The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • Page 381

i 1 1 SEND IN A MONSTER "DRACULA" (Bcla Lugosi) and other Universal classic movie monsters will be honored by the U.S. Postal Service with a collector's series to be issued Sept. 30. Other scary stamp guys: the Mummy and Frankenstein's monster (Boris KarlofT), Phantom of the Opera (Lon Chaney) and the Wolf Man (Lon Chaney VS. Postal Service I KM' mm MORNING REPORT Arts and entertainment reports from The Times, news services and the nation's press.

ENTERTAINMENT SitCOm Shuffles: NBC has replaced Mel Gorham, the lead in its upcoming fall comedy "Union Square," with Constance Marie, last seen in the movie "Selena." Gorham, a Latina actress who appeared in the movie "Smoke," was not well-received during screenings of the pilot episode, and the Thursday 8:30 p.m. series which was to have been built around an aspiring actress working in a New York diner will now be "more of an ensemble," NBC said. Meanwhile, the network is also revamping "Men Behaving Badly," with first-season stars Ron Eldard and Justine Bateman leaving and two new characters, played by Ken Marino (of the comedy troupe the State) and Jenica Bergere joining Rob Schneider in the show. Mommy Advice: New York officials apparently think Madonna needs some help with her parenting skills. After seeing a photo of baby Lourdes peering outside a window of Madonna's apartment, Madonna received written notices from both City Councilman Kenneth Fisher and the health department that New York City requires steel, cage-like bars on windows in all homes with small children.

The law is an attempt to stop the all-too-frequent falls that killed five small children in 1995 (singer Eric Clapton's 4-year-old son died in a similar accident in 1991). Madonna was told she could face a $1,000 fine if she doesn't comply. QUICK TAKES For the second year in a row, "Murphy Brown" star Candice Bergen has taken her name out of the running for an Emmy for comedy series lead actress. Also missing from the list of lead acting candidates which can be submitted by the stars themselves or the series' producers are Bill Cosby and Roseann. "Steel Pier," the new Kander and Ebb musical, is the first big casualty of Broadway's busy spring season.

It will close June 28 after 76 performances, at a loss of more than $7.5 millioa "We were undone by the failure to win a single Tony Award despite 11 nominations," producer Roger Bertind said. Ozzy Osbourne fans began tearing down fences and lighting small fires at an amphitheater in Columbus, Ohio, Tuesday night when they learned that the rocker was sick and would not perform that night at his multi-band namesake concert, Ozzfest One person was arrested and 12 others were cited in the incident, which left three people with minor injuries. Hillary Rodham Clinton came to the defense of the embattled National Endowment for the Arts Wednesday by calling a Republican-led effort to effectively eliminate the agency "embarrassing." On Tuesday, a House Appropriations subcommittee voted 6-5 along party lines to give the NEA only $10 million next year the amount NEA officials say they would need to close down. SHAUNA SNOW BOB CAREY Angela Tinwt Winsome Pinnock's new play "Mules" stars Saundra Quarterman, left, Gail Grate and Bahni Turpin in multiple roles. Fine Acting Carries 'Mules' Theater review: Taper's New Theatre finale states the obvious about drug-runners, but the writing and actresses shine.

balks at using her body to transport drugs to London. No poor woman, however, can escape the honey-tongued Bridie (Saundra Quarterman) or her siren song of good clothes, a nice hotel and travel. Lyla finds out soon enough that the price for these luxuries is too high. After returning to a life of poverty in Jamaica, she eventually takes the less dangerous, lower-paying job of working in the sun in the ganga fields, her baby strapped to her back. Grate gracefully conveys that Lyla has kept her soul intact.

Bahni Turpin plays Lyla's less fortunate sister, Lou, who ends up doing hard time. She has a tough-vulnerable quality that also suits her well in her role as a London street urchin. Quarterman is smoothly evil as Bridie. With her plotting and flattering and lying and smiling, she suggests a modern-day Richard III. But alas, the ghost that Bridie believes is haunting her is too bald a symbol.

The ghost is simply the conscience we always hope haunts the heart of so gifted a villain. Winnock, and in some cases Peterson, has a tendency to highlight what is already obvious. In one such scene (which is really second-rate Churchill), two women in a prison cell TUm we Page 5 they are more likely to get caught and go to jail. If the play is uneven, the acting is not Three women each juggle multiple roles with finesse, and they make a truly impressive ensemble. Much of the credit goes to the director, Lisa Peterson, both for the actors' fluid transitions between characters and for the use of the space.

With the help of set designer Christopher Barrecka, Peterson has cleared away the stage, literally: The action takes place on a wooden platform, artfully lighted by Geoff Korf. This barren configuration makes the Taper feel more intimate and rougher, appropriate for the play's settings, which include the London streets, a poor Jamaican neighborhood, a jail cell and a ganga (or marijuana) field. The three actresses are onstage virtually throughout, making quick changes with only costuming accessories and by rearranging three wooden chairs. Gail Grate is fine as a well-heeled comrade of Bridie's, but she is particularly bewitching i' Lyla. a Jamaican, woman By LAURIE WINER TIMES THEATER CRITIC ridie, the mid-level boss in an Mjf international drug-smuggling ring, fljis as well-dressed, heartless and "articulate as a villain in a James Bond movie.

The only difference is she's black, a woman and she believes she is haunted by a ghost. Bridie preys on the poor women of London and the Caribbean in "Mules," the episodic new play having its U.S. debut as the last work in the Mark Taper Forum's New Theatre for Now series. Like Bridie, the play is a mixture of the usual and the unusual, the familiar and the unexpected. British playwright Winsome Pinnock clearly owes something to the plays of Caryl Churchill, particularly to "Top Girls" and "Fen." Yet despite some wonderful writing in parts, "Mules" is content to state the obvious.

Poor women become drug-runners, or mules, because they have no prospects. Since they are On the LOS ANGELES TIMES WEEKEND I JUURSD41L.