Greater Portland Auditions/Calls for Art “Miniatures,” call for small works of art in all media, to be displayed during holiday season, Constellation Gallery, $5 entry fee, gallery@constellationart.com. Thursday 11/6 “Beatrix Potter Christmas,” auditions for actors ages 8-17, 3-5 p.m., Children’s Museum & Theatre of Maine, 142 Free St., Portland, reba@kitetails.org. Books/Authors Wednesday 11/5 “Ed Muskie: […]

Last weekend’s blast of winter weather and the end of Daylight Saving Time were stark reminders that pleasant evenings in theaters and concert halls play a bigger part in our lives from late fall to late spring. And there are plenty of choices for pleasantly spending those long evenings in southern Maine. Portland’s Good Theater […]

Portland Ovations, in its never-ending quest to present creatively different events, has scheduled one of the most unusual concerts in its 83-year history. On Saturday night, two of America’s foremost banjo players will team up with a highly honored bluegrass band for an unforgettable concert in Merrill Auditorium. Portland Chamber Music Festival has scheduled its […]

Greater Portland Books/Authors Wednesday 10/22 “Deus Vult, One Knight’s Life,” discussion with author Henry Beyer, 6:30 p.m., free, Prince Memorial Library, 266 Main St., Cumberland, 829-2215. Monday 10/27 “An Evening of Dylan Thomas,” readings by Portland Stage artists, 7 p.m., $5 suggested donation, Katahdin Restaurant, 27 Forest Ave., Portland, 774-1043 ext. 105. Wednesday 10/29 “Sonny Days: […]

Theater and music top this week’s arts and entertainment listings, with the geographic center of gravity shifting north and east of Portland. The Public Theatre of Lewiston-Auburn, a fully professional company, opened its 2014-2015 season with A.R. Gurney’s “The Cocktail Hour,” a wonderfully incisive comedy that sparkles and fizzes from opening curtain to denouement. It […]

Greater Portland Books/Authors Friday 10/17 “The Lost Child,” discussion with poet Wes McNair, 6:30 p.m., free, Portland Public Library, 5 Monument Square, Portland, 871-1700 ext. 723. Saturday 10/18 “A Generation of Leaves,” reading by author Nicole D’Entremont, 7 p.m., $10 and RSVP, The Language Exchange, 80 Exchange St., Portland, 772-0405, immersionprograms.com. Tuesday 10/21 “Miss Dr. […]

For classical music lovers like myself, one of the first dates that gets circled on calendars every autumn is Laura Kargul’s solo piano recital at the University of Southern Maine School of Music. This Friday’s concert is extra special, marking her 25th year at the school. Known as an interpreter of the 19th-century Romantic literature, […]

Greater Portland Books/Authors Wednesday 10/8 “Deadly Hypocrisy,” reading by author Gar Roper, 6:30 p.m., free, Freeport Community Library, 10 Library Drive, Freeport, 865-3307. “The Giver,” discussion with author Lois Lowry, 7 p.m., free, Trinity Episcopal Church, 580 Forest Ave., Portland, 828-1090. Saturday 10/18 “A Generation of Leaves,” reading by author Nicole D’Entremont, 7 p.m., $10 […]

There’s a veritable flood of fine offerings from many different lands in the performing arts this mid-October, so many that it’s impossible to deal with more than a handful in this space. Tops in my opinion is “The Rainmaker,” a powerful American romantic comedy that opens the 2014-2015 season at Portland’s Good Theater. Portland Symphony […]

Greater Portland Auditions/Calls for Art The Boy Singers of Maine, open house and auditions, 9-10:30 a.m., Saturday, Oct. 4, and 4-6 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 9, St. Mary’s Church, 43 Foreside Road, Falmouth, 797-6354, boysingersofmaine.org. Books/Authors Monday 10/6 “Paris Was the Place,” reading with author Susan Conley, 7 p.m., $5 donation, Portland Stage, 25A Forest Ave., […]