GREY GARDENS | Artistic director Spiro Veloudos is at the helm of the Lyric Stage Company of Boston's New England premiere of the hit Broadway musical about Jackie O's eccentric relatives, Big and Little Edie Beale, who lived in symbiotic squalor in the filthy remains of a once-grand Long Island manse. They've been the subject of a famed documentary and an HBO movie; come hear them sing. Musical direction is by Jonathan Goldberg; Leigh Barrett plays one of the Edies. | Lyric Stage Company of Boston, 140 Clarendon St, Boston | 617.585.5678 | May 8–June 6 | Curtain 2 pm [May 13, June 3] + 7:30 pm Wed | 7:30 pm Thurs | 8 pm Fri | 4 + 8 pm Sat | 3 pm Sun | $25-$44
HOW TO EAT A LOBSTER | Karen Bray & Friends present this combination platter of dance, improvisation, theater, and comedy. | Green Street Studios, 185 Green St, Cambridge | 617.953.3937 | May 8-9 | Curtain 8 pm Fri-Sat | $20; $50 sponsorship; $10 students, seniors
IMPROBABLE RESEARCH CABARET | In connection with the Cambridge Science Festival, the folks who bring you the Annals of Improbable Research and administer the Ig Nobel Prizes present this afternoon of comedy and song aimed at answering such questions as "Is Coca-Cola an effective spermicide?" and "Why do sheets wrinkle?" (Are these questions related?) | Central Square Theater, 450 Mass Ave, Cambridge | 617.576.9278 x 208 | May 2 | Curtain 3 pm Sat | $35; $20 students
IOLANTHE, OR THE PEER AND THE PERI | MIT's Gilbert & Sullivan Players take on G&S's 1882 "fairy opera." | Sala de Puerto Rico, Stratton Student Center [second floor], 84 Mass Ave, Cambridge | 617.253.0190 | May 1-9 | Curtain 8 pm Thurs-Fri | 2 pm [May 9] + 8 pm Sat | 2 pm Sun | $12; $10 MIT community; $8 students, seniors, children; $6 MIT/Wellesley students
JERRY SPRINGER: THE OPERA | Artistic director Paul Daigneault is at the helm of this SpeakEasy Stage Company area premiere of the 2004 Olivier Award–winning London sensation, a "fascinating mix of high art and low culture" featuring "some unusual characters, each desperate for their 'Jerry Springer' moment." | Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont St, Boston | 617.933.8600 | May 1-30 | Curtain 7:30 pm Tues [May 26] | 7:30 pm Wed-Thurs | 8 pm Fri | 4 + 8 pm Sat | 3 pm Sun | $51-$54; $46-$49 students, seniors; $30 gallery seats; $14 student rush
LORD OF THE DANCE | Michael Flatley's celebration of Irish dance, which has been seen by 100 million persons worldwide, aims to add a few Rhode Islanders to the list. | Providence Performing Arts Center, 220 Weybosset St, Providence, Rhode Island | 401.421.ARTS | May 5-6 | Curtain 7 pm Tues | 7:30 pm Wed | $33-$55
MISS MARGARIDA'S WAY | Theatre on Fire and Charlestown Working Theater take on Brazilian writer Roberto Athayde's 1973 work, an allegory about power and recession set in an eighth-grade biology class whose teacher is way out of control. The audience plays her students. Darren Evans directs. | Charlestown Working Theater, 442 Bunker Hill St, Charlestown | 866.811.4111 | May 8-23 | Curtain 8 pm Thurs-Sat | $15-$20; $10 seniors; free students with ID
