BRUNSWICK -- Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Wednesday for the 51st season of Maine State Music Theatre, which opens June 3 with the Tony Award-winning musical "The Light in the Piazza."

Other musicals on tap for the summer theater are "Crazy for You," "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" and "The Drowsy Chaperone." Children's titles include "A Year with Frog and Toad," "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" and "Schoolhouse Rock Live!"

All performances are at Pickard Theater at Bowdoin College. Tickets will be available beginning today by calling 725-8769 or ordering online. Ticket prices range from $29 to $52 for the main stage musicals, $7 to $11 for the children's shows.

Maine State Music Theatre also will present "Toxix Audio" this summer, and those tickets cost $15 to $28.

Here is the detailed schedule:

"The Light in the Piazza," June 3-20;

"Crazy for You," June 24-July 11;

"Dirty Rotten Scoundrels," July 15-Aug. 1;

"The Drowsy Chaperone," Aug. 5-23.

"A Year with Frog and Toad," June 8; "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," June 12; "Schoolhouse Rock Live!" Aug. 19.

"Toxic Audio" will be July 27.

I couldn't resist the opportunity to see Bruce Springsteen last night in Boston, the first of a two-night stand for the Boss in Beantown.

He delivered, as he almost always does. The show was almost exactly what you would expect from Springsteen and the E Street Band, with a twist or two: drenchingly energetic, playfully fun and at times grippingly emotional. It was also a musical blast.

Snapshots from the show that I will carry with me:

Nils Lofgren's guitar solo on "Johnny 99" reminded me of Neil Young cutting loose with Crazy Horse. Lofgren allowed his guitar to possess him, to become almost an extension of his body as he ripped through a very-electric version of the song.

One of the better versions of "Born to Run" I've heard Springsteen do live. The song was sloppy in parts, but this was anything but a mailed-in version, as it has sometimes become.

Springsteen is taking fan requests, which come in the form of handwritten signs passed up by people standing in the pit in front of the stage. He did three requests on Tuesday: A cover of the ZZ Top song "I'm Bad, I'm Nationwide," "I'm Goin' Down" and "Growin' Up." It's a fun little segment, designed to stump the band. Springsteen needed a moment to work through the ZZ Top song, but he got it down, and handled it pretty well.

Drummer Max Weinberg's son, Jay, sat in for four songs and absolutely energized the band. The kid rocked hard on the kit, and the set-closing cameo brought the show up in energy and excitement.

Clarence Clemons does not look long for the road. At least from outward appearance, he looks like he is in a lot of pain, and can barely move around the stage without assistance. I would not be surprised if he stops touring soon.

No mention from the stage of a recent illicit paternity allegation leveled against Springsteen. His wife, backup singer Patti Scialfa, was not at this show, which Springsteen said was because she suffered injuries in a recent fall from a horse. As fans, we should not read too much into her absence: In the past, she has not done all the shows. But it was a slightly awkward moment. The woman sitting next to me did not believe his excuse for Scialfa's absence. "Yeah, right," she said, clearly distrustful of Springsteen's denial.

Tickets were available on the cheap for this show. I unloaded two pair of tickets, and feel lucky that I got face value for them. People were selling them for half-price or less 30 minutes before the show. He plays the TD Banknorth Garden again tonight.

All things considered, Springsteen delivered. Tuesday's show was solidly good in every regard, and I still marvel at his ability to make me go home completely happy and pumped.

The Bowdoin College Museum of Art has a new director.

Kevin Salatino, who has served as head of the print and drawings department at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, was named director on Friday, succeeding Katy Kline.

He begins his duties in Brunswick in August, according to a statement on the college's Web site.

Before joining the LA County Museum of Art, Salatino spent nine years as curator of graphic arts at the Getty Research Institute. He earned his bachelor's degree at Columbia University and a doctorate at the University of Pennsylvania.

He was named one of 10 outstanding curators from art museums and institutions across the United States selected for the 2009 Center for Cultural Leadership fellowship program.

In a ceremony at The Juilliard School on April 29, Bowdoin International Music Festival founder Lewis Kaplan will receive the Knight's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, awarded by President Horst Kohler and and presented by Consul General Dr. Horst Freitag.

Kaplan, a senior professor of violin and chamber music at Juilliard, is being honored for his commitment to the development of exchange programs between German and U.S. music students.

Kaplan's connection with Germany reaches back more than 50 years since his time as concertmaster and soloist of the U.S. Seventh Army Symphony stationed in Stuttgart, where he performed throughout Germany building bridges between the two countries.

Since then he has performed and given master classes regularly in many of the major music centers in Germany.

The Portland Museum of Art Biennial yielded a big booty for the museum's collection, and a nice reward for Maine-born installation artist Wade Kavanaugh.

At a reception for members on Tuesday night, the museum announced four prizes for artists in the exhibition. The Purchase Prizes were awarded to three artists: Mary Aro for her three paintings, "Trailer Home on Polka Valley Road," "Microwaves" and "End of the Burn"; Julianna Swaney for her three drawings "Wolfgirl," "Beebeard" and "Central Park, March 6, 1890"; and Sean Foley for his painting "Accuser."

The Purchase Prizes are chosen by members of the museum's Collection Committee, and will become part of the permanent collection.

The William E. and Helen E. Thon Jurors' Prize of $4,000 was awarded to Kavanaugh for his piece "Falsework," a cascading collection of gypsum-board bricks, which takes over nearly the entire first gallery of the exhibition.

This year's biennial is the sixth exhibition in a series that highlights work by emerging and established artists associated with Maine. The works represent a range of media, with a heavy load of installation art.

The biennial officially opens Wednesday and will be on view through June 7.

AUGUSTA -- Alison Ferris, the former curator of the Bowdoin College Museum of Art, was named assistant director of the Maine Arts Commission today.

Ferris spent 12 years at Bowdoin. With the state arts agency, she primarily will oversee human resources and budgetary concerns.

"The Maine Arts Commission is thrilled to welcome Alison Ferris as its new assistant director," agency director Donna McNeil said in a statement. "Alison's depth of curatorial experience, her knowledge of Maine's cultural landscape and her work at the Kohler Foundation, that connected blue collar folks with artists, make her a valuable resource as we establish Maine's cultural assets as an integral economic driver during these challenging times."

Along with former museum director Katy Kline, Ferris helped install all the art at Bowdoin when the museum reopened in fall 2007.

"I am delighted to have this opportunity to devote my time, energy, and expertise to the Maine Arts Commission," Ferris said in a statement. "This agency, under the directorship of Donna McNeil, has done inspiring work supporting and advocating for the arts and artists in Maine, and I am proud to be a member of her team. I believe that fostering the human imagination is crucial, especially now that we, as a state and as a nation, must radically re-imagine our future."

Outside of her curatorial duties, Ferris was a key participant in the Maine Print Project in 2006, a statewide collaboration of 25 art institutions.

For eight years before moving to Maine, Ferris worked in curatorial positions at two alternative art spaces: Film in the Cities in St. Paul, Minn., and the Kohler Arts Center in Sheboygan, Wisc.

I had lucky pleasure of attending the first preview performance of "Trying" at Portland Stage Company on Tuesday night. This has the potential to be a major crowd-pleaser, based on the instant standing ovation the two-member cast received after the first performance.

It stars Jonathan McMurtry and Sofia Jean Gomez, who portray Judge Francis Biddle and his secretary, Sarah. "Trying" tells the story of their unlikely friendship, and how the two work to find common ground.

It is in previews through Thursday, opens Friday and runs through April 19.

Tucked inside the program is a flyer announcing Portland Stage's 2009-10 season. In addition to its holiday programming, Portland Stage will present six mainstage productions:

"Third" by Wendy Wasserstein, Sept. 29-Oct. 18;

"The Gin Game" by D.L. Colburn, Oct. 27-Nov. 15;

"The Mystery of Irma Vep" by Charles Ludlam, Jan. 26-Feb. 21, 2010;

"Master Harold and the Boys" by Athol Fugard, March 2-28;

"Mary's Wedding" by Stephen Massicotte, April 6-25;

"Bach at Leipzig" by Itamar Moses, May 4-23.