The Butterfly Effect

The Italian theater company T.P.O. brings its magical, digital The Butterfly Garden (May 14-23) to the New 42nd Street Studios in a production presented by the New Victory Theater. With computer technology and graphics, the show creates a sensational sensory experience that transforms a studio into a colorful rainforest that responds to the performers’ movements. In its main space, the New Victory is presenting PaGAGnini (May 7-23), a wacky, wordless concert full of music and comedy.

Big Apple Circus presents Bello is Back!, featuring the popular clown Bello Nock, who returns after an absence of nine seasons. The show will feature acrobats, trampoline performers, trapeze artists, aerial acts, and more. For even more circus-related events, just a reminder that Cirque du Soleil has two shows up in the city that may be of interest: Banana Shpeel at the Beacon Theatre (through August 29) and Ovo on Randall’s Island (through June 6).

Literally Alive is taking audiences on an adventure to Treasure Island (May 16 – June 27) at the Players Theatre. This adaptation turns Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic novel about the journey of Jim Hawkins into a musical full of unforgettable characters, life lessons, and, of course, pirate treasure. The production includes interactive pre-show workshops. The Phoenix Theatre Ensemble’s latest “Grimms-n-Giggles” production takes on every little child’s favorite horror story, The Three Little Pigs, performed at The Wild Project, May 8-15. Adapted by Kathy Menino and featuring music by Ellen Mandel, the musical tells the well-known tale of a piggy trying to safeguard himself against the deadly huffings and puffings of one very big bad wolf.

In Green Golly & Her Golden Flute (May 9-30), a free show playing at the T Salon at Chelsea Market, young audiences are introduced to the works of musical geniuses from Mozart to Copeland through a fun story that turns an old fairy tale on its head. Unlike Rapunzel, her alter ego Green Golly enjoys her time high up in the tower, where she uses her golden flute to express her feelings through music as she explores masterpieces by some of history’s greatest composers. At Hunter College’s Kaye Playhouse, Music Tells a Story (May 15-16) is a Lolli-Pops concert by The Little Orchestra, ideal for kids aged 3-5. As the musicians play Saint-Saens’ classic “Carnival of the Animals,” children’s book illustrator Peter H. Reynolds will bring the animals to life right in front of the audience, creating original artwork inspired by the music.

The ArtsPower National Touring Company brings its production of Jigsaw Jones and the Case of the Class Clown (May 15) to the Tribeca Performing Arts Center at the Borough of Manhattan Community College for just one performance. Adapted from James Preller’s book of the same name, the show is about the titular young detective and his investigation of the “sliming” of a fellow classmate. Based on the book by Marlee Matlin and Doug Cooney, Nobody’s Perfect (May 8) is about Megan, a hearing-impaired fourth grader who clashes with new student Alexis, a seemingly perfect girl who has a secret. A production of the Kennedy Center Theater for Young Audiences, the show has one performance only at NYU’s Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, and it will be simultaneously performed in both spoken English and American Sign Language.