Best bets

NJPAC Jubilation Choir

In a special holiday performance, The New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) Ju bilation Choir makes its debut in "A Joyous Gospel Holiday." Appearing as soloists with the choir are acclaimed gospel singers Donnie McClurkin and Cissy Houston. The program will consist of contemporary and classic gospel hits. Tilles Center. 7 P.M. Dec. 17. Tickets: $35, $30, $25 (se3niors $32, $27, $22). TillesCharge 299-3100.

A holiday tradition continues

Musica Sacra, called by Opera News "the Cadillac of the New York choral scene" returns for its 13th consecutive presentation on LI of Handel's MESSIAH. The work will be performed in its complete, unabridged version. Tilles Center. 8 P.M. Dec. 15. Tickets: $45/$37/$30 (seniors $42/$34/$27), 299-3100.

Special Events

Yultide of yesteryear...

"Candlelight Evenings" this year will feature a special exhibit highlighting the history of Christmas on LI. The ambience created by the flickering candlelight inside at least seven of the restored buildings should enchant. Popular 19th Century music and entertainment will also be highlighted. Old Bethpage Restoration, Old Bethpage. Open from 5 to 9:30 P.M. Dec. 23 & Dec. 26 through 30th. Admission: $6/adults, $4/children, 5-12. Info: 572-8400.

Brotherly love

With a brother like Fudge, life is never dull and more excitement is on the way. Judy Blume's children's bestseller Superfudge will be performed by Theatreworks at Friends of the Arts Carousel Series for Children. Jeanne Rimsky Theatre, Landmark, Port Washington. 1:30 & 3:30 P.M. Dec. 10. Recommended for children 5-10. Tickets: $8 all ages.

Bloomin' nights

The "Blooming Lights" celebration offers whimsical botanical and winter scenes with 46 illuminated sculptures and garden scenes. Outdoor tent exhibits large G-scale model trains. Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Fri.-Sun. 5-9 P.M. through Dec. 24/every night from Dec. 26-31.

Festive grace

Old Westbury Gardens has become a family tradition on L.I. From madrigal singers to Santa, a variety of activities take place amid the decorated rooms of Westbury House. Old Westbury Gardens, Old Westbury. Open 11 A.M.-4 P.M. through Dec. 11.Visit the West Porch with its "Enchanted Forest" decorations for hot cider and cookies and visit with Santa. For entrance fees and complete holiday schedule call 333-0048.

Music

Hot cold night

Hot Winter Night III, featuring rock and roll trendsetters Paul Revere & The Raiders, Gary Puckett, and The Buckinghams will explode with the chemistry of Revere's fun loving personality and hits that made them famous. Westbury Music Fair. 8 P.M. Dec. 9. Tickets: $32.50, (631) 888-9000.

Christmas with the Nassau Pops

The Nassau Pops Symphony Orchestra's holiday concert includes music from the classical "Messiah" and "The Nutcracker" to a sing-a-long of Christmas favorites - also with the Mineola Choral Society. Admission Free. Corpus Christi Church, corner of Willis & Garfield Aves., Mineola. Info: 565-0646.

Don't it make your brown eyes..

Crystal Gayle will bring out holiday spirit in everybody as she sings songs including selections from her two inspiritational CDs. Westbury Music Fair. 3 P.M. Dec. 10. Tickets: $30, (631) 888-9000.

An Irish Christmas

Anthony Kearns, Ronan Tynan and Finbar Wright, also known as The Irish Tenors, will enchant as some of the world's best three-part harmony moves over the audience. The trio has been seen on WLIW's recent pledge drives and has received world-wide acclaim. Westbury Music Fair. 8 P.M. Dec. 14. Tickets: $50, (631) 888-9000.

Jazz vocalist

Michael Franks, one of modern pop music's most enduring and romantically inclined performers, makes a rare NY appearance in Reckson Jazz at Tilles. His smooth, silky vocals on such hit recordings as "Popsicle Toes," "Your Secret's Safe With Me" and the recent "Barefoot on the Beach," thrill jazz lovers. 8 P.M. Dec. 8 Tilles Center. Tickets: $32, $20 (seniors $29, $27). TillesCharge 299-3100.

Chamber singers

A concert of seasonal Renaissance and contemporary choral works for a cappella and organ-accompanied mixed-voice and women's chamber choir. Christ Church, Oyster Bay. 3 P.M. Dec. 10. Tickets: $6, $5 (seniors).

Theater

Einstein - a stage portrait

Actor John Crowther puts on a one-man show about Albert Einstein. It's 1946, when he receives a group of friends at his Princeton home to "set the record straight" about the misconception that he invented the atomic bomb. With charm and humor he strips some of the mystery from his Theory of Relativity. Nassau Community College Center Building. Admission free. 11 A.M. Dec. 6. Info: 572-7153.

Album

David Rimmer's comedy about coming of age in the turbulent 1960s. An "intimate and hilarious slice of truth", writes one critic. Mainstage Theatre, South Campus, Nassau Community College. 8 P.M. (except Sun. at 3 P.M.) Dec. 7-10, 13-17. Tickets: $7 (seniors/students $5). Info/Box Office: 572-7676 or 7509.

Children's theater

Through the magic of musical theater, favorite children's classic comes to life in American Family Theater's Valley Forge Dance's The Nutcracker on Dec. 28. Tickets: $12.50. Westbury Music Fair box office, and Tickmaster: (631) 888-9000.

50's music

"Forever Plaid" celebrates the goofy reincarnation of four male singers killed in a car crash on the way to their first big concert and now miraculously revived. The show includes a series of well-loved pop hits as "Three Coins in the Fountain," "Moments to Remember," "Catch a Falling Star," and "Heart and Soul." The Stage, 2222 Hewlett Ave., Merrick. Through Dec. 12. Tickets: $15. Seniors $10 on Sundays only. Reservations: 868-6400.

A new holiday tradition

The LI Philharmonic Orchestra brings BRAVO! Holidays to LI. Complete program is a balance of vocal and orchestral holiday favorites, including sing-a-longs of such children's favorites as "Jingle Bells" and "Frosty the Snowman." Young pallates will be also introduced to such classical favorites as Vivaldi's "Winter" from "The Four Seasons." 4 P.M. Dec. 10. Tilles Center. Tickets: $30/$25/$20/$15 and half-priced for children. 393-2222.

Belle and the beast

This operetta was written by Barbara Schaap based on the classic French fable "Beauty and the Beast." Children will enjoy the ocean voyage, tropical storm, and shipwreck the even more than love story between Belle and Jean-Luc. Tickets: $8. "Into the Woods" by Stephen Sondheim is blended with the "Cinderella" fairy tale into a musical with a twist. 8:30 P.M. Fridays. Performance times vary: Call 599-1982. Tickets: $15 adults, $13 seniors/students. Fantasy Playhouse, 317 Mewrrick Rd., Lynbrook.

Art

Dali and friends

Two Surrealism exhibitions "Dali: Works on Paper" and "Surrealism", offer rare opportunity to experience locally the works of the century's artistic masters of dreams and the unconscious. Through Jan. 14. Nassau County Museum of Art, Roslyn Harbor. Hours: 11 A.M.-5 P.M. Tues.-Sun. Admission: $4 adults, $3 seniors, $2 children. Docent-led tours, 2 P.M. each day except Sun. Info: 484-9337.

Pollock to Wyeth

Aaron Copland's New York shows the sharp contrasts of New York City as a sleepy seaport with the angular, soaring thrust of skyscrapers, the speed and complexity of the subway system and the sometimes serene pleasures of the city's leafy parks. (Through Jan. 7). Aaron Copland's America exhibition includes depictions of the composer by a diverse group of American artists and photographers, and an exploration of Copland's American spirit and its parallels in the visual arts the inclusion of works by artists such as Picasso, Chagall, Dali, O'Keefe, Benton, Weber, Wood and Hartley/ among others. (Through Jan. 21.) Heckscher Museum, Main St. (Rte 25A) and Prime Ave., Huntington. Hours: 10 A.M. - 5 P.M. Tues. - Fri. Admission: suggested donation $3 adults/$1 children. Info: (631) 351-3250.

Friends and colleagues

A special exhibition, Four Artists, Four Objects, Ten Years, features the artwork of four contemporary American female artists and their still-life paintings (through Dec. 15.) Showing the work of Janet Fish, Sondra Freckelton, Nancy Hagin and Harriet Shorr, four talented painters who are friends as well as colleagues. Emily Lowe Gallery. Hofstra University. Admission free. Hours: Tues.-Fri. 10 A.M. - 5 P.M.; Sat., Sun. 1 P.M. - 5 P.M. Closed on holiday weekends. Info: (516) 463-5672.