• 1 pair diamond stud earrings.- $100 Value – The Village Jeweler – 221 Water Street
• Dinner for 2 – $50 Value – Mad Dog Pub – 259 Water Street
• 1 bottle of wine – $20 Value – Water Street Café – 347 Water Street
• Floral arrangement – $25 Value -  Berry and Berry Floral – 207 Water Street
• Photo Shoot and 11”X14” Print – $50 Value – Picture Perfect Photography  – 226 Water Street
• 2 Tickets to “Primo Cubano” Hot Latin Jazz Performance – Feb. 11th – $30 Value – Johnson Hall –280 Water Street

The purchase price for this package deal is only $99 – Valued at $275.  For more information, contact Gardiner Main Street – 582-3100.  To purchase the package, visit Johnson Hall, Mad Dog Pub, Village Jeweler, Water Street Cafe, or Berry and Berry Floral.

Cast members in the Robinson Players’ production of "The Laramie Project": Alanna Hoffman ’15 as the Narrator; Nick Auer ’15 as Jon Peacock, Matthew Shepard’s academic advisor; Jonathan Schwolsky ’15 as Tectonic Theater Project member Andy Paris.

Seeking to spark constructive dialogue on campus and in the community, a student theater group at Bates College presents Moisés Kaufman’s The Laramie Project in performances at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Feb. 10-11, and at 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 12. All shows are in Gannett Theater, Pettigrew Hall, 305 College St.

Tickets are $5 and available at the door. Proceeds go to Outright L/A, a Lewiston-Auburn organization that supports LGBTQ youth in a safe and affirming environment. For more information, please contact mschloss@bates.edu.

A 4 p.m. panel discussion follows the Sunday performance in Gannett Theater. Featured are members of the production; Heather Lindkvist, director of the Diversity in Excellence Leadership Team at Bates; and members of OUTfront, an LGBTQ advocacy group on campus. Refreshments will be served.

Time magazine described The Laramie Project as “a pioneering work and a powerful stage event.” The play captures the voices of residents of Laramie, Wyo., following the brutal 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard, a University of Wyoming student who was gay.

Immediately following the murder, members of the New York City-based Tectonic Theater Project traveled to Laramie, seeking “the story of the people of Laramie in their own words,” as the troupe’s website states.

Led by Tectonic artistic director Kaufman, they returned repeatedly over the next two years to collect interviews. The result is a script comprising 40 haunting and authentic narratives structured as a series of “moments” supported by monologues.

The play, produced by the Robinson Players, is co-directed by senior Michelle Schloss of Unionville, Conn.; and junior Spencer Collet of Leawood, Kan. Schloss and Collet’s theatrical strengths complement each other: The former is a seasoned director while the latter has a strong acting background. Accordingly, Schloss focuses on mapping character movement, and Collet on developing the monologues.

“The play doesn’t make any argument at all,” Schloss explains. “It focuses on the community and asks: Why did this happen here? It shows all the different viewpoints and lets those sink in.”

Collet adds, “You get all of these very intense issues presented at once in a way that’s compelling because they come from real people. If it does anything, The Laramie Projectcelebrates our differences no matter what they are. We are not making any definitive judgment — apart from, hate is wrong. ”

Fairly and effectively dramatizing these differences has tested the Robinson Players. Collet explains, “The biggest challenge is to present it so that people don’t come away saying, ‘Those people there must be terrible.’ All groups portrayed in this show are given an equal say.”

“Every opinion, whether or not people here agree with it, is valid and real,” Schloss agrees.

Departing from a decade-plus of annual Robinson productions of The Vagina Monologues,Laramie engages contemporary discourse on gender and sexuality. Collet, who performed in the play in high school and suggested it to the Bates company, intended it to be a catalyst for student and community dialogue.

Accordingly, the company has teamed up with OUTfront to develop the post-show panel. OUTfront also suggested Outright L/A as the organization to receive the proceeds.

Schloss and Collet praise the 14 actors for their maturity and focus in playing characters who are unlike them and for tackling the challenge of playing 40 characters. “Every single member of this cast is phenomenal, and I’ve never been in a theater situation where you have that,” states Collet.

Among the players are:

Nick Auer, a first-year from Fairfield, Conn., who portrays Aaron McKinney, one of Shepard’s assailants;

Charles Emple, a senior from Swampscott, Mass., who plays a member of the Tectonic Theater Project, as well as Aaron Kriefels, who found Shepard and placed the 911 call;

Jennifer Flanagan, a senior from Sherborn, Mass., playing an administrative assistant at the university;

MacKenzie Pendergast, a first-year student from Greenwich, Conn., who plays Reggie Fluty, the policewoman who responded to Kriefels’ 911 call;

Liam Zaaijer, a senior from South Orange, N.J., who portrays a limousine driver in Laramie and also Father Roger Schmidt, the minister who held the first candlelight vigil for Shepard.

Travis Jones, a junior from Ithaca, N.Y., is responsible for the set design, and senior Ian Dulin of Bennington, Vt., created the lighting design.

Since its premiere in 2000, more than 30 million people around the country have seen Laramieat high schools, colleges, community theaters and professional playhouses.

– By Izzy McKean ’12

Fashion show focuses on traditional and contemporary African styles

Posted by: Bates News on February 2, 2012Tags: fashion

Modeling Nigerian dresses for the Inside Africa Fashion Show are first-year students (from left) Folarera Fasawe, Michelle Pham and fashion show host Nicole Kanu.

Traditional and contemporary fashions from Africa are the focus of Bates’ premiere Inside Africa Fashion Show, starting at 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 10, in the Olin Arts Center Concert Hall, 75 Russell St.

Sponsored by the Africana Club, a student organization, the event is open to the public at no cost. For more information, please contact nkanu@bates.edu.

In addition to students modeling apparel from 10 African nations, the program includes a dance from the Congo, a performance of Ghana’s popular Azonto mime dancing and a rendition of the South African national anthem by the Gospelaires, a choir composed of singers from Bates and Lewiston-Auburn.

“I thought it would be interesting to invite Bates and the community to see Africa,” explains Nicole Kanu, who conceived of the show and will host it. A first-year student from Little Rock, Ark., she is the daughter of a Nigerian couple. “Many look at Africa as one country and fail to realize that it is a continent that contains many countries.

“The Inside Africa Fashion Show will take the audience into Africa and focus on some of the smallest differences between countries — in their attire. This show is about Africa today.”

The show will follow a plot depicting a student who is backpacking through Africa. “Each stop she makes shows her a different aspect,” Kanu says. At the end of the fashion show, the backpacking student will bring Africa back to America as models demonstrate how to mix and match American and African apparel.

Thank you for your continuing interest in our newsletter. We are well into 2012 and the planning for public events here at the village is in progress. We have a tentative calendar available for you. The full calendar will be ready by March 1st and will be posted at www.shaker.lib.me.us. Please plan to visit us during the season. You may also want to visit www.gemsof26.com and learn more about our area and all that it has to offer. Please also keep in mind that the Shaker community opens its Sunday meetings to all of you-meeting begins at 10 AM. At this time of year meeting is held in the chapel of the (big brick)Dwelling House. In the summer it is held in the 1794 Meetinghouse. Do join the Shakers for meeting-you are cordially invited to attend.

We hope that your winter has been a safe one. Not much snow here. We have had our share of ice but not like the horrific damage from 1998. For some photos of one of our icy encounters visit our Facebook page.

TENTATIVE 2012 SABBATHDAY LAKE SHAKER VILLAGE CALENDAR

March 7-11 Portland Flower Show, 58 Fore St. in the Old Port, Portland, ME

Visit the Shaker booth where the entire herb line and select books and gift items will be for sale.  Garden and flower displays fill up large parts of the show, located in the Portland Company’s former factory, and historic structure on Portland Harbor.

May 25 Shaker Museum Opens for the 2012 Season

The Shaker Museum opens for the 2012 season as part of the Memorial Day Weekend.  Open Mondays through Saturdays (closed Sundays), 10 AM – 4:30 PM through Columbus Day.  Guided Tours.  Sepcial Events.  Shaker Museum Reception Center – herbs, gifts and exhibits: “Creating Chosen Land: Our Home 1783-2010″ (history of the establishment and growth of Shaker Village through objects and interactive media); “Come Little Children, Come To Zion,” (children’s life at Shaker Village); “The Fruitage Will Never Fail: The Sabbathday Lake shaker Orchards”.

NOTE:  May 25th also marks the opening of the 2012 season of crafts workshops and demos.  For your FREE copy of the 2012 catalog of workshops, demos and special events, contact us at usshakers@aol.com or (207) 926-4597.  The catalog will be ready around March 1st.  Workshops and demos in the fields of arts and crafts, herbs, woodworking, woodcarving, basketmaking, weaving, blacksmithing, spinning and quilting and chair caning.

ANOTHER NOTE:  Nature Hikes are offered twice a month during our open months.  Guided hikes through the woods and fields of Shaker Village including Loon’s Point, Aurelia’s Cascade and Sabbathday Lake itself.  Each month offers different views of the flora and fauna.

YET ANOTHER NOTE:  Interested in herbs?  Planting, growing, harvesting, and processing?  Herb lore and uses – teas, cooking, potpourris, simples, and worts and the like?  Hands on garden work and project workshops.  Join our Herb Garden Internship Program in the Shaker gardens-contact usshakers@aol.com or(207) 926-4597 for a FREE program information.  Starts in June.  Internship program is FREE.

June 2  Shape Note Singing

Join shape note singers in the 1794 Shaker Meetinghouse.  Shape note singing is one of the oldest traditions in American music, in the Sacred Harp school.  The public is invited to sit in and listen or even to join in the singing.  FREE

June 27-30  Maine Festival of American Music

7th Annual Maine Festival.  Program directors are the Portland String Quartet.  The varied program for 2012 includes three evening concerts and a chamber music workshop day.  Guest artists include the Maine State Historian, Shaker Community members and distinguished instrumental artists playing both solo and with the Quartet.  FREE flyer available.

Dec. 1  Shaker Christmas Fair

10AM- 3PM.  Shaker Store.  Book Room.  Herb Room.  Cheese and pickles.  Antiques.  Shaker Yarn.  White Elephant Room (proceeds benefit needy families.)  Good Room (Shaker home baked holiday goodies including fruitcakes and breads.)  Wreaths.  FREE cider pressing. Barbecue lunch.  “Gifts for all ages.  Come one, come all.”

July 22   Tentative date for Open Farm Day  (www.getrealmaine.com)

Shaker Village opens at 12 NOON as part of this statewide celebration of Maine Agriculture.  Wagon rides. Barn tours.  Livestock-Scottish Highland cattle and multiple varieties of sheep and cats.  Garden tours.  Shaker history and architecture exhibits.  Shaker Store.  Shaker Museum Reception Center.  FREE.  Barbecue lunch.  Home baked food sale.

August 11-12  Friends of the Shakers Weekend

Annual meeting and special events for the members of the Friends of the Shakers.  Contactusshakers@aol.com or (207) 926-4597 to join the Friends.  Regular hours and tours for the general public.

August 25  Maine Native American Summer Market & Demonstration

Maine Native Americans representing three Maine tribes.  Basketmaking.  Jewelry.  Sculpting.  Songs and flute making.  Storytelling.  FREE.

Sept. 22 and 29, Oct. 6   Apple Saturdays

FREE cider pressing at each Apple Saturday-bring your own apples or buy some Shaker Orchard apples.  Special events: Sept. 22-Apple Pie Sale in cooperation with New Gloucester Historical Society; Sept. 29- Apple Art for Kids; Oct. 6- Cider and Donut Sale.

Oct. 8  Columbus Day Observed

Shaker Museum closes for the season.

Dec. 1st Shaker Christmas Fair

REMINDER:  Contact usshakers@aol.com or (207) 926-4597 to request your FREE copy of the catalog of workshops, crafts demos and special events.  Available for mailing around March 1st.

Quick Links…

Our Website

Calendar of Events

Herb Catalog

Contact Info and Directions

Contact Information

phone: 207-926-4597

United Society of Shakers | 707 Shaker Road | New Gloucester | ME | 04260

If you haven’t done so yet, please take a moment to “Like” The Valley Voice on Facebook. Thank You!

Make Your Reservations Early!

“Eric Bettencourt combines folk, blues, and classic rock elements into always-pleasing melodic concoctions. Combining guitar chops with lyrical prowess is a proven recipe for success and he isn’t afraid to go with what works. He is considered one of Portland Maine’s finest artists and has been touring to support his November 2011 release Secret Songs for Secret People Don’t miss him!…. www.ericbettencourt.com”

ABOUT
The Portland Phoenix-

Bettencourt is a songwriter at heart, expertly crafting a wide range of tunes around his scratchy, Janis Joplin-esque voice. Whether equipped with just an acoustic guitar, or with his whole backing band, Bettencourt combines folk, blues, and classic rock elements into always-pleasing melodic concoctions. He has admittedly learned from the rock gods themselves — Hendrix, Clapton, Page, Dylan — but is able to stay contemporary, also drawing on current artists like Iron and Wine and Ray LaMontagne. Combining guitar chops with lyrical prowess is a proven recipe for success and Bettencourt isn’t afraid to go with what works. However, he still brings ingenuity to his tracks, often using unconventional arrangements. A staple in the Portland scene, Bettencourt is also a producer and runs his own record label Shadow Shine Records.

Written by:Mike Olcott
Portland Press Herald-

The first thing that grabs you is that rusty set of pipes. Sometimes it sounds like Eric Bettencourt just won a fistfight down by the riverbank and he’s hollering up his new territory. Other tunes convey an old soul opening up to confess a guarded secret. Whatever the story, you believe the guy. Cast in ragged candor, he’s got “it.”

After years of loading gear in ice-cold alleyways, and scrapping for gas to get on stages, the people are starting to get a feel for how special this kid is. Take the first splash, Fine Old World. The fact that Bettencourt has brought Janis Joplin’s wheeze and howl along is secondary on the debut. Listen for the songcraft, EB channels his raw talent into music that doesn’t come from a magic recipe book, it’s organic and accessible to all.“Sweet Elise” sounds like the inside of a summer country cottage, simple and soulful. On “Uniform,” Bettencourt proves he’s mastered Beatles’ caliber writing to tell his layered tales.

The soul blossoms because it’s built on a technician’s foundation. EB’s got Slow Hand’s touch on guitars, electric and acoustic, lead and rhythm. He can shine whenever he chooses, but with mature ears and instincts, he’ll often be first to pull back for the good of the project. Take a tune like the mischievous “Stonewalled” from The Giraffe Attack collection, where a bouncy jig verse gives way somehow to a tearjerker, gospel-chorus. This is pop music with 1960’s street-cred, and it’s only going to come easier for the songwriter as his gift is properly nurtured. He’s already shared the stage with national acts and graced the iTunes front page as a songwriter to watch.

What occupies Bettencourt when he’s not ruling stages and turning heads around town? Well, he can’t seem to shake the music for even a moment. He runs an independent label, Shadow Shine Records, and maintains a fully equipped recording studio to support his talent roster and his own career.  Bettencourt has recorded, produced, and performed as much as any other single force in town. The guy is a flowing fountain of life to the Portland music scene, but it’s getting to be time for the world to find out. Meanwhile, with tricks to spare, and his own growing brand, Bettencourt will just keep on, howling with that torn timbre to the moon, till someone figures it out.

About Shadow Shine Productions

Shadow Shine Productions is an independent recording studio and production company based in Portland, Maine.

Shadow Shine was formed to help talented artists adapt to the rapidly changing music business, from recording and production to booking and promotion.  The epi center of Shadow Shines activity is based in and around Eric Bettencourts home studio.

Shadow Shine Studios is holed up in a finished basement at the bottom of Eric Bettencourts house. It is comfortable, relaxing and provides everything an artists needs to track a full record.

Lots of great equipment for artists: please contact for specifics.

Rates: $35 per hour

Slates Monday Night Concert Series
Slates offers a full menu on these nights along with fine
desserts & drinks – from 5:30pm to 8pm -
or just come enjoy the music!
For reservations call (207) 622-9575
167 Water Street, Hallowell, ME.

If you haven’t done so yet, please take a few seconds and “Like” The Valley Voice on Facebook. Thank You!

Historical Photograph: Fort Allen Park, Portland, ca. 1890 MMN Item #13694

Historical Photograph:

Fort Allen Park, Portland, ca. 1890

MMN Item #13694

Efforts are underway to restore Fort Allen Park in Portland. The park, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, contains the original earthen berm from Fort Allen, which was established in 1814 to protect the entrance to Portland Harbor. The Park’s iconic bandstand, carriage drive, and overlook were built in the 1890s. In 1905, the renowned Olmsted Brothers landscape firm created a master plan for the Eastern Promenade, including Fort Allen Park. The Park’s original design exemplifies the ideals of the Olmsteds’ signature landscapes.

To learn more about the Fort’s restoration and how you can weigh in at upcoming public workshops, visit the Friends of Eastern Promenade.

MHS News

Maine Historical Society Presents

The Richard D’Abate Lectures: Conversations About History, Art, and Literature

In May, Richard D’Abate will retire after 16 years as Executive Director of Maine Historical Society. We are pleased to recognize his many contributions to MHS and Maine’s cultural life through a special program series that will run from March through May.

The series will explore a topic near to Richard’s heart–the connections between literature, art, and history–and one that has helped shape MHS’s approach to Maine history during his tenure. It will bring a first-class group of historians, writers, artists, and thinkers to MHS, and honor the friendships and collaborations that have characterized Richard’s career. We hope you can join us.

Programs and Dates

Tuesday, March 6, 12pm

Longfellow’s Shadow: A reading of poems by Wesley McNair and Betsy Sholl

Thursday, March 15, 7pm

Hold On: The Privilege of Keeping Old Things Safe with Nicholson Baker, Author

Tuesday, April 3, 12pm

Perspectives on Maine History: Maine at Work, 1860-1900 with Earle G. Shettleworth, Jr., Maine State Historian; and William Bunting, Historian, Author, and Master Storyteller

Thursday, April 5, 7pm

The Nature of Lost Things with Rosamond Purcell, Photographer

Thursday, April 19, 7pm

The Civil War of 1812 with Dr. Alan Taylor, Professor of History, University of California, Davis

Thursday, May 10, 7pm

Saving Second Nature: The Environmental Movement in New England with Dr. Richard W. Judd, Professor of History, University of Maine, Orono

Thursday, May 24, 7pm

The Mysterious Penobscot Belle: Early Photography & a Forgotten Wabanaki Encampment in Portland in the mid-1800s with Harald E.L. Prins and Bunny McBride,Kansas State University

Click on the bold program titles for more information on our website.

This program series is supported by the Maine Humanities Council and the Margaret E. Burnham Charitable Trust.

MHS Announces

The Richard D’Abate Fund

The Trustees of MHS have announced the creation of theRichard D’Abate Endowment Fund for Scholarship and Special Programs. This endowed fund will provide support for visiting scholars, scholars-in-residence, special lectures, exhibits, and other events. Until now, MHS has not had a dedicated fund specifically to advance scholarly activity and programs. Please join us in recognizing Richard by supporting this important fund. You can do so today using our secure online donation form. Thank you!

For more information, please contact the Development Office at (207) 774-1822, ext. 231 or by email.

February Programs

Saturday, February 11, 1pm

In Partnership with Portland Ovations

Documentary Screening: Old Maine’s Swedish Farms

This 30-minute documentary chronicles Maine’s unique Swedish history through interviews with six residents of Maine’s Swedish Colony. The film, which will be looped throughout the afternoon, is being screened in partnership with Portland Ovations in advance of the upcoming February 16 performance by Vasen, a trio of Sweden’s best musicians. Included with MHS museum admission. Free for Ovations & MHS members.

Tuesday, February 21, 7pm

Public Parks: Care and Cultivation of Fort Williams Park, Cape Elizabeth

Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps, Fort Williams, 1942. #17243

This is the first in a 4-part series that explores the landscape of Greater Portland. This panel and discussion, presented in partnership with Greater Portland Landmarks, will explore current initiatives to develop sustainable funding models for the park, preserve historic features, create an arboretum, and provide appropriate visitor amenities. Suggested donation: $10 ($5 for MHS/GPL members)

Saturday, February 25

Two Events to Celebrate Henry’s Birthday!
10am: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s Birthday Party

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 1868. #4111

Join us for a family party to celebrate Longfellow’s 205th birthday! The party will include readings of Longfellow poems by MPBN’s Irwin Gratz, Herb Adams’ reading ofThe Midnight Ride of Paul Revere, crafts, and cake!

1pm: Longfellow and Bull: The Poet and the Virtuoso

With speaker Charles Kaufmann, Artistic Director, The Longfellow Chorus

Ole Bull. Courtesy Boston Athenaeum

Join us to learn about Longfellow’s friendship with violinist Ole Bull (1810-1880). Bull performed for kings, queens, and presidents, and his colorful temperament inspired artists, writers, and poets around the world.

MHS Programs Sponsor

Last Chance to Sign Up

• The Portland History Docents Program begins this week. Limited space is still available. For more information, please contact Bridget McCormick. To sign up, please call Marjorie Getz at 774-5561.

• There are still several spaces available in this year’s book group, Extraordinary Histories of Ordinary Things, which begins February 28. For more information, please contact Larissa Vigue Picard.

MHS Annual Gala

The Mad Hatter Affair

Hats off to Richard!

Saturday, May 5, 2012

The Woodlands, Falmouth

Join us for our annual Mad Hatter Affair on Saturday, May 5th. The evening, one of MHS’s most important fundraisers, includes a reception and dinner, hat parade, live and silent auctions, a live broadcast of the Kentucky Derby, and music and dancing with the Tony Boffa Band! The evening will also include a special tribute to Richard D’Abate. Join the fun and support MHS!

For tickets, corporate sponsorships, or to advertise in our program book, contact Elizabeth Nash, or download the flyer.

Media Sponsor

Museum Store

Commemorative Spoons

In This Issue

Maine Facts & Trivia

Maine Memory Network

New! Richard D’Abate Fund

February Programs

Unique Opportunities

MHS Gala Event

Museum Store

Current Exhibits

Museum

Dressing Up, Fitting In, Standing Out: Adornment & Identity in Maine (Through May 27, 2012)

Lecture Hall Gallery

Take to the Streets!(Through March 31, 2012)

Showcase Gallery

Student art work from our Local History/Local Schools program

Winter Hours

Museum & Museum Store: Mon-Sat 10am-5pm

Brown Library: Tues-Sat 10am-4pm

The Wadsworth-Longfellow House is closed for the season. Guided tours resume in May.

Spotlight On

Nick Noyes

Head of Library Services

Background

This February marks Nick’s 24th year at MHS. He grew up in Portland and attended Portland High School, Hebron Academy, and Dickinson College, and earned his MLS at Columbia University. Nick spent 20 years working in the hotel industry in Kennebunkport before switching gears to the library world.

Library Life

Nick worked at the Columbia Teacher’s College Library in New York and at the Goodall Memorial Library in Sanford before coming to MHS. When asked his favorite part of his job, Nick replied “Working in reference and helping people make discoveries in their work.” His favorite collection in the MHS library: the John Mead Gould diaries.

Fun Facts

* Nick is a member of the Society of Colonial Wars, the Mayflower Society, the Sons of the American Revolution, and other heraldry associations.

* His personal interest in genealogy has led him to add 60,000 names to his family tree.

* Nick resides in Mechanic Falls with his wife, Margaret, and vacations on Monhegan Island.

* He has a huge and diverse collection of neckties.

* Often heard saying: “There’s no such thing as an historical emergency.”

Maine Facts & Trivia

What in the WORLD?

“Like” us on Facebookand tune in each week for What-in-the-World?- Wednesdayswhen we present mystery artifacts from our collections and you guess what they are! We reveal the answer on our blog. We hope you’ll play along!

Here’s a recent What-in-the-World? Wednesday artifact and some of your guesses!

Guesses from Facebook followers:

- Christmas Tree Stand

- A mold for stepping stones/paving bricks

- A form for making a priest’s biretta

- A food masher

See the answer on our blog.

Stay Connected

Visit Us Online
Maine Historical Society
Maine Memory Network
Vintage Maine Images
Longfellow Website
Maine History Online
MHS Museum Store
Online Museum Catalog

DISCOVERED IN THE STOCKROOM!

Sterling Silver commemorative spoons of the Wadsworth-Longfellow House. 5 ¼” long. Gift boxed. A limited number are available, so when they are gone…they’re gone!

$29.95 each. Purchase online or at our store.

Visit us at 489 Congress Street in Portland. Museum store winter hours are Monday through Saturday 10am-5pm.

Maine Historical Society 489 Congress Street Portland, ME 04101 (207) 774-1822

Alberta Canada Tar Sand Pit

Natural Resources Council of Maine, Sierra Club Maine, Natural Resources Defense Council, and National Wildlife Federation, will host a media briefing Thursday morning and a public event Thursday night to raise awareness about the Keystone XL tar sands oil pipeline and a proposed project to pump dirty tar sands oil from Canada to Portland Harbor.

Proposed legislation introduced in both the U.S. House and Senate would approve the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline without completing the environmental review process and before a route for the pipeline is even finalized. This legislation may be attached to “must pass” legislation, such as the transportation bill or payroll tax extension legislation or as a stand alone bill sometime in the coming weeks.

So far, Senators Snowe and Collins have not endorsed these irresponsible bills, which would force approval of the Keystone XL pipeline before a final route is established and the health and safety review is completed, but Maine’s delegation may soon be faced with such votes.

More than 100 Mainers traveled to Washington, D.C. in November to protest the Keystone pipeline, which would increase dependence on oil and lead to vast amounts of pollution.

What: News Conference/Briefing about the Keystone XL tar sands oil pipeline and a proposed project to pump dirty tar sands oil from Canada to Portland Harbor.

When: Thursday February 9 at 10:30 a.m.

Where: Casco Bay Ferry Terminal, 56 Commercial Street, Portland

Who: Representatives from Natural Resources Council of Maine, Sierra Club Maine, Natural Resources Defense Council, National Wildlife Federation

Visuals: Photos, maps, and displays of the pipeline routes and potential effects

New Exhibition

Tanja Alexia Hollander: Are You Really My Friend?

On view through June 17
In her new exhibition, Maine artist Tanja Alexia Hollander collapses the intangibility of cyberspace by traveling around the world on a modern-day odyssey to actually photograph her 600 (and growing) Facebook friends. Learn more…

Circa 2012 Box: Tanja Alexia Hollander: Are You Really My Friend

$4.50

Exhibition material for the 2012 Circa exhibition Tanja Alexia Hollander: Are You Really My Friend?.

Available in the Museum Store.

Artist Intervention

Friday, February 10 

5 p.m. to 7 p.m. 

Free admission.

Visit the galleries on select Free Friday Evenings to participate in “happenings” planned by PMA’s new team of Maine artists. This month, artist Clink Fulkerson will be in the Museum “making visible the process of drawing.” Come find out what happens when an artist intervenes in your gallery experience!

Click here to look at photos from last month’s Artist Intervention!

Movies at the Museum

Dinner and a Movie! Enjoy a light dinner before a movie! Visit theMuseum Café by Aurora Provisions for seasonally inspired soups and salads, gourmet sandwiches, and creative entrées. Beer and wine served. No admission required to dine. Free Wi-Fi. Menu changes daily

Le Harve

Friday, February 10, 6:30 p.m.

Saturday, February 11, 2 p.m.

Sunday, February 12, 2 p.m.

NR

Cave of Forgotten Dreams

Friday, February 17, 6:30 p.m.

Saturday, February 18, 2 p.m.

Sunday, February 19, 2 p.m.

NR

 

Chico and Rita

Friday, February 24, 6:30 p.m.

Saturday, February 25, 2 p.m.

Sunday, February 26, 2 p.m.

NR

Click here for complete movie listings

Quick Links

Visit Us

Exhibitions

Programs and Events

Membership

Museum Store

Portland Museum of Art | Seven Congress Square | Portland | ME | 04101

George Sebastian Lopez, pianist, has been featured across the globe as recitalist, soloist with orchestra, and collaborator. Mr. Lopez received critical acclaim for his interpretation of Bach’s Goldberg Variations at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and performed the complete cycle of Beethoven Piano Concertos in his last two concert seasons. He was invited by The International Holland Music Sessions, now one of the top performing arenas for up-and-coming musicians in Europe, to go on a world tour where he performed in Paris, London, Cologne, New York’s Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, and in Los Angeles where he was hailed by the Los Angeles Times for his “. . . musical perspective, continuity, and kaleidoscopic colors.” He also performed Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue to a capacity crowd with the NH Music Festival Orchestra. Last June he gave recitals in Switzerland and Holland and in October 2008 played Chopin’s First Piano Concerto. He premiered a piano concerto written for him by Romeo Melloni, an Italian composer from Milan, which he recorded with the Czech Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra in Prague with Maestro Paul Polivnick. He went on a West Coast tour in March 2010, performing solo and chamber music concerts as well as masterclasses in Seattle and Portland. Mr. Lopez performed at Brown University with renowned American composer David Amram for a weeklong residency, and his recent tour of chamber music concerts in Australia garnered an invitation to the Kowmung Music Festival next year.

His chamber music collaborations have included the Emerson String Quartet, the Rainier Quartet, the Incanto Ensemble of Germany, and the Aurea Ensemble of Providence, along with members of some of the top orchestras in the country with whom he plays regularly at the New Hampshire Music Festival. He was invited by the Montclaire String Quartet to open their concert season with Brahms Piano Quintet in F Minor at the Clay Center for the Arts in Charleston, West Virginia, where he is a frequent guest artist. Most recently, he performed a recital with cellist Emmanuel Feldman in Boston’s Jordan Hall, giving a world premiere performance of Jan Swafford’s In Time of War for cello and piano.

Mr. Lopez has been an advocate for music education for many years and is a popular lecturer on the arts in New England. He has given lectures for the European Piano Teachers Association in Amsterdam. He maintains active studios in New Hampshire at Phillips Exeter Academy and St. Paul’s School, having graduated several students to major conservatories in the U.S. including Juilliard Prep, Oberlin College, Manhattan School of Music, Mannes College, and the University of Southern California.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, and raised in Belize by Mayan parents, George Lopez started playing the piano at the fairly late age of 11. Upon returning to the U.S., he won his first orchestral competition at 14 in Texas and two years later was awarded a full scholarship to The Hartt School of Music. After graduating with honors, he went to Paris on a Franco-American study grant and was given a unanimous First Prize for the Diplôme supérieur. He completed his Masters Degree cum laude in Amsterdam.

In addition to the New Hampshire Symphony, Mr. Lopez has appeared with the Granite State Symphony Orchestra, the Midcoast Symphony Orchestra of Maine, the Fort Smith Symphony in Arkansas, and has performed Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto in Yverdon-les-Bains, Switzerland. He will be premiering a new piano concerto with the Hungarian Chamber Orchestra in Budapest in October 2012. Mr. Lopez is currently Artist-in-Residence at Bowdoin College where he lives with his wife and two children.Tickets are $10, students $5, 12 & under free. Tickets are available at Pat’s Pizza in Augusta, Apple Valley Books in Winthrop, and at the door. Call 621-3551, or email umasc@maine.edu for more information or for mail order tickets. www.concertsatjewett.com.

Tickets are available at the door, by phone (621-3551), by email umasc@maine.edu , or at the following local retail stores:

Pat’s Pizza – Augusta
Apple Valley Books – Winthrop
Mike Davis Entertainment – Waterville
1 Post Office Square (Old Post Office) over Mainly Brews a few blocks from Railroad Square Cinema]

Tickets:
Adults $10
Students $5**
Age 12 and under FREE

Subscribe by phone/email for 7 concerts or more and save 20%

If you haven’t done so yet, please take a moment and “Like” The Valley Voice on Facebook. Thank You!

Attorney General William J. Schneider

AUGUSTA – Attorney General William J. Schneider and Governor Paul R. LePage have announced that aTask Force has been formed to combat the prescription drug abuse problem in Maine.

Governor LePage signed an executive order Wednesday, February 1 establishing the Maine Prescription Drug Abuse Task Force. The formation of the Task Force follows the Prescription Drug Abuse Summit hosted by Attorney General Schneider in October.

“Decision makers in the fields of prevention and intervention, treatment and recovery, education, enforcement and public policy came together at the Summit to develop an action plan for Maine,” said Attorney General Schneider. “This is a complex problem and the experts at the Summit considered many solutions, finally targeting the measures that are most likely to make a difference. I am encouraged by the level of commitment of people across the state and look forward to the leadership that the Task Force will bring on this issue.”

The executive order describes the alarming public health and safety effects of prescription drug misuse, abuse and diversion and highlights the challenge of balancing prevention, education and enforcement with the need for legitimate access.

“Prescription drug use is the Nation’s fastest-growing drug problem and Maine is experiencing increasing and alarming rates of prescription drug abuse,” said the Governor. “This reality demands action, but any policy response must be approached responsibly. I hope members of this Task Force will be able to address this issue and start to find solutions on how slow down this major drug problem in a meaningful and effective way.”

The 17-member Task Force will address four action items identified by statewide stakeholders at the Summit:

• Develop a long-term controlled substance disposal program
• Implement a statewide Diversion Alert Program that provides prescribers with drug crime information from local law enforcement to assist in determining whether patients are legitimately in need of controlled substance prescriptions
• Develop an evidence-based public education campaign for both community education and prescriber training
• Review the Prescription Monitoring Program and recommend improvements to maximize its use and effectiveness

The members of the Task Force will report every six months to the Governor, the Attorney General, the Commissioner of Public Safety, the Commissioner of Environmental Protection and the Legislature.

Members include:

Chair

Joe Bruno R.Ph., M.B.A.
President and CEO
Community Pharmacies, LP

Disposal

Dr. Stevan Gressit
Founding Director
International Institute for Pharmaceutical

William Savage
Assistant Attorney General
Office of the Attorney General

Greg Couture
Assistant to the Commissioner
Maine Department of Public Safety

Pattie Aho, Commissioner
Maine Department of Environmental Protection

Diversion Alert

Darrell Crandell, Commander
Maine Drug Enforcement Agency

Natalie Morse
Prevention Center Director
Maine General Medical Center

Susan Morissette
State Representative

Dr. Denise Theriault
Southern Maine Periodontal Associates

Education

Lauri Sidelko, Director
Alcohol and Drug Education Programs

Jayne Harper
Drug Overdose Prevention Educator
MaineGeneral Prevention Center

Gordon Smith
Executive Vice President
Maine Medical Association

Melissia Petro
Regional Director
State Government & Legislative Affairs
Purdue Pharmacy

Neill Miner
Project Director
Southern Kennebec Alliance for Substance Abuse Prevention

Prescription Monitoring Program

Roy McKinney, Director
Maine Drug Enforcement Agency

Brenda Kielty
Special Assistant to the Attorney General
Maine Office of the Attorney General

Patricia Lapera
Project Coordinator
Prescription Monitoring Program
Office of Substance Abuse

Longfellow Days 2012 is scheduled for February 4 through February 26. A wide range of activities will take place including community poetry, lectures, tours, dining and film events, and much, much more.

Come share and join in the conversation about Longfellow Days by becoming a Fan on Facebook!

Now in its ninth year, Longfellow Days is a celebration inspired by the life and works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow who studied and taught at Bowdoin College. This year we explore the loving connectedness that enriches our personal and public lives.

Longfellow Days 2012 kicked-off this past weekend in Brunswick. Events continue through February!

Wednesday, February 8, 12:15 PM ▪ WHAT’S LOVE GOT to do WITH IT? CHANGING PATTERNS for DATING & MARRIAGE Do people still date? Are fewer getting married? Does marriage mean what it used to? An illustrated lecture by Wendy Christensen, Ph.D., answers these questions and more by examining historical trends and their meanings. Christenson, is a Visiting Professor of Sociology & Anthropology at Bowdoin College and holds a Ph.D. from The University of Wisconsin, Madison. Her research interests include the sociology of war, the military, new media technologies, and feminist theory with an emphasis on mothers of members of the U.S. Armed Forces. We launch the program with a brief reading from The Courtship of Miles Standish. Free. Morrell Room, Curtis Memorial Library (a Winter Wisdom Lecture)

Saturday, February 11, Noon to 3 PM ▪ TOUR LONGFELLOW’S HOME Visit as guests of the Pejepscot Historical Society. Tours begin each hour on the hour. Free. Joshua Chamberlain Museum, Maine and Potter Streets

Sunday, February 12, 1:00 PM ▪ THE COURSEN READINGS Poets Robert Farnsworth, David Moreau, and Alice Persons read from their work. Mr. Farnsworth has published three collections of poetry including Rumored Islands with Harbor Mountain Press. His poems have appeared in U.S., Canadian, and UK periodicals. He is a National Endowment for the Arts Fellow, has served as poet-in-residence at The Frost Place, and teaches at Bates College. Mr. Moreau works in Lewiston with developmentally disabled adults. He is the author of two books of poetry, You Can Still Go To Hell…and Other Truths About Being A Helping Professional, and Children Are Ugly Little Monsters (But You Have To Love Them Anyway. Ms. Persons founded Moon Pie Press, a publisher of 62 books by poets all over the U.S. She has had 8 poems featured on NPR’s Writers’ Almanac. She has authored three chapbooks and a full length collection, Thank Your Lucky Stars. Ms. Persons teaches at SMCC and USM. She lives with 4 cats and a dog and volunteers for animal welfare. Free. Fireplace Room, Curtis Memorial Library

Longfellow Days is a program of the Brunswick Downtown Association & Bowdoin College with support from the Nathaniel Davis Fund of Brunswick, the Senter Fund, Maine Humanities Council: Power & Pleasure of Poetry, Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance, and the Association of Bowdoin Friends. Longfellow Days receives in-kind support from Art Forms/Cool as a Moose, Brunswick Inn, the Inn at Brunswick Station, Bohemian Coffee House, and Curtis Memorial Library.

Click HERE for More Information.

If you haven’t done so already, please take a moment and “Like” The Valley Voice on Facebook. Thank You!

“I was presented a plan last Thursday. I told the Appropriations Chairs that I would not sign nor veto that proposal. However, their plan has drastically changed since then. The latest proposal eliminates nearly all of the structural changes that are necessary to make our welfare system affordable and sustainable.

The latest plan is full of gimmicks and built on false savings. It continues to cannibalize state government to support an out-of-control welfare program. If the approach taken by the Committee is allowed to move forward, we will be back here in a few months dealing with another large shortfall in the Department of Health and Human Services.

The Committee is no longer considering eliminating all coverage for childless adults. They are taking a half-measure that doesn’t fix the real problem. The ironic part of their proposal is that they are booking savings that are dependent on federal approval. My plan has been criticized for the exact same thing.

Quite frankly, I believe this represents an abdication of their responsibility to the Maine people. This is the exact same approach the Legislature has taken for the past 40 years and it hasn’t worked yet. They are kicking the can down the road and Maine people deserve better.”

Cost for each 2-day camp session is $75/pp and includes the use of all equipment along with afternoon cocoa and snack.  Early registration is highly recommended as space is limited to just 14 campers per session!

Registration forms can be downloaded at www.watershedfriends.com.  FMI, contact Tamara Whitmore, Education Director at 621-4100 or tamara@watershedfriends.com

Tamara Whitmore
Education Director
Friends of the Cobbossee Watershed
P.O.Box 5003
Augusta,ME04332-5003

207-621-4100
Email: tamara@watershedfriends.com

Cinderella Ate My Daughter…And What You Can Do About It

Thursday 02.09.2012, Starts at 7:00 PM, Ends at 10:00 PM, Free, All Ages

Join Hardy Girls Healthy Women for a book talk and discussion with Peggy Orenstein, author of Cinderella Ate My Daughter and member of Hardy Girls’ National Advisory Board. “Cinderella Ate My Daughter and What You Can Do About It” is a talk focused on solutions for raising healthy, happy, hardy girls.

Co-sponsored with SPACE Gallery, The Telling Room, USM Women & Gender Studies Program, Add Verb Productions, and Longfellow Books.

»More info

SLANT

Friday 02.10.2012, Doors at 7:00PM, Starts at 7:30PM, Free, All Ages

In this series, writers, performers, and notable community members tell ten-minute stories to a live audience without notes or props. In honor of cold and flu season, and other things that can go wrong in life, the dual theme this time is “[sic] – stories of illness and/or mistakes”. Storytellers putting their spin on this playful literary idea include Cathy Kidman fromMaine Women’s Fund, Joe Ricchio of Maine Magazine and Food Coma TV, The Telling Room’s own Andrew Griswold, Maine Med physician Renee Fay-LeBlanc, writer and clinical social worker Jennifer Lunden and Leah Heyman, Instructor at Chewonki. Presented, as always, by The Telling Room, in association with the Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance, theSalt Institute for Documentary Studies, and SPACE Gallery.

»More info

Film: Fake It So Real

Tuesday 02.14.2012, Doors at 7:00 PM, Starts at 7:30 PM, Ends at 9:30 PM, $7 / $5 for SPACE Members, All Ages

Purchase tickets here.

FAKE IT SO REAL dives head-first into the world of independent pro wrestling. Filmed over a single week leading up to a big show, the film follows a ragtag group of wrestlers in North Carolina, exploring what happens when the over-the-top theatrics of the wrestling ring collide with the realities of the working-class South.

»More info

Contact Info

SPACE Gallery
538 Congress St.
Portland, ME 04101
(207)828-5600 (phone)
(207)828-5607 (FAX)

For program inquiries, please read our guidelines and follow appropriate contact procedures.
Exhibitions >> Music, performance and other events >> Film screenings >> Rentals

General or other inquiries may be sent to info@space538.org

For a list of staff and our Board of Directors, click here.
View Larger Map

From 295 North (South of Portland):

• FOLLOW I-295 North (From 495/95)
• EXIT 6A (Forest Avenue)
• BEAR RIGHT after overpass through Deering Oaks Park
• CONTINUE up State Street
• LEFT onto Congress Street at top of Hill
• SPACE is on your right at 538 Congress Street, bewtween LL Bean and the Maine College of Art

From 295/95 South (North of Portland):

• FOLLOW 295 South (From 495/95)
• EXIT 6A (Forest Avenue)
• BEAR RIGHT after overpass through Deering Oaks Park
• CONTINUE up State Street
• LEFT onto Congress Street at top of Hill
• SPACE is on your right at 538 Congress Street, bewtween LL Bean and the Maine College of Art

From Concord Trailways (bus) / Downeaster (train)

• from the terminal building, follow signs to Congress St.
• RIGHT onto Congress Street
• You’ll head into town, go through 6 stop lights
• SPACE is on your right at 538 Congress Street, bewtween LL Bean and the Maine College of Art

Parking

Parking is available along Congress Street, Oak Street and various parking garages located on Free Street (parallel to Congress, behind SPACE), Middle Street (near the Nickelodeon Theater) and on Spring Street (next to the Cumberland County Civic Center).

SPACE Gallery is handicap accessible

Gallery Hours:

Wednesday – Saturday, 12-6pm (during exhibition dates)
and by chance and appointment

Sierra Hull & Highway 111

News update!

In This Issue

Live@CMT

Jake Stargel joins band

Sound Engineer Caleb Gilbreath

Winter Village Bluegrass Festival

A message from Sierra

Hello friends! Hope this finds everyone enjoying the New Year! 2012 has been treating the band and I well so far with lots of exciting things already underway! Let me start by saying – We are so pleased to introduce you to our newest member of Highway 111, Mr. Jake Stargel on guitar and vocals! Jake’s been one of my favorite guitar players for a long time now, and I can’t even tell you guys how much fun we’ve had playing with him these past few weeks. We’ve already found ourselves at some really awesome venues and gigs this year and can’t wait to see where all 2012 will take us! We would love to see you guys out on the road, so check out the tour dates and maybe you can come hang out with us SOON at a show near you!

More dates posted at

Sierrahull.com

Winter wonderful!

Kicking off the New Year in style, Sierra Hull & Highway 111 have already been to Portland, OR for River City Music Festival; The beautiful Akron Civic Theatre in Akron, OH; and the Broyhill Civic Center in Lenoir, NC. Even more exciting is that Sierra and the band were in the CMT studios last week performing for a new online program, Live@CMT! Stay tuned for details. This weekend the band is headed to Upstate New York for the Winter Village Bluegrass Festival this Saturday, January 28.  They hope to see you there! (see article below for festival information).

Sierra Hull & Highway 111 on “Live @ CMT”!!

Sierra Hull & Highway 111 were in CMT’s Nashville studio last week, doing a live taping for a new online program called “Live @ CMT.” Stay tuned to the band’s FaceBook and web site for updates as to when the show will be featured at CMT.com. They did four tunes from Sierra’s Daybreak CD– “Bombshell,” “Best Buy,” “Daybreak,” and “Easy Come, Easy Go.” The photo at right was taken by CMT’s Brian Bayley during the performance. Sierra and the guys looked pretty snappy and their performance was outstanding. The CMT crowd loved ‘em!

Jake Stargel joins the band

Jake Stargel is the newest member of Sierra Hull & Highway 111, playing lead guitar. Jake is a native of Georgia, and at 21 years of age, has a phenomenal feel for his instrument. He is blazing a trail to become one of the masters of the genre. After being named the Georgia Flat-picking Champion as a very young teen, Jake first came to national attention with stints in The Lovell Sisters at the age of 15; later as a member of the Grammy nominated The Greencards; with the band Bearfoot; and most recently with Mountain Heart. Jake is featured in the March/April 2012 issue ofFlatpicking Guitar, which will be on newsstands sometime next month.

Sierra explains, “Jake has always been someone that I thought I would love to be able to play in a band with. He has amazing musical sensibility, which is really important when playing in a band. Hearing him play makes me only want to get better, and I think that’s the ideal band member in many ways – someone that makes you want to grow!”

In addition to the guitar, Jake also plays piano, mandolin, mandola and electric guitar. Jake’s intensity, fire, and unbelievable musicianship are the stuff legends are made of!

Jake Stargel

Meet Caleb Gilbreath

Caleb Gilbreath recently joined Sierra Hull & Highway 111 as the band’s sound engineer. He is originally from the small town of Waxahachie, Texas
and a 2011 graduate of Boston based Berklee College of Music. Caleb had a double major in Performance; and Music Production and Engineering. He is a talented percussionist as well.

Caleb completed Berklee’s five-year program in four years, and managed to continue studying both of his passions simultaneously, receiving awards from both the Percussion and Engineering departments along the way.

Sierra says, “Since Caleb began working with us in May of 2011, the band has taken on a whole new dynamic. He’s a ‘get it done’ kind of guy, and we are so grateful to have him join our team! He is not only a great engineer, but an amazing drummer and percussionist.” If you’ve been wondering why the band sounds so good lately, you can thank Caleb for that.

We are excited about playing in Ithaca, New York this weekend with the Gibson Brothers and Tony Trischka & Territory at the Winter Village Bluegrass Festival.  Band members will be teaching workshops Saturday morning and performing Saturday afternoon at La Tourelle Resort, a luxury hotel with a 150 seat performance area, then performing at the Big Show with Tony Trischka & Territory and Ithaca favorites Cornerstone on Saturday evening at the beautiful Hangar Theatre. If you are driving in to see us, you might consider spending the night at the Holiday Inn downtown (www.hiithaca.com; 607-272-1000), which is offering great festival rates of $99 for a double queen.  You can also get dinner before the Big Saturday Night Show at a Bluegrass ‘n BBQ event at the Finger Lakes Wine Center or a Bluegrass ‘n Black Beans at the renowned Moosewood vegetarian restaurant.  Both events have live bluegrass music and discounted prices.  For more detailed information visit www.wintervillagebluegrass.org- click on the blog for latest festival details and schedule. The Ithaca Journal has a feature about the festival in their entertainment section,“Ticket,” this weekend.

Help us name the van!
We need a name for our new van, and you can help us name it! Please submit your best van name to sierrahulladvance@gmail.com with the subject heading “NAME THE VAN.” All van names must be submitted no later than February 17th. The band will vote for their favorite and announce the winner on Feburary 24th from the stage at The Mockingbird in Staunton, VA, and we will post it on the band Facebook page as well.
The winner will receive Sierra’s Daybreak CD, plus
an autographed Daybreak poster.
You don’t have to be present to win.

KCA Artists | 1025 17th Avenue South | Nashville | TN | 37212

So you wanna see Sierra Hull with her band…

 

Click for more info to watch a video.

 

DATE: Thursday, February 16, 2012
SHOWTIME: 8:00 p.m. — Doors open at 6 p.m.

DINNER: Available by reservation before the show. (not included in ticket price). Click here forsample menu.
ADMISSION: $17.50 pp (plus $2.50 handling fee for concert )

 

GETAWAY PACKAGE: $350* for two -
One nights lodging with full country breakfast, a cozy dinner at the Inn before the show, roundtrip concert shuttle and of course two concert tickets with premier seating. Call 603-447-2120 to order your getaway package. Click for details. * prices do not include applicable tax.

If this is your first visit to SMAC, please read our

by the ways

” before you order.

To Order Tickets…

Order Online … Click to complete the Online Order Form provided including either Master Card or Visa credit card information. There is a handling fee charged for each ticket ordered. If you have any kind of discount pass or if you are a Stone Mountaineer… please let us know that too. Online ticket sales will close at noon the day of the show.

Arts Center Box Office … Tickets, gift certificate, SMAC memberships, logo items and Carol Noonan cds are all available for purchase by check or credit card at the Box Office open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. until noon.

Questions?
Please call 1-207-935-7292 if you need assistance… someone will return your call promptly.

A few very important “by the ways” before you order
1. Please use cash or checks only when you come to a show…….
We do take credit cards for tickets only, but when you come here to the Arts Center we ask that you try to use cash or checks. We appreciate the convenience of using plastic for online purchasing, but we don’t want to raise our food and beverage prices to cover the cost of credit card processing. If it’s all ya got that night, we will take it of course…we have even taken IOU’s! We are very flexible.
2. Why is there a handling fee?
We get this question a lot. A handling fee is a necessary evil for us to collect what we need to bring the performer here, sell the tickets, and keep it personal which is what this experience is all about. We try to keep it a low as possible. We know you enjoy talking to Marlies or Katy or me to get your tickets or tell us some of your special requests. Like when you call to ask if you “made a dinner reservation” or “can we squeeze one more at our table”, or “what time is the show” or “I have a dietary issue”. You won’t get to do that anywhere else. That personal touch costs a little more, but I think you would agree its worth it and we would like to remain a place where you can talk to someone. Besides, a lot of venues with automated ticketing charge handling fees anyway….most much higher than us.

3. Our Dinner .…
Most nights our dinner menu consists of three specials which could include entrees like, chowder, chili, pasta, a meatloaf or a pork roast dinner, two to three pizzas and two salads that can be topped with seafood or chicken……anything that can be prepared and served quickly since we are often serving 150 people in about 45 minutes. We want it to be delicious, fast, affordable, and small to avoid waste (and that can limit our options). It is hard for us to do special orders, but if you have any dietary issues we welcome you to call us so we can try to accommodate you ahead of time.

Dinner is served most nights from 6 – 7:15 pm. The kitchen will stop taking orders forty-five minutes before the performance starts in order to avoid any disturbance while the artist performs. Because our space is limited, tables are generally for four, six, eight or ten. Tables for two are rare. You will likely make some new friends while you are here. If you prefer a table for just two, be sure to reserve a Table for Two with a View in our Balcony.

4. Can we bring children to the show?
I will never say you cannot bring your child to a show…but I will say, most shows are not appropriate for a small child or a baby who may not have the attention span of an adult. It is a rare young child who can sit through a concert without fussing….if you have one of those rare children, bring’em along by all means. But I have seen children here too young to even be up by the time the show starts, never mind sit through it…and the child has become understandably fussy. That fussiness will and has disturbed the folks around you who have spent their hard earned money to see a show in a distraction free environment. It will also totally stress you out. Our place is very intimate and very little noise can be times ten here. It is really just a matter of common sense and courtesy when it comes to deciding to bring your children or not.

5. Sponsors….
Sponsors are businesses that support a show financially in trade for advertising and exposure. They are a major organ to the intricate body that is SMAC…. and we never have enough of them. We have thousands of people locally and from away visiting  our site and our hall each month. Its a great way to reach them and support us at the same time. If you’d like more information about our advertising / sponsor opportunities, click here.

6. Ticket Prices.…..
Our ticket prices are based on the artist fee which is the same regardless of the venue seating capacity. If the ticket is high it is because the artist fee is high. Our choice is to charge what we charge to cover their fee or not bring that big artist here at all. We know our audience enjoys the unique experience of an up close and personal performance by their favorites yet we also try to have a variety of shows for a variety of pocketbooks.

7. Why do we do this?….
We do this because we wanted to bring music to the country. As residents  we felt there was a void in quality concert production, not only in our area but all over New England, and thought we could make a difference. We never imagined it would take off like it has, and “if you build it, people really will come”. We have tried and will continue to try to make this one of the most special concert experiences possible. If you keep comin’, we will keep strummin’ !
xoxoxoxoxo carol, jeff and crew.

Click to order your tickets.

HOW DO WE GET THERE?

Gettin’ here….. We are located in the Foothills of the White Mountains, in a rural neighborhood. Our neighbors were kind enough to let us have this crazy thing up here, so we ask that you respect our neighborhood by driving slowly, responsibly, and quietly.

WARNING!! Do not use gps, google, mapquest, etc. to get here! Some of the old roads they will send you on are NOT passable. Please use these directions, and you will get here easily.

We have done our best to cover all the different places people may come from, but if we have overlooked you, email us ahead of time, and we will talk you in.

Make a selection for directions from your area.
From: Mass. Portland, Standish & Gorham Naples and Bridgton
North Conway, NH Tamworth, Effingham, Freedom, and Eaton, NH
Fryeburg and Lovell Cornish and Kezar Falls

From Massachusetts…

• Take I-95 North
• Soon After the Hampton Toll Booth, I-95 splits. When I-95 splits: take the White Mts, NH exit to the left (not the Maine one)
• Take Rte 16 North, White Mts. for 54 miles (approx. 1 hour)
• When you get to the intersection with Dunkin’ Donuts, Shop and Save (Hannaford) and Rite Aid, you are about ten minutes from the exit you need to take.
• Look for the exit for route 25 East (You will see signs for King Pine too on the way). Turn RIGHT on to 25 East for 5.3 miles (to 153)
• At blinking light, take LEFT on to 153 for 10 miles: After about 6 miles, you’ll pass King Pine Ski Area. Then about 3 more and the road will take a sharp right at a yellow inn.
• Less than a mile, you will see Crystal Lake, and a sign,” Conway, Snowville, Brownfield”……Take that RIGHT. Follow for 7.5 miles, and come to a four corners.
• Take RIGHT at the four corners(there’s a brownish red house on the corner) onto County Road where you’ll immediately go over a narrow wooden bridge. Travel on County Road about about a mile and a half
• You will climb the hill for most of it, and then start down…our road is the left at the bottom of the hill
• Just before our turn, you will see “Road Narrows” sign on right
• Take that left onto Dugway Rd. There may or may not be a road sign there (it always gets knocked down in the winter)
• You will immediately see a fork and a sign for the Walter Blake Road. (Dugway is left of the fork, Walter is right)
• Stay on Dugway by going straight up onto the dirt road. Pass the mailboxes. We’re about a block up on the dirt road. We are the second place on the left. The parking lot is the first driveway you see.
• For handicap parking take second driveway, and see designated area.

Stone Mountain Arts Center is:
15 minutes from North Conway NH
1.25 hours from Portland ME
2.5 hours from Boston MA
1.5 hours from Portsmouth NH

From Portland: (Standish and Gorham)

• Take route 25 towards Gorham, then Standish
• Go through Standish, and at the Two Trails Diner, take a right onto Route 113. Follow 113 about 25 minutes to Brownfield.
• In Brownfield you will come to G&S Grant’s Store and a junction of 113 and 160.
• Take a left at the store onto 160. (keep in mind you will not be staying on 160)
• At one point you will see a pretty white church, and 160 goes to the left. DON’T TAKE IT! Continue straight on that road.
• This is Main St. You will be on this road straight for about two miles. Continue straight on Main St.
• You will pass our Road, Dugway, but its best not to come in that way…an old country road!…so…..Keep going straight.
• Soon you will come to a fork in the road, there will be a sign pointing towards Conway, and West Brownfield. TAKE A LEFT AT THAT FORK UP ONTO MERRIL’S CORNER ROAD.(IT’S A HILL) (some of these roads may have signs, some may not)
• Go all the way to the top to the stop sign and turn LEFT onto County Road.
• You will climb the hill for a bit, and then start down…our road is the left at the bottom of the hill.
• Just before our turn, you will see “Road Narrows” sign on right
• Take that left onto Dugway Rd. There may or may not be a road sign there (it always gets knocked down in the winter)
• You will immediately see a fork and a sign for the Walter Blake Road. (Dugway is left of the fork, Walter is right)
• Stay on Dugway by going straight up onto the dirt road. Pass the mailboxes. We’re about a block up on the dirt road. We are the second place on the left. The parking lot is the first driveway you see.
• For handicap parking take second driveway, and see designated area.

From Naples and Bridgton:

• In Naples take a left onto 302 towards Bridgton
• Follow 302 toward Bridgton. You will see McDonald Motors on right, Lamprons, and then the Drive-In on the left. Soon after that before you get into the center of town, you will take a left onto 117. When you take a left onto that road, you should immediately see the Morning Dew Food store, and a carpet place if you are on the correct road.
• Follow that road about a block, and you will come to a stop sign. Take a left onto 117.
• Follow that road STRAIGHT all the way to Brownfield.
• In the center of Denmark, 117 takes a left….DON’T TAKE IT. Continue staying straight on that road…. it becomes 160, through Denmark, to Brownfield.
• You will get to the Brownfield bridge, and the Saco River, and soon after that you will come to a stop sign and blinking light at the junction of 113 and 160.
• Go straight across onto 160(just left of the store)
• This is Main St. (or the Conway Road, depending on who you talk to). You will be on this road straight for about two miles.
• At one point you will see a pretty white church, and 160 goes to the left. DON’T TAKE IT!
• Continue straight on Main St. You will pass our Road, Dugway, but its best not to come in that way…an old country road!…so…..Keep going straight.
• Soon you will come to a fork in the road, there will be a sign pointing towards Conway, and West Brownfield. TAKE A LEFT AT THAT FORK UP ONTO MERRIL’S CORNER ROAD.(IT’S A HILL) (some of these roads may have signs, some may not)
• Go all the way to the top to the stop sign and turn LEFT onto County Road.
• You will climb the hill for a bit, and then start down…our road is the left at the bottom of the hill.
• Just before our turn, you will see “Road Narrows” sign on right
• Take that left onto Dugway Rd. There may or may not be a road sign there (it always gets knocked down in the winter)
• You will immediately see a fork and a sign for the Walter Blake Road. (Dugway is left of the fork, Walter is right)
• Stay on Dugway by going straight up onto the dirt road. Pass the mailboxes. We’re about a block up on the dirt road. We are the second place on the left. The parking lot is the first driveway you see.
• For handicap parking take second driveway, and see designated area.

From North Conway, NH:

• Take 302 towards Fryeburg
• Pass the State Line Store into Maine
• Take a right onto Haley Town Road right before the Welcome to Maine info booth
• Follow that to the end, where there will be a stop sign at a four corners.
• Go straight across onto Old County Road
• You’ll immediately go over a narrow wooden bridge.
• Travel on County Road about about a mile and a half
• You will climb the hill for most of it, and then start down…our road is the left at the bottom of the hill.
• Just before our turn, you will see “Road Narrows” sign on right
• Take that left onto Dugway Rd. There maybe a road sign there (it always gets knocked down in the winter).
• You will immediately see a fork and a sign for the Walter Blake Road. (Dugway is left of the fork, Walter is right)
• Stay on Dugway by going straight up onto the dirt road. Pass the mailboxes. We’re about a block up on the dirt road. We are the second place on the left. The parking lot is the first driveway you see.
• For handicap parking take second driveway, and see designated area.

From Tamworth, Effingham, Freedom, and Eaton, NH:

• Take 25 to 153 towards Eaton NH
• Pass the King Pine Ski Area
• Then go about 3 more miles and the road will take a sharp right at The Inn at Crystal Lake (yellow inn)
• Less than a mile, you will see Crystal Lake, and the Eaton Private beach on the right. take a right there at the sign that says: ” Conway, Snowville, Brownfield”…… Follow for 7.5 miles, and come to a four corners.
• Turn RIGHT at the four corners (there’s a brownish red house on the corner) onto County Road and immediately go over a narrow wooden bridge.
• Travel on County Road about about a mile and a half. You will climb the hill for most of it, and then start down…our road is the left at the bottom of the hill.
• Just before our turn, you will see “Road Narrows” sign on right
• Take that left onto Dugway Rd. There may or may not be a road sign there (it always gets knocked down in the winter).
• You will immediately see a fork and a sign for the Walter Blake Road. (Dugway is left of the fork, Walter is right)
• Stay on Dugway by going straight up onto the dirt road. Pass the mailboxes. We’re about a block up on the dirt road. We are the second place on the left. The parking lot is the first driveway you see.
• For handicap parking take second driveway, and see designated area.

From Fryeburg and Lovell:

• Take 302 towards NH
• Just outside of Fryeburg village, take a left onto Haley Town Road directly after the Information booth
• Follow Haley Town to the end, where there will be a stop sign at a four corners.
• Go straight across onto Old County Road and immediately go over a narrow wooden bridge.
• Travel on County Road about about a mile and a half. You will climb the hill for most of it, and then start down…our road is the left at the bottom of the hill
• Just before our turn, you will see “Road Narrows” sign on right
• Take that left onto Dugway Rd. There may or may not be a road sign there (it always gets knocked down in the winter).
• You will immediately see a fork and a sign for the Walter Blake Road. (Dugway is left of the fork, Walter is right)
• Stay on Dugway by going straight up onto the dirt road. Pass the mailboxes. We’re about a block up on the dirt road. We are the second place on the left. The parking lot is the first driveway you see.
• For handicap parking take second driveway, and see designated area.

From Cornish and Kezar Falls:

• Take 160 all the way into Brownfield
• You will come to a Yield sign and a White Church on your left.
  Turn left onto Main St.
• Continue straight on Main St. and pass the Brownfield Historical Society.
  (Immediately following you will pass our road, Dugway, on the left, but its best not to come in that way…that entrance is an old narrow country road…so…..Keep going straight for a more civilized way in…..)
• Soon you will come to a fork in the road, there will be a sign pointing towards Conway, and West Brownfield. TAKE A LEFT AT THAT FORK UP ONTO MERRIL’S CORNER ROAD.(IT’S A HILL) (some of these roads may have signs, some may not)
• Go all the way to the top to the stop sign and turn LEFT onto County Road.
• You will climb the hill for a bit, and then start down…our road is the left at the bottom of the hill.
• Just before our turn, you will see “Road Narrows” sign on right
• Take that left onto Dugway Rd. -There maybe a road sign there (it always gets knocked down in the winter).
• You will immediately see a fork and a sign for the Walter Blake Road. (Dugway is left of the fork, Walter is right)
• Stay on Dugway by going straight up onto the dirt road. Pass the mailboxes. We’re about a block up on the dirt road. We are the second place on the left. The parking lot is the first driveway you see.
• For handicap parking take second driveway, and see designated area.

ABOUT US EVENT CALENDAR GETAWAY PACKAGES DINING FUNCTIONS ADVERTISE WITH US FAQs DIRECTIONS
NEWS & UPDATES CAROL NOONAN THE OWNERS ANDY BUCK CONTACT US LODGING HOME CAROL NOONAN MUSIC

Copyright 2005 © Stone Mountain Arts Center   1-207-935-7292

If you haven’t done so yet, please take a few seconds and “Like” The Valley Voice on Facebook.

Primo Cubano–Hot Latin “Son” Music

Back by Popular Demand!

Saturday, February 11, 7:30 pm

Bring your Valentine!

Primo Cubano is the only hot Latin band with a Cuban “Son”-style in Maine.   Primo Cubano uses the traditional acoustic instrumentation of tres, upright bass, guitar and trumpet with the rich percussion of congas, bongos, maracas, guiro, and claves.  The songs’ Spanish lyrics are sung in the rhythmic call-and-response style of Son, that’s easy to join in on.  With their combination of talent, experience, and energy, Primo Cubano creates smooth grooves that make you want to dance.  At the end of their show here in 2010, the crowd said, “bring them back!”   So here they are:

Guitarist Paul D’Alessio, a simple-living country man himself, came into contact with this music on a trip to Cuba in 2004 with the Brunswick-Trinidad Sister City Association, a cooperative between Brunswick, ME and the city of Trinidad, Cuba.  He began learning to play Son music on a guitar-like instrument native to Cuba called the tres and subsequently formed Primo Cubano, “Cuban Cousin”.

Trumpeter Marc Chillemi has also spent time in Cuba and has played in various other Latin groups.  He also plays percussion and sings on the choruses, or coros, to which the lead singer, or sonero responds with an improvised lyric.

Lenny Hatch has loved the congas since he first heard Mongo Santamaría play Watermelon, and he has been playing them in addition to the bongó and other percussion instruments for over 20 years now.

Eric Winter has been singing all his life and began studying Spanish at the age of 12.  He has become particularly interested in Cuban music in the last few years.  Eric also plays maracas and is the newest addition to Primo Cubano.

Keeping it all together is Duane Edwards on the bass fiddle. He is a graduate of the University of Maine at Augusta and plays in various groups in the area.  As a jazz student, he took very quickly to the tumbao bass pattern that makes this music so danceable.

$15, JH member $13 (bring a non-member free) Student (to age 22) $6.  Call for tix: 582-7144.

Sounds Good! Music Live at Johnson Hall. Show Supporter: Family Dental Practice, Augusta

Diverse Arts Programs, Year-Round Professional Shows

Sounds Good! Music Live at Johnson Hall Series
Classical concert
Center Stage theatrical series
Lively Lunches in Johnson Hall Mini-Park—music and theater
Entertainment Stage in the Park at Greater Gardiner River Festival

For Children and Teens:

Teen Band Shows
Summer Shenanigans Visual & Performing Arts Day Camp
Winter Shenanigans Visual & Performing Arts Day Camp
Art in the Park at Greater Gardiner River Festival
Teen-Elementary School Shows (theater and art after-school)

Community Shows
Waterfront Talent Show at Greater Gardiner River Festival
“Omar Ricardo” cabaret shows
Open Book Players–Community Readers’ Theatre

Rentals for events, meetings, classes, rehearsals and more, year-round.

Follow us on your favorite Social Network

• twitter
• facebook

Johnson Hall
280 Water Street
(Mail) P.O. Box 777
Gardiner, ME
04345

Office hours
M-F, 9:30-5:30
For more info.,
call 582-7144

Join our Mailing List
Become a Member

If you haven’t done so yet, please take a moment and “Like” The Valley Voice on Facebook.

January 24 – February 19, 2012

The 1930s atmosphere and trademark narrative style of Los Angeles’s most famous private detective come to life in this world premiere adaptation of two of Chandler’s Philip Marlowe short stories. From seedy side streets to elegant Hollywood mansions, Marlowe must stay focused on solving the case through run-ins with sinister thugs, high rollers, crooked cops, and femme-fatales in this quintessential jazz-age thriller.

This world premiere was adapted by James Glossman.

STORY SUMMARY:

Set in 1940s Los Angeles, Trouble Is My Business follows Philip Marlowe, a hard-drinking, tough-talking private eye, through the city’s underworld as he unravels the clues to two elaborate crimes. In the first act (based on the story Red Wind), Marlowe becomes witness to a murder when a man named Waldo enters a bar and is shot dead after inquiring about a woman in a blue dress. That night, Marlowe returns home to find a woman matching the dead man’s description in the elevator of his building. She introduces herself as Lola Barlay, and explains that Waldo was blackmailing her after having stolen a pearl necklace given to her by a dead lover. Dodging criminals, corrupt cops, and Lola’s unfaithful husband, Marlowe uncovers the pearls, but realizes they are fake. To save Lola from disappointment, he has another, more obviously fake necklace made. When he presents it to her, Lola is convinced that Waldo sold the “real” pearls, and Marlowe secretly throws her necklace into the ocean. In the second act (based on the story Trouble Is My Business), Marlowe is hired by a detective agency to break up an affair between the son of the wealthy Mr. Jeeter and a femme fatale named Harriet Huntress. Jeeter suspects Harriet is a shill for the gambler Marty Estel, to whom the young Jeeter owes a substantial gambling debt. When Marlowe begins to pursue the case, however, he uncovers a string of murders that he eventually traces not to Estel, but back to Mr. Jeeter himself.

ABOUT THE PLAY:

The 2012 production of Trouble is My Business at Portland Stage Company will be the play’s world premiere. It was previously read (under the working title Marlowe) at Playwrights Theatre of New Jersey and Shadowland Theater in Ellenville, New York. Both readings were directed by Glossman.

Philip Marlowe is crime fiction’s archetypal private eye, supported by an ensemble of five actors who play a slew of other film noir stock characters: corrupt cops, gangsters, hit men, femmes fatales, and damsels in distress. Though his quick wit and fondness for hard liquor suggest otherwise, Marlowe’s tough persona masks a more sensitive, contemplative character struggling to maintain his sense of right and wrong in a morally ambiguous world. The other characters are untrustworthy at best, and often downright corrupt, and Marlowe’s pessimistic attitude belies his profound sense of loneliness and isolation. Though romance comes his way several times over the course of the play in the form of the beautiful Lola and Harriet, he refuses their advances. Marlowe’s efforts to keep his head above water in a harsh and cynical world highlight the contrasts in 1940s Los Angeles between rich and poor, the glamour of Hollywood and the seediness of criminals and snoops who profit from the wealthy.

ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT:

Raymond Chandler (1888-1959) was a novelist and short story writer; one of the originators of the genre of American noir. Most of Chandler’s stories follow the character of Philip Marlowe, an L.A. private detective with his own code of morals, whose lifestyle and cynical dialogue have since been synonymous with detective fiction. Chandler’s novels include The Big Sleep (1939), The Lady in the Lake (1943), and The Long Goodbye (1953), many of which have also been made into Hollywood movies.

James Glossman (b. 19—) is a New Jersey-based playwright and director. He is the Associate Artistic Director of Playwrights Theatre of New Jersey, where he has directed numerous world premieres, including his own plays Flying Crows and The Special Prisoner (both adapted from novels by Jim Lehrer). Glossman has also adapted the works of Kurt Vonnegut, Mark Twain, James Joyce, William Faulkner, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Stephen Crane, and others for the stage.

CAST:

Anthony Blaha (Bartender/Piano Player) is honored to be making his debut at Portland Stage. Previous Regional roles include Death of a Salesman (w/Frankie Faison), Bobby in American Buffalo, Kenneth in Guest Artist (w/John Astin; w/Larry Pine), Buddy/James/Spencer in Natural History (w/Michele Pawk and John Dossett), Bartley in The Cripple of Inishmaan, Herman Tellig inSedition, Loring/Fred in Bluff (w/John Astin), Demarais in Transit of Venus, Birdie in the world premiere of Flying Crows and workshop performances of Transit of Venus (w/Paula Prentiss), Trouble Is My Business (w/David Strathairn, Paul Murphy, and Peter Scolari), Sedition (w/Boyd Gaines, Jeffrey DeMunn, and Larry Bryggman), Mahida’s Extra Key To Heaven (w/Michael Stuhlbarg),The Professional (w/Ed Asner and Jay O. Sanders) and Sheldon Harnick’s The Fair-Haired Boy. Anthony is a graduate of the Johns Hopkins University and is a proud member of AEA. Anthony was recently named Best New Actor by New Jersey’s Daily Record. For more information please visit www.anthonyblaha.com

Paul Murphy (Man 1) has been onstage almost constantly since he played the Roslyn Clock Tower in 1st grade. Favorite roles–NY: Finnegan in Finnegan’s Wake; Falstaff in Merry Wives of Windsor; Autolycus in The Winter’s Tale; The Prince in Cole Porter’s Jubilee; Pseudolus in …Forum; Sweepea in Popeye Amongst the Polar Bears; David in Kalmar and Ruby’s Helen of Troy, New York; Conrad in the Obie winning Horatio Alger musical Bound to Rise; 42 parts (including the Duke of Wellington’s Nose) in Kenneth Koch’s 1000 Avant Garde Plays. NJ and regional: Reverend Sam in Mrs. Warren’s Profession; Karl in The Good German; The Chancellor in Sedition; the Dragon in Sheldon Harnick’s Dragons; 94 year old Mammy in The Cripple of Inishman; Mack Now in Jim Lehrer’s Kick the Can and Harry in his The Special Prisoner; Henry Carr in Travesties and Estragon in Waiting for Godot, He is a founding member of Lunatic Fringe, a NJ based Improv comedy troupe now in its 16th year, and is 1/2 (with Jerry Lazar) of the comedy extravaganza Two Big Guys from Jersey. For Helen.

Ron Botting (Man 2) is an affiliate artist at Portland Stage who has worked both regionally and in New York. He was last seen in Portland Stage Company’s production of Bach at Liepzig as Johann Christoph Graupner.

Dustin Tucker (Man 3) Portland Stage: The 39 Steps, Fully Committed, The Santaland Diaries, Bach at Leipzig, Peer Gynt and Fred in A Christmas Carol. Broadway: The Rainmaker(Roundabout). Off-Broadway: Stone Cold Dead Serious (Edge Theater Co./NY Premiere); Life is a Dream (SoHo Rep); La Dispute (Primary Stages). Other NY: Dicapo Opera, HERE, Kraine, Culture Project. Regional credits: ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore, The Rainmaker (Williamstown); The Mystery of Irma Vep, Millet in Is He Dead? and Valere in La Bête (Theater at Monmouth); Robert in Boeing-Boeing, Around the World in 80 Days and No Sex Please, We’re British (Sierra Repertory Theater); Petruchio in Taming of the Shrew (Interlochen Shakespeare Festival). Dustin is an Affiliate Artist with Portland Stage and a proud member of Actor’s Equity Association. www.dustintucker.com.

Daniel Noel (Man 4) is an Affiliate Artist at Portland Stage where he co-created the Longfellow’s Shorts series and is on the Artistic Advisory Committee. As an actor, he has appeared in The Human Comedy on Broadway and for Joe Papp at the New York Shakespeare Festival where, among other things, he was featured in Liz Swados The Beautiful Lady on WNYC’s Live From The Public. At Portland Stage, Dan has been seen in The Snow Queen, Bach at Leipzig, The Drawer Boy, Arcadia, Terminal Exit, The Foreigner, Rough Crossing, Longfellow: A Life in Words, A Christmas Carol, From Away and Little Festivals since 1998/1999. Regional theater and opera work includes The Brooklyn Academy of Music- Next Wave Festival, Lincoln Center, New Playwrights, Santa Monica Playhouse, Boston’s New Opera and Musical Theater Initiative, Portland Symphony, The Stonnington Opera House, North Shore Music Theater, P.S. 122 and Seattle Repertory Theater. TV includes ABC’s Loving, Liberty News TV, The Poet Café and numerous PBS programs. Films include: As We Were, Inn Season (Best Actor, ME 48 Hr. Film Festival), Pennyweight, Alias: The Lost Episode,Requital and The Fun House. Look for him in the feature film, Anatomy of The Tide this summer.

Leigh Poulos (The Woman) is thrilled to be making her Portland Stage debut in Trouble Is my Business. Credits include: Death of a Salesman (Luna Stage, NJ), New York: Summer and Smoke (Boomerang Theater Company), An Ideal Husband (Big Rodent Theater Company), The Good Woman of Setzuan (Adaptive Arts). Leigh is a company member of The Story Pirates, an educational theater company that brings the words of kids to life (www.storypirates.org). She is also the co-creator of the new web series, Dates Like This, which is set to be released early 2012 at www.dateslikethisseries.com. BFA, NYU.

David Mason (Marlowe) David is thrilled to be returning to Portland Stage, where he appeared last Fall in John Cariani’s Last Gas. Other regional credits include: Almost, Maine (Geva Theatre Center/Syracuse Stage); Around the World in Eighty Days, Almost, Maine, The Last Mass at St. Casimir’s (The Public Theater); The Seafarer, Red Herring, Almost, Maine (Shadowland Theatre); Dinner with Friends, Intimate Apparel, To Forgive Divine, Arcadia, Arsenic and Old Lace, Kimberly Akimbo, Sight Unseen, The Underpants, Lobby Hero, The Boys Next Door, Picasso at the Lapin Agile, An Inspector Calls, The Big Apple and All in the Timing (New Century Theatre); Enchanted April, It’s a Wonderful Life, Lumberjacks in Love (Majestic Theater); Jerry Finnegan’sSister (Mt. Holyoke Summer Theatre, Foothills Theatre). Recent NYC credits include: The Three Hagi Sisters (The Japan Society); Sky (Impact Theatre Festival); Two Rooms (Red Fern Theatre); Barbara Bush Never Slept Here (Circle East); L’Espirit d’Escalier (Chip Deffaa Invitational); Kalighat (Circle East); New York (Ensemble Studio Theatre, Civilian Studios); Mae and Her Stories (Primary Stages); The Breaking Light (Present Company); This Will Be the Death of Him (NativeAliens). Film: Conflict of Instinct; Carson’s Place; Writer’s Block. TV: All My Children.

DESIGNERS

James Glossman (Writer/Director) Death of a Salesman (w/Frankie Faison)–Luna Stage Co (NJ); Guest Artist (w/John Astin)–Shadowland Theatre (NY); world premieres of Sheldon Harnick’sDragons, Kristine Thatcher’s Under Glass, & Mr Glossman’s own adaptations of Behind the Scenes at the Museum (by Kate Atkinson – named Best Direction of the Year, Star-Ledger) and Jim Lehrer’sKick the Can. James Glossman’s nearly thirty years of adapting and directing classic and modern works has notably included a two-decades’ collaboration with author & journalist Jim Lehrer, with (so far) stage productions of the latter’s novels Kick the Can, The Special Prisoner(Winner, Southwestern Festival of New Plays, Houston), Flying Crows (published 2010, Dramatic Publishing Co, Chicago), and the forthcoming Eureka—as well as the direction of two different versions of Mr Lehrer’s play The Will and Bart Show (w/Edward Asner, Josef Sommer, Frank Converse, Donald Moffatt, Frances Sternhagen, John Astin, Mason Adams, Pam Payton-Wright–NY Theatre Workshop and Playwrights Theatre). His latest adaptation, Raymond Chandler’s Trouble Is My Business , following staged readings at Playwrights Theatre (NJ) and Shadowland Theatre (NY), and with Academy Award Nominee and Emmy-winner David Strathairn as iconic private detective Philip Marlowe, will have its world premiere in January 2012 at Portland Stage. Associate Artistic Director, Playwrights Theatre (NJ); Artistic Associate, Shadowland Theatre (NY); Lecturer in Directing and Shakespeare, Johns Hopkins University. Graduate of Northwestern University, ACT, BADA-Oxford, and Yale School of Drama.

Anita Stewart (Set Designer) has worked as a set and costume designer at leading theatres across the country, including: the Guthrie, Seattle Rep, Canadian Opera Company, Minnesota Opera, A.R.T., Steppenwolf, Hartford Stage, Dallas Theater Center, Long Wharf Theatre, New York Theater Workshop, Boise Contemporary Theater, New Jersey Shakespeare and Portland Stage Company. Anita’s desire to play a meaningful role as an artist in a specific community brought her to Portland Stage Company in Maine as Artistic Director, a company for which she had previously done significant freelance design.

Bettina Bierly (Costume Designer)’s costume designs have been seen in Death of a Salesman (w/Frankie Faison), Sheldon Harnick’s musical Dragons and Behind the Scenes at the Museum at the Luna Stage, Flying Crows (adapted by James Glossman from the novel by Jim Lehrer), The Good German and Sedition by David Wiltse for Playwrights Theatre of NJ, The Value of Names(w/Jack Klugman, Dan Lauria & Liz Larsen) for The George Street Playhouse , Natural History at Shadowland Theatre (w/ John Dossett & Michele Pawk), Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill (w/ Suzzanne Douglas), Guest Artist by Jeff Daniels and Mayo Simon’s Greek Holiday at The Abingdon Theatre, NYC. As a lecturer Ms. Bierly has spoken at Parson’s School of Design, F.I.T, The Juilliard School and at the Met. Ms. Bierly is Director of the Costume Department at New York City Opera. She is delighted to be working with Jim Glossman once again and for the first time in Portland.

Jeff Knapp (Sound/Multimedia Designer) is pleased to continue his association with James Glossman since it takes him to so many new and wonderful places he’s never been before (like Portland!). Jeff is resident sound designer for Playwrights Theatre of New Jersey (Madison, NJ) and Shadowland Theatre (Ellenville, NY) and his work has been heard at professional and amateur theatres all around the Northern New Jersey / New York City area. Favorite designs include Almost Maine (dir. John Cariani; Shadowland Theatre), Circumference of a Squirrel (dir. Glossman; PTNJ, NJ Rep and Riverside Theatre Vero Beach, FL), Unexplored Interiors (dir. Glossman, The Public Theatre, NYC, reading), Where the Sun Never Sets (dir. John Pietrowski; PTNJ). As an actor, he’s recently appeared as various drunks and cops in a reading of Trouble Is My Business, Gary in I Hate Hamlet, Tino in Breaking Legs and Lt. Rooney in Arsenic and Old Lace. As a director, he has recently helmed productions of Almost Maine, Fiction, Accomplice, As Bees in Honey Drown, Breaking Legs and Music from a Sparkling Planet. He lives in the suburbs of New Jersey with his wife Mindy and their three rapidly growing kids.

Bryon Winn (Lighting Designer) is delighted to be returning to Portland Stage for his 14th season. He has designed over 30 productions for Portland Stage. His design work has also been seen at Trinity Rep, Theatre de la Jeune Lune, Axis Theatre, Intersection for the Arts, Miranda Theatre Company, Utah Musical Theatre, Middlebury College, Cornell College, Riverside Theatre and Iowa Summer Rep. Bryon serves as the Director of Theatre at the University of Iowa and is a mmber of United Scenic Artist 829.

Shane Van Vliet (Stage Manager) is thrilled to be in her fourth season at Portland Stage. Some of her other credits include; The Theater at Monmouth, national and international tours with Jean Ann Ryan Productions, Norwegian Cruise Lines, Two Beans Productions, Theaterworks and The Radio City Rockettes. She has worked on numerous productions in New York with Phoenix Theatre Ensemble, Turtleshell Productions, T. Shcreiber Studios and The New York Fringe Festival as well as The Washington D.C. Fringe Festival and she spent some time in Buffalo, NY working with The Kavinoky Theater and Sheas Performing Arts Center.

Cast & Design Team

Bartender/Piano Player   Anthony Blaha*

Man1      Paul Murphy*

Man 2      Ron Botting*

Man 3      Dustin Tucker*

Man 4      Daniel Noel*

The Woman     Leigh Poulos

Marlowe     David Mason*

Director & Writer        James Glossman ***

Set Designer               Anita Stewart**

Costume Designer    Bettina Bierly

Lighting Designer    Bryon Winn**

Sound / Multimedia Designer  Jeff Knapp

Stage Manager    Shane Van Vliet*

*Members of the Actor’s Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers.

** The Scenic, Costume, Lighting, and Sound Designers in LORT Theatres are represented by United Scenic Artists Local USA 829, IATSE.

*** The Director and Choreographer are members of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, an independent national labor union.

Performance Schedule       Jan 24-Feb 19, 2012

Previews Tuesday, January 24 7:30 pm

Wednesday, January 25  7:30 pm

Thursday, January 26  7:30 pm

Opening Night Friday, January 27  7:30 pm

Regular Performances Wednesday – Friday  7:30 pm

Saturday  4:00 pm & 8:00 pm

Sunday  2:00 pm

Tuesday Evening Tuesday, Feb 14  7:30 pm

Thespian Thursday Thursday, Feb 16  2:00 pm

Ticket Prices

Adults Seniors Students

Previews

(Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday)
$30 $27  $15

All Other Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays & Fridays
$35 $32 $17.50

Saturdays & Sundays
$39 $36 $19.50

Group Discounts are available for groups of 10 or more!

Discussions and Special Programs

The Artistic Perspective:  Sunday, January 29^th following 2:00 PM performance at Portland  Stage. Artistic Director Anita Stewart and guest speakers will discuss the play.

Page to Stage:  Tuesday, January 31^st, 12:00 noon at the Portland Public Library, Rines Room.

“The Mystique of Marlowe: Capturing a Classic Thriller On Stage.”

Curtain Call:  Sunday, February 5^th following 2:00 PM performance at Portland Stage. A  discussion with the cast of Trouble Is My Business.

Contact Information

Box Office (207) 774-0465
boxoffice@portlandstage.org

Website www.portlandstage.org

Group Sales (207) 774-0465 ext 304
groupsales@portlandstage.org

Administrative Offices (207) 774-1043

E-mail Address info@portlandstage.org

Location

Portland Stage
25A Forest Avenue
Portland, ME 04101

If you haven’t done so, please take a moment and “Like” The Valley Voice on Facebook. Thank You!

Pianist Robert Glasper, called by New York Magazine “an artist who “unfailingly gets the feeling right,” brings the Robert Glasper Trio to Bates at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 9, performing in the Olin Concert Hall, 75 Russell St.

Advance tickets are $12/$6, available at www.batestickets.com, and tickets at the door are $15/$10.

To reserve tickets for either or both concerts, please visit . For more information, please contact 207-786-6135 or olinarts@bates.edu.

Note: The Robert Glasper program has changed since earlier Bates listings were released. Instead of the Robert Glasper Experiment, the pianist will bring his Trio to Bates.

Although he is often called a jazz pianist, Glasper refuses to be limited by genre. The Los Angeles Times once wrote that “it’s a short list of jazz pianists who have the wherewithal to drop a J Dilla reference into a Thelonious Monk cover, but not many jazz pianists are Robert Glasper,” adding that “he’s equally comfortable in the worlds of hip-hop and jazz.”

A Blue Note recording artist, Glasper has made waves throughout the music world as leader of both the acoustic Trio and the electric, hip hop-oriented Experiment. Glasper’s Glasper’s first two Blue Note releases, 2005′s Canvas and 2006′s In My Element, featured his omnivorous trio and distinctive original compositions.

The Trio includes bassist Derrick Hodge and drummer Chris Dave, who also performs with the Experiment.

Glasper’s acclaimed 2009 recording Double-Booked was divided between the trio format and the Experiment. The latter ensemble releases the highly anticipated Black Radio at the end of February.

Originally from Houston, Glasper moved to New York to study jazz. In My Element, featuring songs by Herbie Hancock, Sam Rivers and Radiohead, was chosen by NPR as one of the best jazz albums of the year. Glasper has worked with modern masters such as Roy Hargrove, Kenny Garrett and Terence Blanchard.

If you haven’t done so yet, please take a moment and “LIKE” The Valley Voice on Facebook. Thank You!

Each year thousands of Mainers are affected by it. You could be a victim yourself or a friend, neighbor or co-worker could be.

The question is, will you stand up and speak out against it?

I’m talking about domestic violence. Not only is this type of abuse devastating to the victim, but it is traumatic for families and entire communities.

My Administration will join the Chief Justice Saufley, Attorney General Schneider, members of The Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence, Democrats and Republicans, and many others to introduce a variety of domestic violence related bills.

These are bills that will close loopholes and improve our justice system.

I look forward to unveiling this legislation in mid-February with everyone involved.

Every day, I carry with me a fifty-cent piece. I received it from my father when I was 11.

Not for any good reason like doing my chores or homework, instead, that coin was given to me to stay silent about the abuse that was occurring in my family.

I knew it was wrong then. And it’s still wrong today. That is why I made a choice. I could have stayed and lived with the assaults or I could leave. I took that fifty-cent piece, chose the latter and haven’t looked back.

If there is a way to help someone who is in a similar situation that I was in I’ll do it. There is support within our communities. As neighbors, colleagues and friends and family we must be willing to become a voice for victims.

I believe it is through the power of a voice we can make a difference. Not just mine – YOURS TOO.

Domestic violence is a crime that can include physical abuse, emotional abuse, economic and sexual abuse. It does not discriminate based on race, age or gender.

But the fact is more than 80 percent of domestic violence related homicides are committed by men.

It’s why I will continue to speak out and say we must shift this issue from a women’s issue to a men’s issue.

Men are major part of the problem and men must be a major part of the solution.

This week, my Administration unveiled a public service announcement highlighting domestic violence awareness and the need for men to speak up in a united effort to end the abuse.

My staff, commissioners, state employees, advocates and families and friends of domestic violence victims participated in this announcement.

I would like to thank all the families that allowed us to feature their loved ones in this announcement.

I would like to thank Maine Video on Demand for their in kind services to see this project get off the ground.

I would also like to thank one young man, in particular, for standing with me in the announcement. His name is Jarod Gay. Jarod was a classmate and good friend of Cody Lake of Dexter, Maine.

Through a horrific act of domestic violence Cody, his sister Monica and their mother Amy were murdered last year.

To honor Cody and his friendship, Jarod had the courage to stand with me and send a message – a powerful one.

I hope you will have the chance to view this important message.

It will be given to every television station across our State and it is available to view on Mainevod.com. Again, that’s Mainevod.com.

If you are a victim or know someone who is, please do not remain silent. There are services across out State that can provide you with the help needed to leave an abusive relationship.

The Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence is a strong state-wide advocacy group that is dedicated to supporting people affected by domestic abuse and that batterers are held accountable.

The state-wide Domestic Violence Helpline is 1-866-834-HELP. That number again is 1-866-834-HELP.

Please, use your voice to stop the violence.

Open Tar Sand Mine in Alberta Canada

Greetings,

I hope you can join us in Portland Thursday February 9, 7:00 p.m. to learn about this major emerging environmental threat to the greater Portland area. Please do let me know if you think you may be there to report on this, and if you have questions or need more information. Thank you.

Best wishes,

Judy

Free public talk in Portland Thursday February 9, 7:00 p.m.

CONTACT:  Emmie Theberge, emmie@nrcm.org or (207) 430-0105, Glen Brand, glen.brand@sierraclub.org or(207) 749-3896

News Release and Calendar Listing below

Calendar Listing:

Stop Dirty Tar Sands Oil from Coming Through Maine

Have you heard about the proposal to pump tar sands oil in a pipeline from Ontario across Canada and past Sebago Lake to South Portland, Maine from where it would be shipped elsewhere? Come learn about this harmful proposal that puts the lake and Casco Bay at risk, along with our fishing and lobster industries at a public talk:Stop Dirty Tar Sands Oil from Coming Through Maine, Thursday, February 9th at 7:00 p.m. in the Glickman Library at USM, University Events Room on the 5th floor, refreshments will be served. This event is free and open to the public, but space is limited, so please RSVP to emmie@nrcm.org or (207) 430-0105. Co-sponsored by Sierra Club Maine and Natural Resources Council of Maine.

News Release:

Stop Dirty Tar Sands Oil from Coming Through Maine

I bet you’ve heard about the disastrous Keystone XL tar sands pipeline proposed for the middle of the country and recently rejected by President Obama, but have you heard about the proposal to bring tar sands oil from Ontario to Portland, Maine, from where it would be shipped elsewhere? Come learn about the environmental and safety risks of this proposed project from people in the know, and learn about the effort to prevent Portland from becoming the tar sands capital of the eastern United States.

The Natural Resources Council of Maine and Sierra Club Maine have teamed up to bring national experts to Portland to discuss the environmental and safety risks of this proposed project, which would reverse the flow of existing pipelines to bring dangerous tar sands crude through our state.

The talk, Stop Dirty Tar Sands Oil from Coming Through Maine, will be held Thursday, February 9th at 7:00 p.m. in the Glickman Library at USM, University Events Room on the 5th floor.  Refreshments will be served.

The Canadian oil and gas giant Enbridge is proposing to pump dirty tar sands oil from Ontario to South Portland, Maine where it would be shipped by tanker to refineries along the East Coast or Gulf of Mexico.

The pipeline passes next to Sebago Lake, the drinking water supply for Greater Portland –more than 15% of Maine people – and could endanger Casco Bay and Maine’s fishing and lobster industries. A pipeline leak in the Sebago watershed would be a nightmare. A single tanker accident in Casco Bay could devastate Maine’s fishing and lobster industries.

National experts from the National Wildlife Federation, Sierra Club, and Natural Resources Defense Council will present the facts and lead a discussion about preventing this risky project.

Jim Murphy from the National Wildlife Federation and Kate Colarulli from the Sierra Club will describe Alberta tar sands oil production—probably the dirtiest energy project on Earth—and its potential impact on Maine. They will share the story of tar sands oil, the environmental and global climate impacts, and how Maine is poised to become part of the larger battle by oil companies to bring tar sands crude to global markets via the Portland-Montreal pipeline and Portland Harbor.

Danielle Droitsch from the Natural Resources Defense Council will focus on tar sands oil pipeline safety issues, and reasons Maine people should be worried if this proposal goes forward.

This event is free and open to the public, but space is limited, so please RSVP to emmie@nrcm.org or (207) 430-0105.

If you haven’t done so yet, please take a moment and “Like” The Valley Voice on Facebook. Thank You!

"There are reports from Maine church officials who have received phone calls from individuals requesting help to pay rent," said Attorney General Schneider. "One particular caller was very believable and stated that she needed $170 to rent a home in Winthrop. As it turns out, this particular property is a home which was recently listed for sale and the owner was still living there."

It is believed the scammer obtained the information on any number of websites where properties are listed for sale.

The caller requests the payment be mailed to the "land lady" whose address is a post office box in Washington, D.C.

If you think you have experienced a rental assistance scam, call the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Hotline at(207) 626-8849.