The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • 95

I 6 Part VI-Wed May 7, 1980 Cob Angeles Slimes aVJUlP eejsssae- LONI ACKERMAN'S ROAD TO 'EVITA' PREVIEWS THIS FRI. 830 SAT. 230 HENRY CLORIS GEORGE FOiiDA LEACHMAII GRIZZARD "THE OLDEST UViilG GRADUATE" And from the first day of rehearsal to the rave reviews, Ackerman has called it an unparalleled experience. "The minute Jon (Cypher, who plays Peron) and Scott (Holmes, who plays Che Guevara) and I saw one another we were like the three Stooges. We became one person.

The whole rehearsal period, we could do no wrong. Hal laughed for four weeks. We all thought we had died and gone to heaven." Despite the startling fact that Ackerman has only had one year of formal training as a singer learned a technique that never helps when I'm in she sails through the enormously demanding role of Eva with deceptive ease. "I don't think it's hard if you're in good health and good training," she said. "It's true that the first time we did 'Buenos Aires' all the way through my intestines were burning, but it's a matter of muscles, building stamina.

It's such a joy for me to do the show that it carries me through. "I also think it's a natural gift. My great-grandfather was a cantor in Russia. It simply skipped two generations. I have the biggest rib cage in California.

Dancing teaches you breath control, too and I also picked it up in those early years listening to records and imitating the patterns." What does she think of Eva? "I don't think she was ever really classy. She learned to use the right forks and spoons, but I think she had a lot of chutzpah you know, pushy. Just like me. Very single- ijVE ON STAGE. Cement ONLY.

BOX OFFICE OPEN CHARGE BY PHONE: (213)852-1900 GROUP SALES: (213) 986-2908 TONIGHT LIMITED ENGAGEMEMT Continued from First Page seeing Carol Haney and Buzz Miller and Peter Gennaro doing 'Steam Heat' and thinking That's Then I saw 'Mr. Wonderful' and I saw Chita Rivera laugh on stage. Crack up. And I thought, 'That's for "I never told anyone. I had no brothers or sisters.

It was like a circus in my head. My mother and father probably knew I loved to sing and dance, but I don't know if they thought I was serious. "I would lock myself up in the living room for what I thought was an hour, and six hours would go by. My mother would be out working. My father (a doctor) would be at his office.

I would listen to records and sing. I heard an interview with Beverly Sills once in which she said that's how she also learned to sing by listening to arias and copying the voices." But Ackerman's parents must have been aware something special was going on. They sent her to ballet school at 5 was the class She attended Rudolf Stein-er's through the 10th grade and did the 11th and 12th at Professional Children's School "with the rest of the girls from Balanchine's (dancing school)," she said. Her parents were divorced when she was 9 and her mother, who was a textile engineer and designer, eventually married Sam Rubin, founder of Faberge, In time, she became a producer of Broadway musicals, the most successful of which was her revival of "No, No, Nanette" in which Ackerman played Betty from Boston. But that was much later.

isTx Shuberr Theorre mmCc MAJOR CREDIT CARD TICKET CHARGE (213)553-8101 FOP. INFORMATION 1 6P.0UP SALES CALL: 553-9000 See -OH 8TAQE" dkactory tor complete Information. mm mm muh ci WILSHIRE THEATRE 1 Mir I WILSMIHt At LA CHNIOA TONIGHT AT 8:30 minded and very stubborn." Enough of that will get you everywhere. "MARCIA WEAVES MAGIC AND FANTASY INTO A WORLD LESS TOLERABLE." -Mr. Etlackwell, KIEV Radio "ONE HELLUVA FUNNY LADY." -Gregg Hunter, KIEVShow Biz Weal "YOU WANT A GOOD TIME SEE MARCIA LEWIS AT THE WESTWOOD PLAYHOUSE." -Lee Melville, Drame-Logue PREVIEWS THIS FRI, SAT, SUN AT 8 pm by Kevin O'Morrlson the heartwarming chronicle of a family torn by World War I UCLA COMMITTEE ON FINE ARTS PRODUCTIONS Presents AMERICAN YOUTH SYMPHONY mWW IY1E.1TA Music Director and Conductor ALICE SCHOENFELD Violinist SUNDAY, MAY 11, 1980, at 8:00 P.M.

ROYCE HALL-UCLA PROGRAM SYMPHONIC METAMORPHOSES ON THEMES BY WEBER PAUL HINDEMITH CONCERTO IN MINOR FOR VIOLIN AND ORCHESTRA EMIL N. VON REZNICEK ALICE SCHOENFELD SYMPHONY IN MINOR CESAR FRANCK ADMISSION AND PARKING FREE A WORLD PREMIERE! TONIGHT AT TIME WAS by Shannon Keith Kelley a new human drama ot love, courage, and survival ILEWD CHARGE TIX: mat 957-4033 and Mum taenaes a good time girl In concert Jeff Rlzzo musical director LIMITED ENGAGEMENT THIS SAT. at 8:30 fti to NOW THRU MAY 18th CHARGE TICKETS 477-2424 FIRST FAMILY 3, OF THE CLASSICAL GUITAR THE WESTWOOD PLAYHOUSE 10686 Le Coote Awenue in Conlempo Westwood Center Convenient See "ON STAGE" directory tor complete formation. CELEDONIO, CELIN, ANGEL and PEPE Works by: Telemann, Bach, Sanz, Giuliani, Llobet, da Medina Albeniz, Breton, Chapi. $1 Q.SQ JJMtT.

$8.50 MBASSADOR phone charge. AUDITORIUM 577-5511 300 Wel Green Street. Pasadena MAY 6,7,8 0 "The house was always filled with people from the theatrical and musical world," Ackerman recalls of the Rubin household." Leonard Sillman, Leonard Bernstein were always passing through. When there would be a small gathering, Sam (Rubin) would often ask me to sing. By the time I got into 9th grade, Sillman wanted to put me in 'New Faces' but my mother said no.

She insisted I finish school and then do whatever I wanted. "When I reached 12th grade I was in Andre Eglevsky's ballet company doing all the character roles, but I never wore the tutus. That's when I knew I would never be a prima (ballerina). From here up," she said, pointing to her waist, "I could have been Makarova, but as a whole I was never very strong." The summer Ackerman finished high school she was a guest at the Spoleto Festival as a dancer. On her return to New York she auditioned for the Richard Maltby-David Shire "How Do You Do, I Love You" and got it.

And from that she went into "George which she still considers her first real Broadway break. Ackerman was only 19. She went on to do Charmin in "The Magic Show" on Broadway, got excellent personal notices in short-lived "So Long, 174th Street" opposite Robert Morse number was in the right and, in 1977, did very well in another Maltby and Shire piece, the revue "Starting Here, Starting Now," with which she toured to San Francisco, before she and Adiarte decided to give Los Angeles a try. They settled here in 1978. "I was lucky, very lucky," Ackerman reflected, "but I was spoiled, too.

Nothing had prepared me for the year and a half of no work at all that was to face me in L.A. It was completely foreign to me. "When I auditioned for 'They're Playing Our Song' and lost to Lucie Arnaz I got this idea that I needed TV exposure. It was like going up against a brick wall. I would go into an interview only to be told I had no film experience.

Twelve years of musical stage experience simply didn't count. I'd say, 'Give me a chance to show you' and they'd say. 'We can't give you a chance because you have no film credit' and I'd say, 'How can I get film credit if you don't give me a Ackerman had never auditioned for Hal Prince until he started scouting around for the second company of "Evi-ta." For a while she even resisted that idea, because she had grown so discouraged. But her husband pushed and she finally gave in. She prepared her three songs from the show, slicked back her hair, wore a Chanel suit and walked in with a chip on her shoulder.

"Hal wanted everyone to look as much like Eva as possible," she explained. "When I walked into the audition I was ready to fight A year and a half of hardships had strengthened me. But suddenly I felt at home. There were all these TV starlets with their entourages and I thought wait a minute now it's my turn. I've got the experience and they don't.

I guess that was a little bit of Eva coming through." The callback was at 9:30 a.m. Prince asked her to sing "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina" and proceeded to direct her. "I did everything he wanted," said Ackerman, "but coldly, as Eva would have, just staring at him. Finally, he said 'Everything's fine, I'll see you in I nearly dropped dead!" JERRY LEE LEWIS MAY 9-10 ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL BLASTERS i MAY 12-13 EARL SCRUGGS JOHN HARTFORD Spend An Evening in the Country for our Second Encore Night. MAY 17 ONLY! DOUG KERSHAW CANNED HEAT PECOS II jF1i I i ELVIN BISHOP MAY 19,20,21 FABULOUS STEAKS SEAFOOD THURS.

TALENT NITE 6907 Lankerahim N. Hollywood (213) 764-4010 ft UL3 FULLERTON CIVIC LIGHT OPERA Jazzed up. Saturday, May 10 7 PM-Midnight LYNN ANDERSON 0 Jazz news from Leonard Feather. Weekdays and Sunday in the Times Calendar section. CALARTS TO HOST MUSIC FETE CalArts will host the third annual World Music Festival, beginning today, with a six-hour marathon of music and dance from the cultures of Bali (Thursday), India (Friday), West Africa (Saturday) and Java (Sunday).

Admission is free and meals comprising the food of the cultures represented will be served each night at 6. MAY 16-JUNE 1 Frl. A Sal Fvanlnns 4.50 S.SO 6.50 7.00 LY "CRASH" CRADDOCK Thurs. Eva Sun. Mat.

$4 $5 $6 6.50tqOr Youth and Group Ratas Ph. 714879-1732 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Also at Mutual Aganclas A SUNDAY. MAY 11, 330 PM 1979 TONY AWARD a BEST PLAY SUSIE ALLANSON MY TILLOTSON iJMAIRIE NIGHTS ilMADEUS QUARTET A Coleman Chamber Comrrt Quartets by Mozart. Britten, Beethoven 18.

7. 6, 4 (studentl $2 oft) Tlcketron. Mutual. Caltech Ticket Office. VISA a MC charges 213793-7043 ($1 TODAY AT MO and 830 ONE OF THE GREATEST MUSICAL C0WDtS OF OUR TIME! MILTON BERLE UYS AND DOLLS A Musical Far el Broadway Based gn a Story and Characters ot 1 HE ELEPHANT MAN Tknmei are.

PI Only! Eves, at Thurs. a Sat. Mats, at 2:00. INFO and CHARGE BY PHONE: 1213 972-7654 Also Charge-Una: (213) 520-8010. Mutual Agencies, and Mall Ordsr.

Los Angsles Music Center, Center Theatre Group AHMANSON THEATRE. 135 N. Grand LA 90012. service charge per phone order) Caltech. Pasadena uecKman Auonorajni, AWfrrya PREVIEW THIS FRI.

t.30 i SAT. AT J.JO 1 AROUSEL MO May 7-10 Bino Theater ly et Southern (Worraa 00. Studentl Sr. Citizens All at regular prices! 12 00 use Booth Had a Mutual Agencies. Credit Card Phone Odors (213) 741-7111.

Music and lyrics by FRANK LOESSER Book by JO SWERLIN6 and ABE BUfWOWS milk JED ALLAN MAUREEN ArTTHUR ELIZABETH HANSEN CHARGE BY PHONE (213) 972-7M Vita, Plmaur Omege Tue. -Sel at (30. Sun. at 71 JT9 75, 5. Frl.

a Sal Eve. at 8:30: 121.75. 17. 12, i 5.75. Wed.

Mats, at to 50, 7 50, 3.75. Sal Mats, at 117 JO. M. 10. 6.

4.75. Tickets en tale at the Music Center Boi Office. Mon -Sal 10 A.M. Is Information (213) (72-7211. Also St 135 Mutual Agencies.

Group SsMS-1213) 72-75tM LOS ANGELES CTVTC LIGHT OPERA at the DOROTHY CHANDLER PAVILION of the MUSIC CENTER 136 No. Vara) Asa, Las Angelas, CA (0012 1 HE OLDEST LIVING GRADUATE" A Play By Preston Jones StorHmr HENRY FONDA CLOUS LEACH MAN GRQZARD At the Wltshlrs Thsstrs. (440 Wllshlrt WUshlrs at La Ciemga. Limited Engagement May 9-Juno 14. Box Office open or charge by phone (213) 852-1900.

OPEMNC MAY INTERIM THEATRE PASADENA PLAYHOUSE Fmi Plav at the Paiaitraa (THE ELEPHANT ttayfcoe eoci a theatrical by Rlckcri Noil, et The Ram Maker Author May w-Junes Evenmos: Tuesday 0 Friday 110 PM Early show Saturday lySWI iiitin Law snow aaruroay mju na Mamas Sunday 240 PM Evening Sunday JrOO PM Tickets: Tuesday thru Thursday $750 Friday ami Saturday Sundays 17 SO i IME WAS tw Shtnnon KtHh KcMvy Toss -Sun at 130. Sue. Mat at I CHAR6E TDL (714) 957-4033 and Mutual Agencies en the SECOND STAGE St SOUTH COAST REPERTORY South Coost Pbua, Costa Mess naynouse intarse Theatre TmiplH ttt S.JO; ewt. S.JO p.m. 5m.

st 7 JO Ssl. 6 See Afar 2:10 DEUGHTFULLY HILARIOUS AND WITTY LDON NOTTS AST OF THE RED HOT LOVERS By Nek Skiton Prtcet: 7 00-110 SO CMAPjGfT: (20) 044-BW1 (714) 9M-63W LA MIRAOA CIVIC THEATRE 14900 La Mirada Bt (Santa Ana Frwy-ftoeecrme extt) El Mokno. Bon Office: (2131 892-867? Group Sales: (213) 6-134 Kpnf nT Tomtit PD Tvs sever seen a more exciting show." Dm Sulhvm. LA. Timet TONIGHT AT PM LtMtTEO ENGAGEMENT! Now thru May "WALK RUN.

HOBBLE, OR CRAWL, BUT Gn THEE TO SEE MARCIA LEWS." Cmt afasartv. New York IjVITA The tmtnmtiemtl Utrml Hif Tubs, thru Sal eves, at 0.30: Sun. svss. at 7:30: Sal 4 Sun, mats, at 2 30 era Office Richard Alan Woody FOR INFO. REGARDING ABC DIRECTORY CALL 972-3000 Hours: Moa thru Sat NAM 9PM Sun.

lARCIA LEWIS 10AM Is erst Charge tickets by Yphone wroi mater croon caros: vt-eiui. a tood time girl concert Tins thru 30M: 7 PI 2:30 7:30 PM For Information and reservations est 477-2424. The Westwece) Playhouse. 1065 le Cents Ave. the Coa- formation a group saws can: 563 9000 Tickets evseaWe by mad.

at box office and aS Mutual and Ticketron agencas. Shubsrt Theatre. 2020 Ave. at the Stars. Los Aa- Watch for more special entertainment during our next four Encore Nights this May and June! Park Hours: Saturday Sunday, May 10 11, 9 AM-Midnight; Monday-Friday, 10 AM-7 PM.

geles. CA 90067. I.