The rocking, American roots-based spiritual band Temple Thieves, born out of years of collaboration among the musicians at Unity on the River church in Amesbury, performs its first, full-length concert tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. at Unity, 58 Macy St. (Route 110), Amesbury.

Titled "The Temple of My Familiars: A Prodigal Journey to the Heart of God," the concert will feature an unusual combination of song, performance poetry, mystical prayer and original music designed to resonate with listeners regardless of their personal spiritual path.

Modeled on the rock operas of the 1980s, the program will take the audience on a ride that will mirror the "prodigal story of darkness and separation into happiness, joy and oneness with spirit," the group says.

The concert represents the culmination of years of development work for Lisah Plumley, a vocalist, songwriter and artist healer, and Paula Estey, a poet, performer, artist and teacher. They have been joined in the project by Ken Clark, composer, arranger, Unity on the River music director and leader of the Ken Clark Organ Trio, and The Reverend Shipley Allinson, senior minister at Unity.

Also playing with Temple Thieves will be Steve Chagaris on drums, Keith Bickford on guitar and vocalists Lesley Smith, Lucia Vaughn, Maddy Tourville and Donna Witham. The founding composer of Temple Thieves, Curtis Jerome Haynes, will be represented in his original tunes, which will be performed.

Tickets are $15. A CD of the evening's concert will be available for $15, or as a ticket and CD package for $25. Call Unity at 978-834-7830 or visit www.paulastey.com for more.

Beethoven focus for Symphony by the Sea

Symphony by the Sea kicks off its 29th season Sunday with an all-Beethoven program. "The Prometheus Theme: the Recycling Genius of Beethoven" will be performed at 3:30 p.m. in the Performing Arts Center at The Governor's Academy on Elm Street in Byfield.

The concert spotlights a musical theme treated by Beethoven in three different orchestral compositions, all of which appear on the program. To be performed are his "Twelve Contradances," selections from "The Creatures of Prometheus" ballet music, and Symphony Number 3, the "Eroica."

A pre-concert talk by Music Director Donald Palma is scheduled for 2:45 p.m.

Admission is $30. Tickets are available at the door or ordered online at www.symphonybythesea.org. There is a $3 to $5 online ticketing fee.

Sisterly antics in Playhouse's 'Nunsense'

The musical comedy "Nunsense" is dancing onto the stage this month at Amesbury Playhouse Dinner Theatre, 194 Main St., Amesbury.

The cast features the Rev. Mother Sister Mary Regina played by Natalie MacBrien of Methuen, Sister Mary Hubert played by both Kate Richards of Amesbury and Kristen Jordan of Lowell, Sister Mary Robert Anne played by Amy LeJeune of Newburyport, Sister Mary Amnesia played by Sally DeCost of Plaistow, N.H.; and Sister Mary Leo played by Corinne DeCost of Plaistow, N.H.

The show runs through Nov. 29. Performances are Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays at 8:30 p.m., and Sundays with shows at both 1:30 and 6:30 p.m. A matinee is also planned for Thursday, Nov. 19, at 1:30 p.m. Dinner is served 90 minutes before each performance.

Reservations are required and may be made by calling the Playhouse at 978-388-9444. Visit www.amesburyplayhouse.com for more.

'Fall Shorts' at Port's Actors Studio

A series of short plays written by local playwrights get some stage time in "Fall Shorts" being presented the next two weekends at The Actors Studio in The Tannery in Newburyport.

Different short plays will be featured each night, paired with two plays recently presented at the Blackburn Theatre in Gloucester — "But for The Grace of God" written and directed by Laura Crook and "The Baby" written by Elinor Teele and directed by Pat Maloney-Brown.

Local playwright Ron Pullins' "The Object," starring Jesaiah Hammond and Kate Bossi and directed by Tim Diering, will play both weekends. There will be three plays from the Portsmouth, N.H., Players' Ring's Late Night Series — Mike Kimball's "The Brownwater Legend," directed by Morgan Gavaletz and featuring Jennifer Wilson and G. Matthew Gaskill. "Men are From Milwaukee/Women are from Phoenix" by Lynda Robinson, featuring Sally Nutt and Tom Brandolini, and "Outside the Box" by Nancy Brewka-Clark, featuring Tom Brandolini, Nick Neyeloff and Sally Nutt.

Two edgy plays for adults, "The Mediator" and "Coming Clean," both written by Ray Arsenault and directed by Cynthia Arsenault with Sandy Farrier and Bonnie Lake, will be performed this weekend only.

Performances are the next two Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 5 p.m. Tickets are $15, $12 for students and seniors. For reservations or information, call The Actors Studio at 978-465-1229.

Farce of a season-opener in Georgetown

Georgetown Theatre Workshop at 22 Pleasant St. in Georgetown opens its 36th season tomorrow night with the Ray Cooney British farce "It Runs in the Family."

Set in a hospital, "It Runs in the Family" contains the usual assortment of farcical nuts running in and out of doors mistaking everybody for someone else, as Dr. Mortimore tries to fend off a paternity suit, an ex-wife, a punkish daughter and various other lunatics so that he may, at last, deliver the Ponsonby Lecture in an international conference.

Ann Jaroncyk directs a cast that includes Peter Young, Seth Nappa, Gael Nappa, Chuck Kennedy, Eva Toscano, Andy Griffith, Renee Heusser, Lari Beauregard, Ed Zaleski, Mo McDonald and Lou Dispenza. Carol Dispenza and Sue Clohecy are producing the show.

Performances are tomorrow and Saturday, as well as Nov. 19 through 21, all at 8 p.m. Tickets are $10. Seniors and students are admitted for half-price tomorrow and Nov. 19.

The nonprofit Georgetown Theatre Workshop is always looking for new members to perform on stage as well as work behind the scenes. No experience is necessary. For show reservations or information, call Clohecy at 978-352-6367.

Interactive fairy tale in 'Rumpelstiltskin'

DuffleBag Theatre brings "Rumpelstiltskin" to the Firehouse Center for the Arts in Newburyport's Market Square on Saturday for two shows at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.

"Rumpelstiltskin" was first collected by the Brothers Grimm in the 1812 edition of "Children's and Household Tales."

Known for its unpredictable performances, the company brings the classic Brothers Grimm fairy tale to life with its original adaptation that features audience participation, wit and humor.

Tickets are $11, $9 for students, seniors and Firehouse members. Call the Firehouse box office at 978-462-7336 or visit www.firehouse.org.

N.Y. metrical poets keep beat in Port

Quincy Lehr and Rick Mullin, two well-traveled metrical poets who are active in the New York-area poetry reading scene, will be featured at the Powow River Poets' monthly reading series Saturday at 3 p.m. at Jabberwocky Bookshop in The Tannery, 50 Water St., Newburyport.

Lehr's work has appeared in print and online venues in the U.S., United Kingdom, Ireland and Australia. His first book of poetry, "Across the Grid of Streets," was published by Seven Towers (Dublin) in April 2008. He is associate editor of The Raintown Review and a co-founder of the Modern Metrics Press, now an imprint of EXOT BOOKS. A native of Oklahoma, he teaches college-level history.

Mullin is a painter and business journalist whose poetry has appeared in various print and online journals, including Measure, Unsplendid, Envoi, Umbrella, The Chimaera and The Raintown Review. His chapbook, "Aquinas Flinched," is available from Modern Metrics, and his book-length poem, "Huncke," is forthcoming from Seven Towers (Dublin.) He is a senior editor at Chemical & Engineering News, the flagship publication of the American Chemical Society, where he covers pharmaceuticals and information technology.

Admission is free. An open mike will follow the featured readers. E-mail mcantor@prodigy.net for more.

Chamber choir concert at Port church

Music Director Joshua Anand Slater conducts Fugit, a Boston-based professional chamber group, in a choral concert on Saturday at 7 p.m. in the sanctuary at First Religious Society, Unitarian Universalist, 26 Pleasant St., Newburyport.

The program will feature works by Johann Sebastian Bach, Antoine Busnois, Ralph Vaughan Williams and Heitor Villa-Lobos.

Admission is a suggested donation of $20 for adults, $15 students/seniors. For more, contact the church at 978-465-0602, ext. 401, or e-mail frsuuadmin@netway.com.

Duo performs 'Art Song for Voice and Guitar'

Soprano Rachael Chagat and guitarist George Little of Amesbury join for "Art Song for Voice and Guitar" Sunday at 4 p.m. at Central Congregational Church, 14 Titcomb St., Newburyport.

The program will feature 19th and 20th century music by Benjamin Britten, Franz Schubert, Felix Mendelssohn, and Daniel Pinkham.

Chagat graduated from Longy School of Music in Cambridge with both a master's in vocal performance and a graduate performance diploma with distinction. In 2008, she joined the Stratus Ensemble, a chamber quartet devoted to performing eclectic programs that include classic works as well as contemporary music. In addition to being an active soloist, Chagat is a choral conductor specializing in youth choirs.

Little holds a bachelor's in music from UMass-Dartmouth and received his master's in performance from Longy earlier this year. He has received awards for excellence in music from UMass-Dartmouth and the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra. Since 2008, he has performed regularly with the gypsy jazz-based duo, The New Boston Duo. He is co-chairman of the Suzuki Department at the South Shore Conservatory, where he teaches traditional guitar and Suzuki Method lessons.

Admission is a $10 suggested donation. Visit www.mynameisgeorgelittle.com.

Extreme ski flick is true to life

The extreme ski film "Edge of Never" comes to Newburyport's Firehouse Center for the Arts for two screenings tomorrow at 7 and 9 p.m.

The film offers the true story of legendary Trevor Petersen, who was killed at the height of his prowess in the prime of his life in an avalanche on the slopes of Chamonix in France 1996. His son, Kye, returned to Chamonix in 2005 when he was 15 years old to ski the run where his father died.

It is also the story of Bill Kerig's personal quest to make a movie that will enable skiers and non-skiers alike to "see what it is that makes this mountain life so special that people are willing to die in order to live it."

Kerig, a self-proclaimed "has-been pro-skier," wrote the book and then joined forces with Peter Schweitzer to make a documentary film about the event. Kerig's telling of this real-life adventure remains true to mountain culture while offering non-skiers a timeless, human tale.

Tickets are $10 For reservations or information, call the Firehouse box office at 978-462-7336 or visit www.firehouse.org.

'Gifts Galore' at Port Art Association

The Newburyport Art Association's annual Members' Holiday Show & Sale "Gifts Galore" opens tomorrow at its galleries at 65 Water St. in Newburyport.

The show features affordably priced, handcrafted artwork representing a variety of media, including framed as well as matted works in oil, acrylic, watercolor, pastel, drawing, mixed media, print making, plus traditional and digital photography. Juried fine crafts will also be available, including jewelry, pottery, ceramics, wood carvings, holiday houses and more.

The show runs through Dec. 23. A reception takes place Friday, Dec. 4, from 7 to 9 p.m. in conjunction with the first Newburyport Invitation Night of the season. The art association will also be open late for the second Invitation Night on Dec. 11.

Gallery hours are Mondays and Wednesdays through Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays from 1 to 5 p.m. Call 978-465-8769 or visit www.newburyportart.org.

Purple Sage Pottery spins open house

Purple Sage Pottery at 3 Mechanic St. in Merrimac presents a studio open house and sale on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m.

Sixteen potters and sculptors will exhibit and sell a variety of clay works, from functional stoneware and porcelain, including teapots, mugs, plates and bowls of every size and shape, to one-of-a-kind decorative pieces and sculpture.

The participating artists are Purple Sage Pottery owner Iris Minc, Mochizuki Fumihiko, Beth Bell, Ana Guerra, Peter Grams, Christina Bellinger, Peter Hope, Gary Rathmell, Bonnie Jean Malcolm, Kathy Kriegel, Jim Selman, Lisa Mistretta, Wayne Jope, Eliza Goodell, Beth McKinney and Hiromi Satoh. Grams will be doing potter's wheel demonstrations both days, and refreshments will be served.

Call 978-346-9978 or visit www.purplesagepottery.com.

Fall Studio Show for potters, abstract artist

Local potters Barbara Haack and Jim Selman and abstract painter Diana Philip team up for a weeklong Fall Studio Show opening Sunday at Barberry Pottery, 102 Main St., West Newbury.

The show will feature hand-built mugs and platters, wheel-thrown casseroles and bowls made of stoneware and porcelain, and colorful, abstract paintings. In addition, woven scarves from Guatemala to benefit the Long Way Home organization, which seeks to break the cycle of poverty among youth in developing communities by creating educational opportunities, cultivating civic interaction and encouraging healthy lifestyles, will be for sale.

Show hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily through Nov. 22. A reception is planned for Saturday, Nov. 21, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Call 978-363-2245.

Young adult novelists talk urban fantasy

The brother and sister authors of "Another Faust," Dina and Daniel Nayeri, will hold a discussion about the writing process and their new young adult novel tomorrow at 5 p.m. at Newbury Town Library, 0 Lunt St., Byfield.

The book is an urban fantasy that follows a group of five teens through their experiences at the elite Marlowe School. Readers of all ages, but particularly teens, are invited to the author night. Pizza and refreshments will be provided by the Friends of the Newbury Public Library. Visit www.newburylibrary.org.

Author gives insight into 'Lost & Found'

Award-winning author Kate St. Vincent Vogl highlights her new memoir, "Lost & Found: A Memoir of Mothers," Saturday at 4 p.m. at The Book Rack, 52 State St., Newburyport.

Vogl says she never thought she'd let her birth mother into her life, but then her mother died of ovarian cancer, and her birth mother found her through the obituary. She shares her ensuing emotions and experiences in her book.

Admission is free. Call 978-462-8615 or visit www.bookrackbookstore.com.

Benefit art auction for Chaplaincy Institute

A Spiritual Art Auction to benefit the Chaplaincy Institute of Maine and Massachusetts takes place tomorrow from 6:30 to 9 p.m. at Belleville Community Church, 300 High St., Newburyport.

Paintings, photography, crafts, restaurant coupons, body work, retreats and more will be up for bid in both silent and live auctions. Food and drinks will be available. There will be raffles, and the annual "planetary chaplain" award will be presented.

Proceeds will be used for scholarships. The Chaplaincy Institute of Maine is an interfaith wisdom school and open community committed to transformation of the self and Earth through education, ordination, support, celebration and service.

Tickets are $15 in advance, available at Jabberwocky Bookshop in The Tannery in Newburyport, or $17 at the door. Visit www.chimeofmaine.org for more.

Lighthouse Auction supports Port education

The Newburyport Education Foundation will hold its second annual Lighthouse Auction to benefit the Newburyport public schools Saturday from 5:30 to 10 p.m, at Nicholson Hall, 9 Harris St., Newburyport.

Tickets are $20 in advance, $30 at the door, and will include a light bar and complimentary hors d'oeuvres.

Visit www.newburyportef.org/donate/donations/general, call 978-462-4967 or e-mail the4minnows@yahoo.com for more.

Firehouse auditioning for New Works Fest

The Firehouse Center for the Arts in Newburyport is holding auditions for its 2010 New Works Festival Sunday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the theater in Market Square

The festival will be staged Jan. 22, 23, 29 and 30. There are many roles available for men and women of all ages in 14, 10-minute plays and two full-length works. Full-length plays will be presented as staged readings; all 10-minute short plays will be memorized.

Actors should prepare two contrasting monologues, not to exceed a total of one minute per monologue. The monologues do not need to be memorized. Readings from a script may also be required. Bring a resume/bio of theater experience; a head shot is optional.

Call the Firehouse at 978-462-7336 or visit www.firehouse.org.

Sharpen prose for Novel Writing Month

Newburyport Public Library is observing National Novel Writing Month in November by hosting writing groups on Mondays, Nov. 16, 23 and 30, from 6:30 to 8:45 p.m. Anyone working on a novel is invited to attend. All ages and writing abilities are welcome.

For more, contact Donna Childs at the library at 94 State St. at 978-465-4428 or visit www.NaNoWriMo.org.

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