Last Minute Plans: May 23 - 25

This week’s guide spans from soaring lawn chair adventures to spoken-word symbiosis. In Portland, a conversation on mental health unfolds through music and reflection. San Francisco and Chicago bring the full force of the orchestra and musical theater, while Santa Fe offers an intimate pairing of Schubert and Ligeti. Vancouver’s Inner Elder delivers raw truth and laughter in equal measure, and Boston and Seattle round things out with high-caliber movement and chamber music. It’s a weekend full of depth, joy, and moments that surprise.

Friday, May 23

Portland: Sound... Mind... A Musical Journey with Anna Schaum – 45th Parallel
A program built around dialogue, care, and complexity. Anna Schaum joins the mousai REMIX quartet for an evening reflecting on mental health and how music can hold space for healing.
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San Francisco: Salonen Conducts The Firebird – San Francisco Symphony
Stravinsky’s Firebird blazes to life alongside Lindberg’s Chorale and Berg’s haunting Violin Concerto in a program that spans folklore, mourning, and transcendence.
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Saturday, May 24

Santa Fe: Schubert + Ligeti – Chatter
A morning of contrast and conversation. Ligeti’s thorny trio and Schubert’s graceful sonata come to life with violin, horn, and piano—paired with live spoken word by Marcia Butler.
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Chicago: 42 Balloons – Chicago Shakespeare Theater
One lawn chair. Forty-two balloons. Zero permission. This new musical’s North American premiere brings heart, humor, and an '80s pop score to a true story that’s stranger than fiction.
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Sunday, May 25

Vancouver: Inner Elder – Firehall Arts Centre
Michelle Thrush’s autobiographical solo show is equal parts comedy and catharsis—a powerful reflection on identity, survival, and the winding path to becoming.
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Boston: Spring Experience – Boston Ballet
Six dancers. Three duets. A series of poetic inspirations drive 27’52”, a ballet shaped through deep collaboration between choreographer and composer Dirk Haubrich.
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Seattle: Dover Quartet – Seattle Chamber Music Society
One of the finest string quartets in the world makes its SCMS debut with a program that spans Montgomery, Janáček, Dvořák, and Schumann. Not to be missed.
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