January Highlights
Photo exhibitions, performances, and even a ?snodeo? are on tap this month in Maine.
MuseumsPortland Museum Of Art
Murray Hantman's life spanned almost the whole of the twentieth century (1904-1999), and for half that time the New Yorker spent his summers on Monhegan and in New Harbor, compelled by the unique lighting and expansive vistas of the Maine coast. This retrospective exhibition charts Hantman's evolution from his early training at New York's progressive Art Students League to his assistance on major public mural projects during the Depression to his arrival at an abstract painting style in the years after World War II. Through January 29. ? Julien Levy was one of the preeminent dealers of Modernist art, and he was particularly passionate about Surrealist work and all its abstractions, juxtapositions, satire, and excess. His collection of works by Eugene Atget, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Joseph Cornell, Salvador Dal?, Max Ernst, Arshile Gorky, Lee Miller, Marcel Duchamp, and Man Ray, among others, forms the basis of Accommodations of Desire: Surrealist Works on Paper Collected by Julien Levy, which runs from January 18 through March 19. 7 Congress Square, Portland. 207-775-6148. www.portlandmuseum.org
Farnsworth Art Museum & Wyeth Center
A highly respected artist and a revered teacher, Frederick Lynch [Down East, August 2003], has lived and worked in Maine for more than thirty years, building a reputation as one of the leading abstract painters in the region. Not everyone can paint in a style that incorporates elements of Cubism, hard-edge Abstraction, Pop Art, and Minimalism, but Lynch manages to blend all these into a unique style that's his own, as this retrospective shows. Through February 15. ? Selected Works by James Wyeth and N.C. Wyeth. Oh, those Wyeths. They're back at the Farnsworth (okay, so they really never leave the Farnsworth). The show pits the work of grandson Jamie against the work of grandpa N.C. Through March 1. ? Stewart Henderson: Recent Work. Henderson's sculptural collages have done the Maine gallery circuit. Now the artist, who teaches at the Arts Center at Kingdom Falls in Montville, is hitting it big with a solo show at the Farnsworth. His colorful, geometric collages will be on display through February 22. Rockland. 207-596-6457. www.farnsworthmuseum.org
Bates Museum of Art
Off the Coast: A Landscape Chronology explores innovations in contemporary landscape art and shows how recent Maine painters are changing the way people from away perceive the Pine Tree State. Through May 30. ? Activator. The museum becomes the art during this celebration of installation artists. Those included in this exhibition -- Nate Aldrich and Zach Poff, Astrid Bowlby, Amy Stacey Curtis, Eric Hongisto, Nicola Lopez, and Jason Rogenes -- use architecture as the framework for their work, requiring the viewer to move in and around each piece, encouraging a physical relationship between the body, the art, and the space the work inhabits. January 20 through March 19. 75 Russell Street, Lewiston. 207-786-6158. www.bates.edu/museum.xml
Colby College Museum of Art
Currents2: Sam van Aken. Just about everyone who saw the 1977 Spielberg film Close Encounters of the Third Kind walked away whistling its haunting theme. University of Maine art prof Sam van Aken walked away with a bit more. In Colby's second annual emerging artist exhibition, Currrents2, the installation artist creates a multimedia installation exploring the film. Van Aken recreates scenes and builds sculptural sets from the movie. Through February 12. 5600 Mayflower Hill Drive, Waterville. 207-872-3228. www.colby.edu/museum
University of Maine Museum of Art
No Two Alike: African-American Improvisations on a Traditional Patchwork Pattern. Many of the eighteen quilts in the impressive collection of Californian Eli Leon were made in the 1960s and 1970s by southern quiltmakers who prized uniqueness and improvisation over boring old symmetry. ? Melonie Bennett. This Gorham-based photographer [and Down East contributor] has watched her family and friends through the lens of her camera for more than fifteen years, and the result is a documentary-style portrait that is both witty and intimate. Both shows run through January 14. Norumbega Hall, 40 Harlow Street, Bangor. 207-561-3350. www.umma.umaine.edu
University of Southern Maine
Will Richard: Arctic & Subarctic. Richard's color photographs of Labrador, Nunavut, and Greenland will give you goosebumps. Glickman Library, Portland. Through January 20. ? The Ties That Bind: Experiences of Family in Maine, 1900 to Present. This exhibit draws from the African American, Jewish, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered collections to illustrate the diversity of family life in Maine. Glickman Library, Portland. Through January 27. 207-780-4276. www.usm.maine.edu/mcr/events/
USM Lewiston-Auburn College
It seems to be the year of the installation. Erratic Locations is a site-specific work by Dudley Zopp inspired by glacial erratics, those enormous boulders haphazardly deposited thousands of years ago across the Northeast. Like a glacier, the Belfast artist will drop her work in the Atrium Gallery at USM Lewiston-Auburn College January 19 through March 4. Unlike a glacier, she'll probably pick up after herself. Lewiston-Auburn. 207-753-6500. www.usm.maine.edu/lac/art
Music and Dance
STOMP
January 6 at 8 p.m., January 7 at 4 and 8 p.m., and January 8 at 1 and 5 p.m. The talented percussionists of this ever-popular troupe got their start busking on the streets of Brighton, England. Now they're an international sensation, making art out of pipes, brooms, lighters, and garbage pail lids. Try to keep your toes from tapping. PCA Great Performances, Merrill Auditorium, Portland. 207-842-0800. www.pcagreatperf.com
Kristin Lee
January 6 at 3 p.m. Talk about your prodigies. Born in Seoul, Korea, in 1986, Kristin Lee began her violin studies at the age of five. In 1992 and 1994 she won first prize at the Korea Times Violin Competition, and in 1995 she moved to the United States after her father was appointed a visiting professor at Auburn University. Two years later she entered the Pre-College Division of the Juilliard School. In January 2000, after playing Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto with Juilliard's Pre-College Chamber Orchestra, she was chosen by Itzhak Perlman to become one of his students and has now become his protégé. Maine Center for the Arts, Orono. 207-581-1755. www.ume.maine.edu/~mca/
Norwegian Chamber Orchestra with Leif Ove Andsnes
January 12 at 7:30 p.m. A pairing of virtuosity -- and a lot of Norwegians. One of the world's most acclaimed chamber orchestras will be accompanied and conducted by the renowned and revered pianist. The program will include two pieces by Mozart and one each by Beethoven and Haydn. PCA Great Performances, Merrill Auditorium, Portland. 207-842-0800. www.pcagreatperf.com
Lewiston -- A New Home
January 13 at 7:30 p.m. Dr. Paul G. Caron once came in first in New England in the New York Times crossword puzzle championships. The USM Lewiston-Auburn College faculty member also wrote the music and the words for the award-winning musical about Lewiston and its history. This is the concert version. Franco-American Heritage Center, Lewiston. 800-639-2919 or 207-782-7228. www.laarts.org
Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo
January 15 at 3 p.m. Returning after ten years with their outrageous, and outrageously popular, twist on ballet tradition, Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo delight audiences with their irresistible blend of wicked comedy and technical prowess. Maine Center for the Arts, Orono. 207-581-1755. www.ume.maine. edu/~mca/
Le Vent du Nord
January 19 at 7:30 p.m. Le Vent du Nord (North Wind) are the "It" band of Quebec, turning the traditional music of the province into a dance party. They're young guys who rock on hurdy-gurdy, fiddle, and bones and spoons, among other instruments, and they'll have you step-dancing in the aisles. Franco-American Heritage Center, Lewiston. 800-639-2919 or 207-782-7228. www.laarts.org
Godspell
January 20 through February 5. The 1970 Easter service John-Michael Tebelak attended might have been pretty uninspiring, but without it we may not have such international hits as "Day By Day" and "By My Side." The long-haired Tebelak stepped outside after the boring service, got hassled by cops for his long hair, and then went home and wrote Godspell, hoping to make the story of Jesus a little more with-it than church. Based on the Gospel according to St. Matthew, Godspell tells the story of J.C. in pantomime, acrobatics, charades, and songs, and remains a phenomenon thirty years after hippies. The Portland Players. 207-799-7337. www.portlandplayers.org
Portland Symphony Orchestra
January 24 at 7:30 p.m. Written during Russia's Great Terror, Dmitry Shostakovich's Symphony no. 5 was a resounding success. (Somehow the Soviet government didn't get that it was a thumbing of the nose at Iron Joe.) Shostakovich's brave work shares the program with Mozart's Overture to Don Giovanni and Tsontakis' Mirologhia. Portland's Merrill Auditorium. 207-842-0800. www.portlandsymphony.com
Trinity Irish Dance
January 25 at 7 p.m. The dancers of Riverdance may want to lift a few pints in honor of the Trinity Irish Dance Company. Founded in 1990, Trinity built the foundation of progressive Irish dance that the hugely successful Riverdancers subsequently commercialized. Many of the members of the current company have been dancing together since they were children, so they have an instinctual bond that is a marvel to watch. Maine Center for the Arts, Orono. 207-581-1755. www.ume.maine.edu/~mca/
Black Watch and the Band of the Welsh Guards
January 26 at 8 p.m. The Black Watch was formed in the eighteenth century and still serves in the British Army. This ceremonial band of bagpipers and drummers will fill the Cumberland County Civic Center with the sights and sounds of the Highlands. Portland. 207-775-3331. www.theciviccenter.com
Pops Goes to the Movies
January 28 at 8 p.m. and January 29 at 2:30 p.m. "Over the Rainbow," "Moon River," "Singing in the Rain," "All that Jazz" -- enjoy your favorite hits from the movies as played by the PSO. Guest conductor Robert Moody will lead the orchestra through great film music from the thirties to the present with three of the hottest soloists from cabaret doing the honors. Portland's Merrill Auditorium. 207-842-0800. www.portlandsymphony.com
Ailey II Dance
January 29 at 2:30 p.m. Ailey II merges the spirit and energy of the country's best young dancers with the passion and creative vision of today's most outstanding, emerging choreographers. The result is exciting, highly original, innovative dance. Strom Auditorium, Camden Hills High School. Bay Chamber Concerts. 207-236-2823 or 888-707-2770. www.baychamberconcerts.org
Theater
Proof
January 13 to 22. Proof won a Pulitzer Prize, a Tony Award, and was made into a movie with Gwyneth Paltrow. What more do you want from a play? Community Little Theatre, Auburn. 207-783-0958.
'Night Mother
January 20 to 29. As heartbreaking as drama comes -- Jessie Cates, late thirties to early forties, lives with her mother, Thelma, and wants to know where a particular gun is kept. She finds it with Thelma's help. And as Jessie cleans the gun, she quietly states that she's going to be killing herself at the end of the evening. Waterville Opera House. 207-873-7000. www.operahouse.com
Curious George
January 22. The most beloved of all curious monkeys, George is now the star of an all-new play by TheatreworksUSA. Watch out, Man in the Yellow Hat! Waterville Opera House. 207-873-7000. www.operahouse.com
Rough Crossing
January 24 through February 19. Tom Stoppard's adaptation of the classical Ferenc Molnar farce Play at the Castle is filled with the witticisms and quirky characters the Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead playwright is known for. A pair of writers take to the sea for inspiration as they try to finish a musical, and all sorts of amusing events ensue. Portland Stage Company. 207-774-0465. www.portlandstage.com
Bad Dates
January 27 through February 5. If you liked Shirley Valentine, you'll love Haley Walker. The restaurateur is over thirty-five, divorced, a single mom, and just about to re-enter the unpredictable world of dating, where external things like footwear are all-important. A Maine premiere of this delightful off-Broadway comedy. Lewiston-Auburn's Public Theatre. 207-782-3200. www.thepublictheatre.org
Special Events & Festivals
Rangeley Snowmobile Snodeo
January 19 to 21. Rangeley never has to work too hard to attract snowmobilers -- a beautiful village high in the mountains with 150 miles of well-groomed trails all around and shops and restaurants and inns to retire to in the evening. The town's annual snodeo only heightens the appeal. Live music, chili and chowder cook offs, antique snowmobile displays, casino night, radar runs, and fireworks. The schedule is packed. Rangeley. 800-MT-LAKES. www.rangeleymaine.com
TD Banknorth 2006 Biathlon Junior World Championship
January 26 through February 3. Kids on skis -- with guns! This is the first time the Biathlon Junior World Championships have ever been held in the U.S., and brings together 450 team members from thirty countries for ten days of skiing and shooting in northern Maine to the delight of spectators. Nordic Heritage Center, Presque Isle. 207-762-6972. www.nordicheritagebiathlon.org
