it's summer at the famous chautauqua institution in southwestern new york. chautauqua is about to open its main gate to 100,000 visitors who enjoy plays, operas, lectures, symphonies and the "chautauqua experience." this real-life setting on chautauqua lake welcomes maggie michaels wood, a third-generation chautauquan, in what the chinese call one's most important year: sixty. there is paul rains, a handsome singer performing in south pacific at the famous amphitheater. there is the concert itself, performed by singers of diversity within the zeitgeist of america. maggie and paul: two different backgrounds, two different lives attracted to each other after hours at the backstage cafe. chautauqua after hours weaves a spellbinding story into a vibrant mosaic of a time, a place, and a summer giving birth to moments of love and sadness that will endure forever.