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Last call for “Stones in His Pockets” (Arís!). New this week: “The 39 Steps” (Stage Door Players), “The City of Conversation” (Horizon) and “Significant Other” (Actor’s Express). Pictured: Lee Osorio as Jordan in “Significant Other.” Photo by BreeAnne Clowdus

John McFall, in rehearsal with dancer Heath Gill. Photo: Charlie McCullers
John McFall, in rehearsal with dancer Heath Gill. Photo: Charlie McCullers

Recommended

MAYhem: Kissed. FRIDAY-SUNDAY ONLY. Atlanta Ballet closes its season with a world premiere, an Atlanta premiere and a work by a favorite choreographer. This marks the ballet’s final performance under the artistic leadership of John McFall, who’s retiring after more than 20 years with the company. His dancers will perform Andrea Miller‘s Push (world premiere), Gustavo Ramirez Sansano’s El Beso (Atlanta premiere) and Yuri Possokhov‘s Classical Symphony. $25 and up. 8 p.m. Friday; 2 + 8 p.m. Saturday; and 2 p.m. Sunday. 2800 Cobb Galleria Parkway, Atlanta. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.892.3303.

Openings 

Stephanie Friedman, Jacob York. Photo: R. Todd Fleeman

The 39 Steps. OPENS FRIDAY | THROUGH JUNE 12. Playwright Patrick Barlow mixes Hitchcock and Monty Python in this 2005 comic whodunit that features a handful of actors playing more than 150 characters, a plane crash, missing fingers and romance. At Stage Door Players, The cast is led by Stephanie Friedman, Tony Larkin, John Markowski and Jacob York. $15-$30. 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday; 2:30 p.m. Sunday. 5339 Chamblee-Dunwoody Road, Dunwoody. Details, tickets HERE or at 770.396.1726. (Pictured: Stephanie Friedman, Jacob York. Photo: R. Todd Fleeman)

Beautiful: The Carole King Musical. OPENS TUESDAY | THROUGH MAY 29. Broadway in Atlanta presents this bio-musical about one Carol Klein from Brooklyn who grew up  to be singer-songwriter extraordinaire Carole King. The 2014 Tony Award nominee features such songs as “So Far Away,” “It Might As Well Rain Until September,” “Will You Love Me Tomorrow,” “One Fine Day” and “Up on the Roof.” $30-$115. 7:30 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday; 8 p.m. Friday; 2 + 8 p.m. Saturday; and 1 + 6:30 p.m. Sunday. Fox Theatre, 660 Peachtree St. N.E. Tickets HERE or at 855.285.8499.

Abby Mueller as Carole King at Carnegie Hall in a scene from "Beautiful." Photo: Joan Marcus
Abby Mueller as Carole King at Carnegie Hall in a scene from “Beautiful.” Photo: Joan Marcus

[READ MORE: MEET THE WOMAN PLAYING CAROLE KING ONSTAGE]

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“The City of Conversation” cast.

The City of Conversation. OPENS FRIDAY | THROUGH JUNE 26. Anthony Giardina‘s 2014 play takes place in Washington, D.C., where people once talked to each other and women like Hester Ferris (Tess Malis Kincaid) opened their homes so political enemies could raise a glass together. When her son brings home a Reaganite girlfriend and a shocking new conservative worldview, Hester’s universe is rocked. The New York Times called this comedy “smart, literate and funny.” Justin Anderson directs what should be a must-see Horizon Theatre cast: Deborah Bowman, Carolyn Cook, Allen Edwards, Rachel Garner and Chris Kayser. $25 and up. 8 p.m. Wednesday-Friday; 3 + 8:30 p.m. Saturday; 5 p.m. Sunday (no Saturday matinees May 21 or June 4). 1083 Austin Ave. at Euclid Avenue. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.584.7450.

FROM LEFT: Diany Rodriguez, Lee Orsorio, Brittany Inge. Photo: BreeAnne Clowdus
FROM LEFT: Diany Rodriguez, Lee Orsorio, Brittany Inge. Photo: BreeAnne Clowdus

Significant Other. OPENS SATURDAY | THROUGH JUNE 19. In this script by Joshua Harmon (last season’s Bad Jews), a man named Jordan is looking for Mr. Right. As each close-knit girlfriend couples off, he makes the transition from gay best friend to bridesman, searches for love and learns to move on. The funny-sad comedy, which closes the Actor’s Express season, had its world premiere last summer at New York’s Roundabout Theatre Company. It became a New York Times’ critic’s pick, described as “as richly funny as it is ultimately heart-stirring.” The cast: Jeremy Aggers, Brittany Inge, Judy Leavell, Cara Mantella, Edward McCreary, Lee Orsorio and Diany Rodriguez. Jessica Holt directs. $26 and up. $20 previews tonight-Friday; $40 opening night (with reception). 8 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday. King Plow Arts Center in West Midtown, 887 W. Marietta St. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.607.7469. Discount tickets at PoshDealz.com.

This weekend only

The Naughtons
The Naughtons

ASO With the Naughton Twins. TONIGHT + SATURDAY. Assistant conductor Joseph Young leads the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in 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 features New York City-based Christina and Michelle Naughton, both Juilliard and Curtis Institute grads. All ticket holders can attend a free pre-concert chamber recital at 6:45 tonight. $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-cellarBuyer & Cellar. TONIGHT-SATURDAY. 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 — features 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 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.

Last chance

SIHP_02Stones in His Pockets. CLOSES SUNDAY. See what happens when a Hollywood production crew moves into a small Irish town. Two actors (RJ Allen and Matthew Welch) play 14 roles in this Tony-nominated 2001 comedy staged by Arís! Theatre, Atlanta’s 3-year-old home for Celtic culture. $18-$28. 8 tonight-Saturday; 2:30 p.m. Sunday. 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

Still playing

Raskin (left) and Cleveland. Photo: Chris Bartelski
Raskin (left) and Cleveland. Photo: Chris Bartelski

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. Kenny Raskin and Rob Cleveland reprise the roles they played in younger days at Theatrical Outift. 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 a city deck at 153 Crogan St. Details, tickets HERE or at 678.226.6222.

shakespeare-tavern-atlantaTwo Gentlemen of Verona. THROUGH MAY 29. In one of Shakespeare’s earliest comedies, two close friends vie for the Duke of Milan’s beautiful daughter. See, too, how a pup named Crab (“the sourest-natured dog that lives”) offers an early example of how animals can steal a show. Full pub menu and libations. $20-$39. 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday; 6:30 p.m. Sunday. New American Shakespeare Tavern, 499 Peachtree St. N.E. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.874.5299.

Next week

evlg_EltonJohn-3ASO: The Music of Elton John. MAY 27-29. The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra closes its POPS! season with San Francisco-based conductor Stuart Chafetz leading the musicians and guest artist Michael Cavanaugh (on vocals and piano) through the John songbook. $20-$65. 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday; 3 p.m. Sunday. Symphony Hall, 1280 Peachtree St. N.E. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.733.5000. Discount tickets at PoshDealz.com.

Kute
Kute

ASO: Side-By-Side Concert With the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra. MAY 26 ONLY. Assistant conductor Joseph Young leads the musicians young and established in the first movement of Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 2 (featuring ASYO concertmaster Malhar Kute), Tchaikovsky’s  Romeo and Juliet Overture and Britten’s Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra. $5. 8 p.m. Symphony Hall, 1280 Peachtree St. N.E. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.733.5000.

About Kathy Janich

Kathy Janich is a longtime arts journalist who has been seeing, working in or writing about the performing arts for most of her life. She's a member of the Theatre Communications Group, the Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas, Americans for the Arts and the National Arts Marketing Project. Full disclosure: She’s also an artistic associate at Synchronicity Theatre.

View all posts by Kathy Janich