Asbury Park Press from Asbury Park, New Jersey • Page 6

TEEN SCENE 6 ASBURY PARK EVENING PRESS, Mar. 18, 1967 RECORD PREVIEWS On-Stage, She 's a Short Giant WatenRearJa THEATRES Singing the Blues "By DON LASS- EQWrxQDLP ASBURY PARK 775-8881 I A poMMUivity pfowru FATnWTflWN I M10DU turned on the stereo to sing along with Barbra Streisand but Barbra couldn't be heard. SHE CURLED up in a modern chair in the den and talked about her future. She hopes to make the theater her career. "Now that I have this part in 'Hello things will really start coming my way," she said.

"But if you're not good, they won't keep you. In this business, they can always get someone else." She noted that almost everyone in the company has a tiny dog of his own that wears look-alike clothes. She hopes to soon get a Yorkshire terrier. And Mrs. Bellman, who makes Andrea's clothes, is willing to make matching ensembles for her daughter's dog.

MlDDUTCWa FlJrJI Sf HIKES SGSlIm: in the Virgin Islands. i JLr i Jf Wjk whereuhe Dad guys tare girls! ART 20th CEu mm Flint oictnttrt-. The IS tinifiii THtATKIS AIT rir HOW! 0 111 I JAMES COBURN jr run i srnta KAMI Cinemascope Color by DeLuxe i nancy, NATURALLY! Nancy WU-goo (Capitol 2634) Until this collection was released, Nancy Wilson's best work had come on collections of romantic tunes. In fact, Miss Wilson Is currently hailed as a queen of the torch song, with only Eydie Gorme and few others ranking alongside her in the popular Idiom. But Nancy Wilson can also sing the blues, and on this disc she dispels the feeling that she is just another disciple of the late Dinah Washington.

Here she is dealing with traditional blues, blues ballads, and popular tunes with a blues accent Her voice seems tailor-made for the emotion-charged storytelling these tunes demand. It's a crisp, clear Instrument, emerging from Billy May's Basie-like big band with a sense of urgency and perfect diction and enunciation. And though her style is still rooted in the Dinah Washington school, Nancy Wilson has developed a musical personality that is basically her own. She is a dynamic vocalist and she sings with far more conviction here than she did in earlier brushes with the blues. Her interpretations of "Ten Years of Tears," "You Ain't Had the Blues," "My Babe," "Smack Dad in the Middle," "Ain't That Lovin You," and "Alright, Okay, You Win" are nothing short of exciting.

And on "Willow Weep for Me" and "I Wish I Didn't Love You So" she caresses the lyrics while remaining rhythmically and dynamically imaginative enough to keep the slow tempi alive. Two moving blues ballads, "In the Dark" and "Just for a Thrill," get equal treatment. Don't miss this one; it's Miss Wilson's best. THE GEORGE BENSON COOKBOOK (Columbia CS-9413, CL-2613) With few exceptions, modern jazz guitarists have built their work upon the style and sound of the late Charlie Christian, the lamented innovator who changed the guitar from strictly a rhythm Instrument to an Important solo voice. Benson, a newcomer, Is one of these many Christian disciples and he is causing quite a ripple on the 1967 jazz scene.

Though the propaganda that preceded him exaggerated his talents, Benson is undeniably a strong improviser who knows his way around the- blues. He builds his lines logically and with a surging power, his tone is rich, and he has no difficulty articulating at fast tempos. His one problem is that his emotional range Is limited, but even on that count he has improved. Benson likes to swing, and he does this with authority on this collection, a second effort that is far superior to his first. But it Is not merely the leader's playing that makes this an exciting session.

Benson is the head of a very well-integrated quartet and on this occasion he had the fortune of persuading veteran trombonist Benny Green to sit in on two tracks. In Ronnie Cuber, the group has the most Interesting baritone saxophonist to arrive since Pepper Adams; his attack is rugged and his lines fresh. Lonnie Smith is a better than average organ soloist, and his accompaniment is superb. And Marion Booker and Jimmy Lovelace, who share the drum chair, push the soloists with a liquid smooth drive. And my how these Virgin lilandi PUZA bad ouvt ivnc irejirW 'A EXCLUSIVE AREA am ASBURY PARK Malt 1 5 mux ANDREA BELLMAN Nominated For 2 Academy Awards if FLINT i By MARYBETH ALLEN Press Staff Writer When you're only 4 feet, 104 inches tall, there's not much chance of standing out in a crowd.

But, when you're on the stage, height doesn't matter. The theater is a world unto Itself and Andrea Bellman of Ocean Township is a part of it. She made her debut March 10 in Rochester, N.Y., as a member of the National Touring Company of "Hello Dolly." At 17, she is a part of the production's showy grandeur and backstage bustle. Opening night was a whirl of telegrams, cards, kisses, and long-stemmed red roses. Carol Channing welcomed the petite blonde to the cast, called her out for a special curtain call, and kissed her in front of the entire audience.

The theater was filled to-capacity. There wasn't even standing room for her father, who had flown In especially to see her. AFTER THE show, Carol rented a theater, chartered buses, and took everyone to a performance of the film, "How to Succeed in Business. There was a party afterward where delicacies reigned. That was the night when Andrea's fairy tale dream came true.

It was the event that crowned a whirl of experiences that began when she was notified by her manager that she had been selected for the part. She had gone to the audition "for the fun of it, but hoping I would get the part." She explained that in the theater it's every girl for herself and even your best friend is out to defeat you if she can. For two years she has been attending Professional Children's School in New York. On days when there are auditions for desirable parts, silence stalks the halls. Everyone knows, but no one tells.

When all show up at the audition, they feign surprise and drawl, "Why, I never dreamed that you'd be here." ATTENDING HER school is an experience in itself. Students are permitted to attend classes In scanty skirts and full Mod regalia. Beatle-dos are allowed, but reportedly the fad is being cut short. If there were ever a fire drill, chances are the "school clothes" would take even a city slicker aback. Models wearing extra-mini skirts stroll the halls as though books were permanently upon their heads.

Ballerinas walk in first position, toes pointed horizontally out. Classmates include Soupy Sales' son and Mia Farrow's sisters. At an assembly the speaker may be Durwood Kirby or Sammy Davis Jr. Graduation will be held in June at Lincoln Center and seniors will select their speaker. Last year, diplomas were presented by Henry Fonda.

It's a place where Andrea can wear the Courreges boots that made her "different" when she attended school at the Shore. When local students found out she was interested in the theater, all they could think of to say was "Oh." Now, however, she has a world of her own, in- Mr "BEST FILM OF 1966! A Corb fbrti frtxIocSoft, Antonioni't BLOW-UP Vanessa Redgrave Dovid Hemming! Sotoh MiUt COLOR A hvrm hoMom Co. he falM TOMORROW I mwrr tut STACK SOMMCR size 12 so both pairs had to be specially made. The show will be presented at places including Detroit, Cleveland. Las Vegas, and Canada.

There is a possibility it may go abroad. Andrea may be small, but her voice comes through loud and clear. Last week when she was on vacation at the home of her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Felix Bellman, 410 Wells Ocean Township, she The PLAZA HUM hti KWAfU i Society ol llm OiliCi rN WW 1UMU TOMORROW! A iiiihup manhunt' amiss the capitals ol Exclusive Area Engagement ASBURY PARK ai'russ llirir ilccaups up to today! IS Nominated For 4 Academy Awards v.

CITY mm canst nam 35 7744272 Including Best Actress Lynn Redgrave! STHIS IS GEORGY. iTHIS IS GEORGY THIS IS GEMOT rv "T1 ROOMMATE. i roommate. habited by people who share bcr interests. WHEN SHE'S "on the road," she can sleep late until about 11 a.m.

She can have breakfast with other members of the company and afterward they can walk through the town. Their get-ups brand them unmistakably as actors. People ask for autographs and Andrea is pleased and flattered. The day is hers until half an hour before the curtain arises. If she's not at the theater by then, her understudy goes on and she's not paid for that night.

So far, Andrea has always been on time. She's discovered that there's no modesty in the theater. Scanty garments are backstage attire and aides are there to help with hasty costume changes. She plays Irma Guard, a tiny girl of her own age who has a boy friend more than 6 feet tail. In her part she and cries like a baby, 'hey're sounds that not everyone can make.

Working with Carol Channing, she enthuses, is "great" and when Miss Channing once cut off one of her "purrs," the star apologized profusely. BECAUSE OF Andrea's size, it's her first grown-up part. Before this she had played childrens' parts and acted as "Baby Bear." In the cast of more than 40, there are three other 17-year-olds. And another of her friends is a boy who's more than 6 feet tall. She met him first when they were being fitted for dancing slippers.

She takes a size 4, he takes a GATE OPEN 6:30 PM-MOVIES ATMS PI OMAR SHARIF TH3 KZZlt NOW TUS COLUMBIA PlClUHtS Prisnni BOTH IN COLOR mansion ucwiicacm TOMORROW it annri TtteOewJiOwvu I SUGGESTED FOR MATURE AUDIENCES I US Infill MOLD Mil ib, MdW6 NANCY WILSON and Lovers," "The Shadow of Your Smile," and "Spanish Eves." UNDERGROUND SOUL Houston Per-son (Prestige 7491) Person's is one of the more interesting jazz groups to emerge in the past few years. The leader is a tenor saxophonist with a lusty style and deep tone rsminiscent of Gene Ammons, and he plays with an assured drive and conviction one seldom finds in a newcomer. Add to to the authoritative Person horn the vibrant trombone of Mark Levine, Charles Boston at the organ, and Frank Jones' crisp drumming and you have a collective sound that is steeped in jazz tradition with a definite feeling for the music of today. Person's first album is a nicely balanced set of familiar tunes and originals, some played at dreamy tempos, most swinging at high speeds, all portrayed with admirable restraint. The tenor-trombone combination differentiates this group from the omnipresent tenor-organ-rhythm bands, and the playing of Person and Levine is surprisingly fresh.

For examples, listen to how they redesign the worn lines of "Strike Up the Band" and their driving solos on "Aleilula," an uptempo bossa nova. Person's warmth with a ballad Is indicated on Tadd Dameron's pretty "If You Could See Me Now" and his ability to swing with abandon is evident on "The Pimp." Also note the unusual approach to "What the World Needs Now." There's nothing startlingly new in what these fellows are doing, but they do it all with great command. BIG BEAT BAG: Holy Put-on! Or, peel off, if you so desire. The cover of THE VELVET UNDERGROUND NICO (Verve-5008) Is an original Andy Warhol creation (as are its contents for that matter) consisting of a big yellow banana on a field of white, In the upper right hand corner of which Is imprinted in fairly small type "peel slowly and see." Being an adventurous soul, I peeled the paper banana skin to find are you ready? and orangey pink skinned paper banana underneath. Upon examining the music on the disc inside this package, I found it as lifeless and inanimate as the discarded banana peel, touching every cliche In the rock 'n' roll spectrum while missing the genuine fun that good, big beat renderings can offer.

Oh well, the cover can always be framed and hung in the garage From paper bananas to THE ELECTRIC PRUNES (Reprise 6248), who are five young men from L.A. While much of their 6tuff is satisfactory but routine (especially the album's hit single, "I Had Too Much to their revitalization of the old chestnut, "About a Quarter to Nine," has a delightful charm of its own, as does "Tunerville Trolley," a raga-rock effort about life In daddy's day. However, the best cut on the album is "The King Is in the County House," a neo-classical rock rendering of an old nursery rhyme, which comes off as a merrily malignant madrigal about an avaricious king, his frustrate'! frau, and their neglected children. Taken at other than face value, the tune becomes a darkly delicious diatribe about contemporary values Although it's hardly as experimental as its name implies, THE WEST COAST POP ART EXPERIMENTAL BAND: PART ONE (Reprise 6247) manages produce a generally pleasant sound while reaching for psychydelic audio effects, none of which come across. However, judging from the photos accompanying the album, you sort of have to be there with th? lights flashing, the go-go girls going, the volume turned up so high that your eardrums vibrate to the point where you have to keep your mouth open constantly lest they burst to dig the overall "acid" feeling, a comment which might also apply to the Warhol happening.

All sides are of generally even quality, and none are particularly outstanding, either for better or worse In their latest effort, SAYING' SOMETHIN' (Verve 5010), the Righteous Brothers return to the rhythm and blues groove that has served them so laureLtQN 363-0042 Free Parkins FREE SMOKING SECTION Plus Jerry Lewis "WAY, WAY OUT" NOW SHOWING i WINNER OF 6 EzatorJtnwrj Double Thrill Shock Show mMm Mm I ACADEMY AWARDS! muNti tcPQMimouciat DAVID LEANS I ACRHS of TRF.E PARKlfiCl FILM 0HWM9EMUKS tiMtM SwIiii Eifm Ck( 'My Fair Lady In Rehearsal DOCTOR ZUlWGO Hwwioir ako ifftMcaot SECRETS OF THE FORBIDDEN WORLD REVEALED BY THE HIDDEN CAMERA Hurry! Last Times Today! mFREEHOLD "NIGHT OF THE GENERALS" The PLAZA 4 NEPTUNE CITY Co-Allraction Thriller iThe most peter UN DA'NanckSINATRA Feature Times Mon. thru Fri. 1:40 and 8:00 Sat. and Sun. 1:15, 4:45, 8:30 Disney's "BULLWHI? GRIFFIN" I "Tue fmr.mr.

kiilki" men swing! Green is outstanding on "Jump-in' With Symphony Sid" and "Benny's Back." Also try "Benson's Rider," "The Cooker," and the others. WILD BILL DAVIS. JOHNNY HODGES IN ATLANTIC CITY (RCA Victor 3706) -This session was recorded one hot night last summer in Atlantic City when nonpareil alto saxophonist Hodges visited organist Davis at the latter's warm weather place of business, a little club called Grace's Little Belmont. Hodges brought with him trombonist Lawrence Brown, a fellow side-man in the Duke Ellington orchestra, and when they aimed their horns over the enthusiastic audience things began to swing. Hodges, who has been at this game for over 40 years, never seems to tire.

His playing remains remarkably fresh and vibrant, always on top of musical matters. His tone, too, is still a model of purity; no one has surpassed it nor has anyone copied it successfully. Brown is also a veteran who plays with youthful zest while stylistically remaining himself. He, too. has few challengers on his instrument.

Davis, on the other hand, is not a great improviser, but he is a superb accompanist and his solos swing with a robust surge. For the most part, this is a collection of swing tunes, with the intensity building from the suave opening lines of "It's Only a Paper Moon" to the closing phrase of "Belle of the Belmont," subsiding only for Hodges's dreamy interpretation of "I'll Always Love You." This is rhythmically irresistable music and Hodges and Brown are at the top of their form on "Good Queen Bess," "In a Mellotone," "Taffy," "LB. Blues," and the rest. Dickie Thompson, a regular member of the Davis group, is the noteworthy guitarist. MUSIC FOR WIVES AND LOVERS -Nelson Riddle (Solid State 18013) Riddle's arrangements are like a breath of fresh air.

His sound is distinctive, his restraint admirable, his taste immaculate. Today his work remains much as it was when he first supported Frank Sinatra In the mid-1950s. The staccato trombone choir comments, the muted trumpet Interjections, the lilting strings, and the relaxed collective drive are still integral parts of the Riddle formula, with the injection of an organ as a solo and ensemble instrument the only major change notable. This collection, one of the best the arranger has done on his own, contains a dozen tracks, all variations of currently popular tunes like "Cabaret," "Winchester Cathedral," "Born Free," "Yesterday," and "A Man and a Woman." Each is cast in the familiar Riddle sound, and that means fresh melodic designs built around the various sections of Riddle's 42-piece orchestra. There's nothing exploratory in these scores, but they represent the ultimate in good taste and good listening.

Also included are "Music to Watch Girls By," "Somewhere My Love," "Strangers in the Night." "What Now My Love," "Wives gnu i lib jiiiuimvj iwn i THE WILD 1 our time! ANGELS: mom AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL Pearce, and Peggy Turnley as Mrs. Higgins. INCLUDED IN the chorus are Alexandria Reynolds and Pam Pentalieri, Neptune; Adrienne Jaffe, Lakewood; Larry Lippert and Suzanne Caton, Farmingdale; Harry Ailster, Asbury Park; Nancy Blumenkrantz, Long Branch; John Schnibbe, South Belmar; Maggie Morson, Red Bank; Deedee Rosenbloom and Angela Flynn, Deal, and Lois Dengrove, Ocean Township. The show will run through TODAY I SUN. KIDDIE SHOW H33VFair noiviMunjily iwl ASBURY PARK IAT0NT0WM parLtoiy RED BANK April 9.

UlDDIi M1DDLET0WJI DLGDNqUilM 11 MANASQUAN roiYiMuniiiLy I TOMS RIVER ASBURY PARK Rehearsals get under way today for the Asbury Playhouse production of "My Fair Lady," which will open the resident stock company's Spring '67 season in the Savoy a week from tonight. Casting the Alan Jay Ler-ner-Frederick Loewe musical based on George Bernard Shaw's "Pygmalion" was completed yesterday with the signing of Donna Curtis to play the title role. Miss Curtis, a frequent performer on television's "Time for Us" soap opera, has sung in the American Savoyards' production of Gilbert and Sullivan operas, played Cora in the touring company of "Little Mary Sunshine," and starred as Lady Audley in "Lady Audley's Secret" at the Center Stage in Baltimore. She has also appeared with the Long Wharf Theatre compa-any in New Haven. IN ADDITION to starring as Henry Higgins, Lawrence Keith will be making his local directorial debut.

For Keith, who appeared here last season in "The Tenth Man" and "Becket," doing "My Tair Lady" will mark a return to the days when he stood by and eventually went on for Rex Harrison in the original Broadway production. Others in the cast are: Leni Pentalcri as Mrs. Eynsford-Hill, Franklin Kiser as Freddie, Stephen Scott as Col. Pickering, David Thomas as Doolittle, Paul Savonen as Harry, Ward Stevenson as Jaimie, Jo Carpenter as Mrs. pieriinrj I iZEROAvosifeL philshvers fc-fc I Mm In A MCIVIN FRANK roduetie fW? RED BANK A FUNNYTHING tM 1 Happened on thb SWrVTOTriE FORUAwVj I -f NANCY CHRISTIAN 1t K.

KWANrMARQUAND Double tealure dhow Co-Attraction kWt Sean Connery 's IwHJJiN f.TTrrTirr-7- Ifeajd'BaTin well and vice versa. It a thoroughly entertaining album, but not a particularly exciting one in that the "brothers" Bobby Hatfield and Bill Medley appear to have developed very little since their first outing on this label. Of course, this could be due to these sides having been cut at a far earlier daie, and that the boys have been troupin around the country since then, singin' up a storm, and growin' like crazy, so that their next album will indeed have somethin to say. BARRY ROBINSON DONNA CURTIS TV ANSWER MAN Use PRESS Classified Ads For Tri i A A I WWW A. FI Q.

Could you tell me if Harry Morgan, of "Dragnet 1967," "Pete and Gladys" and various other shows, Is any relation to CLASSICIf, gan's real name is von Ost. "Dragnet" Morgan uses the "Harry" now, to avoid complete confusion with the panelist, but it's still likely to cause some mistakes. Henry Morgan of the "I've Got a Secret" panel? S.L.B., Wa-terford. Miss. A.

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