Inspiring a curious and imaginative community where the experience of the performing arts is a vital part of everyday life.
We caught up with our Executive & Artistic Director, Aimée Petrin for a quick Q&A surrounding recent events of the Dirty Dancing cancellation and what's involved in the process of rescheduling! The beginning of the snow storm from 50 Monument Square on January 4 where Portland received over 10+ inches of snow! Ovations: [...]
What comes to mind when you hear the word Cinderella? Do you break out in “Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo?” Or are you more of a Rodgers + Hammerstein fan? Is Helena Bonham Carter or Whitney Houston your favorite portrayal of the Fairy Godmother? Perhaps the more gruesome Brothers Grim version of the story is more appealing? In the [...]
January 9, 2018 Ovations Offstage (O2) has many measures of success to determine if our programming has reach and impact. One of these indicators is when an O2 staff member is invited to present at local, regional or national conferences. Invitations of this nature indicate that there is an audience and a demand for our [...]
Have you ever wanted to know a little more about that classical music piece you were mysteriously drawn to? After attending our pre-performance lectures, do you find yourself feeling impressed with your new knowledge and savoir-faire? Then we have good news for you! Introducing Yasmin Vitalius, your new instant expert on all things related to [...]
Left to Right: Julie Eglinton, Felix Morrissey, Amelia McNeil-Maddox, Sophie Urey, Ariel Leasure, Cat Bernier Ovations Offstage is thrilled to introduce our inaugural class of Offstage Ambassadors. These six students were selected from high school applicants throughout the greater Portland area for this dynamic semester-long opportunity to learn first-hand the many facets of arts administration. [...]
Mary Randall had been playing cello for eleven years when she was selected for a masterclass taught by Yo-Yo Ma when he performed at Merrill Auditorium ten years ago. Mary is now a library technician in the Lewiston Public Library's children's department. Upon Yo-Yo Ma’s return to Merrill Auditorium, Mary reflects upon her experience, giving [...]
The Ovations Offstage Department is so grateful for all of the participants who came to our first professional development offering for the season on “Creating a Storytelling and Movement-based PreK-2nd grade Classroom to Support Early Literacy” downtown on Saturday, September 16. Participants from schools all over Southern Maine representing home schools, preschools, and elementary school [...]
Does your teen know all the lyrics to every song in Hamilton? Practice the violin all afternoon? Fantasize about being one of Travis Wall’s dancers? Great news: Portland Ovations Offstage Ambassadors program for teen performing arts lovers is here for them! Portland Ovations Offstage is launching an Ambassador Program to enroll high school students to [...]
It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge.” —ALBERT EINSTEIN On Friday, our Ovations Offstage and marketing teams were out in the field to celebrate educators and the start of the new school year! To make sure the teachers understood how much we value them, they were [...]
Many of the artists and performances of our 2017-18 season have sparked interesting and fun books or have been inspired by books themselves. If you're looking for some good summer reading for yourself or for your children or if you're just looking to learn more about some of the artists on our season, take a [...]