• DANCE
“The Victorian Nutcracker,” presented by Portland Ballet, Merrill Auditorium, Portland. $17 to $47. 842-0800. 2 and 7:30 p.m. today.
Additional Photos
“Nutcracker Burlesque,” spicy version of holiday classic presented by Vivid Motion, not for children. St. Lawrence Arts Center, Portland. Sold out. www.vividmotion.org. 8 p.m. today.
• THEATER
“A Christmas Carol,” annual presentation of Dickens classic, Portland Stage Company. $25 to $39; $12 for children under 12. 774-0465. 2 and 7 p.m. today; noon Friday.
“The Gift of the Magi,” original musical set in 1940s Maine, Old Port Playhouse, Portland. $15 to $22. 773-0333. 2 and 7 p.m. today.
“Plaid Tidings,” holiday version of “Forever Plaid,” Bangor Opera House. $20 to $35. 942-3333. 7 p.m. today.
The Mad Horse Christmas Radio Show, presented by Mad Horse Theatre Company, The Hutchins School, South Portland. $25/donation. www.madhorse.com. 7 p.m. today.
Phyzkidz, youth-friendly performances of the vaudeville festival Phyzgig, Space, Portland. $10 to $12; $8 ages 12 and younger. www.phyzgig.org. 2 and 5 p.m. Sunday; 11 a.m and 2 p.m. Monday and Tuesday; 11 a.m. Wednesday. Through Dec. 30.
Gaslight Theater auditions for “Key for Two,” Hallowell City Hall. www.gaslighttheater.org. 6 p.m. Monday and Tuesday.
Phyzgig, Acorn Productions’ annual festival of physical comedy with many performers, Portland Stage Company. $18 to $20; $16 ages 12 and younger. www.phyzgig.org. With Avner the Eccentric (all tickets are $20), 7 p.m. Tuesday; 2 and 7 p.m. Wednesday. Through Dec. 31.
• MUSEUMS
OPENINGS/RECEPTIONS
“The Wreck of the Nottingham Galley,” exhibit of items related to or recovered from the Nottingham Galley, Maine State Museum, Augusta. www.mainestatemuseum.org. 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. today. Through March.
CONTINUING
Fall exhibit, works by Todd Watts and Ilya Askinazi and from the museum’s collection, University of Maine (Museum of Art), Bangor. 561-3350. Through Dec. 30.
“Pablo Picasso: The Passionate Print,” prints, University of Maine (Museum of Art), Bangor. 561-3350. Through Dec. 30.
“Envisioning the World: The First Printed Maps, 1472-1700,” University of Southern Maine (Osher Map Library and Smith Center for Cartographic Education), Portland. 780-4850. Through Dec. 30.
“False Documents and Other Illusions,” trompe l’oeil art, Portland Museum of Art. www.portlandmuseum.org. Through Jan. 2.
Fall faculty exhibit, recent work by Bevin Engman, Gary Green, Maggie Libby, Harriett Matthews, Abbott Meader, Nancy Meader, Garry Mitchell and Scott Reed, Colby College (Museum of Art), Waterville. www.colby.edu. Through Jan. 2.
“The Search for Beauty: Whistler and His Time,” drawings and paintings, Colby College Museum of Art, Waterville. 859-5600. Through Jan. 2.
“The Art of December: Original Holiday Cards by Maine Artists from the Mildred Burrage Collection,” Maine Historical Society, Portland. www.mainehistory.org. Through Jan. 3.
“Sit Down! Chairs from Six Centuries,” chair collection of American and European seating furniture from circa 1500 to the present, Bowdoin College (Museum of Art), Brunswick. 725-3275. Through Jan. 16.
“Emily Schiffer: Cheyenne River,” photographs, Farnsworth Art Museum, Rockland. www.farnsworthmuseum.org. Through Jan. 31.
“Cross Currents: Visual Art Distilled from the Maritime World,” Maine Maritime Museum, Bath. 443-1316. Through Feb. 6.
“Currents 6,” multi-media work by Gina Siepel, Colby College (Museum of Art), Waterville. www.colby.edu. Through Feb. 13.
“Rackstraw Downes: Onsite Paintings, 1972-2008,” artist retrospective, Portland Museum of Art. 775-6148. Through March 20.
“Aunt Lu: The Story of Princess Watahwaso,” photographs and objects, Abbe Museum, Bar Harbor. www.abbemuseum.org. Through April 2.
“Little Elegies: The Art of Nineteenth-Century Mourning,” paintings, texts, and objects created to assuage grief and memorialize the dead, Colby College (Museum of Art), Waterville. www.colby.edu. Through April 3.
“Learning is an Ornament: The History of Kennebunk’s Schools,” replica installations, historic images and more, Brick Store Museum, Kennebunk. www.brickstoremuseum.org. Through summer 2011.
“Inspired by Buddhism: Ancient Art from the Permanent Collection,” objects from Cambodia, China, Tibet, Korea and Japan, Colby College (Museum of Art), Waterville. www.colby.edu. Through Oct. 2.
“Imagination Takes Shape: Canadian Inuit Art from the Robert and Judith Toll Collection,” Bowdoin College (Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum), Brunswick. Through Dec. 6, 2011.
• ART GALLERIES
CONTINUING
“Small Works,” paintings and sculpture, Courthouse Gallery Fine Art, Ellsworth. 667-6611. Through today.
“Addison Woolley and Friends,” group show, Addison Woolley Gallery, Portland. 450-8499. Through today.
Elizabeth Cashin McMillen, Aucocisco Galleries, Portland. www.aucocisco.com. Through today.
“Unique and Affordable,” holiday show, Art Space Gallery, Rockland. www.artspacemaine.com. Through Friday.
“India Sojourn and a Glimpse of Venice,” photos by Lawrence Elbroch. Through Friday.
Betty Overlock and Michelle Walker, new media and gourds, Bangor Public Library. www.bpl.lib.me.us. Through Wednesday.
“The Old Port at Night,” photos by Melanie Bennett; plus historical photography and poetry exhibit, “Look Twice: The Waponahki in Image and Verse,” University of Southern Maine (Glickman Family Library), Portland. 780-4270. Through Dec. 30.
“Mesa to Sedona to Jerome,” paintings by Francine Schrock, Sandpiper Jewelry Gallery, South Portland. 767-8090. Through Dec. 31.
“Main Streets of Waldo County,” photography, Belfast Free Library. www.belfast.lib.me.us. Through Dec. 31.
R. Keith Rendall, woodcuts and etchings, Gold/Smith Gallery, Boothbay Harbor. 633-6252. Through Dec. 31.
“Transport,” large-format photos of classic cars by Robert Moran, running with scissors, Portland. 479-5679. Through Dec. 31.
Jennifer Morrison, nature photography, Viles Arboretum, Augusta. www.vilesarboretum.org. Through Dec. 31.
Berri Kramer, photographs, The Frame Works, Kennebunk. theframeworks.net. Through Dec. 31.
“Artful Ornaments,” metal, clay, mixed media and more, Markings Gallery, Bath. Through Dec. 31.
Jennifer Wadsworth, oil paintings, SugarWood Gallery, Farmington. www.sugarwoodgallery.com. Through Dec. 31.
Linden O’Ryan and John Cardano, poem cards and various media, Southwest Harbor Public Library. www.swhplibrary.org. Through Dec. 31.
“Highlights from the Photography Collection of Tim Whelan,” Maine Media Gallery (Tim Whelan Photographic Books and Gallery), Rockport. www.mainemedia.edu. Through Dec. 31.
“Biennial Portland Show,” invitational exhibit, Greenhut Galleries, Portland. 772-2693. Through Dec. 31.
“Italy Inside/Out,” paintings by Brita Holmquist, Daunis Fine Jewelry, Portland. Through Dec. 31.
Holiday show, Ember Grove Gallery, Portland. EmberGrove.com. Through Dec. 31.
Nathan Macomber, glass works, Gallery 302, Bridgton. www.gallery302.org. Through Dec. 31.
“Art Noveau,” new works by Vox Photography artists, Portland Public Library (Lewis Gallery). www.voxphotographs.com. Through Dec. 31.
“A Matter of Perception: An Exhibition by Artists with Disabilities,” VSA arts of Maine Gallery, Augusta. www.vsartsmaine.org. Through Dec. 31.
“Anything Goes,” paintings, sculpture and mixed media, River Arts, Damariscotta. 563-1507. Through Dec. 31.
Winter invitational exhibit, The Gallery at Eleven Pleasant St., Brunswick. www.vsartsmaine.org. Through Dec. 31.
Roberta Goschke, still life, landscape and charcoal portraits, Waldoboro Public Library. www.waldoborolibrary.org. Through Dec. 31.
“And Sew it Seams,” embroideries, art quilts and large-scale woven sculpture, Spindleworks, Brunswick. www.spindleworks.org. Through Dec. 31.
“New Work,” paintings by Paul Black, Fore Street Gallery, Portland. Through Jan. 2.
“Art in the Square,” paintings by various artists, Boothbay Region Art Foundation Gallery, Boothbay Harbor. Through Jan. 2.
“The Way We Work,” group show, 317 Main Street, Yarmouth. www.317mainst.org. Through Jan. 7.
Holiday Art Show, Harlow Gallery, Hallowell. www.harlowgallery.org. Through Jan. 8.
Faculty exhibition, Maine College of Art (Institute of Contemporary Art), Portland. www.meca.edu. Through Jan. 9.
“Women of Monhegan,” work by Francis Hynes, Kate McGloughlin, Carol Raybin, Alison Hill and Marilyn Swift, plus Michael Vermette, Elizabeth Moss Gallery, Falmouth. www.elizabethmossgalleries.com. Through Jan. 10.
Jason Slaughter, paintings, Waterfall Arts, Belfast. www.waterfallarts.org. Through Jan. 20.
“Katrina Chronicles, Vol. 1 and 2,” work by Peter Precourt, University of Maine (Charles Danforth Gallery), Augusta. www.uma.edu/danforth. Through Jan. 21.
Small works, paintings and mixed media by various artists, Perimeter Gallery, Belfast. Through Jan. 23.
“Drawing Show,” group exhibit, Caldbeck Gallery, Rockland. Through Jan. 28.
“Winter Works,” paintings and sculpture by Tom Curry, Ralf Feyl and others, plus “Eye Catchers,” small works, Gleason Fine Art, Portland. www.gleasonfineart.com. Through Jan. 29.
“Reflections: Glass, Water and Memory,” landscape images in fused stained glass by Kay McKeever Allison, Harmon’s & Barton’s Gallery, Portland. Through Jan. 29.
“Islands and Sirens,” work by Tom Curry and Brian Mark, Thos. Moser Showroom, Freeport. www.thosmoser.com. Through Jan. 31.
“Contemporary Maine Wood Sculpture,” Center for Furniture Craftsmanship, Rockport. www.woodschool.org. Through Feb. 4.
“LINES Portland: the invisible/visible lines and labor that connects us,” Katarina Weslien’s prints based on road repair lines made by Portland public service crews, Portland City Hall. www.lines.portlandmaine.gov. Through Feb. 11.
“Diagonal Knitting: A Different Slant,” sculptural work and clothing by Katharine Cobey, Maine Fiberarts, Topsham. 721-0678. Through Feb. 25.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
