Go here. Do this. See that. Our picks for happenings around the state in October.
Gaels of October
October 10
There’s more to Celtic music than what you’ve heard on the Riverdance and Braveheart soundtracks. Gaelic Storm has spent the last couple decades touring the globe, combining a super dance-y, pop sensibility with traditional licks on fiddles, pipes, and bodhrán drum. Their greatest hits record, released this summer, includes a never-before-released tune they played as the steerage house band that got Leo and Kate grooving in Titanic. Oct. 10. Stone Mountain Arts Center, 695 Dug Way Rd., Brownfield. 207-935-7292. stonemountainartscenter.com
Addams Family, The Musical
October 1-26
The beloved family of gothic weirdos takes center stage in this Broadway musical adaptation of The Addams Family. Based on characters created by the “Van Gogh of the Ghouls,” cartoonist Charles Addams, the story joins Gomez, Morticia, Uncle Fester, and whatever we call that disembodied hand just as Wednesday Addams falls in love with a “normal” boy. Broadway critics tore into the show, but audiences loved it, and there’s nothing kooky about a pair of Tony nominations. Oct. 1-26. $39–$79. Ogunquit Playhouse, 10 Main St., Ogunquit. 207-646-5511. ogunquitplayhouse.org
Paula Poundstone
October 10
Comedians call it “crowd work,” the high-wire art of improvised banter with the audience, and Paula Poundstone is the form’s undisputed queen. Catch the stand-up stalwart and Wait Wait . . . Don’t Tell Me wag at One Longellow Square. 7 p.m. $40-$45. 181 State St., Portland. 207-761-1757. onelongfellowsquare.com
MECA’s Fall Art Sale
October 8-11
You don’t need to be an aristocrat to become a patron of the arts at Collect, Maine College of Art’s fall art sale. Find original pieces of furniture, sculpture, jewelry, paintings, prints, photography, textiles, and more by MECA faculty, students, alumni, and friends — and support MECA’s scholarship fund while you’re at it. 10 a.m.–8 p.m. Artists at Work Space, 522 Congress St., Portland. 207-775-3052. meca.edu/artsale
Swine & Stein Oktoberfest
October 11
This festival hits the indulgence trifecta: Maine craft beer, Maine musicians, and delicious Maine pork products. Don’t miss the rubber chicken fling and equally dramatic Rock, Paper, Scissors championship. Oct. 11. 11:30 a.m.–6:30 p.m. Water St., Gardiner. 207-582-3100. gardinermainstreet.org