Plaza Arts Center

The annual Taste of Eatonton event on The Plaza lawn serves up a wide variety of tasty dishes at an affordable price from several local eateries. IAN TOCHER/Staff

The annual Taste of Eatonton event on The Plaza lawn serves up a wide variety of tasty dishes at an affordable price from several local eateries. IAN TOCHER/Staff

Taste of Eatonton serves up local flavor

Eatonton’s most flavorful evening will return next month when Taste of Eatonton, hosted by the Eatonton- Putnam Chamber of Commerce, takes over the grounds outside The Plaza Arts Center.
L-R: Indy Brennan, marketing director for “Sanctified,” was joined by writer, director and producer Javon Johnson, and Jarvis Wingfield, who stars in the show making its debut this Saturday night in Eatonton. IAN TOCHER/Staff

L-R: Indy Brennan, marketing director for “Sanctified,” was joined by writer, director and producer Javon Johnson, and Jarvis Wingfield, who stars in the show making its debut this Saturday night in Eatonton. IAN TOCHER/Staff

Gospel musical Sanctified at The Plaza this weekend

This Saturday night, The Plaza Arts Center in Eatonton will host the premiere of Sanctified, a new gospel musical comedy.
Eatonton Mayor John Reid with his wife, City Council member and Georgia Municipal Association District 6 President Janie Reid, at The Plaza last week. IAN TOCHER/Staff

Eatonton Mayor John Reid with his wife, City Council member and Georgia Municipal Association District 6 President Janie Reid, at The Plaza last week. IAN TOCHER/Staff

Eatonton hosts municipal association at The Plaza

The Atlanta-based Georgia Municipal Association (GMA), an organization founded in 1933 to advise, advocate for, provide training to, and collectively represent municipal governments statewide, met last Wednesday evening at The Plaza Arts Center in Eatonton.
Filmmaker Joel Fendelman said he was surprised by some of the subtleties of rural Indiana life he encountered and recorded while making the documentary “North Putnam.” CONTRIBUTED

Filmmaker Joel Fendelman said he was surprised by some of the subtleties of rural Indiana life he encountered and recorded while making the documentary “North Putnam.” CONTRIBUTED

‘North Putnam’ film reflects local issues

The sixth and final installment of The Southern Circuit Film Tour passed through The Plaza Arts Center last Wednesday night with the showing of “North Putnam,” a film about a small, rural town in mid-Indiana and its high school, which in some ways may seem familiar to those in its Georgia namesake...
Cheryl Mashack (left) and Cathi Rowe, relatives of artist Nellie Mae Rowe and both involved with the Judith Alexander Foundation, addressed several questions from film goers at The Plaza Arts Center. IAN TOCHER/Staff

Cheryl Mashack (left) and Cathi Rowe, relatives of artist Nellie Mae Rowe and both involved with the Judith Alexander Foundation, addressed several questions from film goers at The Plaza Arts Center. IAN TOCHER/Staff

Independent film series continues at The Plaza

The Southern Circuit Film Tour continued last Thursday evening at The Plaza Arts Center, where a small but engaged crowd watched “This World is Not My Own,” the fifth of six scheduled free showings for the 2024-25 schedule.
With Larry Moore by her side, Rebecca Walker is emotionally taken by seeing her father’s handwritten inscription inside the front cover of her mother Alice Walker’s first book, a collection of poems published in 1968. IAN TOCHER/Staff

With Larry Moore by her side, Rebecca Walker is emotionally taken by seeing her father’s handwritten inscription inside the front cover of her mother Alice Walker’s first book, a collection of poems published in 1968. IAN TOCHER/Staff

‘The Color Purple’ continues to entrance audiences

A special, one-day encore presentation of the recently presented musical “The Color Purple,” based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Eatonton native Alice Walker, drew another sold-out crowd to The Plaza Arts Center on Sunday.
The Plaza announced a bonus performance of “The Color Purple,” scheduled for 2 p.m. March 30, though ticket sales were not yet available online as of press time. IAN TOCHER/Staff

The Plaza announced a bonus performance of “The Color Purple,” scheduled for 2 p.m. March 30, though ticket sales were not yet available online as of press time. IAN TOCHER/Staff

‘The Color Purple’ to return to The Plaza

A musical version of “The Color Purple,” based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Eatonton native Alice Walker, completed a five-show run Sunday afternoon, playing to near-sold-out crowds for each performance at The Plaza Arts Center in downtown Eatonton.
Rashawd Ford will make his directorial debut late this month at The Plaza in a musical version of Alice Walker’s “The Color Purple.” IAN TOCHER/Staff

Rashawd Ford will make his directorial debut late this month at The Plaza in a musical version of Alice Walker’s “The Color Purple.” IAN TOCHER/Staff

The Plaza debuts series with ‘The Color Purple’

Surprisingly, beyond a pair of screenings of “The Color Purple” movie starring Whoopie Goldberg, Danny Glover, and Oprah Winfrey in January 1986 at The Pex Theater, the Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece by Eatonton’s own Alice Walker has never been publicly performed here.
The Return featured (l-r) Richard Stelling as John Lennon, Mike Fulup as George Harrison, Josh Blount as Ringo Starr, and Mike Vargo as Paul McCartney. IAN TOCHER/Staff

The Return featured (l-r) Richard Stelling as John Lennon, Mike Fulup as George Harrison, Josh Blount as Ringo Starr, and Mike Vargo as Paul McCartney. IAN TOCHER/Staff

The Return brings Beatlemania to The Plaza

Nearly 61 years ago, on Feb. 9, 1964, Ed Sullivan introduced The Beatles to a huge American audience in their first-ever televised U.S. appearance.
Riley Jenkins as Elvis Pressley (left) and Neil Morrow as Johnny Cash made up half of the quartet presenting “One Night in Memphis” last Thursday night at The Plaza Arts Center in downtown Eatonton. LEIGH LOFGREN/Staff

Riley Jenkins as Elvis Pressley (left) and Neil Morrow as Johnny Cash made up half of the quartet presenting “One Night in Memphis” last Thursday night at The Plaza Arts Center in downtown Eatonton. LEIGH LOFGREN/Staff

One Night in Eatonton

A nearly full house at The Plaza Arts Center in Eatonton was transported back to 1958 in Memphis last Thursday night by Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, and Elvis Pressley, who were on hand to recreate their famous, magical Dec.