May Weekends in Boston (and beyond)
May is beautiful in Boston, and it’s also a great month to take a special mother in your life on a roadtrip out of town. Here is how my May weekends are shaping up.
Week 1: Boston Theater Marathon (Sunday May 4)
This year my son will join me at this annual beloved Boston event showcasing 50 ten-minute plays by New England playwrights, presented by New England theatre companies. Tickets here (almost sold out).
There are 5 blocks (each featuring ten plays and running approximately 100 minutes) and we are attending one of the mid-day blocks. I adore the diverse energy, themes, actors, love it or hate it– it’s gone in 10 minutes and there is so much to discuss and compare notes afterwords. If you can’t come this year (or if your desired block is sold out, put this on your calendar for next year!)
Week 2: Mother’s Day: Roadtripping to Vermont (and Canada)
For Mother’s Day weekend this year we are headed to Stowe Vermont with a quick excursion over the Canadian boarder to our favorite spa Balnea.
If you are day tripping to Cape Cod that weekend, Heritage Museum & Gardens in Sandwich has a free admission for all mothers on Mother’s Day.
(Be sure to also check out our day trip to Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. And for other Mother’s Day ideas, including inspiring gardens, sprawling historic estates and invigorating spa day trips, check out our blogpost from last year)
Week 3: Spring Experience at Boston Ballet (May 15-25)
and The Light in the Plaza at Huntington Theater (through June 15)
For $45 tickets use my promo code Victoria45 (link to Boston Ballet’s website)
Spring Experience program is an evening of (classical/modern) contrasts with three ballets: (modern) Jiří Kylián’s Petite Mort and 27’52”, and (Boston Ballet’s Artistic Director) Mikko Nissinen’s (adaptation of classical) Raymonda. Here is a program summary from Nissinen:
“Spring Experience will offer audiences a transformative experience, showcasing the breadth and beauty of dance today with these contrasting works..Every dancer wants to perform Jiří Kylián’s works, and these two pieces are Kylián at his finest. I am also thrilled for my reimagined Raymonda to return. The choreography is some of the most challenging in our repertoire, and our talented dancers shine in this classical gem.”
We absolutely loved this evening of balletic contrasts. We could not take our eyes off our principal dancers in the Raymonda (Viktorina Kapitonova, Sangmin Lee, Ji Young Chae) but it was Kylian’s “27’52” (Boston Ballet’s premiere) that truly mesmerized us. You have to come see Lia Cirio and Paul Craig (soon to be wed in real life) pushing human movement to the limit! My husband’s favorite dancer of the night was Jeffrey Cirio (in “27’52”).
Interesting Fact: 27’52 (Boston Ballet premier) refers to the length of the piece, 27 minutes and 52 seconds. The set features two parts—the floor and the ceiling. In Kylián words, “In the course of the performance, we notice that both of these elements are unstable and unreliable. Everything is constantly moving: our age, our interest, our partnership, our future, and our destiny. This means that the only thing we can rely on is uncertainty”. There are moments of partial nudity in this program.
The Light in the Plaza at Huntington Theater (through June 15) was another gem of my May weekend #3
Huntington Theater did a terrific job with this production of a contemporary musical based on the novel by Elizabeth Spencer, with music and lyrics by Adam Guettel, book by Craig Lucas (directed by Huntington Artistic Director Loretta Greco). The staging is so light and airy – you are transported right in the middle of Florence in the 50s and never leave it until the curtain call. It is the lyrical meditation on parenting, love, and … traveling in Italy of course! Everyone in the cast is in its place with beautiful singing and acting (but Emily Skinner as Margaret Johnson is in the league of her own!)
Call the box office 617-266-0800 to inquire about young patrons and student discounts. Family Day (free attendance for families of Boston students is on May 25 at 2pm). (general tickets here)
Week 4: Stars on Ice (and Cape Cod)
This year, following sold out Boston’s Figure Skating Worlds-25, Stars on Ice show has added a second night of performances at the Skating Club of Boston’s Norwood facility (May 24th and 25th) (my review here). This will be an amazing opportunity to see three (of four) recently crowned World Champions: Ilia Malinin, Alysa Liu and ice dancers Madison Chock and Evan Bates (along with other prominent national team members and international stars).
I am also hoping to open our Cape Cod season during Memorial Day weekend for beach walks (check out my Cape Cod Beach guide) Main street walks.
Week 5: (Boston Ballet’s premiere of) Romeo and Juliette May 29-June 8 (choreography by Jean-Christophe Maillot, Choreographer-Director of Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo).
I was blown away by this staging– I knew that it was a “fresh adaptation” of the classic but had no idea just how much minimalistic sets and costumes will influence my perception. There was almost nothing to distract from the raw emotion of the dance. There was elegance, passion, even humor – I never experienced such powerful fusion of classical and contemporary! Iconic Sergei Prokofiev’s score was performed live masterfully by Boston Ballet Orchestra. Use my promo code victoria45 here for $45 tickets (works for 5/29, 5/30, 6/3, 6/4 at 7:30pm). Boston Ballet’s 61 season will conclude with this fresh adaptation of the timeless Shakespearean tale.
Other performances not to be missed in Boston this May
- May 21: a Next Generation evening of Boston Ballet’s school recent graduates (link to tickets; one evening only)
- May 20- June 29: Two Strangers (carry a cake across New York) at the American Repertoire Theater in Cambridge
