Theater

This year's Tony Award nominations, announced Tuesday in New York, were surprisingly free of obvious Maine connections.

I had lucky pleasure of attending the first preview performance of "Trying" at Portland Stage Company on Tuesday night. This has the potential to be a major crowd-pleaser, based on the instant standing ovation the two-member cast received after the first performance.

Anita Stewart and her artistic companions at Portland Stage Company were rightfully nervous before the opening of "Peer Gynt" on Friday.

Maine State Music Theater in Brunswick just sent out a press release announcing its 2009 summer season, and the big news is that the theater will be the first in northern New England to produce the Broadway hit "The Light in the Piazza."

If you get a chance to see

Two Maine high schools will represent Maine at the New England One-Act Drama Festival, set for April 17-19 in Rutland, Vt. Maine schools invited to attend are Freeport and Falmouth high schools. Falmouth won the Class A title at the Maine Drama Festival, and Freeport finished second in Class B.

A solid 30 members of Portland's performing arts community will support their friend and colleague Daniel Noel Monday night, for a benefit on his behalf at Portland Stage Company.

The theater scene is buzzing this week. At least four shows are playing in the Portland area, including