CONCERTS

Lucky Peterson
Sunday at 7 pm, Aladdin Theater
The son of a musician and club owner, Peterson released his first album, Our Future, when he was 5 years old, winning appearances on The Tonight Show and The Ed Sullivan Show. He went on to play with B. B. King, Etta James, Otis Rush, and more, making a name for himself as a “triple threat” on vocals, organ, and guitar. No wonder his newest record is called Son of a Bluesman.

BOOKS & TALKS

Mary Pilon
Friday at 7:30 pm, Powells City of Books
Mary Pilon's new book is written for the 99 percent...of us that grew up playing the board game Monopoly. You think you know the score: raid that community chest, avoid going to jail, and aim for Park Avenue. But the ultimate game for budding robber barons was conceived to promote anything but. Pilon's The Monopolists: Obsession, Fury and the Scandal Behind  the World's Favorite Board Game raises the lid on a history involving "Abraham Lincoln, the Quakers, and a forgotten feminist." 

DANCE 

White Bird Dance: Alonzo King Lines Ballet
Thursday–Saturday at 7:30 pm, Newmark Theatre
Celebrated choreographer King, noted for his collaborative work since the 1982 founding of this acclaimed Bay Area ballet troupe, presents a new piece supported by the first-ever White Bird “Barney” Choreographic prize. 

OPENING Oregon Ballet Theatre: Cinderella
Saturday at 7:30 pm, Sunday at 2 pm, Keller Auditorium
Ben Stevenson’s 1970 version of the timeless folk tale has been universally adored since its premiere. It’s the ultimate “something-for-everyone” production: kids will be drawn to the familiar story and entrancing movement while adults warm to Sergei Prokofiev’s lush and exciting score.  

FAMILY

OPENING Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made
Saturday at 2pm and 5 pm, Sunday at 11 am and 2 pm, Winningstad Theatre
For its second world premiere, Oregon Children's Theatre enlisted Tasmanian playwright Finegan Kruckemeyer to adapt the children’s book Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made—a wildly popular saga of a delusional kid detective from Pearls Before Swine creator Stephan Pastis. The production stars Action/Adventure Theatre founder Pat Moran as Timmy. Will OCT score a global coup like 2006's The Giver? Read our 12-step play-by-play in this month's magazine.

THEATER

OPENING Mary Stuart
Friday–Sunday at 7:30 pm, Shoebox Theatre
Look no further for strong female leads than Northwest Classical Theatre Company’s adapted production of Friedrich von Schiller’s circa-1800 tragedy. It is a battle royale as Elizabeth I and her cousin Mary, Queen of Scots, face off in Peter Oswald’s Tony-nominated political potboiler.

OPENING Other Desert Cities
Thursday–Sunday at 7:30 pm, Thursday at 12 pm, Saturday & Sunday at 2 pm, Portland Center Stage
Jon Robin Baitz’s 2012 Pulitzer finalist, one of the 10 most-produced plays in American theater for three years running, follows a family holiday gathering in which tensions over long-held political differences erupt over a tragic family secret.  

Threesome
Thursday–Sunday at 7:30 pm, Thursday at 12 pm, Saturday & Sunday at 2 pm, Portland Center Stage
Some couples attempt to solve their problems with counseling, some try a vacation, some just ignore them. Then there are those who try a threesome, like the main characters in this world premiere—a selection at last year’s JAW playwrights festival—from Egyptian-born Yussef El Guindi. According to our recent chat with the award-winning playwright, it's really not about the sex. 

ART 

Carson Ellis: Home
Thursday–Sunday from noon to 6 pm, Nationale
Carson Ellis rocks by more than association. The spouse of Decemberists frontman Colin Meloy, Ellis has earned her own fame as the illustrator of children's books by Lemony Snicket, Trenton Lee Stewart, Florence Parry Heide, and, with Meloy, the bestselling Wildwood series. Released on Feb 24 from Candlewick Press, Home—Ellis's first foray as both illustrator and author—explores concepts of home including "beehives, birds’ nests, wigwams, undersea palaces, and space stations." Check out our recent chat with Ellis.

CLOSING Monika Merva and Rebecca Norris Webb
Thursday–Sunday from noon to 5 pm, Blue Sky Gallery
From wet hair on skin to fried eggs, photographer Merva’s Origins of Emotions infuse everyday scenes with rich significance. Webb shot much of My Dakota while grieving the loss of a brother; the resulting take on her home state is a powerful mix of fugue-like collage and raw, startling landscape. 

CLASSICAL MUSIC

Oregon Symphony: Let's Dance!
Saturday at 7:30 pm & Sunday at 3pm, Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
Backed by a full orchestra and two vocalists, a troupe of six dancers “light up the Schnitz” with variations on the waltz, cha cha, tango, swing, and more.