The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • Page 277

ENTERTAINMENTTHE ARTSTV LISTINGS SUCTION CALENDAR ORANGE COUNTY Eos Anodes Sfttnes SATURDAY MAY 5, 1990 HIGHLIGHTS Griffith Adds a Stormy Side to Her Message Orange County A MATTER OF JUDGMENT: Rep. Dana Rohrabacher will serve as a juror for a "conservative art" competition intended as a parody on the National Endowment for the Arts. F2 KID BEAT: "Silly Dancing" may be the glitziest production yet by the Sesame Street gang, but Lynne Heffley says it's far away from the TV show that inspired it. At the Anaheim Convention Center. F2 By MIKE BOEHM TIMES STAFF WRITER Nanci Griffith's reputation as a songwriter's songwriter has been built on evocative, closely observed tales about sweet romancers waltzing through life together, working folks struggling to stay afloat, and losers in love left to cope with I the distance and loneliness of separation.

I I On stage, she has been a winsome, demure figure, singing with a whispery, I -J I dreamy intimacy about old memories, or with a touch of sassy twang when her characters turn feisty. The dossier on Griffith lirVirt nlavc cnlrl DON TORMEY Los Angeles Times No cutbacks here Riders brace for the big splash as they whoosh off the Matterhorn bobsled ride at Disneyland. Theme Parks Keep Tap Turned On DEATH'S ROLE: "The Ar-kansaw Bear," with Michael Miller, above, in the title role, is a production by SCR's Young Conservatory Players, that opens the door for young people to discuss death. F2 LAST CHANCE Nanci Griffith out 'shows tonight and Sunday at the Coach House, is that she is a fetching singer with an intelligent song-book firmly rooted in folk and country traditions. Sensitive, smart and sweet.

But with her latest album, "Storms," Griffith has shown that she can also put barbs in a song, in a way that gets people's hackles up. One song, "Drive-In Movies and Dashboard Lights," annoyed some listeners with its tale of an empty-headed young charmer who wastes her youth in flirtation and winds up alone and semiliterate, "heavy of thigh and light on integrity." "When the record came out, a lot of people slapped my hand and said that was a very sexist song to write," the 35-year-old singer said over the phone from San Francisco, speaking ever cheerfully in her endearingly musical West Texas accent. Griffith's defense: "Drive-In Movies" isn't mere character assassination, but a message song about how some people are raised to place all importance on cosmetic, ephemeral values, at the expense of such lasting qualities as the ability to read a book and to judge right from wrong. As for the sexual stereotyping charge, she said, the song could as easily have focused on a boy raised to be a macho football hero as a girl groomed to do nothing but be popular and snare a man. The song from "Storms" that really can get tempers flaring is "It's a Hard Life Wherever You Go." The first verse laments the tragedy of religious strife in Belfast without taking sides, and the second indicts somewhat stridently an incident of racial hatred in Please see GRIFFITH, F7 The Irvine Community Theatre's production of "How the Other Half Loves" by Alan Ayckbourn closes at the Turtle Rock Park Community Club House, 1 Sunnyhill, Irvine.

Curtain: 8 p.m. Tickets: $5. Information: (714) 857-5496. been equipped in some cases with moisture sensors so plants are only watered when needed. "Most amusement parks use water wisely," Quinn said.

"We are not asking them to not use it wisely. Wasteful practices will not be tolerated by residents or amusement parks." Sources and Consumption of Water by Theme Parks An informal Times survey indicates that Disneyland is probably the largest water user of Southern California's eight major parks, although neither the grand-daddy of all theme parks nor Six Flags Magic Mountain would provide specific water consumption information to The Times. Magic Mountain spokeswoman Courtney Simmons refused to release the park's water consumption and said that because the size of her park is larger than other Southern California parks, any comparison could be negative. "We didn't want our park to look bad," she said. Disneyland also refused to release annual water-usage figures.

However, Disneyland has three times as many Please see WATER PARKS, F10 "They are industries," he said. "They employ a lot of people. In a water-saving situation, the industry and economy are protected at all costs. There will be mandatory residential restrictions before the industrial base is infringed upon." Annually, the parks draw an estimated 32 million visitors the majority visiting during the most popular months of June, July and August, park officials said. The major theme and water-slide parks employ about 17,000 additional people during the summer months to accommodate the larger number of tourists.

"A theme park is not the first place you would want to cut water," said Tjm Quinn, director of the State Water Project and Conservation Department. "They use it for entertainment purposes." Just because parks use a lot of water, however, doesn't mean that park officials are not conservation-conscious. In separate interviews, spokesmen at all eight parks said they are taking measures to fight the drought. Water used in rides and on the water slides is treated and recirculated: low-water toilets and special low-flow bathroom faucets have been installed in some park restrooms-, landscaping is being geared toward plants that demand less water and park watering systems have Drought: Even though they won't feel the pinch of rationing because of their 'entertainment industry' status, park officials are taking conservation measures. By DEBORAH A.

SAKAMOTO While most citizens are encouraged to drive dusty cars, let their lawns turn brown and forgo ordering water at restaurants, Southern California's major theme parks and water-slide complexes will be splashing through business as usual this summer. California enters its fourth drought-ridden summer next month, according to state water officials, but the millions of visitors at Disneyland, Knott's Berry Farm, Magic Mountain and five other amusement parks won't have to worry about coming through dry on Splash Mountain, Big Foot Rapids or Tidal Wave. Theme parks will be the last to feel cutbacks, said Tim Scrove, Metropolitan Water District media representative. HOT TICKET The always unpredictable theatrical-dance troupe Momix performs at 8 p.m. in the McKinney Theatre at Saddleback College, 28000 Marguerite Parkway, Mission Viejo.

Tickets: $12 to $14. Through Sunday. Information: (714) 582-4656. AMERICA'S 1 HIT IS PUTTING HIE TURTLES BACK IN THEIR PLACE! 'Simpsons' Help Fox Send a Signal ON THE RECORD "Having to go and listen to songs by other Nashville songwriters just because they felt I needed to have a country radio hit on every record I think it's an insult to the integrity of a songwriter, and to my own artistry." Nanci Griffith, singer who plays the Coach House in San Juan Caplstrano today and Sunday. Fl.

Programming: Despite fewer affiliates, the fourth network is making a stronger showing. AMERICA'S 1 SOfffiJYHiTIS PRETTY TURTLE RIFIC! "-'V': More Orange County Calendar coverage, F2-F3. Elsewhere re1' mission improvements that will make them, and Fox, a more formidable threat to the three major networks. Take, for example, WCOV Channel 20, the Fox-affiliate in Montgomery, Ala. Before Fox, said station chief David Woods, WCOV was only months away from going dark.

"We didn't even have money to buy toilet paper," he said. "When we would try to sell ourselves at an ad agency, they would laugh us out of their office. Now they give us the nice chair." In the spring of 1987, WCOV was airing reruns of the 1982 sci-fi series "Voyagers," attracting a pitiful 1 of the audience in the Sunday night time slot that now houses "The Simpsons." Fox's animated series routinely comes in second in its time perio'd in Montgomery with Please see FOX, F13 mi mini i the nation. And many of Fox's stations transmit comparatively weak, UHF signals that the residents of those communities previously had ignored in the same way that most Los Angeles area viewers rarely turn to KDOC Channel 56. So Fox shows are automatically handicapped in their ability to compete for national ratings.

But Fox executives are hopeful that the skyrocketing success of "The Simpsons" and "Married With Children" will help the upstart fourth network overcome that handicap in the years ahead as its affiliates attract new viewers and new advertisers, then plow at least some of the increased revenues back into the stations for equipment and trans By STEVE WEINSTEIN I Mic Simpsons" is an even I bigger phenomenon than most viewers realize. The Fox show's ability to finish among the nation's 15 most-watched programs and frequently outdraw the Sunday-night competition on ABC, CBS and NBC is somewhat analogous to RC Cola ringing up better sales than Coke, Pepsi and 7-Up. The reason: Fox has only 129 affiliated stations that collectively reach only about 90 of the country. By contrast, each of the three major networks has at least 209 affiliates that together cover virtually every TV household in PRFTTV MM POP BEAT: Nine years after Bob Marley's death, a settlement of the disputes surrounding the reggae king's $30-million estate is in the works. F5 GOOD AND LOUD: Vladimir Ash-kenazy and the Berlin Radio Symphony returned to Ambassador Auditorium with a mixed-up program.

Reviewed by Daniel Cariaga. F9 Ad war: "Ninja Turtle" jabs, and "Pretty Woman" counterpunches. 'Pretty Woman' Face Off in Lighthearted Ad Battle Inside View Top Mariachis Headline Santa Ana Festival Pages 15-22 BALLOONING: Hot-air balloon fans are gearing up for the seventh annual Temecula Valley Balloon Wine Festival May 19-20. F15 INDEX fic!" But that was last week. The Gere-Roberts romantic comedy overtook the hip tortoises this week as the No.

1 film, after trailing the "Turtles" the previous four weeks. Prior to that, "Pretty Woman" had been No. 1 for one week. Disney Touchstone unveiled its lastest zinger Friday. It suspiciously resembles an ad for none other than "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" and reads: "America's No.

1 Hit Is Putting The Turtles Back In Their Place." Touchstone wouldn't comment on its ad, but New Line is thrilled with it. "We accept Disney as having a great sense of humor," said Sandra J. Ruch, president of markct- ing for New Line. "It's flattering to us. I think that Disney took what we did in the right way and returned the favor.

We arc having a great giggle." By SUSAN KING TIMES STAFF WRITER You could almost call it "Ad Wars," "The Turtles Strike Back" or "Revenge of Pretty Woman." The ad campaigns for the two hit films "Pretty Woman" and "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" have become almost as fierce as their see-sawing battle for first place at the box office each week. There's no doubt though that "Turtles" has the lead with a cumulative gross of $98 million to "Woman's" $81.3 million. First there was the "Turtles" ad parody. Distributor New Line Cinema's ads mocked "Pretty Woman" by having one of the turtles and one of the human stars, Judith Hoag, pose like Richard Gere and Julia Roberts did in ads for the DisneyTouchstone release. The "Turtles" ad line stated: "America's No.

1 Comedy Hit is Pretty Tnrtle-ri- bring junior high, high school and college bands to Santa Ana. "Everything you do down here with Mexican culture is successfulthat's automatic," said Flor-inda Mintz-Yoder, marketing director for Fiesta Marketplace, the sponsor and locale of the event. "But there aren't always quality requirements, and we wanted to do something different with an artistic challenge, a focus and a lot of energy." The festival, the first of its kind in Orange County, is patterned after international mariachi festivals held annually in Tucson and San Antonio. If it's successful and, given the lineup and free admission, it is hard to imagine that it won't be the Santa Ana festival could become an annual event with conferences and clas ses for younger mariachis like those conducted at the Southwestern festivals, Mintz-Yoder said. In booking Los Camperos, the festival is getting the top group in Los Angeles and one of the best in the country.

They were one of the groups that backed Linda Ronstadt on her album of mariachi standards, "Canciones de Mi Padre," and have played at La Fonda, their landmark L.A. restaurant on Wilshire Boulevard, for 20 years. Nati Cano, the bandleader and third-generation mariachi who says he gave up playing "40 pounds ago," was a pioneer in bringing mariachi music out of rough barrooms and introducing it to middle-class audiences in Please see MARIACHIS, F8 By BOB SCHWARTZ TIMES STAFF WRITER Cinco de Mayo and mariachis are as inseparable as the Fourth of July and fireworks, and in downtown Santa Ana, the most vibrantly Latino area in Orange County, typically there is no shortage of the traditional Mexican bands on May 5. Finding a professional, creative band among the ensembles that emerge from Santa Ana's bars for the day is another matter. This year, however, the mariachis will be not only numerous but also very, very good: Two of the top mariachis in Southern California Los Camperos de Na-ti Cano and Mariachi Uclatlan will headline a two-day, 14-hour mariachi festival that will also What Goes On F2 Movie Guide F3 Letters F3 Faces F4 Openings F6 Sports on Weekend TV F13 Weekend TV F13 Radio: AMFM Highlights F13 Tonight on TV and cable F14 Astrology F17 Bridge F18 Comics F17-19 Religion F23-25.