Calien Lewis, dramaturg Calien Lewis is a retired attorney whose career included stints as a college instructor in genre courses and composition; executive director of a national peace organization, and most recently, Executive Director of the Maine Justice Foundation (formerly The Maine Bar Foundation). She has formal studies in music and theatre, and Read more
SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW, STORIES TRADITIONALAND TRUE Notes on Opera Maine's 31st season from dramaturg Calien Lewis Charles GounodComposer of Roméo et Juliette & Faust Charles-Francois Gounod (1818-1893) was a Romantic era French composer of more than 600 Read more
WHAT TO WEAR TO THE OPERA A floor-length pink party dress, khaki shorts, frayed blue jeans, vintage tuxedo, sandals, LL Bean button-down shirt, Hearts of Pine T-shirt, Capezio dancing shoes, yellow linen jacket, sneakers that have seen better days, a recently ironed dress... Opera Maine doesn't care what you wear. Read more
Đàn bầu The Đàn bầu is an ancient Vietnamese monochord (one-string) instrument. It is central to the music of Bound (June 26 & 28, 2026), where it will be played by Emmy-award winning musician, Vân-Ánh Vanessa Võ. Watch the video below to learn more about the Đàn bầu from Vân-Ánh Võ. Read more
About Charles GounodComposer of Roméo et Juliette and Faust Charles-Francois Gounod (1818-1893) was a Romantic era French composer of more than 600 works, including 12 operas. Two of these – Roméo et Juliette (1867) and Faust ( 1859) – have been in the international repertory for more than a century and a half. Read more
Praise for Opera Maine's Sweeney Todd! Read the newest post, "Sweeney Todd: A Cut Above," from Shark on Arts about our production of Sondheim's masterpiece. For its 30th anniversary, Opera Maine broke new ground with a theatrically compelling, musically excellent production of Sondheim's Sweeney Todd. Guided by Artistic Director, Dona D. Vaughn, a superb cast moved Read more
Portland Press Herald - ‘Lights, costumes, passion! Opera Maine’s next season makes this classic artform excitingly accessible’ Everyone’s invited to “Sweeney Todd” and “Paul’s Case” this summer, along with year-round programming that shows off the power of opera. Posted: May 20, 2025 | Updated: May 22, 2025 Whether you’re a first Read more
Music by Ricky Ian Gordon libretto by Mark Campbell Conducted by Jackson McKinnon Directed by Richard Gammon Friday, June 28, 7:30 p.m. Sunday, June 30, 2:30 p.m. Portland Stage pre-performance talk with Calien Lewis post-performance conversation with Ricky Ian Gordon, Dona D. Vaughn and the cast CLICK HERE TO RESERVE YOUR SEATS The 2024 Studio Read more
