Out and About for the Belgrade Lakes Region of Maine Nov. 22-28

Out and About for the Mid Coast Lakes Region of Maine Nov. 22-28
November 22, 2018
Out and About for the York/Sanford Lakes Region of Maine Nov. 22-28
November 22, 2018

Out and About for the Belgrade Lakes Region of Maine Nov. 22-28

“Santaland Diaries,” Cumston Hall, Monmouth

Nov. 22-25, Thursday-Sunday, 7:30pm/Thurs.-Sat, 1pm/Sat. and Sun, “The Santaland Diaries,” meet “Crumpet” the quintessential elf-gone-bad as he relives a series of less-than-merry misadventures in David Sedaris’ hysterical antidote for holiday havoc. Spend some time in Santaland with one of Santa’s little helpers during Macy’s Christmas shopping rush-as he handles the hordes of insufferable shoppers and their kiddos with whacked out wit and wicked humor.by David Sedaris adapted by Joe Mantello directed by Dawn McAndrews. On Thanksgiving Day, tickets for the 7:30 p.m. performance are $10 with the donation of a non-perishable food item for the Monmouth Food Pantry. Non-perishable food donations will be accepted at all performances. Please note, The Santaland Diaries is for Mature Elves Only, $28, Theater at Monmouth, Cumston Hall, 796 Main Street, Monmouth. FMI: 207-933-9999, theateratmonmouth.org.
Nov. 23-24, Friday-Saturday, 10am-4pm, “Christmas ExTRAINaganza,” the Great Falls Model Railroad Club of Auburn is celebrating its tenth annual Christmas “ExTRAINaganza,” The handicapped-accessible club house, across from the Barker Mill, is decorated for Christmas with trains of various sizes operating under Christmas trees and on four permanent layouts throughout the two-story building. G-gauge trains running on multiple tracks and through the tunnels of a well-designed winter scene with an interactive ski slope greet each visitor. Around the corner, young children can enjoy Thomas the Tank Engine on a separate layout in the G-gauge room, with other engines from the Thomas series running on the upper trestle. The G-gauge layout has many features and unique scenes that were hidden from their first vantage point, including an impressive trestle. In the next room interesting details have been added to the club’s permanent layout for the smaller n-scale.The club’s extensive HO layout downstairs provides opportunities for the older children to be Guest Engineers and operate one of the trains. Long-time residents of the area will recognize many of the 1950’s scenes reproduced in the Lewiston Lower section of the layout, including Bates Mill #5. Many train-related items can be purchased at the club’s store, including locomotives and rolling stock in a variety of scales. TRAIN TIME videos, produced by the Great Falls Model Railroad Club will be shown continuously and will be available for sale.Children will enjoy decorating and eating gingerbread boys and girls, creating Christmas ornaments to take home, and playing the special railroad games designed by the club. The younger children always have fun with the Brio set and age-appropriate trains in the children’s play area. While watching these activities, parents can enjoy light refreshments from conveniently located tables and chairs in the craft area.Tickets for decorating cookies, making ornaments, and playing games with prizes are $1 apiece or 7 for $5. Admission is $5 for adults and free for children 12 and under, Great Falls Model Railroad Club, 144 Mill Street, Auburn. FMI: www.greatfallsmodelrrclub.org.
Nov. 23-24, Friday-Saturday, 7:30pm, “The Last Waltz LIVE,” a classic documentary of the Band’s final concert performed live on stage by some Maine’s finest musicians. Come see a live version of the famed documentary of the Band’s final concert performed by some of Maine finest performers. Including Tim Sullivan, Robbie Coffin, Bob Colwell, Justin Maxwell, Steve Vellani, Dick Hollis, Dave Wakefield, Parker Kenyon, Angelo Plato Pitteroff, Tyler Card, Pat Colwell, Katie Daggett, Josh Robbins, $16-$19, Johnson Hall Performing Arts Center, 280 Water Street, Gardiner. FMI: 207-582-7144, www.johnsonhall.org.
Nov. 24-25, Saturday-Sunday, 10am-4pm/Sat, “39th Annual Thanksgiving Weekend Christmas in New England Craft Show,” Maine Made Crafts largest show of the season, the fair will feature artists and crafters from Maine and New England. It’s the perfect time to start buying all your holiday gift items from these talented artisans selling their one of a kind products, free, Augusta Civic Center, 76 Community Drive, Augusta. FMI: 207-946-7079, www.bangordailynews.com.
Nov. 24, Saturday, 6:30pm, “’The Feast of Steven,’ author John Rosenwald,” John Rosenwald will present The Feast of Steven: A Novel. Rosenwald has been active as a writer for more than fifty years, publishing widely as a poet, essayist, and translator, giving more than five hundred invited readings in England, Germany, China, Canada, and the United States. Publishing The Feast of Steven, his first work of fiction, concludes an experiment he began in 1985, combining stories of rebuilding a farm in western Maine with others about teaching and living in China during the past three decades. The plot traces the lives of Steven and his wife Spring from their search for land in the early 1980s to the aftermath of Steven’s death in 2045. Subtitled An Experiment in Harmony: Maine and China, the book explores intimate personal relationships as well as larger political negotiations between the United States and the Middle Kingdom. During the past half century Rosenwald has facilitated the introduction of contemporary Chinese poets to American audiences, spent twenty years translating Rilke’s Sonnets to Orpheus, produced/directed reader’s theater productions at the University of Maine Farmington, helped edit the Beloit Poetry Journal, and served three decades as Professor of English at Beloit College. His Harvest: Selected Poems was published this past spring. In 2003 Zhejiang Province bestowed upon him the West Lake Friendship Award and in 2006 Fudan University in Shanghai honored him as distinguished guest and speaker at its centennial celebration. Rosenwald earned his Ph.D. in Victorian Culture at Duke University and has held four Fulbright scholarships in Germany and in China. In 2009 both he and his wife, Ann Arbor, were awarded honorary doctorates by the University of Maine Farmington, free, Devaney Doak and Garrett, 193 Broadway, Farmington. FMI: 207-778-3454, www.ddgbooks.com.
Nov. 25, Sunday, 1pm, “Denny Breau and the ‘Happy Together’ Concert,” six popular duets from Maine will be performing at Denny Breau’s “Happy Together” concert to support on-going improvements at Lewiston’s Pettingill School Park. Denny will be performing with his wife Ann Breau, a flautist with jazz and classical training who often shares the stage with her husband. Audiences will be pleased to learn one of the busiest duos in Maine, singer Kathy Haley and pianist Phil House, will be on the show. Also on the bill is the country-folk duo Donnie Katlin and Jewel Clark from Bethel who have been playing music together for forty years. Jewel is the daughter of the legendary Maine yodeler Slim Clark. Two of the most popular husband and wife teams in Central Maine music, Frank Coffin and Malinda Liberty, will be back on stage in support of the park. Both were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2016. Mike Preston & Kim Curry, a country and honky-tonk duo from Poland, have also accepted Denny’s invitation to join in the production. For young and old-timers alike who love bluegrass, Ken & Jane Brooks from Athens will round out the show, $20, Franco Center, 46 Cedar Street, Lewiston. FMI: 207-740-4640, www.francocenter.org.

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