Editor’s Note: Each month, the children’s librarians at Bangor Public Library offer a selection of old classics and new favorites designed to encourage reading and provoke thought in young readers. The books may be purchased at local bookstores or found at your local library. Young… Read More
OUR CROZE NEST, by John Gould, Blackberry Books, Nobleboro, 213 pages, $13.95 paperback. “If there’s a humorist at a party, he’s the sad one off in the corner,” John Gould says in his new novel, “Our Croze Nest.” Such a comment from Maine’s pre-eminent humorist… Read More
FRYE ISLAND — An October 1986 explosion aboard a Soviet submarine that threatened the East Coast with nuclear devastation was just one chapter in a larger story, says the retired Navy captain who helped bring the incident to light. Peter Huchthausen says thousands of deaths… Read More
CARRYING WATER AS A WAY OF LIFE: A HOMESTEADER’S HISTORY, by Linda Tatelbaum, About Time Press, Appleton, Maine, 1997, 117 pages, $9.95. On the back of Linda Tatelbaum’s new book, “Carrying Water as a Way of Life: A Homesteader’s History,” is a revelation. It reads:… Read More
If you had to choose one writer from the Lost Generation to bring back from the dead for just one night of revelry, you’d have a mighty hard decision ahead of you. But if you put in a call to Dorothy Parker, that wisecracking New Yorker whose world… Read More
“Mrs. Brown,” showing Sept. 8-18, Railroad Square Cinema, Waterville; rated PG (brief nudity, mild adult content). In the wake of Princess Diana’s death comes “Mrs. Brown,” a film that explores Queen Victoria’s long mourning after the death of her beloved husband, Prince Albert, and how… Read More
On the surface, Neil Simon’s work may seem like a bevy of frivolous one-liners. You can almost always hear the ba-dum-dum after every joke, and even stage directors sometimes roll their eyes because they see a Simon play as less than serious theater. He’s prolific and popular, they… Read More
“The Godfather” Directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Screenplay by Coppola and Mario Puzo, based on Puzo’s novel. Running time: 175 minutes. Rated R (for language, violence, sexual situations and adult content). Playing Monday-Thursday, 4:20 and 7:30 p.m. at Railroad Square Cinema in Waterville. You have… Read More
For one young group, this weekend’s battle of the bands could be the first step toward bigger things. Six central Maine bands will take part in the event, to be held 5-11 p.m. Saturday at the new Bouchard Arena, 90 Acme Road, in Brewer. googletag.cmd.push(function… Read More
“CAREER GIRLS” written and directed by Mike Leigh, running time: 87 minutes. Showing Monday at 9:30 p.m. at the Criterion Theater in Bar Harbor and nightly Monday through Thursday at 5:20, 7:10 and 9 p.m. at the Railroad Square Cinema in Waterville. Had Freud or… Read More
The Cliff Walk, by Don J. Snyder, Little, Brown & Co., Boston, 265 pages, cloth, $23.95. F. Scott Fitzgerald once said that a man needed four things for success: great animal magnetism, money, looks and intelligence. He said he didn’t have the first two, but… Read More
DOO-DAH!, by Ken Emerson, Simon and Schuster, 1997, $30. When did popular music in the United States begin? According to Ken Emerson, author of the new book “Doo-Dah!”, pop music in America was born on Sept. 11, 1847, the day Stephen Foster’s song “Oh! Susanna”… Read More
“The Pillow Book.” Written and directed by Peter Greenaway. Running time: 126 minutes. English and in Japanese with English subtitles. Unrated, though not suitable for anyone under 17 (extensive frontal nudity, sexual situations, adult themes). All shows at the Railroad Square Cinema in Waterville. Peter… Read More
The concluding weekend of performances at the Monteux Opera Festival in Hancock found David Katz’s hotshot singers thick in the melodies of “Tartuffe,” the Moliere farce about an opportunistic user, his codependent friend and the lessons they both learn. Because Katz and his crowd are dedicated to presenting… Read More
ORONO — Stillwater Stage, a new theater company founded this year by University of Maine students and recent graduates, presented one of the area’s most vibrant and compelling productions of 1997. Over the weekend, the fledgling company tackled Beth Henley’s Pulitzer Prize-winning “Crimes of the Heart” at the… Read More
To begin with a bang is a good way to begin. And that’s a perfect description for Thursday’s opening-night performance of “The Roar of the Greasepaint, The Smell of the Crowd,” the first show at Theatre Productions Unlimited of Maine on Wilson Street in Brewer. Read More
Supposing you’re busily putzing along in your living room, humming a tune and thinking well of life, and then, uh-oh, you bump smack into a dead body. Well, there’s a problem. A merry one, too, in the hands of that momma of mysterious murderings, Agatha Christie. And leave… Read More
Music director David Katz called it a “little theater in the woods,” but the Monteux School in Hancock has some pretty big things going on. One of Maine’s summer standards, the Monteux scene has traditionally presented orchestral music and conducting experience for musicians. For the last three years,… Read More
“When the Cat’s Away.” Written and directed by Cedric Klapisch. Running time: 95 minutes. Rated R (for language and adult content). Nightly at 5:15, 7:10 and 9:05 p.m., Monday-Thursday at the Railroad Square Cinema in Waterville. In French with English subtitles. To what lengths will… Read More
ISLAND LIGHTHOUSE INN, by Jeffrey Burke, illustrated by Siri Beckman, The Pilgrim Press, Cleveland, Ohio 44115, cloth, $21.95. When I first picked up “Island Lighthouse Inn,” I expected it to be a series of charming anecdotes about crusty islanders and inadvertently funny city slickers who… Read More
BAR HARBOR POLICE BEAT, by Richard Sassaman, published in association with Words and Pictures of Bar Harbor, 163 pages, $12.95. With the possible exception of restaurant reviews, no feature has more potential for creating public relations problems for newspapers than the traditional police beat column… Read More
HIGH INFIDELITY, collection of short stories by various authors, William Morrow & Co. 1997, 347 pages, $22. Gregg Palmer of Frankfort is keeping literary company with the likes of Richard Russo, John Updike and Margaret Atwood, between book covers, at least. Palmer’s short story, “When… Read More
Preschool, kindergarten THE MOONGLOW ROLL-O-RAMA, by Dav Pilkey, Orchard Books, New York, 1995, $15.99. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false; for (var i = 0; i < slot_sizes.length; i++) { if (isMobileDevice()) {… Read More
The fourth and final play of the Theater at Monmouth season is a strange mixture of heart-rending monologue, adolescent hormones and wisecracks, and anachronism. Weaknesses and faults and cracks are everywhere, and the first failure may have been in choosing this play at all. “Shadowlands”… Read More
Don’t get too comfortable in your seat during Ira Levin’s “Deathtrap,” now being presented by Winterport Open Stage at the Wagner Middle School. Just when you think you might be getting a handle on the plot, the person who was killed in the last scene comes walking through… Read More
It’s a very civilized and romantic way to spend an evening. Sitting on a blanket under open skies near a river bank. Sipping from a glass of wine and eating spicy food. Listening to poetry about love and valor, and feeling you know just a couplet more about… Read More
“Love! Valour! Compassion!” Directed by Joe Mantello. Written by Terrence McNally based on his play. Running time: 115 minutes. Rated R (for nudity, language, adult situations and content). Nightly at 5:10, 7:25 and 9:35 p.m. and Saturday-Sunday matinees at 12:40 and 2:55 p.m. Aug. 4-7 at the Railroad… Read More
In Oliver Goldsmith’s 224-year-old play “She Stoops to Conquer,” the practical joke rules. Mistaken identities, misinformation and a bit of drunken debauchery are the comedic tricks of Goldsmith’s 18th-century day. It’s a style of well-crafted, twisty-turny dupery-with-a-moral that still manages to make us laugh all these many years… Read More
MONMOUTH — The Theater at Monmouth has shown itself to be capable of the highest level of accomplishment, which is to take a revered classic and make it new, alive, and accessible without being stuck in tradition or resorting to gimmickry. If “words be made of breath and… Read More
SHALL WE DANCE, written and directed by Masayuki Suo, running time: 118 minutes, rated PG (for mild language). Playing nightly at 5, 7:15 and 9:30 p.m. and Sat.-Sun. matinees at 12:30 and 2:45 p.m. July 28 through Aug. 7 at the Railroad Square Cinema in Waterville. In Japanese… Read More
“ULEE’S GOLD” Written and directed by Victor Nunez. Running time: 115 minutes. Rated R (for language and violence). Showing nightly at 7 p.m. Monday-Thursday at the Railroad Square Cinema in Waterville. There is an undercurrent in Victor Nunez’s “Ulee’s Gold” that is so subtle and… Read More
From the first shadowy light of “The Innocents,” which opened Tuesday at Acadia Repertory Theatre in Somesville, you know Henry James is going to spook you. Using the convention of the ghost story, he presents a wicked, late-19th century English night at the ornate Bly Manor. The fog… Read More
You can’t do better than Shakespeare. Few would argue the point. Should you be looking for fun, romance, lighthearted comedy and fantasy, then it must be “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” The Theater at Monmouth is trying its hand at this much-loved favorite this season, and the actors succeed… Read More
The Theater at Monmouth’s production of “The Miser,” by French playwright Moliere, is a stunning success, bringing a classic play to life with the splash and color of the period while keeping it light, accessible and fast-moving. “The Miser” is the story of a man… Read More
“Drunks” Directed by Peter Cohn. Running time: 88 minutes. Rated R (for nudity, sexual situations, adult language and content). Nightly at 5:10 and 8:55 p.m., Monday -Thursday at the Railroad Square Cinema in Waterville. In Peter Cohn’s “Drunks,” a film about the lives of a… Read More
RYE, N.H. — Vampire zombies and giant lightning bugs in the Maine woods might seem more the terrain of a certain other horror author more closely associated with the state, but a new novel by a former resident skews to a slightly younger audience. “The… Read More
MAINE SEA FISHERIES: THE RISE AND FALL OF A NATIVE INDUSTRY, 1830-1880, by Wayne M. O’Leary, Boston, Northeastern University Press 1996, illustrations, notes, maps, bibliography, 392 pages, $24.95 paperback. Nearly 40 years ago Russian scientists orbited a satellite, Sputnik, around the Earth. Reaction in the… Read More
PRESCHOOL, KINDERGARTEN IS IT TIME? by Marilyn Janovitz, New York: North-South Books, 1994 and 1996 hardcover, 32 pages, $12.95, paperback $5.95. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false; for (var i = 0; i… Read More
NORTH COUNTRY: A PERSONAL JOURNEY THROUGH THE BORDERLAND, by Howard Frank Mosher, Houghton Mifflin, 288 pages, $23. The rugged, natural beauty of this nation’s extreme north — and the hardy people who inhabit it — cast a spell on Vermont author Howard Frank Mosher from… Read More
An Orono audience got to enjoy the many moods of Kathy Mattea Thursday night, as the country singer took the sellout crowd on a 1 1/2-hour tour of her 15-year career. Mattea, 38, let the people in attendance at the Maine Center for the Arts… Read More
Three talented veteran musicians raised their voices in song Tuesday night. And the people danced. Crosby, Stills and Nash, bringing their musical catalog of nearly 30 years, drew an enthusiastic crowd to the Bangor Auditorium, the first of two Maine stops for the trio. googletag.cmd.push(function… Read More
Books come in categories from science fiction to arts to classics. Jean Hay’s book, “Proud to be a Card-Carrying, Flag-Waving, Patriotic American Liberal,” comes under the category “surplus campaign assets.” While the title could come under the designation “too long,” it tells you just what you need to… Read More
“Vertigo,” directed by Alfred Hitchcock, 124 minutes, PG. Nightly at 5, 7:20 and 9:40, Monday-Thursday, at the Railroad Square Cinema in Waterville. I knew I was going to be reviewing Alfred Hitchcock’s “Vertigo” two weeks before its star, James Stewart, died in his Los Angeles… Read More
The moment is nothing short of exquisite. A thickly decorated stateroom with deep green walls flecked by gold stars, a fireplace humming with orange coals, ornate sconces lighting the room, a desk used by Thomas Jefferson. And there stands Abraham Lincoln, his flat-footed, striding physical manner filling the… Read More
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Popmart is where we live, neon lights beckoning us to Hogan Road strip malls, drive-through fast food that overwhelms us with salt and sweet but no flavor, gin-soaked olives in martinis stirred with swizzle sticks, lemons salesmen sell us using smoke and mirrors, cartoon characters… Read More
“North by Northwest,” directed by Alfred Hitchcock, 136 minutes, unrated, 7 p.m. June 30-July 3, Railroad Square Cinema, Waterville. Recently, after comparing one of the finest films ever made to some of this summer’s biggest blockbusters, I was left wondering about the current state of… Read More
They all knew the words. Whether they were grandparents, youngsters or middle-aged baby boomers singing an anthem of their generation, they all stood on their feet and sang, “Bye bye Miss American pie. Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry. And good ole’ boys… Read More
It was hot fun in the summertime as Stillwater Stage presented two short plays this weekend at the toasty Cyrus Pavilion Theatre in Orono. The fledgling summer troupe, which is made up of past and present theater students from the University of Maine, has fresh, hot talent and… Read More
BASS HARBOR — Nicols Fox wants you to become a “dragon consumer.” That’s right, a dragon consumer. She wants you to be able to make a choice whether or not to buy a food item based on its label. She wants the label to tell… Read More
“Jungle Queen Debutante,” the season opener which premiered over the weekend at Lakewood Theater, is a quirky musical that blends the kooky comedy of 1950s-style musical theater, the convolutions of Charles Dickens, and the absurdity of “George of the Jungle.” It’s a loopy love story with long-lost children… Read More
The Tunnel, William H. Gass, Alfred A. Knopf, 1995 Straight Man, Richard Russo, Random House, 1997 The advice most oft given to students of writing is: Write about what you know. This dogma may be held to account as one of the major reasons why… Read More
The 1990s are not such a great time to be a middle-aged white guy in America. You get blamed for all the wars, all the woes and all the basically bad thinking that has gone on since very close to the beginning of time. You’ve been selfish, irresponsible… Read More
“Chasing Amy,” written and directed by Kevin Smith. Running time: 114 minutes. Rated R (strong language, sexuality and drug content). Playing at 8:50 p.m. June 17-19 at the Railroad Square Cinema in Waterville. In the romantic comedy “Chasing Amy,” Holden McNeil (Ben Affleck), a Generation… Read More
AMAWALK HORSEHAIR, by William C. Holden III, Phoenix Publishing, West Kennebunk, 1996, hardcover, 321 pages, $24.50. Taking off in an airplane sends my heart into my throat. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false;… Read More
Summer tales> ‘Pigs in the Mud in the Middle of the Rud,’ ‘Beauty ‘ interesting reading for children
Each month the children’s librarians at Bangor Public Library offer a selection of classics and new favorites designed to encourage reading and provoke thought in young readers. The books may be purchased at local bookstores or found at your local library. PRESCHOOL googletag.cmd.push(function () {… Read More
MY LIFE BETWEEN THE CROSS AND THE BARS, by George R. Castillo, G&M Publications, 1996, 294 pages, $21.95. The first time chaplain George R. Castillo called a prisoner’s mother to break the news of her son’s murder behind bars, one word nearly cost him the… Read More
BEST OF BARNES: THE SELECTED ARTICLES AND PHOTOGRAPHS OF JACK BARNES, edited by Susan C. Conley, Nightshade Press, Troy, Maine, 1996, 168 pages, $14.95. Anyone who has read Jack Barnes knows that he’s intimate with Maine’s literary landscape, the characters who people it, and the… Read More
BALLPARK VACATIONS: Great Family Trips to Minor League and Classic Major League Baseball Parks Across America, by Bruce Adams and Margaret Engel, Fodor’s Travel Publications, 1997, 292 pages, $16.50. Peggy Engel and her husband, Bruce Adams, and their kids, Emily, 10, and Hugh, 7, hope… Read More
The first major biography to be written on poet, journal writer, feminist, and lesbian May Sarton begins aggressively even before you read any text by its author, Margot Peters. In the stunning jacket painting by Polly Thayer Starr, a young May Sarton, cigarette in hand,… Read More
THE HOUR BETWEEN DOG AND WOLF, by Laure-Anne Bosselaar, BOA Editions Ltd., Brockport, N.Y., May 1997, 95 pages, $12.50. Laure-Anne Bosselaar and I met as presenters at last fall’s Voices From the North Country literary conference in Presque Isle. A small, serene woman with a… Read More
Editor’s Note: Each month, the children’s librarians at Bangor Public Library offer a selection of classics and new favorites designed to encourage reading and provoke thought in young readers. The books may be purchased at local bookstores or found at your local library. Young adults… Read More
POTSHOT, by Gerry Boyle, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, hardcover, 304 pages, $24.95. Jack McMorrow, that modern Don Quixote, the great Knight of the Maine Backwoods, is back in another sterling whodunit. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var… Read More
Zippy pacing may be the single most important element to a successful stage production of Philip Barry’s society comedy “The Philadelphia Story,” which opened last weekend at Penobscot Theatre. About the emotional escapades of an upper-class Philadelphia family in the 1930s on the occasion of… Read More
Anthony Antolini must be used to triumphs. After the monumental victory of retrieving Sergei Rachmaninoff’s “The Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom” from obscurity, where it had fallen under Soviet control for most of this century, he also has made it a personal mission to make up for those… Read More
If you haven’t heard Lionel Hampton sing Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World,” then you haven’t lived. At last night’s concert at the Maine Center for the Arts, the King of the Vibes and his outrageously excellent 15-man band dedicated an encore performance of this sweet old standard… Read More
The Bobs, that ever-clever foursome of alternative a cappella singers, performed a perky concert Saturday at the Maine Center for the Arts. Popping up regularly in the state for the last 10 years or so, the Bobs have gathered a local audience of rowdy fans who like the… Read More
Over the past year, Bangor horror master Stephen King has voiced dissatisfaction, both publicly and privately, with some of the adaptations of his works for film and television. (That’s what happens when you don’t say no often enough.) In King’s eyes, one such miss was… Read More
The waltz is a dance of love. You hold a partner, take steps together, flow with the music of one-two-three, one-two-three. In “The Baltimore Waltz,” which Maine Masque opened over the weekend at the University of Maine, the waltz is also a dance of death. Paula Vogel, who… Read More
After seeing Midori perform last night at the Maine Center for the Arts, it’s tempting to say she’s still good after all these years. Considering that she’s only 25 years old, that’s quite a remarkable comment. But Midori is a remarkable woman, whose maturity as an artist was… Read More
First things first about the Bangor Symphony Orchestra’s concerts this weekend. John Bradford, president of the symphony board of directors, warmly applauded the audience for its commendable support — both financially and civically. Turning 100 last year was a momentous event for the symphony, and… Read More
Editor’s Note: Each month, the children’s librarians at Bangor Public Library offer a selection of old classics and new favorites designed to encourage reading and provoke thought in young readers. The books may be purchased at local bookstores or found at your local library. Preschool… Read More
THE JURY IS OUT by Wayne P. Libhart, published by the author, 360 pages, $9.95 paperback. Many people spend their lives knowing they have a book inside them, but they never get a chance — or take the time — to let it out. googletag.cmd.push(function… Read More
STALKING DARKNESS, by Lynn Flewelling, Bantam Books, 1997, 501 pages, $5.99 paperback. There are plenty of good words to be said about Lynn Flewelling’s “Stalking Darkness,” the second volume in the Nightrunner series this Maine author is writing for Bantam. But if you want to… Read More
BANGOR VOLUME II: THE TWENTIETH CENTURY, compiled and edited by Richard R. Shaw, Arcadia Publishing, Dover, N.H., paperback, 128 pages, $16.99. In his introduction to this second volume of Bangor’s photographic history, Richard Shaw, a longtime editor and writer at the Bangor Daily News, asks,… Read More
ORONO — My recurrent nightmare is a simple devastation: I return to my childhood home to find strangers living there. The bad dream took shape in daylight this week, a pair of Kris Sader paintings in the Museum of Art at the University of Maine… Read More
It wasn’t sold out, but the Bangor Civic Center was cram-packed last night with unflagging fans who came to hear the legendary Bob Dylan perform classic folk-rock music. From the first note, concert-goers wanted to dance in the aisles, but were deterred until the last half-hour of the… Read More
The very name of the Moscow Festival Ballet has a certain headiness to it. It sounds as if it should go right along with the Bolshoi and the Kirov Ballets. But in fact, the Moscow Festival Ballet, which performed Friday to a sold-out crowd at… Read More
Nobody goes to a musical to think. You go to have fun, to be cheered, to laugh and smile and hum a little tune — exactly what you’ll get in Ken Stack’s production of “Peter Pan,” which opened last weekend and plays again April 4-6 at The Grand… Read More
Libby is having a bad day. She’s hosting a dinner party and, in the course of preparing the food, tries to open a jar with her teeth. Out pops the cap on her front tooth. She spends the rest of the evening with her index finger attached to… Read More
The Robinson Ballet Company stepped into spring over the weekend with its annual dance exposition, this year called “A Festival of Motion” and performed Friday and Saturday in Peakes Auditorium at Bangor High School. There were bursts of innovative charm, and much of the rest of the two-hour… Read More
Dancing cowboys. What a preposterous idea. Riding cowboys: yes. Singing cowboys: conceivable. But dancing cowboys? Hardly. Yet in a pleasing evening of song and dance Saturday at the Maine Center for the Arts in Orono, the Tennessee Dance Theatre brought a great big western howdy… Read More
In the past few years, a proliferation of one-woman shows have been mounted throughout the country. Women of theater have something to say, so they are saying it in their own words, on their own sets and by their own design. Given the relatively limited number of substantial… Read More
When it comes to musicals, there are only two types of people. Those who love them and those who hate them. The Belfast Maskers’ frisky production of “Ruthless! The Musical” is likely to close the gap between the two sides, however. There’s enough witty writing… Read More
The Irish sing their own kind of blues. They step to their own reeling rhythms and write their own poignant stories about the life of a people and a land as old as time. You can hear the calls of the wild in the pipes, see the flights… Read More
ORONO — In America, our political views must be boiled down small enough to fit on a bumper sticker: “Vote No on Question 2.” “Save the Whales.” “Impeach Clinton.” We’re accustomed to picking sides that come pre-packaged like frozen food. Complex historical context and multiple… Read More
If you attended Sunday’s Bangor Symphony Orchestra concert at the Maine Center for the Arts, chances are you found yourself asking some very nonmusical questions. The big one being: Should young children go to symphony concerts, which are still bastions of propriety when it comes to being quiet… Read More
EVERYTHING HAPPENED AROUND THE SWITCHBOARD by Michael R. Hathaway, Reflection Publications, 191 pages, paperback $13.95. At 2:12 p.m. on Oct. 11, 1983, the carbons were pulled from the mainframe in a corner of the Bryant Pond Telephone Co.’s office, and the last hand-crank telephone system… Read More
THE GUIDE TO WOODEN BOATS, photographs by Benjamin Mendlowitz, text by Maynard Bray, W.W. Norton & Co., 1997, $19.95. It must be really hard to be a teacher, passionately loving a subject and having to spend your days trying to make uninterested students feel what… Read More
A BROTHER’S BLOOD by Michael C. White, HarperCollins, 1996, 323 pages, hardcover, $22.50. A number of years ago, I covered an intriguing story about the return of a German POW to his former World War II prison camp in Princeton. I hadn’t been aware that… Read More
Editor’s Note: Each month, the children’s librarians at Bangor Public Library offer a selection of old classics and new favorites designed to encourage reading and provoke thought in young readers. The books may be bought at local bookstores or borrowed from your public library. Preschool… Read More
It’s best to be upfront about this. The first time I saw Neil Simon’s all-female version of “The Odd Couple,” I thought it was a bad idea. Not that I didn’t admire Simon for giving six actresses the chance to work. And not that he didn’t manage to… Read More
Kissy Mellors is driving home from her evening swim when two young women suddenly step in front of her. She swerves and slams on her brakes, just missing her Sowerwine University classmates. But the drunken student in the car behind her does not. Passing Kissy on the right,… Read More
On Friday night at Colby College, the Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Jewel performed in Wadsworth Gym. I pushed my way through the doors with a young, mostly female crowd to find a good spot on the bleachers where the scoreboard wouldn’t block my view. A group called… Read More
There is something extraordinarily compelling about virtuosic musicianship. Take, for instance, the well-known pianist Claude Frank, who performed Mozart’s Piano Concerto in G Major yesterday at the Maine Center for the Arts. Now in his 70s, Frank still can burn up the keyboard with his aristocratic confidence and… Read More
Trombonist Rex Allen, who led The Big Band Alumni Orchestra in a Glenn Miller roundup last night at the Maine Center for the Arts, summed up the mood of the concert when he announced that there were 750 cumulative years of experience shared by the musicians in the… Read More
Break out the cowboy hat and get ready to scream “yahoo” if you plan to go to “Pump Boys and Dinettes,” which the Maine Masque opened over the weekend and will perform again this week in Hauck Auditorium at the University of Maine. A hopping,… Read More
The best thing about the Gilbert and Sullivan Society of Hancock County is that, after 21 years, its members can still tell a good joke. That’s a must for any group performing the tricky humor of Sir William Gilbert and Sir Arthur Sullivan, who, for lack of a… Read More
Maybe people from away will gain some insight into Bangor’s favorite son from a profile this Sunday on “60 Minutes,” during the middle of the CBS news maagzine’s three segments. But the 13-minute interview of Stephen King by Lesley Stahl doesn’t provide much new for… Read More
“An American Homecoming,” by Brian Swartz, Bangor Publishing Co., Bangor, 271 pages, $10.95, paperback. In the opening chapter of “An American Homecoming,” author Brian Swartz writes, “For a space of 10 months, from March 1991 to January 1992, thousands of people turned out at Bangor… Read More
A BIRDER’S GUIDE TO MAINE, by Elizabeth C. and Jan Erik Pierson and Peter D. Vickery, Down East Books, 400 pages, paperback, $23.95. Sitting in a gas station last fall waiting for the tank to be filled, I watched as a flock of Canada geese… Read More