• HOT TICKET Jennings in solo show at Port City POP-FOLK singer-songwriter Mason Jennings is a walking American musical geography lesson — born in Hawaii, raised in Pittsburgh, started his career in Minneapolis. He’ll do a solo show Friday at Port City Music Hall. WHEN: 8 p.m. Friday WHERE: Port City Music Hall, 504 Congress St., […]

• CONCERTS TODAY Monica Grabin, folk and traditional popular songs, benefits the Mousam and Kennebunk Rivers Alliance; Community House, Kennebunkport. $10/donation. www.mainerivers.org. 7 p.m. Portland Jazz Orchestra, One Longfellow Square, Portland. $5 in advance and for students and seniors; $9 at the door. 761-1757. 8 p.m. Gretchen Parlato, jazz vocalist, Bates College (Olin Arts Center), […]

Johnny A. is not a household name, and he’s never had a hit song. In fact, most people can’t even pronounce his actual last name — Antonopolous — hence the A. But this Boston-based guitarist has earned the respect and friendship of some of the world’s best-known musicians during the past 30 years or more, […]

“Two households, both alike in dignity, In fair Verona, where we lay our scene. From ancient grudge break to new mutiny …” And at about this point the gnome reciting the prologue to “Romeo and Juliet” is yanked off stage by a big Bugs Bunny hook. For this is no epic tale of woe, this […]

NEW ON DVD AND BLU-RAY “FOR COLORED GIRLS,” starring Thandie Newton and Whoopi Goldberg. Based on the powerful play by Ntozake Shange, Tyler Perry’s skillful adaptation represents a risky but worthwhile departure from his usual distinctive melding of slapstick comedy and wrenching melodrama. Here, he takes a poetry-based, complexly structured onstage drama and assembles a […]

• HOT TICKET ‘Real McGonagall’ opens for previews ON THE EVE of his return to Scotland, Sir William Topaz McGonagall recites his outrageously bad poetry at a saloon in New York. Is he a fool, or is the joke on us? Portland Stage Company answers that question in “The Real McGonagall,” opening for previews tonight. WHEN: […]

OPENING FRIDAY “THE EAGLE” (1:54) (PG-13) Stars Channing Tatum, Jamie Bell and Donald Sutherland. Directed by Kevin Macdonald. In 140 AD, Roman soldier Marcus Aquila embarks on a quest to restore the reputation of his father, once the commander of Rome’s Ninth Legion, who disappeared in the mountains of Scotland 20 years earlier. Battle sequences and […]

Skiers and riders go out and get some air in Monument Square.

Looking for a place where you can take down a heaping plate of house-made nachos while delicately sipping on a bottle of Opus One? Look no further. The Oak Street Bistro in Alfred does it all — and does it well. When you first walk in, you wonder whether you’re in a restaurant or a […]