Top 15 performing and visual arts events for May

"The Phantom of the Opera" is back at ASU Gammage this month with an all-new staging. Our top picks for arts lovers in May include Ballet Arizona's "All Balanchine" and the uproarious farce "One Man, Two Guvnors" at Phoenix Theatre.

'End of the Rainbow'

Thirty years after "The Wizard of Oz" made her a star, Judy Garland launched the last of her many career comebacks with a run of cabaret concerts in London. Things did not go well. This play with music goes behind the scenes to reveal the troubled relationships of a show-business icon. Phoenix Theatre's production features local fave Jeannie Shubitz, whose pure soprano and nuanced acting make her a perfect fit for the role.

Details: Through Sunday, May 17. Phoenix Theatre, 100 E. McDowell Road. $30 and up. 602-254-2151, phoenixtheatre.com.

'All Balanchine'

Ballet Arizona's season finale, by tradition, salutes the Russian-American choreographer who reinvented the art form for the modern era. This year's concerts feature "Allegro Brillante" (1956), set to Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 3; "Stravinsky Violin Concerto" (1972); and "La Sonnambula" (1962), a tragic tale about a beautiful sleepwalker using themes from opera composer Vincenzo Bellini.

Details: April 30-May 3. 7 p.m. Thursday; 7:30 p.m. Friday; 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday; 1 p.m. Sunday. Symphony Hall, 75 N. Second St., Phoenix. $15-$158. 602-381-1096, balletaz.org.

'A Weekend With Pablo Picasso'

This one-man show gets up close and personal — like, in-the-bathtub personal — with the modern-art icon. Arizona Theatre Company's season finale is performed by the show's creator, Herbert Siguenza, one of the founders of Los Angeles' acclaimed Chicano theater troupe Culture Clash.

Details: Thursday, April 30, through Sunday, May 17. Herberger Theater Center, 222 E. Monroe St., Phoenix. $36-$72. 602-256-6995, arizonatheatre.org.

'Fancy Nancy the Musical'

New York City's Vital Theatre Company, creators of "Pinkalicious the Musical," visit town with their latest girl-power tuner, this one based on the bestselling children's books by Jane O'Connor. The plot: Our heroine's irrepressible fabulosity is put to the test when she is cast in the school play not as a magical mermaid but as a boring old tree.

Details: 1 and 3 p.m. Saturday, May 2. Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, 7380 E. Second St. $29; $14 age 12 and younger. 480-499-8587, scottsdaleperformingarts.org.

SMoCA Mix: Street Art Moves Inside

At this annual fundraising event at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, mural artists (including surrealist painter Lalo Cota), break dancers and food vendors turn the museum into an indoor urban street festival. Yes, there will be cocktails.

Details: 6 p.m. Saturday, May 2. Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, 7374 E. Second St. $200. 480-874-4666, smoca.org.

'Phantasies of the Opera'

Mesa's Sonoran Desert Chorale sings selections from Gilbert & Sullivan's "H.M.S. Pinafore" as well as favorite arias from operas by Puccini, Mozart, Wagner and Bizet.

Details: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 2, at First United Methodist Church, 15 E. First Ave., Mesa. Also 3 p.m. Sunday, May 3, at Valley Presbyterian Church, 6947 E. McDonald Drive, Paradise Valley. $15-$18. 480-835-7059, sonorandesertchorale.org.

'State of Exception'

This installation hosted (off-site) by the ASU Art Museum aims to push past the political debates over undocumented migrants and confront the physical reality of their journey to the United States. It was created using more than 300 objects — backpacks, water bottles, etc. — left behind by people attempting the dangerous desert crossing from the Mexico border. A collaboration by photographer Richard Barnes, artist Amanda Krugliak and anthropologist Jason De Leόn, the exhibit includes photos and videos.

Details: Saturday, May 2, through Saturday, Aug. 8. Combine Studios, 821 N. Third St., Phoenix. Free. 480-965-2787, asuartmuseum.asu.edu.

'SpellBound!'

After performing "A Midsummer Night's Dream" under the stars at the Desert Botanical Garden last spring, Southwest Shakespeare Company returns with a new adaptation of the Bard's "Cymbeline," an intricate tale of bloody intrigue set in Roman-occupied ancient Britain. Featuring gourmet noshes (not included in ticket prices) and full bar.

Details: May 7-24. Desert Botanical Garden, 1201 N. Galvin Parkway, Phoenix. $35-$65. 480-435-6868, swshakespeare.org.

'Puppet Wars: Episode IV: A Few Hope'

All Puppet Players usually are the opposite of family-friendly, serving up super-filthy pop-culture spoofs such as "Fifty Shades of Felt" and "The Exorcist Has No Legs." But you can finally take to the kids to this takeoff on the original "Star Wars" and even create your own puppets for the cantina scene.

Details: Friday, May 15, through Saturday, May 30. Playhouse on the Park, Viad Tower, 1850 N. Central Ave., Phoenix. 602-254-2151, allpuppetplayers.com.

Phoenix Ballet: 'Rising'

Formerly known as Ballet & Friends, Phoenix Ballet aims to raise its profile with this repertory program featuring two world-premiere dances choreographed by Albert Blaise Cattafi, a member of Rasta Thomas' Bad Boys of Dance in Maryland, and "So You Think You Can Dance" alum Ricky Palomino. The company features dancers from the Master Ballet Academy, founded by Slawomir Woźniak, who will be taking this program to his native Poland for the Lodz International Ballet Festival later this month.

Details: 7 p.m. Saturday, May 16; 2 p.m. Sunday, May 17. Mesa Arts Center, 1 E. Main St. $20-$55. 480-644-6500, mesaartscenter.com.

'All Night Long: Music of the 1980s'

This Phoenix Symphony pops program, lead by guest conductor Stuart Chafetz, features uptempo tunes such as "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" and "What a Feeling," along with songs by Elton John, Phil Collins and, as the concert title hints, Lionel Richie. Eighties attire encouraged, so be sure dig out your legwarmers from the closet.

Details: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 16; 4 p.m. Sunday, May 17. Symphony Hall, 75 N. Second St., Phoenix. $18-$83. 602-495-1999, phoenixsymphony.org.

'One Man, Two Guvnors'

James Corden, now host of "The Late Late Show," starred in the world premiere of this uproarious farce set in early-'60s England. For Phoenix Theatre's production, Valley performer Ron May — who brought audiences to their feet in Actors Theatre's "The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs" — will break out his best Cockney accent to play the easily confused, always hungry Francis Henshall, who's doing his best to keep his two criminal employers from finding out he's serving two masters.

Details: Wednesday, May 20, through Sunday, June 14. Phoenix Theatre, 100 E. McDowell Road. $30 and up. 602-254-2151, phoenixtheatre.com.

Mahler's Symphony No. 1

Maestro Tito Muñoz leads the final concert of his first season as Phoenix Symphony's music director. In addition to the Mahler, the program features "Finding Rothko," by American composer Adam Schoenberg, and Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1 performed by guest soloist Giora Schmidt.

Details: 602-495-1999, phoenixsymphony.org.

• 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 21. Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, 7380 E. Second St. $39-$59. 480-499-8587, scottsdaleperformingarts.org.

• 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, May 22-23. Symphony Hall, 75 N. Second St., Phoenix. $18-$79.

• Coffee Classics performance (shortened program), 11 a.m. Friday, May 22, at Symphony Hall. $18-$39.

'The Little Mermaid'

Arizona Broadway Theatre presents the Valley's first professional production of the Disney stage musical based on the 1989 film, with a score by Alan Menken featuring "Under the Sea," "Kiss the Girl" and "Part of Your World."

Details: Friday, May 22, through Sunday, June 21. Arizona Broadway Theatre, 7701 W. Paradise Lane, Peoria. Tickets start at $65 ($45 show only) and are subject to demand pricing. 623-776-8400, azbroadway.org.

'The Phantom of the Opera'

Andrew Lloyd Webber's megamusical returns with an all-new staging from original producer Cameron Mackintosh ... er, Sir Cameron, that is. Starring as the Phantom is "The Voice" finalist Chris Mann. Local interest: Valley Youth Theatre alum Nick Cartell is in the cast, as "Policeman in Pit," and serves as the tour's Fight Captain.

Details: Wednesday, May 27, through Sunday, June 7. ASU Gammage, Mill Avenue and Apache Boulevard, Tempe. 480-965-3434, asugammage.com.