About Town: Critic’s Picks for May, 2026

Each month, critic Kevin C. Madigan surveys a selection of performances, exhibitions and cultural events from across Atlanta’s live arts scene. May’s picks include theater, comedy, visual art and other events shaping the city’s cultural calendar.

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Upcoming Critic’s Picks

CRITIC’S PICK: Toddler Takeover

Sat., May 30 - Sun., May 31
Toddler Takeover
Woodruff Arts Center

Kids up to the age of five can have all kinds of fun at this weekend series of performances and events designed just for them. They’ll get their hands dirty creating something at the High Museum of Art; they can listen to the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra play ‘The Tin Man’s Oz,’ or watch a short musical titled ‘The Great Ant Sleepover.’ Then there’s ‘Bossa Nova Baby,’ an immersive sensory exhibition that transfers visitors to the middle of the rainforest in Brazil. The installation “celebrates the wonders of the forest floor where frogs and fungi lead the way through a world of light and sound.” Children and their folks are invited to “splash in a projection-mapped river, interact with a glowing rainbow fiberoptic display, and discover the rhythms of the canopy by playing handcrafted instruments.” Other titles on the schedule are ‘The Birthday of the World’ and ‘Dinosaur,’ both produced by the Bernhardt Theatre for the Very Young. — Kevin C. Madigan
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CRITIC’S PICK: Basura

Sat., May 30 – Sun., Jul. 12
Basura
Coca-Cola Stage at Alliance Theatre

The true story of Paraguay’s Recycled Orchestra is presented in this new musical with music and lyrics by Gloria Estefan and her daughter Emily. Based on the documentary ‘Landfill Harmonic,’ ‘Basura’ (‘Trash’ in Spanish) proves how a little ingenuity can go a long way: a music teacher in a poor town inspires his students to start an ensemble, despite the dearth of actual instruments. “Empty paint cans, a fork, and a bent license plate become a violin, an oil drum transforms into a colorful cello, and the newly formed orchestra hits every note to the beat of something bigger,” the synopsis says. The show, which runs at the Alliance before going to Broadway, is a follow-up of sorts to Estefan’s 2015 jukebox musical ‘On Your Feet.’ — Kevin C. Madigan
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Earlier This Month

CRITIC’S PICK: Mean Girls

Fri., May 1 - Sun., May 17
Mean Girls
Byers Theatre

Those who were charmed by the 2004 movie with Lindsay Lohan and Rachel McAdams will undoubtedly check out this musical adaptation, again written by Tina Fey, with lyrics by Nell Benjamin, and music by Fey’s husband, Jeff Richmond. (Fey took her original inspiration from Rosalind Wiseman’s 2002 book ‘Queen Bees and Wannabes.’) Reviewing the show when it opened on Broadway in 2018, Ben Brantley of ‘The New York Times’ wrote, “Fey’s wit is both caustic and polite, stinging and soothing at once, though it’s the sharpness that lingers afterward.” Presented by the City Springs Theatre Company, the production’s cast features Adagia Rueda as Cady, Landry Champlin as Regina, Ruth Mehari as Gretchen, Ella Benward as Karen, Terica Marie as Janis, and Cole Fletcher as Damian. — Kevin C. Madigan
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CRITIC’S PICK: Held Traces: Gabriel Choto & Paula Cortazar

Sun., May 3 - Sun., Jun. 7
Held Traces: Gabriel Choto & Paula Cortazar
Alday Hunken Gallery

‘Held Traces’ marks the beginning of a collaboration between Alday Hunken and Memento, the gallery right next door on Somerset Terrace. The exhibition features the delicate, intimate portraits of Zimbabwe-born Gabriel Choto, and the stonework of Mexican sculptor Paula Cortazar, who develops a language of form grounded in touch, rhythm, and physical memory. The galleries claim ‘Held Traces’ is “centered on the proposition that these works do not depict what is there; they hold what has passed through.” — Kevin C. Madigan
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CRITIC’S PICK: A First Lady’s Guide to Killing the President

Fri., May 8 –Sun., May 17
A First Lady’s Guide to Killing the President
Out of Box Theatre

The first lady in question is Florence Harding. She’s having to contend with her hapless husband, the “always charming, useless Warren,” during a nationwide train ride that becomes increasingly untenable. Hopping aboard are a pair of blackmailing chatelaines, a coercive second lady, an ineffectual surgeon general, a depraved newspaper publisher, and an obstreperous pet squirrel. Atlanta playwright Topher Payne came up with the story, and the production is directed by Matthew Busch; the cast is headed by Leigh-Ann Campbell as Florence and Rial Ellsworth as the president. “Once the train leaves the station, it never slows down,” says Busch. “It’s bold, it’s ridiculous, and it hits closer to home than you might expect.” — Kevin C. Madigan
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CRITIC’S PICK: Frida

Fri., May 8 - Sun., May 10
Frida
Atlanta Ballet

The creative team behind ‘Coco Chanel: The Life of a Fashion Icon’ has turned its attention to the legendary Frida Kahlo. With an original score by Peter Salem, choreography by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, and artistic input from Nancy Meckler, ‘Frida’ is a full-length narrative ballet that follows the story of the Mexican artist's life, expressing through motion her turbulent marriage, her artistic legacy and the physical and emotional upheavals she weathered. “Choreography has been the way I can spotlight and celebrate the lives and complexities of trailblazing women in history,” Ochoa says, adding, “Frida’s story is one of female empowerment, resilience and self-expression.” Subjects such as infidelity and pregnancy loss are addressed in the story; the performance is therefore recommended for ages 13 and over with parental guidance. — Kevin C. Madigan
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CRITIC’S PICK: Kathryn Stockett

Thu., May 14
Kathryn Stockett
The Calamity Club, Wild Heaven West End

Kathryn Stockett’s 2009 novel, ’The Help,’ delved into the systemic racism suffered by African-American domestic workers in 1960s Mississippi — and their efforts to challenge the status quo. ‘The Calamity Club,’ Stockett’s second book, takes place in the same state in 1933 and follows three troubled young women who connect at an orphanage, vowing to improve their existence regardless of the consequences. “Race is always in the background,” Stockett told ‘The New York Times’ in 2025. “It’s probably always going to be in the background of any book I write.” She will appear at Wild Heaven West End chatting with Peter Biello of GPB in an event hosted by A Cappella Books. — Kevin C. Madigan
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CRITIC’S PICK: Michelle Buteau: The Surviving & Thriving Tour

Fri., May 15
Michelle Buteau: The Surviving & Thriving Tour
Tabernacle

The actor, comedian, producer and writer Michelle Buteau stars in the Netflix comedy series, ‘Survival Of The Thickest,’ which she created and produced. It follows her autobiographical book of essays of the same title, and Buteau received the 55th NAACP Image Award for “Outstanding Breakthrough Creative (Television)” for the show. She’s done a couple of other Netfix specials as well, and stars in the film comedy ‘Babes’ (2024); ‘Rolling Stone’ called it the “‘Bridesmaids’ of babymaking,” while ‘Variety’ praised its “unapologetically raw take on pregnancy and female friendship.” Buteau’s soon-to-be-released movie, ‘Spa Weekend,’ also stars Leslie Mann, Isla Fisher and Anna Faris. — Kevin C. Madigan
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CRITIC’S PICK: Amy Sherald: American Sublime

Fri., May 15 – Sun., Sep. 27
Amy Sherald: American Sublime
High Museum

A career-wide retrospective of the work of Georgia-born Amy Sherald, recipient of the High’s 2018 David C. Driskell Prize in African American Art, is rolling out at the museum and running through late September. She is known for her controversial image of Michelle Obama, painted with the latter’s approval, and for her vivid portrayals on the covers of ‘The New Yorker’ and ‘Vanity Fair.’ In 2020, Sherald’s piece, ‘The Bathers,’ sold for $4,265,000 at auction, vastly exceeding its pre-sale estimate. The ‘American Sublime’ show was due to stop at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery as part of the current tour, but Sherald withdrew from the venue after its reps — in order to appease Donald Trump — proposed excluding her depiction of a non-binary transgender person posing as the Statue of Liberty. — Kevin C. Madigan
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CRITIC’S PICK: Atlanta Fringe Festival

Wed., May 27 - Sun., Jun. 7
Atlanta Fringe Festival
Various Locations

The original Fringe festival that sprang up in Edinburgh in 1947 has generated copycats around the world but one of the best has to be right here in Atlanta. The fourteenth iteration boasts the inclusion of storytellers, burlesque dancers, magicians, ventriloquists, comics, dramatic actors, improv artists, clowns and “bouncing chamber music.” There’s even a Victorian horror troupe on the list. In 2024 they added a Street Fringe with buskers busking all over the place. In total, at least 30 local Georgia artists will perform alongside 19 touring artists from 11 different states as well as one (puppeteer Rick Conte) from Scotland itself. — Kevin C. Madigan
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For more critic-recommended concerts, performances and cultural events, explore CL Recommends.

Explore more:
• Music Critic’s Picks
• More from Kevin C. Madigan
• All CL Recommends