The Courier-Journal from Louisville, Kentucky • Page 22

mmmm MOVIE. MUSIC AND THEATER OPENINGS AND PERFORMANCES earlier In the evening with Rachmaninoff's seldom-performed Piano Concerto No. 4 in minor. It's a vapid piece, repeating gestures more exuberantly made in the composer's Second and Third Piano Concertos, and Bates was in constant trouble in its performance. Uncomfortable from the outset, and becoming increasingly insecure technically, Bates suffered a memory lapse that twice brought the third movement to a halt At the second breakdown, he rose to glance at Smith's score, and then courageously continued to the end.

But it was an unhappy experience. The program opened with Mussorgsky's "Khovanshchina" prelude, a work that makes little impact divorced from the sprawling but magnificent opera that follows it in the theater. The concert will be repeated tonight at 8. power. It was very much in a modern style, emphasizing forward movement and pulling back from excessive sentiment There was some rhythmic give-and-take In the famous languid melody that is often repeated in the first movement, but the conductor was more at ease in the fiery turbulence of this movement's development section.

The waltz flowed easily, and the march, despite some faulty articulation from the strings, moved to a sweeping climax. It was in the last movement, however, that Smith was at his most eloquent. With unforced intensity and glowing sound, he brought the work to a close on a note of genuine tragedy, avoiding the mood of self-pity that less scrupulous conductors exploit. It provided a powerfully affecting climax to a commendably honest performance. Leon Bates made his Louisville debut tique." Occupying the second half of the program, it got a coherent, intensely musical performance under music director Lawrence Leighton Smith's baton.

The "Pathetique" is one of Tchaikovsky's most popular works, but it is also one of his most difficult to bring off successfully. Unless a conductor sidesteps its constant invitations to wear his heart on his sleeve, it can quickly become an exercise in bathos, especially in its outer movements. The temptations for emotional excess begin early, in a darkly moody introduction, and they culminate in the final "Adagio lamentoso," which sinks slowly into hopeless despair. The two middle movements, a limping waltz and a blazing march, are less problematic, but they make virtuosic demands that dare not be met casually. Smith commanded an alert performance, handling the work with passion and Louisville Orchestra MUSIC REVIEW By WILLIAM MOOTZ Staff Critic The Louisville Orchestra's concert at the Kentucky Center for the Arts last night could well have been billed as a preview of its contribution to next fall's Classics in Context Festival, when Louisville's major arts groups will mount a salute called "The Russians." The major difference was that, instead of music by Scriabin, Prokofiev and Gu-baidulina scheduled to be performed next fall, last night's program was devoted to works by Mussorgsky, Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky.

The concert's only piece of consequence was Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6 in minor, the "Symphonie Pathe- The Wiz' THEATER REVIEW been convicted of the murder of a Chinese gang member in New York's Chinatown. Though evidence of Kim's innocence Is flimsy, at best, Dodd somehow senses an injustice and agrees to fight to reopen the case. What follows is a suspenseful, action-filled thriller, with prime moments of humor and excitement in and out of the courtroom. Woods is probably the most highly regarded American actor who never starred in a major hit movie, but "True Believer" may change that The film is the ideal match of character, material and actor.

Woods' Dodd is complex, guarded, edgy, explosive and daring. It's the first standout film portrayal of 1989. Downey offers an appealing portrait in support as the law school graduate who comes of age under Dodd's wing, while Kurtwood Smith is cool and controlled as Dodd's courtroom adversary, a politically powerful district attorney. The script by Wesley Strick is a little too embellished, yet offers appealing complexity and strong characters. The direction by Joseph Ruben, however, underscores the powerful moments and gives the characters room to breathe.

He showed a talent for suspense In his cult hit "The Stepfather." He adds depth of character, visual texture and humor to his resume with this film. "True Believer" makes evocative use of Greenwich Village and Chinatown locations and Includes well-staged action scenes. At Showcase Cinemas. Rated for profanity and violence. 'Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure' MOVIE REVIEW erences to "babes" and "dudes" and whose only goal seems to be the glorification of dullness and dimwittedness.

Directed by Stephen Herek, fresh from "Critters," "Excellent Adventure" Is a time-travel comedy about two high-school students who can't pull themselves away from heavy-metal dreams long enough to study their history. On the verge of flunking Bernie Casey's history class, their only hope is to ace a final oral report Before you can say "contrived," along comes space traveler George Carlin. He presents the boys with a magic phone booth that allows travel through time. With it the boys can collect the ultimate show-and-tell such historic personages as Socrates, Abe Lincoln, Billy the Kid, Genghis Khan, Beethoven, Freud, Joan of Arc and Napoleon. Unfortunately, the script by newcomers Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon never gets beyond this one-joke dimension.

No attempt is made to give these characters even the slightest characterizations; they might as well be cardboard cutouts. If your idea of humor is watching Napoleon on a waterslide, or Joan of Arc lead an aerobics class, well, that's about as good as this gets. The story Itself isn't original I vaguely remember a child-oriented TV series involving a similar time-travel theme a few years ago. That show was so weak I can't remember the title, but it was still better than this film. At the center of this not-very-adventurous adventure are the two teens, overplayed in the worst "Yo, Dude!" style by Alex Winter and an especially unhinged Keanu Reeves.

The movie even looks like a high school project, with lots of bland lighting and obvious sets. Only one brief sequence looks spectacular, depicting Napoleon's French army In battle with the Russians. But that's explained by the credits: It's stock footage from the film "War and Peace." Somehow I knew the scenes weren't from this production. At Showcase Cinemas, Green Tree 4. Rated pa.

1 r-v Lion and Darryl Maximilian Robinson as the bombastic Wizard of Oz also do yeoman service. This production has some strange additions. The lion is arrested in a poppy field by two toe-walking mice wearing sport coats and calling themselves "Miami Mice." The dialogue seemed mostly to serve as a transition from one song or laugh to another. The gags at times obscured the real power of the tale. The audience sees Dorothy and the others grow up by discovering their inner selves, but the changes that shape their enlightenment and make it a believable transformation are missing.

Also missing, except until the end, is the camaraderie that bound the lovable cast of castoffs to each other and us to them. Nevertheless, Derby Dinner's production of "The Wiz" is entertaining if not enchanting. It runs through March 19. True Believer' MOVIE REVIEW By JACK GARNER Gannett News Service One of the day's most charismatic and visceral actors gets to shine as an aggressive, eccentric attorney in the taut courtroom thriller "True Believer." James Woods plays Eddie Dodd, a onetime counterculture courtroom hero who has put his ideals on the shelf. Dodd, a character loosely based on real lawyers J.

Tony Serra and William Kunstler, was the renegade hero of several important trials in the rebellious '60s. As the film opens, his passionate past is now the stuff of faded newspaper clippings, and he rationalizes his present career defending sleazy drug dealers. Prompted by his idealistic young assistant (Robert Downey however, Dodd is reluctantly drawn into a case with a cause when he agrees to defend an unjustly condemned prison inmate. Shu Kai Kim is a young Korean who has spent some eight years in Sing Sing, having By JOHN PILLOW Staff Critic The familiar characters are all there in Derby Dinner Playhouse's production of the Tony-winning musical "The Wiz," just as endearing as ever. But this all-black version of L.

Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" could have used a little less laugh and a little more of the magic that has made the story timeless. Producerdirector Bekki Jo Schneider has adroitly mixed the dance, music and costuming to fit the limitations of Derby Dinner's small stage. Schneider, now in her fifth year with Derby Dinner, has plenty of experience in directing for a small venue. But it is a difficult task that should not be taken lightly, especially in a musical that transports a girl from a Kansas farm to the Emerald City and back. The "wind" that whisks Dorothy away (Toto didn't make this trip) is created by four dancers swirling banners.

The Munchkins wear hoop skirts that hide them as they sit on chairs with wheels. The Yellow Brick Road Is created by dancers wearing golden costumes. Choreographer Barbara Cullen-Bauer, who also must make do with less, showed great ingenuity. Shirese Hursey is a charming and convincing Dorothy. It is also no easy task to re-create a role that has been Indelibly stamped by Judy Garland's performance in the 1939 film and by Stephanie Mills' in the Broadway version of "The Wiz." Hursey, more than any other cast member, succeeds in casting away the inevitable comparisons.

K. Bartholomew Ray is a likable and funny Scarecrow. Schneider does a good job in giving him a loose rein with the comedy. Stanley White as the Tin Man is also an accomplished comedic actor, and his rendition of "To Be Able to Feel" is one of the production's most memorable numbers. Mark Lawrence, as the Cowardly By JACK GARNER Gannett News Service "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure" is a silly, sloppy preteen comedy whose literary ambitions peak with endless ref Saturday.

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