By Jodi Lee Reifer,Newhouse News Service Bob Newhart’s button-down brain has always mined comedy from places his potty-mouthed peers don’t consider. Inside the driver’s ed car of a harried instructor. On Madison Avenue with Abe Lincoln. Up a tobacco-stuffed nose. Small-town Vermont.Now, Newhart’s noggin is going to the Last Supper.The gently satirical Grammy Award winner […]

The Top 10 concert tours ranks artists by average box office gross per city and includes the average ticket price for shows in North America.1. Bon Jovi; $1,348,596; $76.80.2. Aerosmith; $1,102,299; $91.74.3. George Strait; $875,629; $58.41.4. Coldplay; $865,677; $57.39.5. Trans-Siberian Orchestra; $567,147; $39.27.6. Rascal Flatts; $418,767; $49.08.7. Nickelback; $364,707; $37.86.8. Keith Urban; $345,185; $37.32.9. Ricky […]

LEWISTON – The Bates College Modern Dance Company will present new dances and dance videos at Schaeffer Theatre in four performances tonight through April 3.The company’s annual spring concert of new works has been divided into two programs, collectively titled “Interior Dialogues.” The first program, featuring work by students in the dance composition course and […]

The Smucker’s Stars on Ice tour, featuring Olympic and World champion skaters, will bring its “A Show …about the show” to the Cumberland County Civic Center in Portland Thursday, April 13. Headlining the event will be 2002 Olympic Gold medalist Alexei Yagudin; world-renowned 2002 Olympic pair champions Jamie Salé and David Pelletier of Canada, and […]

BRUNSWICK – Pulitzer Prize-winning illustrator Art Spiegelman – whose comics are best known for their shifting graphic styles, formal complexity and controversial content – will deliver Bowdoin College’s 2006 Harry Spindel Memorial Lecture Wednesday, April 5.Spiegelman will give an illustrated performance on his Holocaust narratives “Maus” and “Maus II.” In 1992, he won the Pulitzer […]

GORHAM – A taste of Brazil will come to the University of Southern Maine April 7 and 8 when Samba New York! presents two workshops and an evening of Brazilian music.Inspired by the samba schools of Rio de Janeiro, Samba New York! puts on samba shows and workshops throughout the Northeast.A free percussion workshop will […]

The University of Maine at Farmington Community Chorus and Monteverdi Singers, under the direction of Steven Pane, will perform selections from Claudio Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610. The performance will take place at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 1, and at 3 p.m. Sunday, April 2.UMF music history students will give a special preconcert presentation about Monteverdi […]

By Noah Davis,Special to Encore PORTLAND – In its 10-year career, Wilco has persevered through multiple lineup changes, a dispute with its record label and a pain-killer addition. Yet through all the turmoil, Jeff Tweedy and his boys kept producing quality albums. Wilco will reward its fans for a decade of dedication with a tour, […]

LEWISTON – A string quartet performance of Haydn’s Seven Last Words will be held at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, April 8, at the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul.Proceeds from the suggested donation of $10 will go to the ongoing earthquake relief effort in Pakistan, and to the basilica’s organ restoration fund.Members of the string quartet […]

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) – Apparently, Apple Computer Inc. is listening.In a world where hearing problems are real, concerns are mounting and lawyers are looking to make gadget providers liable, the maker of the predominant iPod music player has created new volume controls.Apple issued a software update Wednesday for its recent iPod models – the […]