers still building today. Plus: what Escobar says Atlanta needs to invest in to become a world-class festival city. 🎧See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

🎹 Eight-time Grammy winner Jon Batiste opens his 2026 Fantastical Tour Saturday at Chastain Park with the Atlanta Pops Orchestra, a rare orchestral date. He tells WABE Arts what keeps him grounded on the road, why all music is folk music, and what Atlanta means to him. 🎧See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

🌳 The neighbors called it the Tree House before Colin Sutter ever moved in. Built in 1999, 231 DeGress Avenue is one of Inman Park's few modern homes: four stories, floor-to-ceiling windows, trees close enough to touch from inside. It has never been on the Inman Park Festival Tour of Homes. Until now. WABE Arts and Culture Editor Sherri Daye Scott talks with co-owner Sutter about the house, a garden with a story, what keeps two Chicagoans rooted in Atlanta and what made them take part in the 2026 Inman Park Festival Tour of Homes. 🎧 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

🎧 She's back. Beloved City Lights host and public radio legend Lois Reitzes returns to WABE for a special conversation with conductor Robert Spano ahead of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra's America @ 250 concert series. Spano reflects on the music, the moment, and what it means to mark 250 years of American history through live performance. The ASO's America @ 250 runs April 30 – May 2 and May 7 – 9. 🎭See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

🎭 Seven years after her first turn as Ruth Younger, actor Isa Miles is back in Lorraine Hansberry's "A Raisin in the Sun.” She says the intervening years have given her something new to bring to the role. Miles speaks with WABE Arts and Culture Editor Sherri Daye Scott about returning to one of American theater's most iconic characters, why the play's themes remain universal, and what it means to lay yourself bare on stage. The Black Renaissance Arts Collective presents the production Apr. 24–26 at the Porter Sanford Arts and Community Center in Decatur. 🎧See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

🎭 A Roswell High School senior won Georgia's top poetry competition — and Walt Whitman helped her do it. Rory Berg, the 2026 Poetry Out Loud Georgia state champion, talks with WABE Arts about the Whitman poem that sealed her win, what drew her to the competition as an actor, and the new poems she's bringing to the Poetry Out Loud National Finals in Washington, D.C., April 27–29. 🎧See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A unique garden experience is blooming in Kennesaw this month. Kennesaw State University’s Department of Theatre and Performance Studies is partnering with the City of Kennesaw and Smith-Gilbert Gardens on ‘The Beauty Project: Through the Looking Glass’ — an immersive production for young audiences performed by college students. Sherri Daye Scott talks with KSU professors and co-directors Nikki Adkins and Emily Kitchens, and Smith-Gilbert Gardens Education and Exhibits Manager Vanita Keswani, to find out what happens when a university, a city, and a garden decide to make theatre together.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From Clark Atlanta University student to Netflix leading lady, actress Taylor Polidore Williams has quickly garnered a worldwide fanbase for her role of Kimmy in Tyler Perry's hit streaming drama, "Beauty in Black." She recently spoke with WABE Arts contributor Kenny Murry on Atlanta's music, culture and what's next down the road on her bucket list.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Emmy and Golden Globe winner S. Epatha Merkerson stopped by WABE Studios after receiving the Black Women Film Network's On Her Shoulders Preservation Award and ahead of a special exhibit at Atlanta's Apex Museum showcasing costumes from her role as Sharon Goodwin on NBC's "Chicago Med." She talked with WABE Arts editor Sherri Daye Scott about what the honors mean, why Atlanta's creative scene is "jumping," and what still surprises her after four decades in the business. The Apex Museum exhibit runs through AprilSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

enty years after Gordon Parks documented the segregated South for Life Magazine, more than 40 of those photographs are coming to Atlanta. Jackson Fine Art co-owner Anna Walker Skillman traces the gallery's decade-long relationship with the Gordon Parks Foundation — from a meeting in Paris in 2011 to this landmark exhibition, curated by MacArthur Fellow Dawoud Bey. On view at Jackson Fine Art in Buckhead through June 13, 2026.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As Women's History Month comes to a close, Atlanta artist/activist and Living Walls co-founder Monica Campana shares how Mexican painter Frida Kahlo saved her life. Campana , who moved to the U.S. from Peru at 15, her the story of identity, displacement, and why stepping out of her front door is an act of resistance with with WABE Arts and Culture Editor Sherri Daye Scott . 🎧See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

🎭 Spring arrives with live music at sunset on Callanwolde's estate grounds. WABE Arts and Culture Editor Sherri Daye Scott talks with Executive Director Andrew Keenan and Operations Director Adam Faust about the 2026 Spring Concert Series: sixteen artists across four outdoor nights, running through May 8th. The lineup spans blues, soul, Americana, jazz, and classic pop.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

onne Warwick has been making hits for nearly six decades — and she's not done yet. Ahead of her March 20 performance at Atlanta Symphony Hall, the six-time Grammy winner and 2023 Kennedy Center honoree sits down for WABE Arts' "What's Feeding You?" series. She talks classic TV, a new album of Diane Warren songs with emerging artists, and a long-awaited collaboration with Earth, Wind and Fire that is finally in the works.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What happens when a world-class cultural destination decides Atlanta is its next partner? 🎧 Meryanne Loum-Martin built Jnane Tamsna, an acclaimed nine-acre boutique hotel in Marrakech, into a gathering place for the global Black diaspora. Now she's bringing that vision to Atlanta. If you care about Black cultural leadership, global art, and what it looks like to build real economic ecosystems across continents, this conversation is for you. WABE Arts host Sherri Daye Scott speaks with Loum-Martin about the Atlanta artists whose work hangs in her hotel, the impromptu 95-person party that started it all, and why she launched the Diaspora Salon, an annual gathering of thinkers, artists, and entrepreneurs from 27 countries. Plus: her plans for a Black-owned boutique hotel brand and HBCU pipeline she wants to build with Atlanta at the center. Listen now and follow WABE Arts on your favorite podcast platform for more conversations at the intersection of Atlanta and the world.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Cultural icon Fab Five Freddy brings his debut memoir, "Everybody's Fly" to Atlanta's Tara Theatre. He spoke WABE's Sherri Daye Scott about the worlds that shaped him, bridging hip-hop and downtown New York's art scene, and the curiosity that drove it all. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

️ A wealthy family. A 10-acre farm in Cherokee County, Georgia. And a murder. Award-winning CBS News correspondent Peter Van Sant covered the Farris family murder case for "48 Hours,” now he’s going deeper with his new six-episode podcast, “Blood Is Thicker: The Farris Wheel.”  WABE Arts & Culture Editor Sherri Daye Scott talked with Van Sant about what drew him to the case, what the podcast format unlocks that television couldn’t, and how 42 years of hard-news journalism shape his approach to true crime storytelling. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Boris Kodjoe has spent 25 years building a career between Hollywood and the world — from “Madea’s Family Reunion” and “House of Cards” to the Full Circle Festival in Ghana to the Kodjoe Family Foundation. At the United Way of Greater Atlanta’s 10th Annual African-American Partnership Leadership Luncheon, he sat down with WABE Arts & Culture Editor Sherri Daye Scott for our What’s Feeding You? series — on what grounds him, what he tells young people about community, and why giving to others is the thing we talk about least and need most.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Playwright Beth Hyland on ‘Fires, Ohio,’ a Chekhov-inspired world premiere at Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre through March 22.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lunar New Year celebrations often center family traditions, but Atlanta’s Asian American Advocacy Fund is planning a nightlife-style take. WABE Arts & Culture Editor Sherri Daye Scott speaks with Nicole Kang about “Bet on Your Future,” a Feb. 27 casino night at The Supermarket in Atlanta featuring live music, games, local AAPI businesses and an art showcase with 13 Asian American artists.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

🎭 The Atlanta Opera has broken ground on a new home along the Atlanta Beltline: the Molly Blank Center for Opera and the Arts, backed by a $27.5 million leadership gift from The Arthur M. Blank Foundation. WABE Arts & Culture Editor Sherri Daye Scott spoke with Atlanta Opera general and artistic director Tomer Zvulun inside the historic Bobby Jones Clubhouse minutes before the ceremony. He explains how the design aims to “break the boundaries of opera,” why the building will be built in dialogue with nature, and what it means for the company to become a highly visible part of Atlanta’s cultural landscape. 🎧See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

SCAD’s annual Black History Month concert, “BAM! — Black Artists in Music,” is back. This year’s concert centers on Black love, pairing student performers with guest artists, including Grammy-nominated Avery Wilson and Tony-nominated Amber Iman, for a show designed to land as both performance and collective release.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Atlanta’s Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs has issued two big signals: expanded city arts funding and the newly announced 2026 Atlanta Jazz Festival lineup. WABE Arts & Culture Editor Sherri Daye Scott talks with Executive Director Adriane Jefferson about her first year in the role — from distributing more than $2 million in grants to building a community-shaped creative action plan. Jefferson also explains why she wants an Atlanta Creative Summit, what “cultural equity” looks like as a group project, and why arts advocacy can’t live only inside City Hall. Podcast Tags / Keywords: Adriane Jefferson, Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs, City of Atlanta, Atlanta arts funding, Atlanta Jazz Festival 2026, cultural equity, creative action plan, Atlanta Creative Summit, arts advocacy, WABE Arts, Sherri Daye ScottSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Broadway classics, reimagined in Atlanta. “Broadway Sideways” comes to the William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum, featuring members of the Atlanta Gay Men’s Chorus and Atlanta Women’s Chorus performing songs by Broadway composers in unconventional casting. Musical director Jason Wynn and Breman executive director Leslie Gordon discuss representation, partnership and how Atlanta’s arts community continues to collaborate in new waysSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When “School Daze” premiered in 1988, it was controversial before most audiences ever saw it. Written and directed by Spike Lee, the satirical, music-driven film examines life at Mission College, a fictional historically Black campus, and sparked debate among HBCU leadership even before cameras rolled. Why ‘School Daze’ faced pushback before filming Some administrators objected to the film’s portrayal of campus politics, colorism, and internal conflict, concerns that ultimately shaped where and how the movie was filmed. “It wasn’t a little bit,” Lee said of the reaction at the time. He pointed to Hugh Gloster, who was then president of Morehouse College. “He refused to let us shoot on campus. Also, Spelman said, ‘Hell no.’” Denied permission to film at his alma mater and at Spelman, Lee instead shot much of “School Daze” on the campus of what is now Clark Atlanta University, as well as at Morris Brown CollegeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After nearly five decades of publishing contemporary art criticism from Atlanta outward, Art Papers is preparing for its final year. WABE Arts & Culture editor Sherri Daye Scott speaks with executive and artistic director Sarah Higgins about how the publication is choosing to “end well” — from planning its final issue to preserving its archive and creating space for reflection ahead of 2026. 🎭See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ahead of a special screening at Art Farm at Serenbe, WABE Arts goes inside AILEY, the documentary that reconnects choreographer Alvin Ailey to his life, voice, and legacy. Director Jamila Wignot and former Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater company member and educator Nasha Thomas reflect on hearing Ailey in his own words, the role of rehearsal as sacred space, and why Atlanta audiences have long embraced his workSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Quiet mornings, creative resets, and playful reinvention. As Pete the Cat takes the stage at the Center for Puppetry Arts, creator James Dean joins WABE Arts to talk about working in silence, remixing The New Yorker, finding inspiration around Atlanta, and what he hopes young readers carry with them. Hosted by Sherri Daye Scott as part of our “What’s Feeding You?” seriesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

‘MJ the Musical’ returns to Atlanta’s Fox Theatre, and for cast members Michael Nero and Zuri Noelle Ford, it’s a homecoming. The two Atlanta-connected performers talk with WABE Arts & Culture Editor Sherri Daye Scott about stepping inside Michael Jackson’s creative process, from rehearsal-room discipline to the collaborators who shaped the Dangerous World Tour. 🎧See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Blue Man Group returns to Atlanta with a refreshed national tour — and a new character audiences are seeing in the U.S. for the first time. WABE Arts talks with drummer and composer Ursula Sargent, who performs as the show’s new Rockstar, about the energy behind the role and touring life. 🎧See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At the Children’s Museum of Atlanta, a new exhibit invites kids to explore aviation history through movement, imagination, and hands-on play. “AIM HIGH: Soaring with the Tuskegee Airmen” blends real artifacts with STEM learning to help young visitors connect to a legacy of flight — and possibility.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A new permanent exhibition at Atlanta’s National Center for Civil and Human Rights revisits Reconstruction, one of the most misunderstood eras in American history. WABE Arts & Culture Editor Sherri Daye Scott speaks with Chief Programs Officer Kama Pierce about Broken Promises, an exhibition that traces post–Civil War progress, backlash, and the journalists and artists who documented it in real time. From Ida B. Wells to contemporary artist Lonnie Holley, the exhibition asks how history is remembered and what it means to promote human rights and challenge injustice today. 🎧See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

🎧 Film scholar Matthew H. Bernstein marks his final semester at Emory University by curating “Matthew H. Bernstein’s Farewell Favorites,” a 14-film Emory Cinematheque series running through April. He reflects on why communal moviegoing still matters, the care behind archival screenings and the themes of resistance shaping the lineup. 🎬See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At Dad’s Garage Theatre, competition isn’t really the point. The TheatreSports Tournament returns Jan. 9–31, turning improv into a fake rivalry shaped by audience reaction. WABE Arts & Culture Editor Sherri Daye Scott talks with ensemble members Ronnie Johnson-Lopez and Amanda Lee Williams about how the tournament works, where it came from, and why live, participatory theater still matters.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jewish storytelling is rooted in tradition, but it isn’t fixed. As the Atlanta Jewish Storytelling Festival returns Jan. 8–11, WABE Arts explores how stories move across generations, cultures, and lived experience. Festival coordinator Audrey Galex and featured storyteller Laura Simms reflect on storytelling as a living practice shaped by memory and place.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A new permanent public artwork is now part of Piedmont Park. Atlanta artist Gregor Turk walks WABE Arts through “Myriad,” his latest mirrored installation near the Meadow entrance off the Atlanta Beltline. Recorded just days after the unveiling, this episode explores how movement, reflection, and shared space shape the experience of public art in Atlanta’s most visited parkSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Holiday traditions don’t look the same for everyone. “A Drag Queen Christmas,” now in its 11th year, has become a seasonal ritual for audiences across the country. WABE Arts speaks with host Nina West and first-time tour performer Suzie Toot about how the show blends spectacle, humor and deeply personal holiday traditions — from Hanukkah numbers to chosen-family celebrations on the road. As the tour returns to Atlanta Symphony Hall, the performers reflect on why audiences come back year after year, and why joy itself feels especially meaningful right now.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A final exhibition, finished without its creator. At SCAD FASH in Atlanta, “André Leon Talley: Style Is Forever” reflects years of collaboration — and the challenge of honoring a fashion icon after his death. WABE Arts & Culture editor Sherri Daye Scott spole with Rafael Gomes, creative director of the SCAD fashion museums, about curating Talley’s wardrobe, preserving his exacting standards, and designing an exhibition meant to make visitors feel his presence. From custom mannequins to a deeply personal soundtrack, the show asks what it means to complete someone else’s vision — and get it right.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Marlon Wayans has been coming to Atlanta for 30 years—and now he's considering making it permanent. The comedian and actor discusses filming “Scary Movie 6” at Tyler Perry Studios, why Atlanta audiences supported his work before Georgia became a film hub, and what he learned about respect on set from Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock. Wayans also shares how his brother Keenen's advice to "think like an industry" shaped his approach to building a creative empire—one he hopes to base in Atlanta.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A new PBS/POV Shorts documentary is shining national attention on a youth orchestra rooted along one of Atlanta’s most diverse immigrant corridors. “La Orquesta” follows retired music teacher Juana Alzaga and the children of the Buford Highway Orchestra through a full school year of rehearsals, concerts, and community. WABE Arts & Culture Editor Sherri Daye Scott talks with Alzaga and filmmaker Monica Villavicencio about what the documentary captures, the trust behind the film, and the logistical challenges families navigate to keep the music going. Podcast Tags / Keywords: La Orquesta, Buford Highway Orchestra, Juana Alzaga, Monica Villavicencio, Stephanie Liu, We Love Buford Highway, Latino Public Broadcasting, POV Shorts, PBS, Atlanta immigrant communities, youth orchestra, Atlanta arts, WABE ArtsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Filmmaker Jason Orr returns to his 2011 documentary "Diary of a Decade" with AI-assisted restoration tools that didn't exist when he first captured the early years of Atlanta's FunkJazz Kafé Arts & Music Festival. The festival, which ran for three decades without ever announcing its lineup, featured emerging artists like Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, and Janelle Monáe alongside cultural voices including Cornel West, Dick Gregory, and Jamie Foxx. Orr explains why he used AI to enhance decades-old analog footage, what the technology means for independent filmmakers, and how preservation serves Atlanta's creative legacy.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

South Arts — the nine-state regional arts organization based in Atlanta — has named outgoing Atlanta City Council President Doug Shipman as its next President and CEO. Shipman joins WABE Arts to explain why he’s returning to cultural leadership, what the South needs as federal arts funding shifts, and how he plans to support artists across the Southeast in South Arts’ 50th year.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

🎧 Atlanta entrepreneur Ryan Wilson — co-founder and CEO of The Gathering Spot — joins Season 5 of REVOLT’s “Bet on Black,” where nine HBCU student founders pitch real companies on national TV. WABE Arts Editor Sherri Daye Scott speaks with Wilson about why “Bet on Black”’s focus on young Black innovators matters, how lived experience shaped his role as a mentor and judge, and why visibility can expand what feels possible. He also shares how one student he worked with continues to influence his work beyond the show. 🎭 Stream the full story at wabe.org/arts.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

🎭 Two Atlanta holiday traditions return with renewed energy. At the Alliance Theatre, director Amanda Watkins leads this year’s “A Christmas Carol,” bringing fresh perspective, expanded casting, and a deeper focus on community connections. Then Terminus Modern Ballet Theatre shares its one-hour “Nutcracker Suite,” created for families and first-time ballet-goers, at Serenbe. Artistic and executive director John Welker explains how the company blends classical technique with immersive staging to welcome new audiences. 🎧 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

🎤 Comedian Donnell Rawlings — known for his roles on “Chappelle’s Show,” and appearances on the “Kill Tony” podcast and decades of stand-up — returns to Atlanta for a weekend at the Atlanta Comedy Theater. Rawlings talks with WABE’s Kenny Murry about how he went from club heckler to headliner, why staying funny matters more than labels, and what it takes to evolve across generations of comedy fans. He also shares the Atlanta staple he always seeks out: crispy, all-flats lemon pepper wings.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Six-time Grammy-nominated folk musician John McCutcheon headlines A Song for Ukraine at the Lawrenceville Arts Center. The benefit concert, organized by Atlanta-area Ukrainian community members and HelpingUkraine.US, raises funds for art therapy, education, and creative spaces supporting children displaced by the war. McCutcheon reflects on solidarity, his earliest union performances, and writing the song “Ukrainian Now,” which reached Ukrainian soldiers on the front lines. Then, a look at how community-driven arts projects in metro Atlanta continue to respond to global conflicts through creativity, storytelling, and collective action.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Atlanta Opera reimagines “La Belle et la Bête,” Philip Glass’s hypnotic fusion of live performance and Jean Cocteau’s 1946 film—where music and image merge into one dreamlike experience. Then, a once-banned Black cinema classic returns to the big screen: “The Spook Who Sat by the Door, newly restored in 4K, with insight from Nomathandé Dixon and Natiki Hope Pressley, daughters of the film’s director and screenwriter.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.