March Highlights
A flower show and a film festival foretell the return of spring to Maine.
Special Events & FestivalsPortland Flower Show
March 9 to 12. The flower show of all flower shows. This year's theme is the "Soul of Gardening." Portland Marine Complex, 58 Fore Street. 207-775-4403. www.portlandcompany.com
Old House Trade Show
March 18 & 19. Sponsored by Greater Portland Landmarks, this show is the place to find the answers to all your old house questions. Gymnasium, Westbrook College Campus, UNE, Portland. 207-774-5561. www.portlandlandmarks.org
Maine Jewish Film Festival
March 18 to 26. The ninth annual Jewish film festival features documentary and short films from around the world that enrich, educate, and entertain audiences about the Jewish experience. The festival begins March 18 with a French comedy, Local Call, by filmmaker Arthur Joffé. Portland. 207-831-7495. www.mjff.org
Harlem Globetrotters
March 30 at 7 p.m. Expect to hear "Sweet Georgia Brown" as the crown prince of basketball and his compatriots take to the parquet. Cumberland County Civic Center, Portland. 207-775-3331. http://theciviccenter.com
Pine State Boat Show 2006
March 31 through April 2. The University of Southern Maine hosts the eighth annual Pine State Boat Show at the 60,000 square foot Field House in Gorham. 207-882-9777. www.downeastshowpromotions.com
Theater
I Am My Own Wife
February 28 through March 26. If awards are what get you to the theater, you probably already have tickets for this show, which has raked in Obies, Tonys, and a little honor called the Pulitzer. One actor takes on thirty-five roles in the true story of Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, a transvestite who miraculously survived Nazi Berlin and the communist regime to follow. Portland Stage Company. 207-774-0465. www.portlandstage.com
The Prisoner of Second Avenue
March 8 at 7 p.m. Journeyman actors Hector Elizondo and JoBeth Williams are a married couple trying to survive life in their New York apartment building after the husband loses his job in Neil Simon's classic play. The twist? The show is a production of L.A. Theatre Works, one of the nation's leading radio theater companies. Maine Center for the Arts, Orono. 207-581-1755. www.ume.maine.edu/~mca/
You Can't Take It With You
March 10 to 26. Lovable eccentrics, young love across a class divide, and plenty of fireworks (literal and figurative) -- what's not to love about this 1936 crowd pleaser? The Portland Players. 207-799-7337. www.portlandplayers.org
Uncle Vanya
March 15 to 26. Nothing like a little Chekhov to pull you out of those winter blahs. Gird yourself for Penobscot Theatre Company's production of the classic 1897 play in which a family is thrown into turmoil by the arrival of a self-important retired professor and his beautiful young wife. Bangor Opera House. 207-942-3333. http://ptc.maineguide.com
Fiction
March 17 to 26. Is there anything as tempting as a spouse's secrets? Successful authors Linda and Michael find out when they swap their private journals. Lewiston-Auburn's Public Theatre. 207-782-3200. www.thepublictheatre.org
Music and Dance
Johnny Winter
March 3 at 8 p.m. Hot guitar licks from cool blues legend Johnny Winter. Camden Opera House. 207-236-7963. www.camdenoperahouse.com
From Hollywood to Broadway
March 4 at 8 p.m. & March 5 at 2:30 p.m. From "Moon River" to "Mamma Mia," the Portland Symphony Orchestra romps through Broadway hits and classic Pops favorites, led by guest conductor Randall Craig Fleisher. Portland's Merrill Auditorium. 207-842-0800. www.portlandsymphony.com
Elizabeth Erskine Patches and Cheryl Tschanz
March 5 at 3 p.m. Arnold Schoenberg's beautiful -- but seldom performed --The Book of the Hanging Gardens is the focus of this Encounter Concert. Mezzo-soprano Elizabeth Erskine Patches and pianist Cheryl Tschanz use demonstrations and musical examples to show how Schoenberg came to discover a new style of composition. Minsky Recital Hall, Maine Center for the Arts, Orono. 207-581-1755. www.ume.maine.edu/~mca/
Joshua Bell
March 7 at 7:30 p.m. A former member of People magazine's "50 Most Beautiful People" list, Bell is no slouch with his 1713 Gibson ex Huberman Stradivarius, either. PCA Great Performances, Merrill Auditorium, Portland. 207-842-0800. www.pcagreatperformances.org
The Hot Club of Portland
March 9 at 7:30 p.m. These Maine-based jazz artists revive the dazzling swing and jazz sounds of Django Reinhardt and Stephan Grappelli. They will be joined by Matt Glaser, described by the Boston Herald as "possibly America's most versatile violinist." Hilton Garden Inn, Auburn Riverwatch. 800-639-2919 or 207-782-7228. www.laarts.org
Music from the World's Great Cathedrals
March 10 at 7:30 p.m. Global music from Peter Planyavski, the organist at St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna. Merrill Auditorium, Portland. 207-842-0800. www.foko.org
Grand Hotel
March 10 to 19. An ambitious young girl who dreams of Hollywood. The loveable bookkeeper who befriends her. A charming and penniless young baron, and the aging ballerina who has sacrificed everything for her career. Nope, it's not the cast of Fox's latest reality show, but rather the guests at Berlin's Grand Hotel. Community Little Theatre, Auburn. 207-783-0958.
Taste of the Symphony
March 11 at 7 p.m. Want to indulge your passions for the evening? Can't tell Bach from Beethoven? Then this concert experience is made for you. The Bangor Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Music Director and Conductor Xiao-Lu Li, presents a special evening of champagne, chocolate, and music. Then, on March 12 at 3 p.m. (snow date March 13), the BSO's A Fantastic Journey features Giacomo Meyerbeer's Le Prophete: Coronation March, Pyotr Ilich Tchaikovsky's Concerto, violin, op. 35, D major, and Hector Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique, op. 14. Maine Center for the Arts, Orono. 207-942-5555 or 800-639-3221. www.bangorsymphony.com
Portland Symphony Orchestra
March 12 at 2:30 p.m. The orchestra's Classical Sundays program features the magic and grandeur, comedy, and spirituality of Mozart's The Magic Flute and Schubert's Ninth Symphony. Then, on March 28 at 7:30 p.m., hear Rachmaninoff's Symphony no. 2, Pulitzer Prize-winning composer John Harbison's Remembering Gatsby, and Grieg's unforgettable Piano Concerto. Portland's Merrill Auditorium. 207-842-0800. www.portlandsymphony.com
Highland Soles
March 17 at 8 p.m. If green beer's not your thing, consider celebrating St. Patrick's Day with Highland Soles. The family music and dance act is rooted in the traditions of Scotland and Cape Breton, with a good dose of innovation. Saint Lawrence Arts Community Center, Portland. 207-775-5568. www.stlawrencearts.org
Blood Brothers
March 17 to 26. Winner of the Olivier Award for Best Musical in London, Blood Brothers tells the tale of the Johnstone twins. Given up by their mother at birth, the twins are later brought back together in an unexpected twist. Russell Hall, USM Gorham campus. 207-780-5151.
Bellamy Jazz Band
March 19 at 2 p.m. A little taste of New Orleans via North Yarmouth's own eight-piece Dixieland/swing band. UMA Jewett Hall Auditorium, Augusta. 207-621-3551.
La Guitara
March 19 at 2:30 p.m. Featuring Sharon Isbin, Patty Larkin, and Kaki King, La Guitara focuses the spotlight on the contribution of women to the evolution of modern guitar, bringing together award-winning female artists who are blazing new trails in classical and folk music. Bay Chamber Concerts. The Strand Theatre, Rockland. 207-236-2823 or 888-707-2770. www.baychamberconcerts.org
United States Navy Band
March 20 at 7 p.m. Hello, sailors! This group of fifty-six seamen plays marches, symphonic selections, patriotic works, and popular favorites. Maine Center for the Arts, Orono. 207-581-1755. www.ume.maine.edu/~mca
Tiempo Libre
March 25 at 8 p.m. It may be March in Maine, but Miami-based Tiempo Libre heats things up with imaginative, high-voltage Latin jazz, as well as the seductive hard-driving rhythms of the distinctive timba music of their native Cuba. PCA Great Performances, Merrill Auditorium, Portland. 207-842-0800. www.pcagreatperformances.org
Vogler Quartet of Berlin
March 26 at 3 p.m. Members of the Vogler Quartet have been playing together since 1985, so it's no wonder they win praise for their extraordinary musical intelligence, highly creative playing, and powerful interpretations. Minsky Recital Hall, Maine Center for the Arts, Orono. 207-581-1755. www.ume.maine.edu/~mca
Museums
Portland Museum of Art
Julian Levy (1906-1981) was one of the preeminent dealers of Modernist art; he was particularly passionate about the abstractions, juxtapositions, satire, and excess of Surrealist work. His collection forms the basis of Accommodations of Desire: Surrealist Works on Paper Collected by Julien Levy. Through March 19. ? The Maine Perspective: Architectural Drawings, Part III -- Toward Modernism, 1925-1985. The third and final installment of this series of exhibitions devoted to Maine architectural drawings, this show demonstrates both the continued importance of history on architectural styles Down East and the rise of Modernism. Through May 21. ? Between Plan and Elevation: The Work of George Lloyd. Architectural spaces filled with light and energy are the focus of a new exhibition of work by Portland artist George Lloyd (b. 1945). From a family of architects, Lloyd has been inspired by architectural forms and draws on the underlying geometric shapes, colors, and urban matrix of buildings in his abstract work. The exhibition explores Lloyd's early work during the 1970s on the West Coast, which features rich colors, and the deeper, more somber palette that appears in the 1980s after his return to New England. March 4 through May. 77 Congress Square, Portland. 207-775-6148. www.portlandmuseum.org
Farnsworth Art Museum
Touch the Sky: Jamien Morehouse's Liberty Banners. For two decades Jamien Morehouse (1951-1999) created and sold her vibrant banners made from fabric collage, quilting, and appliqué through her company Liberty Banners. A major book on the artist will appear at the same time as the exhibition. March 19 through June 18. Rockland. 207-596-6457. www.farnsworthmuseum.org
Bates College 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 perceive the Pine Tree State. Through May 30. ? Josef Koudelka. Czechoslovakian photographer best known for his highly dramatic pictures of Russian tanks rolling into Prague, which won him the prestigious Robert Capa Gold Medal. March 31 through May 28. 75 Russell Street, Lewiston. 207-786-6158. www.bates.edu/museum.xml
Colby College Museum of Art
The Joan Whitney Payson Collection at the Colby College Museum of Art. Payson was a big fan of Impressionism, and her homes all boasted works by the likes of Gauguin, Sisley, and Renoir. But she was also partial to Wyeths and Rousseaus. February 26 through June 11. 5600 Mayflower Hill Drive, Waterville. 207-872-3228. www.colby.edu/museum
Center for Maine Contemporary Art
Plugged in Fest III. In its third incarnation, Plugged In is designed to create a network of artists exploring art and technology. March 11 & 12. 162 Russell Avenue, Rockport. 207-236-2875. www.artsmaine.org
USM Lewiston-Auburn College
All Maine Invitational. Annual L-A Arts exhibit and auction by sixty artists from across the state. March 24 through May 6. Lewiston-Auburn. 207-753-6500. www.usm.maine.edu/lac/art
