Last call for “Born for This: The BeBe Winans Story” (Alliance Theatre) and “The Light in the Piazza” (Theatrical Outfit). New this week: “Two Gentlemen of Verona” (Shakespeare Tavern)
Opening this weekend
Two Gentlemen of Verona. IN PREVIEWS | OPENS FRIDAY. In one of Shakespeare’s earliest comedies, close friends Valentine and Proteus vie for the Duke of Milan’s beautiful daughter. See, too, how a pup named Crab (“the sourest-natured dog that lives”) provides an early example of animals stealing the show. Full pub menu and libations. $15 tonight; $20 Friday. Regularly $20-$39. 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday; 6:30 p.m. Sunday. Through May 29. New American Shakespeare Tavern, 499 Peachtree St. N.E. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.874.5299.
This weekend only
Xperimental Puppetry Theater (XPT). TONIGHT-SUNDAY. The Center for Puppetry Arts showcases innovative new works in this once-a-year-event featuring established and emerging artists from various disciplines. It leads to an evening of bold and sometimes bawdy puppetry for ages 18+. Talkbacks follow every performance. $15. 8 tonight-Saturday; 6 p.m. Sunday. 1404 Spring St. N.W. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.873.3391.
Golden Age of Broadway. FRIDAY-SUNDAY. The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus perform Broadway classics under the baton of principal POPS! conductor Michael Krajewski, with the vocals of stage regulars Jenn Gambatese, Sarah Pfisterer and Nathaniel Stampley. $20-$65. 8 nightly. Symphony Hall, Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree St. N.E. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.733.5000.
Last chance
Born for This: The BeBe Winans Story. CLOSES SUNDAY. 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 tonight; 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.
[ENCORE TALKS WITH BeBe WINANS]
The Light in the Piazza. CLOSES SUNDAY. Themes of sacrifice, destiny and the effervescence of first love ripple through this 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 has decisions to make. Winner of six 2005 Tony awards. $20-$50. 7:30 tonight-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.
Still playing
I’m Not Rappaport. THROUGH JUNE 5. Aurora Theatre closes its 2015/16 mainstage season with this gentle 1996 Tony Award-winning comedy about two old men who inhabit a bench in New York’s Central Park. One, a feisty Jew, spins tall tales and fears his daughter will dump him in a retirement home; the other is half-blind, cantankerous and hiding from disgruntled tenants. Contains salty language and mature themes. $20-$55. 8 p.m. Wednesday-Friday; 2:30 + 8 p.m. Saturday; and 2:30 p.m. Sunday. With a $16 matinee 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. THROUGH MAY 22. Arís! Theatre, Atlanta’s 3-year-old home for Celtic culture, stages this comedy by Northern Ireland’s Marie Jones. See what happens when a Hollywood production crew moves into a small Irish town. Two actors (RJ Allen and Matthew Welch) play 14 roles. The show had a Tony-nominated Broadway run in 2001. $18-$28. 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday; 2:30 p.m. Sunday. Also at 8 p.m. May 11 (Wednesday). 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.
Next week
ASO With the Naughton Twins. MAY 19 + 21. Assistant conductor Joseph Young leads the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in a program comprising Haydn’s Symphony No. 46; excerpts from Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet; and Mozart’s Concerto No. 10 for Two Pianos and Orchestra in E-flat Major, K. 365. The Mozart concerto features New York City-based Christina and Michelle Naughton, both graduates of the Juilliard School and the Curtis Institute of Music. All ticket holders are invited to a free pre-concert chamber recital at 6:45 p.m. Thursday. $20-$89. 8 nightly. Symphony Hall, Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree St. N.E. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.733.5000. Discount tickets at PoshDealz.com …
[AUDIO: HEAR AN EXCERPT FROM THE MOZART CONCERTO]
Buyer & Cellar. MAY 19-21. Serenbe Playhouse launches its Intimate Indoors series with this comedy by Jonathan Tolins. The one-man show — performed at the Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams furniture showroom in Buckhead — is about an underemployed L.A. actor going to work in Barbra Streisand’s Malibu basement. Nick Cearley, a New York actor and one-half of the musical group the Skivvies, plays the character, a man named Alex More. $20 +$25. 8 nightly. The showroom is at 3081 Peachtree Road N.E. Details, tickets HERE or at 770.463.1110. Discount tickets at PoshDealz.com.
[ENCORE PREVIEWS THE INTIMATE INDOORS SERIES]
MAYhem: Kissed. MAY 20-22 ONLY. Atlanta Ballet closes its season with a world premiere, an Atlanta premiere and a work by a favorite choreographer. It should also be noted that this is the ballet’s final performance under the artistic leadership of John McFall, who is retired after more than 20 years with the company. His dancers will perform the world premiere of Andrea Miller‘s Push, the Atlanta premiere of Gustavo Ramirez Sansano’s El Beso and Yuri Possokhov‘s Classical Symphony. $25 and up. 8 p.m. May 20; 2 + 8 p.m. May 21; and 2 p.m. May 22. 2800 Cobb Galleria Parkway, Atlanta. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.892.3303.
