1. Maine State Music Theatre
City: Brunswick, ME
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (207) 725-8769 (tickets)
Address: 22 Elm Street
Description: The Maine State Music Theatre (MSMT) is a nonprofit, professional theater troupe that presents classic American musicals for all ages. MSMT was founded in 1959 and is the only resident, professional music theater in the country. It is based in Brunswick, north of Portland. Many of the actors, directors, and designers are professional artists who work year-round in theater. MSMT puts on several musicals a year at their theater in Brunswick and also teaches young theater students how to stage professional plays.
2. The Theater Project
City: Brunswick, ME
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (207) 729-8584
Address: 14 School Street
Description: The Theater Project was founded in 1971 in Brunswick, a town about a half-hour drive north of Portland. Over the past 30 years, the nonprofit Theater Project has grown to include a professional ensemble company, a children’s theater troupe, and touring productions. Along with the year-round series of stage plays (many of which are family-oriented), the Theater Project also sponsors acting classes for all ages and community festivals. In keeping with the Theater Project’s nonprofit roots, all shows are pay-what-you-can, with suggested ticket prices ranging from $6 to $18.
3. Brunswick Bookland
City: Brunswick, ME
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (207) 725-2313
Address: Cooks Corner Shopping Center
Description: The once mighty Bookland chain fell to competition from book megastores and bad accounting years ago, going from 13 shops down to this one and filing for bankruptcy in 2000. This is one of two left, managing to stay afloat with a great selection of magazines, discounted best sellers, lots of remainders, several racks of used books, and a cafe that encourages lingering.
4. Cabot Mill Antiques
City: Brunswick, ME
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (207) 725-2855
Address: 14 Maine St.
Description: Fort Andross, an imposing old mill building on the Androscoggin, is the nicest antique at this 15,000-square foot showroom. But there are plenty of furnishings and collectibles to like, too. More than 140 displays are here to peruse, filled with china, Oriental rugs, decorative items, porcelain, bottles, Victorian furniture, and more. There are flea markets at Fort Andross on summer weekends. Open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
5. Gulf Of Maine Books
City: Brunswick, ME
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (207) 729-5083
Address: 134 Maine St.
Description: One would think that as a college town, Brunswick would have some truly great bookstores. The community disappoints a bit, but Gulf of Maine is the standard-bearer downtown, with a diverse selection heavy on the environmental and countercultural titles. Owner Gary Lawless is a legend in his own right—he’s a poet with a regional reputation and is the publisher behind Blackberry Books, among other things—and the place is definitely worth a visit, especially if you’re into poetry or literature with a conscience.
6. F. W. Horch Sustainable Goods And Supplies
City: Brunswick, ME
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (207) 729-4050
Address: 56 Maine St.
Description: What a cool place this is. A sort of green department store where you’ll find everything from solar space heaters to building supplies to cookware, cleaning supplies, and even gifts, like hemp tote bags, F.W. Horch is the sort of store where you can feel good parting with your cash. “Practically, saving the planet,” they say, and if everybody shopped here instead of the big boxes we’d be on our way.
7. Maine State Music Theater
City: Brunswick, ME
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (207) 725-8769
Address: 22 Elm St.
Description: Broadway in Brunswick. That’s the idea behind this Equity company, which performs in a beautifully renovated space just up the road from its old home on the campus of Bowdoin College. People turn out in great numbers for its summer season of old and new favorites. Local kids often get small parts. Summer shows are at 8 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, with additional matinees on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday. Tickets are $36 to $52.
8. The Theater Project
City: Brunswick, ME
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (207) 729-8584
Address: 14 School St.
Description: Founded in 1971, Theater Project produces innovative dramas and does a lot of work with kids. It has its own space in downtown Brunswick and works year-round.
9. Bowdoin Summer Music Festival
City: Brunswick, ME
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (207) 373-1400
Address: 6300 College Station
Description: What do you get when you bring 200 gifted students to a Maine college to be taught for months by some of the best known classical music teachers? A whole lot of great music at reasonable prices. There are several concert series each summer, and Midcoast residents turn out in droves. On Friday evenings there are performances by distinguished guest artists—of the world-renowned likes of Emanuel Ax, Julius Baker, and Eugenia Zukerman. Faculty members put on shows midweek, usually doing both contemporary and traditional works, and students perform at various times. Venues include Bowdoin buildings and the Brunswick High School. Tickets can be as much as $30 for big names, as little as $5 for stars to be.
10. Spindleworks
City: Brunswick, ME
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (207) 725-8820
Address: 7 Lincoln St.
Description: Begun in the 1970s as a weaving program for people with disabilities, this creative arts organization now turns out fantastic paintings, drawings, sculpture, and poetry. And some of its artists even have New York representation these days. The Spindleworkers show their art at various galleries across the state—and right here at their own space. There are paintings, beautiful handwoven scarves and wall hangings, prints, and a variety of other cool items. Open Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
11. Eveningstar Cinema
City: Brunswick, ME
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (207) 729-5486
Address: Tontine Mall
Description: Another one of those cool downtown theaters, Eveningstar has stayed in business longer than just about anyone else in the tiny Tontine Mall. And it provides a good alternative to the bland multiplex at Cooks Corner for all the college students and arty types in Brunswick. Art films, indies, foreign pix, and all those great movies that come out every year that the suburban theaters can’t seem to fit on their 10 screens are regularly shown here. Nice matinee programs for kids as well.