Corey Anderson News

On Wednesday, April 16, Ultimate Fighting Championship(R) (UFC(R)) fans will get their fill of the UFC's long-running reality series, The Ultimate Fighter(R), as FOX Sports 1 showcases the season-ending The Ultimate Fighter Nations Finale live from Quebec City, followed by the two-hour premiere of the hotly anticipated 19th season headlined by former lightweight champion Frankie Edgar and two-division champion BJ Penn.

Despite its location far, far north, and its relatively sparse population compared to cultural capitals, Maine boasts a rich regional theatre climate. There are quite a few thriving, adventurous, permanent professional companies, as well as an excellent contingent of community theatres. This year offered a wealth of exciting choices. Here is my personal list for 2013, grouped by theatre company and show:

The brutality and barbarism of Shakespeare's early 'revenge' play, Titus Andronicus, make it difficult fare for modern audiences. And yet, as director Stacey Koloski says about her staging at South Portland's Mad Horse Theatre Company: 'Titus Andronicus shows the human cost to the cycle of war and violence.' That the tragedy with all its on-stage atrocities may be 'frighteningly relevant today' does not make the experience any less painful for the spectators. Yet despite its assault on our emotions and senses, the audience at the Mad Horse Theatre cannot help but be gripped and moved by what it witnesses.

I am here to tell you that not only can Shakespeare's work be truly life changing, but it IS accessible, and topical in our present world climate. And a production like the Mad Horse Theatre's stellar presentation of Titus Andronicus proves that to a tee.

THE 12TH ANNUAL A HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS, a new entertainment special to be broadcast Wednesday, Dec. 22 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network, will include moving performances by Grammy Award winning singer/songwriter Melissa Etheridge, Grammy Award-winning group Maroon 5, Grammy Award-winning superstar Ricky Martin and Grammy Award-winning hip hop artist Nelly. The show will open with a performance by pop sensation Katy Perry. The hosts of 'The Talk,' Julie Chen, Sara Gilbert, Sharon Osbourne, Holly Robinson Peete, Leah Remini and Marissa Jaret Winokur, as well as Academy Award and Golden Globe Award winning actress Mira Sorvino ('Mighty Aphrodite') will be among the talent set to present.