for the ARTS record
Stage: "To Grandmother's House We Go" Jetti Ames stars in "To Grandmother's House We Go" - a comedy about family members tripping on the generational gap. Ames plays "Grandie," the matriarch whose family descends upon her beloved Connecticut Victorian for the Thanksgiving holiday; the turkey isn't the only one whose feathers get ruffled during the visit as the younger generations bring a mess of issues into the house, and the older generations try to be helpful while maintaining their autonomy.

Claire Bossee plays "Harriet" Grandie's daughter and mother to three 20something children: Beatrice (played by Los Angelino and summer resident, Samara Cohen), Muffy (played by Callie Kever) and Paul (played by Andrew Spencer), who brings with him a new girlfriend - Twyla (played by Alex Kopko).

Only 16, Kopko plays a character 10 years her senior. "She carries it off marvelously," Karakula said. "She has such a sophistication about her onstage."

Beloved local actor Frank Morral plays Jared, Grandie's brother, and Ann Roman rounds out the cast as Clem, the nanny.

"The play was written 20 years ago, but it still holds up," Karakula said. "I like to do these familyoriented shows during the height of the season, because the audiences tend to be family-oriented people."

When: Wed., Aug. 29 - Sat., Sept. 1, 8:30 p.m. Where: TWN mainstage, downstairs at the

Methodist Church, 2 Centre St.

Cost: $25

For more information, please call 228-4305.

Noonlight Sonatas: John Buttrick

John Buttrick, piano, plays Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, Liszt, Brahms and Rachmaninov.

When: Wed., Aug. 29, noon - 1p.m. and

Wed., Sept. 5, noon - 1 p.m.

Where: First Congregational Church,

62 Centre St.

Cost: Free; donations welcome

Stage: "The Vagina Monologues" Nantucket's performance of the monologues was a real crowd-pleaser last spring. Returning this week is the series of monologues exploring the proverbial "down there" as a continent of cultural transcription - via characters that include a cocksure dominatrix and a Bosnian refugee who had been violated during the war. The play has become a metaphorical hand mirror for contemporary women (and men), sweeping the nation's colleges, where students have performed the monologues on Valentine's Day for the last decade. Laura Gallagher-Byrne directs the cast, which includes Laurel Devaney, Amy Stiller, Margaret Hitchcock, Susan Lucier, Cheryl Fudge and Susan McGinnis

"We hope to get our name out there in people's consciousness," said Susan McGinnis, who organized the show as a fund-raiser for Seaside Shakespeare. "This play piques people's curiosity. It's contemporary, so there's a draw."

When: Wed., Aug. 29, 6 p.m. - 10 p.m.

(Cocktails at 6 p.m., and show at 7 p.m.) Where: The Chicken Box, 44 Daves St. Cost: $30, benefitting Seaside Shakespeare For more information, please call 228-9717. Lecture: Ric Burns Speaking at the NHA Whaling Museum this Thursday is Ric Burns, an internationally recognized documentary filmmaker and writer, best known for his epic series New York: A Documentary Film, which premiered nationally on PBS to wide public and critical acclaim. The eight-part, seventeen and a half hour film chronicles the city's rise from a tiny Dutch trading post down through its continuing preeminence as the undisputed economic and cultural capital of the world.

The first episodes earned the prestigious Alfred I. du Pont-Columbia University award for excellence in broadcast journalism, an Emmy for outstanding achievement in non-fiction editing, and two other Emmy nominations, for outstanding non-fiction special and achievement in cinematography. In 2002, episode seven of the series was awarded the American Cinema Editors award for best edited documentary, as well the Cine Golden Eagle Award. The eighth and final episode received an Emmy and an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award, among other awards.

Burns has been writing, directing and producing historical documentaries for nearly 20 years, since his collaboration on the celebrated PBS series The Civil War, (1990), which he produced with his brother Ken, and wrote with Geoffrey C. Ward. He received numerous awards for his work on the series, including two Emmys (for producing and for writing), the Christopher Award, the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award, and the Producer of the Year Award from the Producer's Guild of America.

Since founding Steeplechase Films in 1989, he has directed some of the most distinguished programs in the award-winning public television series, American Experience, including Coney Island (1991), which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and went on to receive the Erik Barnouw prize of the Organization of American Historians. Burns also wrote and directed The Donner Party (1992), which premiered at the Telluride Film Festival and received a Peabody Broadcasting Award from the University of Georgia; a Writers Guild of America Award for Outstanding Achievement of 1993; and the D.W. Griffith Award of the National Board of Review for the best television program of 1992.

In 1995, Burns wrote, directed, and co-produced The Way West, which received an Alfred I. du Pont- Columbia University award, the Writer's Guild of America Award for outstanding achievement, and the National Educational Media Network's Gold Apple Award. In April 2002, Burns completed Ansel Adams, a co-production of Steeplechase Films and Sierra Club Productions for American Experience. It received both an Emmy for Outstanding Cultural Programming and an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award.

Mr. Burns's most recently completed projects include Eugene O'Neill (March 2006). Nominated for a Writers Guild of America Award, the film tells the story of the life and work of America's greatest and only Nobel Prize-winning playwright. The Wall Street Journal wrote: "Superbly told narrative of America's greatest playwright that grows stronger and surer as it moves toward its end, much as O'Neill's own creative life did." In September 2006, Burns premiered Andy Warhol: A Documentary Film as the premiere of PBS' American Masters 20th Anniversary series. New York Magazine's review read: "Hypnotic, powerful and revealing!" The film recently received a 2006 Peabody Broadcasting Award.

Burns is co-author, with James Sanders and Lisa Ades, of "New York: An Illustrated History," the companion book to the New York series, as well as coauthor,

with Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Burns, of the companion book to "The Civil War." Both books are published by Alfred A. Knopf. When: Thurs., Aug. 30, 7:30 p.m. - 9 p.m.

Where: NHA Whaling Museum, 13 Broad St.

For more information, please call 228-1894.

DJs Tonic and Devlin and Miss Fairchild This is it, kids. Summer is almost over, and you need one more party, one more piece of Nantucket, to hold you over through the cold winter months. This weekend at the Rose and Crown, you have a two-for-one summer special with the island's own DJs Devlin and Tonic (Friday) and funk band Miss Fairchild releasing their new CD on Sunday night.

Tall, dark and handy, DJs Tonic and Devlin mix global influences to create a dancetrack complete with large-screen visuals and shattered clichés: "House music is not only a repetitive bass kick over and over with a faceless diva chanting in the back," Tonic (a.k.a. Camilo) said.

Fronted by Daddy Wrall (a.k.a. Travis Richard), Miss Fairchild is a perennial island favorite, rounded out by multi-instrumentalist Schuyler Dunlap and producer Samuel P. Nice, a.k.a "Sammy Bananas of Certified Bananas." After nurturing their strong following all summer, Sunday's CD release party promises to be the culmination of good will and good times accumulating over the last few months.

When: Fri., Aug. 31, 9 p.m. - 1 a.m.(DJs);

Sun., Sept. 2. 9 p.m. - 1 a.m. (Fairchild) Where: Rose and Crown, 23 South Water Street

Cost: $10 cover for Miss Fairchild

For more information, please call 228-2595.

Nantucket AIDS Network Silent Auction For its annual silent auction, the Nantucket AIDS Network has drafted the talents of so many local artisans, the TK is bound to look like a Roman marketplace.

"We'll have so much art and jewelry from local artists and designers, you'll be able to get a good taste of what's available on island. It's like one-stop shopping," said NAN's manager of operations and special events Sandy Walsh.

When: Sat., Sept. 1, 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. Where: PI: N, upstairs at 11 Centre St.

Cost: Free to get in.

For more information, please call 228-3955.

Improv Comedy: Fresh, Live, Local In certain circles - on college campuses or cities rife with semi-employed actors - "improvisational comedy" is synonymous with clever, creative people acting out for attention.

On Nantucket, however, improvisational comedy might be something far more heroic.

It's hard-core, comedy kung-fu - "We want to be challenged," said Nantucket improv comic Christy Kickham, who founded the group in 1998. This summer, the group has enjoyed its biggest audiences in recent memory and has been paying those audiences back with a season of great shows. If you want to see what year-round people do to blow off steam, you can head to one last improv show this Sunday.

When: Sun., Sept. 2, 8:30 p.m. - 10 p.m.

Where: TWN Mainstage, United Methodist Church (downstairs), 2 Centre St.

Cost: $15 For more information, please call 228-4305.