for the ARTS record

Singing with the Angels New as a blonde wood Quaker shingle house, The Women's Chorus of Nantucket, directed by Marcia Hempel, will host their first concert at the Unitarian Church's Hendrix Hall on Sunday. Hempel has chosen music from Ireland, Serbia and Nova Scotia, as well as a song of resistance of the Jews in Lithuania during World War II. The chorus will also sing gospel selections by the well-known composer Moses Hogan, as well as the country music favorite "Will The Circle Be Unbroken," and the Quaker song "How Can I Keep From Singing?" The chorus will also hit world, pop, blues and jazz tunes including "Lollipop," "It's My Party," "Frim-Fram Sauce" and "I Ain't Afraid," by folk singer Holly Near. Meg Hunter will accompany two selections on guitar, and director Marcia Hempel will play piano and conduct. The concert includes both accompanied and a cappella (unaccompanied) music. When: Sunday, Oct. 29, 4 p.m. Where: Unitarian Church (Hendrix Hall),

11 Orange Street

Cost: $10 donation at the door, which will

go towards new repertoire and supplies

for this new chorus

For more information about the concert

or the chorus, call 228-3802.

For Day of Peace To honor the International Day of Peace on October 27, Nantucket New School students will install a fleet of 100 decorated boats at Children's Beach. NNS students will have painted and decorated the boats that week under the direction of NNS art teacher Finnie Trimpi. "The boats will be made out of recycled materials including soda bottles and other found objects," Trimpi said. "They will also have flags or written words attached to the boats representing the children's thoughts on peace." Visitors are invited to see the art installation through the end of the day on Saturday, Oct. 28. A reception is planned for the young artists on Friday, Oct. 27, 3-5 p.m. Short Play Festival Presented by Nantucket Theatrical Productions in the Nantucket Theatre Workshop, the Short Play Festival includes dramatic readings of three of the competition's finalists, including winner "Interrupted Memories," by playwright John Bohane. "Interrupted Memories" is about a son's retrospective of his life growing up in a home where neither parent let the other finish a sentence. The festival will also feature "What are Words Worth to a Long Fellow?" by Texas writer Carl L. Williams - about a young poet who refuses to eschew an artistic lifestyle - and "The Crucifixion and Moe and Ira" by Lynn-Steven Johanson, about a trash-talking Judaean clown and a Samaritan nailed to crosses in 30 A.D. The three works were selected out of 150 submissions. When: Thursday - Saturday, Oct. 26-28, 7:30 p.m. Where: upstairs at the United Methodist Church,

2 Centre Street Cost: $10 For reservations, please call 241-1760.

A Halloween Sampler: Fine Wines and Vintage Poe The words of Edgar Allan Poe can grab you by the back of your neck and hold you in a cold grasp - and this week, those words come alive at the Brigham Galleries, when three of Nantucket's best actors, Eric Schultz, David Lazarus and Greg Bourbeau, recite three of Poe's bestknown stories as if they were the writer himself. The occasion is the Nantucket Arts Council's AHalloween Sampler: Fine Wines and Vintage Poe.

Picture yourself in the company of one of the most haunted American writers - a man dogged by mental illness, death and addiction - as he muses aloud in his study, or descends the staircase in a weak and weary fever. Lazarus will be reciting "The Raven," Schultz "The Black Cat" and Bourbeau "The Tell-Tale Heart." The men will be wearing costumes courtesy of the Theatre Workshop Costume archive.

Candlelit and intimate, the night of Poe will include a tasting of seasonal wines and cheeses from Annye's Whole Foods - with all proceeds benefiting the Nantucket Arts Councils scholarship fund. The wines will be Layer Cake's 2005 Shiraz (from the Barrosa Valley), Budini's 2003 Malbec (from Argentina) and Hoffstadter's 2004 Pinot Bianco (from Italy). Cinco restaurant is also participating with a delicious Montiago sherry.

"I don't want Poe to be campy. I want him to come across as what he is - creepy," said the event's artistic director, Kate Stout. "And he's a fun creepy, partly because you can only suspend disbelief so much. It's not like going to see some horror film, where you get caught up in the verisimilitude. What you can do is let Poe wash over you. It's Halloween for grownups."

When: Thursday - Saturday, Oct. 26-28, 7:15 p.m.; Sunday, Oct. 29, 6:15 p.m. (Readings will begin approximately 45 minutes after doors open.)

Where: The Brigham Galleries, 54 Centre Street -

across from the JC House

Cost: $25 NAC members, $30 non-members.

Space is limited

For more information or to reserve a place,

call 325-8588.

"Ugetsu Monogatari" If your only cultural references for Japanese narratives are video games and anime, consider "Ugetsu" required viewing. This 1953 classic takes place in civil war-torn 16th century Japan and follows two men wanting to find fame and fortune during war time, no matter the cost to their families. Film Forum recently hosted a six-film tribute (including "Ugetsu") to the film's director, Kenji Mizoguchi; and several weeks ago the New York Times' Terrence Raferty wrote that his films contained "more beauty and more elegant craftsmanship than most directors manage to get onto a movie screen in a lifetime." When: Saturday, Oct. 28, 7 p.m. Where: Nantucket Atheneum (Great Hall),

1 India Street

Cost: Free

Ghost stories for the wee goblins Storyteller Mary Jo Maichack will tickle the scary bone of your little trick-or-treater with her fun Halloween stories on the day no piece of candy is safe. First, for kids ages 3-5, Maichack will host "Pumpkin Fun" - a short program filled with rhymes, songs and fun fall stories for young children. Immediately following, Maichack entertains the "6 and older" set with Howlarious Halloween; spooky stories about trick-or-treaters, rude and dangerous pumpkins and even a stubborn skeleton dancing to the fiddle will fill the hour.

When: Tuesday, Oct. 31 (ages 3-5 from

4-4:30 p.m.; ages 6 and up from 5:30-6:30 p.m.)

Where: Nantucket Atheneum (Garden, or

Great Hall in case of rain), 1 India Street

Cost: Free; tickets are available at the Weezie Library

Party with Our Ghost The ghost actually answered the phone when we called for more information on this progressive, candlelit Halloween dinner with various ghoulmet food stations at Nantucket Bistro. With salmon en crout, roasted loin of pork stuffed with cranberry and apple, cranberry bread, a cheese tray, a dessert table, a half carafe of wine and a bloody drink, Chef Charles Salliou is offering a Halloween steal at $45, complete with spooky music. "You have to be disguised for dinner," said the ghost, who will be stalking diners on Halloween. "If you look like a normal human being, we are not interested in you." When: Tuesday, Oct. 31, 7 p.m. Where: Nantucket Bistro, 29 Fair Street Cost: $45 per person For more information or for reservations,

call 228-7800.