This weekend is your last chance for “Ethel” (Alliance) and “Beyond Reasonable Doubt” (Synchronicity). Newer offerings include “Inside I” (7 Stages) and “Oliver! (Fabrefaction). Also recommended: “Sotto Voce” (Aurora Theatre) with Louis Gregory and Marianne Fraulo. Photo by Chris Bartelski.
Recommended
Beyond Reasonable Doubt: The Troy Davis Project. CLOSES SUNDAY. World premiere. Atlanta playwright Lee Nowell and Synchronicity Theatre take on justice and race in this drama based on trial transcripts, legal documents, photographs, letters, interviews, blog posts and published articles about the 2011 execution of Troy Anthony Davis for the murder of off-duty Savannah police officer Mark MacPhail. A post-show conversation follows each performance. $20-$48. 8 tonight-Saturday; 5 p.m. Sunday. Synchronicity Theatre at Peachtree Pointe, 1545 Peachtree St. N.E. in Midtown. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.484.8636.
Ethel. CLOSES SUNDAY. A one-woman glimpse into the magnificent and complicated life of legendary radio/stage/film star Ethel Waters (“Stormy Weather,” Cabin in the Sky) written and performed by Atlanta-based Broadway regular Terry Burrell. The show includes such songs as “Dinah,” “Happiness Is Just a Thing Called Joe,” “His Eye Is on the Sparrow” and “Am I Blue?” She must be doing something right — Ethel has been extended twice and must close Sunday. Profanity, adult situations. For ages 11 + up. $20-$39. 7:30 tonight; 8 p.m. Friday; 2:30 + 8 p.m. Saturday; 2:30 + 7:30 p.m. Sunday. Hertz Stage, Alliance Theatre, Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree St. N.E. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.733.5000.
[READ MORE: BURRELL ON ‘ETHEL’S’ 20-YEAR JOURNEY TO THE STAGE]
Inside I. THROUGH MAY 8. World premiere. Written and directed by 7 Stages’ associate artistic director Michael Haverty and Erwin Maas. It portrays the life and dreams of a boy on the autism spectrum, from birth to age 18, and his obsession with, and escape into, the world of video. With visual spectacle, puppets, performers and live-feed. Each show opens with I Direct Myself, a 15-minute play written and performed by Sam Gross, who’s on the autism spectrum. $22.50 + up. 1105 Euclid Ave. N.E. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.523.7647.
Sotto Voce. THROUGH MAY 8. A story of the resiliency of true love and the enduring power of memories by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Nilo Cruz (Anna in the Tropics). It features a German-born novelist who lost the love of her life in World War II, and a young writer who contacts her decades later. Justin Anderson directs. With Marianne Fraulo, Louis Gregory and Denise Arribas. $20-$30. 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday; 2:30 p.m. Saturday + Sunday. Aurora Theatre, 128 E. Pike St., Lawrenceville. Free, covered, attached parking in city deck at 153 E. Crogan St. Details, tickets HERE.
Still playing
Beauty & the Beast. THROUGH MAY 22. A fairy tale reimagined for today. In an urban setting, trash is turned to treasure, and true love prevails with alley cats, beauty shops and exercise videos. Told with object and rod puppets and original music. Adapted and directed by Jon Ludwig, the Center for Puppetry Arts’ artistic director. For ages 4+. $20.50. 10 + 11:30 a.m. Tuesday-Friday; noon + 2 p.m. Saturday; and 1 + 3 p.m. Sunday. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.873.3391.
Born for This: The BeBe Winans Story. THROUGH MAY 15. Universal themes run through this personal story, a new American musical, about Detroit-born gospel singers BeBe and CeCe Winans, who experience the ultimate in culture shock when they join Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker’s Praise the Lord Network. At the Alliance Theatre. $20-$120. 7:30 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday; 8 p.m. Friday; 2:30 + 8 p.m. Saturday; and 2:30 + 7:30 p.m. Sunday. Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree St. N.E. Tickets, details HERE or at 404.733.5000.
Equivocation. THROUGH MAY 8. At the New American Shakespeare Tavern. Bill Cain’s drama is set in 1605 England, where terrorists are threatening to assassinate King James I and blow up Parliament. The prime minister commissions Shagspeare (a contemporary spelling) to write the “true historie” of the plot. And it must have witches. $17-$34. 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday; 6:30 p.m. Sunday. 499 Peachtree St. N.E. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.874.5299.
The Light in the Piazza. THROUGH MAY 15. Themes of sacrifice, destiny and the effervescence of first love ripple through this period musical from the grandson of the great Richard Rodgers. It’s 1953, and Margaret Johnson of North Carolina (Christy Baggett) is on holiday in Italy with her grown, yet off-center, daughter, Clara (Devon Hales). When Clara falls for a handsome Italian, Margaret must decide whether to spill a family secret or allow the marriage. This 2005 musical won six Tony awards. $20-$50. 7:30 p.m. Wednesday-Friday; 2:30 + 7:30 p.m. Saturday; and 2:30 p.m. Sunday. Theatrical Outfit at the Balzer Theater at Herren’s, 84 Luckie St. N.W. Details, tickets HERE or at 678.528.1500. Discount tickets at PoshDealz.com.
Oliver! THROUGH MAY 8. Fabrefaction Theatre Conservatory mixes student and professional actors in its staging of this 1963 musical (“Food, Glorious Food,” “As Long As He Needs Me,” “Where Is Love?” “Consider Yourself”) based on the famous Dickens’ book. $15-$30. 8 p.m. Thursday-Friday; 2 + 8 p.m. Saturday; 3 p.m. Sunday. Fabrefaction at 7 Stages, 1105 Euclid Ave. N.E. Details HERE. Tickets HERE.
Next week
ASO: Schumann, Brahms + Mendelssohn. MAY 5 + 7. German conductor Lothar Zagrosek leads the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in Schumann’s Piano Concerto, Brahms’ Symphony No. 1 and Mendelssohn’s Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage Overture, with Spanish pianist Javier Perianes as soloist. 8 nightly. $20-$89. Symphony Hall, Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree St. N.E. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.733.5000. Discount tickets at PoshDealz.com.
ASO: Casual Fridays. MAY 6 ONLY. An earlier, abbreviated version of the Atlanta Symphony’s weekend concerts features Mendelssohn’s Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage, inspired by the poetry of Goethe. German conductor Lother Zagrosek is on the podium. 6:30 p.m. All seats $25. Symphony Hall, Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree St. N.E. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.733.5000.
I’m Not Rappaport. MAY 5-JUNE 5. Aurora Theatre closes its 2015/16 mainstage season with this 1996 Tony Award-winning best play by Herb Gardner. It tells, with gentle humor, story of two old men who inhabit a bench in New York’s Central Park. Nat, a feisty Jewish man, spins tall tales and doesn’t want his daughter dumping him in a retirement facility; the half-blind and cantankerous Midge, meanwhile, hides from his disgruntled tenants. Kenny Raskin is Nat, Rob Cleveland is Midge. Contains salty language and mature themes. $20-$55 (opening night sold out).8 p.m. Wednesday-Friday; 2:30 + 8 p.m. Saturday; and 2:30 p.m. Sunday. Discount matinee ($16) at 10 a.m. May 25. 128 E. Pike St., Lawrenceville. Free, covered, attached parking in the city deck at 153 Crogan St. Details, tickets HERE or at 678.226.6222.
Stones in His Pockets. MAY 5-22. Arís! Theatre, Atlanta’s 3-year-old stage for Celtic culture, stages the comedy by Northern Ireland’s Marie Jones. It follows what happens when a Hollywood production crew moves in to a small town on the coast of Ireland. Cultures clash, hearts are broken and two actors (RJ Allen and Matthew Welch here) play 14 roles. The show had a Tony-nominated run on Broadway in 2001. $18-$28. 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday; 2:30 p.m. Sunday. Also at 8 p.m. May 11. Arís! at Georgia Public Broadcasting, Studio B, 260 14th St. N.W. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.692.0053. Discount tickets at PoshDealz.com.
