Greater Portland Books & Authors Saturday 12/8 Used book sale, 9 a.m.-4 p.m., to benefit Falmouth Memorial Library, Motz School, 192 Middle Road, Falmouth, 781-2351. Sunday 12/9  “Strangers No More,” Josh Pahigan, 12-2 p.m., Sherman’s Books, 128 Main St., Freeport, 869-9000. Tuesday 12/11 “Portland, Maine Chef’s Table: Extraordinary Recipes from Casco Bay,” Margaret Hathaway, 6:30 […]

I love to attend quality Christmas shows, and this week’s picks of the tix include three excellent choices in three very different formats. Portland Players is running a fine community production of “Miracle on 34th Street: The Musical.” It is a Broadway staging of the beloved 1947 film, with book and score by Meredith Willson, […]

Greater Portland Books & Authors Thursday 11/29  “Gilead,” Marilynne Robinson, Merrill Memorial Library, 215 Main St., Yarmouth, 846-4763. Saturday 12/1  “Strangers No More,” Josh Pahigan, 1-3 p.m., Books-a-Million, 430 Gorham Road, South Portland, 253-5587. Sunday 12/9  “Strangers No More,” Josh Pahigan, 12-2 p.m., Sherman’s Books, 128 Main St., Freeport, 869-9000. Comedy Ongoing Portland Comedy Connection, […]

Musical offerings dominate this week’s top choices in the performing arts. Without doubt, the No. 1 pick for the weekend will be Christmas at the Cathedral. The Choral Art Society produces this concert, with four performances scheduled for Dec. 1-2 in Portland. Another big concert will be Natalie MacMaster’s Dec. 4 Christmas show at Merrill […]

Greater Portland Call for Art Richard Boyd Art Gallery seeks original works for show opening April 2013. For more information: 712-1097 or williamson955@aol.com. Books & Authors Thursday 11/29  “Gilead,” Marilynne Robinson, Merrill Memorial Library, 215 Main St., Yarmouth, 846-4763. Comedy Ongoing Portland Comedy Connection, 16 Custom House Wharf, Portland, 774-5554, full schedule at mainecomedy.com. Film […]

A pair of out-of-the-box musicals are the top choices this week in the performing arts. At Portland’s Good Theater, “Striking 12” is a clever and tuneful re-imagining of a classic tale by Hans Christian Andersen. “Striking 12” is more than totally out-of-the-box; it’s strikingly good. “Nine” is an out-of-the-box musical re-imagining of a classic Federico […]

Greater Portland Call for Art The Society for East End Arts is looking for artists to participate in its annual holiday sale, Art on the Hill, to be held Nov. 30-Dec. 2 at East End School in Portland; register at SEAportland.org. Richard Boyd Art Gallery seeks original works for show opening April 2013. For more […]

By mid-November, nearly every performing arts organization in southern Maine has opened its fall-winter-spring season. One of the last to start is the Mid-Coast-based Oratorio Chorale, which has a pair of concerts coming up Saturday and Sunday in Topsham and Yarmouth. Music director Peter Frewen has selected works by Franz Schubert and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. […]

Two much-honored acts top this week’s picks of the tix, which range from musical theater to classical piano. In the first-mentioned category, a national touring company will present “West Side Story,” one of Broadway’s most honored musicals, Nov. 9-10 in Portland. First produced in 1957, “West Side Story” is one of the few shows to […]