There’s an interesting mix of theater and music in this week’s arts and entertainment calendar. My top choice, and one of the most intriguing choices of the year, is “Mama’s Boy” at Portland’s Good Theater. It’s a world premiere, and the subject is the backstory behind the troubled man who assassinated President John F. Kennedy […]

Once deemed professionally competent, no server likes to be micromanaged. Positive reinforcement and well-orchestrated teamwork is appreciated, but in-your-face, tripping over your shoelaces “help” certainly is not. Aside from enforcing practical rules, micromanagement, no matter how unintentional, leads to chaos, embarrassment and animosity. In a restaurant front-of-the-house, how things are handled, both routine and out-of-the-norm, […]

I once worked at a place where the in-house, restaurant communication was about as effective the low-tech, children’s game of Telephone. When it truly was a game, a bunch of us would sit around in a circle. Someone would whisper a funny or clever phrase into the ear of the kid next to them. Then, […]

Back in 1922, silent movies were sweeping the nation and the Kotzschmar Memorial Organ was only 10 years old. This Friday, Friends of the Kotzschmar Organ will recreate those halcyon days of yore with the screening of “Nosferatu,” a vampire movie with an organ accompaniment. The DaPonte String Quartet is launching its 2015-2016 season with […]

Greater Portland Books/Authors Friday 10/30 The Great Feast of Samhain: Celtic Halloween, celebrated in Maine and Portland in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, 7 p.m., Maine Irish Heritage Center, corner of State and Gray streets, Portland, 780-0118, irishhc@maine.rr.com. Wednesday 11/4 “The Boys Who Challenged Hitler,” Brown Bag Lecture Series, noon, Portland Public Library, […]

Greater Portland Benefits Saturday 10/24 An Evening with the Aters, benefit Claddagh Mhor Pipe Band, to fund trip to  Galway City St. Patrick’s Day parade, 8 p.m., Maine Irish Heritage Center, corner of State and Gray streets, Portland. Tickets at www.maxater.com. Books/Authors Friday 10/30 The Great Feast of Samhain: Celtic Halloween, celebrated in Maine and […]

A busy weekend for music lovers is coming up Oct. 23-25, with two symphony orchestras playing two concerts apiece, plus two music festivals also crowding the calendar. The tunes and lyrics of John Denver will be spotlighted when the Portland Symphony launches its 2015-2016 Pops Series under the baton of assistant conductor Norman Huynh on […]

The You-Can’t-Make-This-Stuff-Up file is bursting at the seams. Adding stories is business as usual because in the hospitality industry, unexpected things happen daily. Never knowing who is going to do or say something column-worthy, the file itself is one reason I still love front-of-the-house restaurant work. That, and because the job is never boring. Most […]

At first glance, I thought the following letter was either a prank from one of my friends in the industry, or recovered from a “Downton Abbey”-era time capsule. My initial reaction was to send a reply thanking this woman for writing and, for once, mind my own business. However, this isn’t my first time around […]