• DANCE

“The Victorian Nutcracker,” by Portland Ballet, Merrill Auditorium, Portland. $17 to $47. porttix.com. 2 and 7:30 p.m. Friday. 

• THEATER

“The Snow Queen,” family-friendly adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s classic fairy tale, Portland Stage Company. Sold out. portlandstage.org. 7 p.m. today; 2 and 7 p.m. Friday; noon Saturday.

“A Christmas Story,” presented by Penobscot Theatre, Bangor Opera House. $20 to $35. 942-3333. 7 p.m. today and Friday.

“Nutcracker Burlesque,” adults-only spin on the classic ballet by Vivid Motion Inc., St. Lawrence Arts Center, Portland. Sold out. vividmotion.org. 7:30 p.m. today and Friday.

“The Musical Bah Hum Bug,” “Christmas Carol” musical, Academy of Developing Artists of Maine, Biddeford. $10 in advance; $13 day of show. 502-0217. 7 p.m. today and Friday.

“Scrooge,” adaptation of “A Christmas Carol,” A/D/A/M, Biddeford. $10 in advance; $13 day of show. 423-2027. 7 p.m. today and Friday.

“Wales and Tales,” featuring Al Miller and his Merry Band of Holiday Celebrants; benefit for Midcoast Hunger Program; Theater Project, Brunswick. Donation. 729-8584. 7 p.m. today.

“Home for the Holidays Cabaret,” by New Edge Productions and Lucid Stage; Lucid Stage, Portland. $8. lucidstage.com. 7:30 p.m. Friday.

“Santa’s Reindeer Revue,” children’s theater, Children’s Museum and Theatre of Maine, Portland. $8, $9. kitetails.org. 1 p.m. Friday.

Phyzkidz, family-friendly vaudeville show, Acorn Studios, Westbrook. $10 to $14. www.phyzgig.org. 11 a.m. Tuesday to Dec. 30.

Phyzkidz, family-friendly vaudeville show, Space, Portland. $10 to $14. phyzgig.org. 2 p.m. Tuesday to Dec. 29.

Phyzgig, adult-oriented vaudeville show, Portland Stage Company. $16 to $20. phyzgig.org. 7 p.m. Dec. 29. Through Dec. 31. 

• AUDITIONS

Amateur Adult Stand-Up Comedy Show, openings for comedians ages 18 and older with PG-13 material; no notes or scripts; shows will start in January; Schoolhouse Arts Center, Standish. 642-3743. 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Annie Baker’s “Circle Mirror Transformation,” parts for a high school female, two adult males and two adult females; shows are in March; Gaslight Theater at Hallowell City Hall. 626-3698. 6:30 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday.

Amateur Kids Stand-Up Comedy Show, openings for comedians under age 18 with material suitable for all ages; shows start in January; Schoolhouse Arts Center, Standish. 642-3743. 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday. 

• ART MUSEUMS

CONTINUING

Portland Museum of Art: “Madeleine de Sinety: Photographs,” photos of everyday people and public events over a 40-year period, through Dec. 31; “Gather Up the Fragments: The Andrews Shaker Collection,” Shaker furniture, printed works, visual art, tools, textiles, and small craft, through Feb. 5. portlandmuseum.org

University of New England Art Gallery, Portland: “Faces of War,” photo essay of soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan by Jerry Robinov, through Feb. 12. une.edu/artgallery/facesofwar.cfm

Maine Historical Society, Portland: “Having in Paris a Great Success,” French fashion from 1928 to 1936, through Dec. 31; “Dressing Up, Standing Out, Fitting In: Adornment & Identity in Maine,” artifacts reveal the way Mainers dressed from the 18th to 20th centuries, through May 27. mainehistory.org

Brick Store Museum, Kennebunk: “Barry: The Art Exhibition,” Edith Cleaves Barry’s paintings, sculpture and pen-and-ink drawings, through Jan. 9. 985-4802.

Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Brunswick: “Along the Yangzi River: Regional Culture of the Bronze Age from Hunan,” 60 bronze vessels and monumental bells cast in southern China between 1300 B.C.E. and 221 B.C.E., through Jan. 8; “Where Hath Fleeting Beauty Fled?”, selections of 19th- and 20th-century art, through Jan. 22; “After Atget: Todd Webb Photographs, New York and Paris,” street photography of Webb, through Jan. 29. bowdoin.edu

Maine Maritime Museum, Bath: “Port of Portland: A Ship-Shaped History,” a look at Portland’s past via the ships that sailed through the harbors, the city’s shipping and ship-building industries, and more, through Feb. 14. mainemaritimemuseum.org

Saco Museum: “Let Heaven and Nature Sing: Seventh Annual Festival of Trees,” through Dec. 31. 283-3861.

Farnsworth Art Museum, Rockland: Louise Nevelson, sculptures, through Dec. 31; Paul Caponigro, “The Hidden Presence of Places,” black-and-white photographs, through Jan. 15; “Beyond Rugs!”, rug-hooking textile art, through Feb. 5. 596-6457.

Penobscot Marine Museum, Searsport: “The Circus Comes to Town,” Bex Bros. Circus, miniature circus figures and more, through Jan. 29. penobscotmarinemuseum.org

Abbe Museum, Bar Harbor: “Twisted Path II: Contemporary American Art Informed by Tradition,” contemporary art show featuring native artists from the Northeast, through May; “Indians and Rusticators,” through December 2012. abbemuseum.org

UMaine Museum of Art, Bangor: Dominic Chavez: “The Global Lens,” photography exhibit; Carlo Pittore, “Studio Life,” paintings; and Abe Ajay, “Constructions,” wall-oriented relief sculptures, all through Dec. 30. umma.umaine.edu 

• ART GALLERIES

CONTINUING

Maine College of Art (Institute of Contemporary Art), Portland: “A Perpetual Present: 2011 MECA Faculty Selects Exhibition,” through Friday. 699-5029.

Rose Contemporary, Portland: “Enter Night,” multimedia, through Dec. 31. 780-0700.

Zero Station Art, Design and Framing, Portland: “New and Recent Photographs” by Thomas Birtwistle, Cole Caswell and Bryan Graf, through Feb. 1. zerostation.com

running with scissors, Portland: “Inside Stories,” oil paintings by Adria Moynihan, through Saturday. 831-5682.

Coleman Burke Gallery at Port City Music Hall, Portland: “Bad Seed #3,” work by JT Gibson, through Jan. 25. colemanburke.com

Gleason Fine Art, Portland: “Eye Catchers,” artwork to please the eye and tickle the senses, through Jan. 30. 699-5599.

Harmons & Bartons Gallery, Portland: “Bringing Art Home for the Holidays,” four craft artists in fiber, metal, wood and clay, through Dec. 31. 774-5948.

Addison Woolley Gallery, Portland: Diane Hudson’s “My Chicago” and Jane Banquer’s “Vanishing Acts,” through today. 450-8499.

Green Hand Bookshop, Portland: “In the Forest By the Sea,” paintings by Jada Fitch, through Jan. 30. 450-6695.

June Fitzpatrick Gallery at MECA, Portland: “Drawing the Line #11,” drawings large and small, through Friday. 772-1961.

Fore Street Gallery, Portland: “New Work,” paintings by Paul Black, through Jan. 7. 874-8084.

Greenhut Galleries, Portland: “Peace 2011,” paintings, drawings and sculptures, through Dec. 31. 772-2693.

Portland Public Library (Lewis Gallery): “Port of Portland: A Ship-Shaped History,” presented by Maine Maritime Museum, through Jan. 3. maine.aiga.org

Thomas Memorial Library, Cape Elizabeth: “On the Way Home,” acrylic landscape and figure paintings by Patricia L. Ritzo, through Dec. 30. 799-1720.

Falmouth Memorial Library: Neil Wyrick, “Colors of Maine,” paintings, through Dec. 30. 781-2351.

The Royal Bean, Yarmouth: Artisans collective mixed-media show and sale, through Jan. 31. 846-7967.

317 Main Street Community Music Center, Yarmouth: Michele A. Caron, paintings in gouache, egg tempera and sign lettering enamels, through Jan. 13. 317mainst.org

Merrill Memorial Library, Yarmouth: “Maine Past and Present,” graphite drawings by Tony Lisa, through Jan. 8. yarmouthlibrary.org

Thos. Moser Showroom, Freeport: “Celebrate Women Artists in Maine,” group show of 20 artists, through Dec. 31. 865-4519.

Art Guild Gallery, Freeport: 15 local artists show and sell paintings, photos, glass and pottery, through Dec. 31. 865-3103.

Gallery Framing, Brunswick: “Maine 10,” holiday art show, through Dec. 30. 721-0766.

Coleman Burke Gallery (Fort Andross), Brunswick: “Multiples,” group exhibition with Mildred Johnson, George Mason and Isabelle Pelissier, through Feb. 1. colemanburke.com

Markings Gallery, Bath: Invitational ornament show, ornaments in glass, clay, wood, fiber and metals, through Dec. 31. markingsgallery.com

Gold/Smith Gallery, Boothbay Harbor: “Gift Wrapped,” mixed-media collages by Noriko Sakanishi, through Saturday. 633-6252.

University of New England Campus Center, Biddeford: Charles Thompson, en plein air paintings celebrating nature, Jan. 15. une.edu

York Public Library: “Courting the Muse,” watercolors by Ken Fellows, through Dec. 30. 363-2818.

Snug Harbor Farm, Kennebunk: Second annual holiday art show, through Dec. 31. snugharborfarm.com

Kennebunk Free Library: YES Art Works Group Exhibit, through Dec. 31. 985-2173.

Red Door Pottery Studio, Kittery: “Focus on India,” photos by Lawrence Elbroch, through Feb. 1. 439-5671.

The Bakery, Damariscotta: Jean Kigel: “Kitchen Americana,” paintings, through Dec. 31. 563-2867.

Fryeburg Academy (Palmina F. and Stephen S. Pace Galleries of Art): “The Creche Collection,” unique creches from around the world, through Dec. 30; “John Hultberg and Monhegan Island: The Man, the Place and His Dreams,” through Jan. 21. fryeburgacademy.org

Monkitree, Gardiner: “Beast in Show,” benefit for area animal organizations by artists Susan Mathias and Nancy McGinnis, through Jan. 16. 512-4679.

Aarhus Gallery, Belfast: “Holiday Extravaganza,” more than 60 Maine artists, craftsmen, poets and musicians, through Saturday. 338-0001.

Center for Furniture Craftsmanship, Rockport: “Maine Wood 2012,” biennial juried exhibition of outstanding Maine woodworkers, through Feb. 3. woodschool.org

Caldbeck Gallery, Rockland: Annual holiday exhibition, work by gallery artists and invited guest artists, through Friday. 594-5935.

Archipelago, Rockland: “All Things Bright and Beautiful,” diverse works of four Maine artists, through March 16. 596-0701.

Carver Hill Gallery, Rockland: Diane Bowie Zaitlin, encaustic paintings, through Dec. 31. carverhillgallery.com

Art Space Gallery, Rockland: “A Tradition of Affordable Art,” winter show, through Dec. 31. artspacemaine.com

Courthouse Gallery Fine Art, Ellsworth: “Small Works 2011,” multi-artist show, through Friday. 667-6611.

L/A Arts Gallery 5, Lewiston: “Precious Things,” multiple artists, through Jan. 7. 576-4805.

Harlow Gallery, Hallowell: Members’ invitational, through Jan. 14. 622-3813.

Finance Authority of Maine, Augusta: J. Donna Asmussen, watercolors and printmaking, through Jan. 6. famemaine.com

 

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