Portland Ovations has a longstanding commitment to hosting top-quality contemporary dance performances, and booking the Bill T. Jones-Arnie Zane Dance Company for a Feb. 24 visit exemplifies that promise. This particular program also employs some interesting local twists: Eight Maine professional musicians will play, while 12 Maine dancers will also get time on the stage. […]

Greater Portland Exhibits “400 Years of New Mainers,” Maine Historical Society, 489 Congress St., Portland. Art Guild of Freeport, month-long exhibit, Freeport Community Library, 10 Library Dr. “The Art of the Story: A Celebration of Maine Illustrators,” inaugural exhibit in the Stier Family Gallery, Thomas Memorial Library, 6 Scott Dyer Road, Cape Elizabeth. On view […]

It’s a seasonal thing. Just like all the hard-working folks at the franchised tax-prep offices, Cupid, the bow-and-arrow-toting cherub of love, is working overtime. And like the mixed-bag results coming out of those tax offices, Cupid doesn’t always strike when people wish he would. For restaurants and entertainment venues, it’s an opportunity barely tapped. A […]

Several outstanding concerts are slated for greater Portland this weekend. First up is Richard Thompson, a British singer-songwriter who’s been a major force on the world’s folk-rock scene since 1967. He’ll play in Westbrook on Friday evening. Sunday is Valentine’s Day, and two programs are slated to celebrate the occasion. Portland Symphony Orchestra, under the […]

Greater Portland Auditions New community chorus sign-up Monday, Feb 8, 61 Neal St., Portland. Monday rehearsals, 6:30-8 p.m., 899-2905. Exhibits “The Art of the Story: A Celebration of Maine Illustrators,” inaugural exhibit in the Stier Family Gallery, Thomas Memorial Library, 6 Scott Dyer Road, Cape Elizabeth. Opening reception 3-5 p.m., Feb. 6; on view Feb. […]

Portland’s Good Theater resumes its 2015-2016 season with a comedy that boasts a couple of notable distinctions. “Shear Madness” holds the record for America’s longest-running non-musical play. It’s been running in Boston since 1980, and now makes its Maine premiere. Second, its eight-week Portland run is the longest in Good Theater’s history – a reflection of […]

The stinging snap of a wet bar towel came my way via email this past weekend. It was signed by the first lady of a Portland restaurant dynasty: “In the Peas & Q’s section last week (‘Get Ready for the annual Valentine’s Day massacre‘) you made a reference to a ‘dish dog.’ I’ve grown up […]

Greater Portland Exhibits Betsy Wales, Congregational Church in Cumberland, 282 Main St., Cumberland Center, through Jan. 31, 829-3419 or office@cumberlanducc.org. “Captured Colors,” works of five Maine artists, Skillin’s Greenhouses, 89 Foreside Road, Falmouth, on view to Feb. 17, skillins.com or 781-3860. Janet Lawrence, watercolor and graphite drawings, Freeport Community Library, 10 Library Dr., through January. […]

The attractive 30-something woman was unable to hide her urgency to leave the busy restaurant as she requested the check. “I’m sorry to cut this short,” she said to the man across from her. “You’re a nice person, but I can’t sit through dinner with someone whose thoughts about our country, and other human lives, […]

Portland Ovations emerges from its long Christmas-New Year break this week with a pair of topnotch programs. Trinity Irish Dance Company, a Chicago-based terpsichorean troupe that has won a number of championships in Ireland, holds forth this Friday. TAO, subtitled Seventeen Samurai, is a Japanese ensemble that features thunderous drumming, razor-sharp choreography and spectacular costuming. […]