Courier-Post from Camden, New Jersey • Page 61

Courier-Post COMICS 15 BLUES SOUND 5 DEAR 11 EXPERTS 11 FY 10 ON THE SOAPS 9 IN THE CLUBS 4 PEOPLE 11 GARDEN 12 POPROCK 6 MOVIE CAPSULES 3 TELEVISION 14 Thank Goodness It's Friday FRIDAY, APRIL 14, 1989 Preview Mickey Rooney, 68, stays at it fXl I ll it ryj I v'jf "I 4 i called "Mickey and Judy," a nostalgic look at all of the great songs he and Judy Garland contributed to the pop culture landscape. In his spare time, the old trouper has been hitting the boards with another entertainment legend, Donald O'Connor, in a variety show entitled "Two for the Road." The pair visits the Valley Forge Music Fair in Devon, Pa. tomorrow night and Bally's Grand casino in Atlantic City next Saturday and Sunday. Considering all of his non-performing activities, the obvious question during a recent phone conversation was why he continues to tour. Considering the tone with-which he answered the question, he may have well been asked why he continues to eat and breathe.

"There are two types of people I know," he said in a familiar voice that has changed little since the "Andy Hardy" films of four decades ago. "People who are in show business and people who want to be in show business. "It's the greatest business in the world. It keeps you perennially young. It's energizing and Referring to all of the many other hats he wears, he added that "I enjoy creating.

I love being part of life. And I've never had to work. I don't consider it work. It's all fun to me." Perhaps the most fun of all these days is "Two For the Road," which, hard as it is to believe, marks the first professional teaming of Rooney and O'Connor. "We've been buddies for 50 years, and he's got 60 years of experience and I've got 60 years of expe-.

rience. That's 120 years together which is a lot to offer the American public. "We never made a picture together because he was at Universal and I was at MGM. And by the 1950s and '60s, the Hollywood that we knew was gone. So we never had the chance to work together.

So we figured that it was time to do it." And, he said, the show with O'Connor is more of a hobby than anything else. "We're doing it because it's fun. It's not like we're doing eight shows a week. We just go out and have a good time six or eight times a month." A deeply spiritual man, Rooney By CHUCK DARROW Courier-Post Staff Most people would agree that after 64 years in show business, Mickey Rooney has earned the right to spend his golden years in quiet repose, living a well-deserved life of comfort and luxury while reflecting on his illustrious, one-of-a-kind career. Of course, one of those who wouldn't agree is Rooney himself, whose energy level and lust for life belie his 68 years.

On most days, "the Mick" is up bright and early, overseeing from his Southern California office a multitude of businesses that include the Santa Anita racetrack (of which he is part-owner); a cosmetic company called Lovely Lady; a social organization for older people called "Funtime Family;" Elim, a pharmaceutical concern; a video production company and a jewelery company. He is also in the midst of writing his autobiography, "Me and You," to be published by Putnam next year, and is putting the finishing touches on a Broadway show Fresh film turkey hot off farm I reckon there hasn't been a better example of Hollywood ineptitude this year than the rural drama "Winter People," with Kelly McGillis and Kurt Russell as Depression-era lovers in North Carolina's Blue Ridge Mountains. Tain't stretchin' the truth to tell ya this one is so bad it should dawdle out of theaters before spring goes much further. There are worse movies out there. But "Winter People," based on the novel by John Ehle, must have had loftier intentions.

Perhaps it was in the idea stage, before a screenwriter with credits such as "Annie" and TV's "The Boume Identity" got hold of it. Carol Sobieski's script is lifeless and often laughable. Then again, a family feud in the Hatfield-McCoy tradition with unwed mother McGillis at its center may be too dated to inspire better lines than "The wages of sin is death" and "A life for a life." This is the stuff of bad TV westerns. The story concerns Collie Wright (McGillis), who has a son fathered by Cole Campbell (Jeffrey Meek), a member of the Wrights' enemy family. Cole can't tell his vengeful father he's sired a son with the Wright girl, even though Cole's been friends for years with the youngest of the Wright sons.

So he sneaks into her cabin every once in a while and goes on his way again. Said cabin, by the way, seems remarkably unsuitable for Collie, daughter of a wealthy landowner (Lloyd Bridges). In the meantime, kindly widower Wayland Jackson (Russell) arrives with his daughter and seeks shelter at Collie's place. His stay is extended when the townsfolk find he has a talent for making clocks. They'd like one to be built on top of the church.

As you might guess, the clock ends up a symbol of unity between the two families, and Please see GIVE, Page 8 MICKEY ROONEY for the Road' said he never tries to figure out why he has been blessed with so much talent, energy and joie de vivre. "I don't think anything drove me," he claimed. "It's just that the good Lord has been more than awfully good to me. "I don't know exactly what it is that he gave me, but God just instilled it in me and I just took it from there." By CHRISTINA WISER "if gH SHI I fi diMMm felt 1 mim.imM immtitf Kiln mm- M- J- Slow times: John Cusack woos lone Skye movie from the folks who gave us 'Fast Times until they fall in love in 'Say the new at Ridgemont Making The Bard accessible By ROBERT BAXTER Courier-Post Staff Julie Ellen Prusinowski is determined to help people overcome their fear of Shakespeare. The Foundation Theatre's producing director is involving five students at Burlington County College in her company's production of "Much Ado About Nothing." She's also offering six matinee performances of Shakespeare's romantic comedy to high school and middle school students.

"Shakespeare is not something to be feared," explains Prusinowski. "His plays are not inaccessible or difficult. They deal with the same human problems and issues that confront all of us." Prusinowski is determined to make "Much Ado About Nothing" accessible. The production, which opens this evening at 8 p.m. and continues through April 30, is updated from 15th-century Italy to the U.S.

just after World War I. Joining the cast of 20 are five BCC students: Cherie Birks, Carla DeAngelo, Heather Jamison, Heidi Johnson and James Still. The students have small roles in the play and are also involved behind the scenes. On April 23, Shakespeare's birthday, Prusinowski is leading a post-matinee symposium. Panelists Joseph F.

McCadden, associate professor of English at BCC, and Saundra M. Hall of the theater department at West Chester University will discuss parallels between the courtly love traditions of Shakespeare's day and their 20th century equivalents. Love, says Prusinowski, is the central issue in "Much Ado About Nothing." Shakespeare contrasts the traditional relationship between Claudio and Hero with the unconventional mating of Beatrice and Benedick, strong-willed characters who have sworn never to wed. "This is a wonderful play," notes the director. "It mixes comedy and tragedy.

Like all classics, this one is relevant to all times and all people. "People haven't changed since Shakespeare's day. We will always be fools for love, always headstrong. People still act and react in passion, not in logical ways." Prusinowski stresses Foundation Theatre's production alters Please see STUDENTS, Page 7 That Jackson girl comes to Pennsauken By CHUCK DARROW Courier-Post Staff Who cares that Michael Jackson's "Bad" tour skipped Philadelphia? Tonight, well have an equally notorious member of the celebrated musical brood right in our own backyard. Pop fans and the merely curious who stop by Images in Pennsauken 'round about midnight can get an up-close and personal view of La Toya Jackson, whose non-musical escapades have recently shoved her more successful brother out of the limelight.

Jackson will be at the club located inside the New Woodbine Inn complex for a "track date," which means she'll be singing just a handful of songs to the accompaniment of pre-recorded music (standard operating procedure in the nation's discos). Tickets are $10 and will be available at the door. Depite receiving publicity in Cher-like proportions, Jackson is, so far, more famous for being famous than for any artistic endeavors. Amidst much hoopla, RCA Records last year released "La Toya," the 32-year-old would-be pop star's third album. A collection of typical techo-pop dance tunes, the LP made no impact on critics, radio programmers or fans, although songs like "Hot Potato," "Such A Wicked Lover" and "Your (sic) Gonna Get Rocked" gained some currency among dance club habitues.

As a matter of fact, that noted cultural arbiter, Madonna, has even gone on record proclaiming that Jackson has "no talent." To add insult to insult, she has also publicly questioned the ratio of flesh to plastic in Jackson's now-famous chest. Speaking of which, Jackson really hit the big-time, media spotlight-wise, in January, when she Please see LA TOYA. Page 2 Deadly topic: These women are not talking gardening. 'Design for Murder," a production of the Village Playbox, features Joan Jeglum of Haddon Heights (left), Sandy Albrecht of Audubon (center) and Kathy Roberts of Collingswood. The show will be staged at Haddon Heights High School today and tomorrow and April 21 and 22 at 8 p.m.

Tickets cost $6 ($5 for senior citizens and students.) Highlights Feline fun A mini-festival featuring films, live shows and children's activities will celebrate the mysterious power and beauty of cats, both ancient and modern, at the Academy of Natural Sciences tomorrow and Sunday. Films to be shown both days include "The Big Cats and How They Came To Be," "Leo on Vacation," "Bobcat!" snd "Boots and Her Kittens. Hold that pose The ninth annual Mr. and Mrs. Glassboro State College Bodybuilding Contest takes place Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.

in the Esbjornson Gym on the campus. Jimmy Richards, Mr. Garden State 1989, will be the guest poser. Admission is $5 ($3 for students with ID.) Cole Porter musical "Anything Goes" as far as The Spotlighters are concerned tonight and tomorrow night at 8 at Washington Township High School. The show will be repeated next Friday and Saturday.

Tickets cost $6 ($5 for students under 18 and senior citizens over 60.) Man your cars Easter has come and gone, but the Lakes Sports Car Club decided to run its Egghunter Fun Road Rallye anyway starting with registration on Sunday morning at 10. The first car takes of at 1 1 Th is not a race, but a test of observation and logic. Trophies will be awarded. The fun begins on the parking lot of the South Jersey Medical Center, Route 70, Cherry Hill. The cost is $15 per car for non-members.

Letting off steam "Be a Hot Dog for a Day" and join the fourth annual Ocean City DooDah Parade starting at noon tomorrow. It features such units as a syncronized suitcase drill team and beach chair brigades. Led by the Philadelphia Chapter Friendly Racoons, and grand marshal Stella, host of "Saturday Night Dead," the parade will begin at Sixth Street and Asbury Avenue, and proceed through the downtown area, concluding on the boardwalk at Moorlyn Terrace in front of Music Pier. Raised voices Under the sponsorship of the American Field Service, Haddonfield will present the Rutgers University Glee Club tomorrow night at 8 at Haddonfield Memorial High School, Kings Highway East. The glee club will perform music from a variety of cultures and time periods in a variety of languages.

Tickets cost $5, or $4 for senior citizens and students. Chamber music Perkins Center for the Arts in Moorestown will be the site of a chamber music concert entitled "Celebration of Spring" Sunday at 4 p.m. The Perkins Chamber Players will offer music by Handel, Schubert and Mendelssohn. Admission is $8, or $4 for children under 12. Seats may be reserved in advance.

Community Fair Twenty-five local organizations will join in the 14th annual Community Fair at Deptford Mall today and tomorrow from 10 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. These groups will offer demonstrations and exhibits as well as items for sale. Stewart Ettinger 'Say Anyth ing' sparkles Bright, witty movie about adolescent courtship Movie Reviews ver come out of a satisfying movie and wonder how the filmmakers could read your mind? "Say Anything" is that kind of film. You sense writerdirector Cameron Crowe has been privy to your plans are to perfect his kick boxing and be with Diane for the 16 weeks she has left in their Seattle hometown.

It's a go. For her part, Diane doesn't know what to make of Lloyd casual courting, except he displays a humorous sensitivity her usual dates don't. As they fall in love, their relationship gets in the wav of her best-laid plans, and those of her support every anxious thought about adolescent love, hope and disappointment, first impressions and wrong impressions. In John Cusack, the effervescent hero of Rob Reiner's "The Sure Thing," Crowe has a manic center of energy for his lilting, polished comedy about a likable underachiever who falls for the class beauty and brain (lone Skye). Disbelief is the reaction of Lloyd Dobler's friends when he sets his sights on class valedictorian Diane Court, "a brain trapped in the body of a game show hostess," who plans to go to England in the fall and study on a fellowship.

Perennial optimist Lloyd wants to give it a shot anyway. No matter that his only immediate career ive father (John Mahoney), who has secrets of his own. As he did in "The Sure Thing," Cusack wins the girl here with a quirky charm and honesty missing from lesser films in the adolescent comedy genre. But Lloyd's first efforts are bungled at best. Calling Diane for their first date, his words are a jumbled Please see 'SAY Page 8 The Indian word for 'industrial park' "imf 11 I' rw" ft 'Xv JVJ Despite being an Easterner, McKim has found life on the Left Coast agreeable and has discovered little truth in popular stereotypes perceived by people on this side of the continent.

"Not at all, it's nothing like that," he claimed in reference to the ideas that Southern California is the capital of weirdness and residents spend more time in their cars than in their homes. "It's really nice. As a matter of fact, now that we're out here, we use the car 40 or 50 percent less than we did when we lived in Jersey. Everything we need is within a block-and-a-half of where we live." Between his trips east and the time and energy he and Skene have spent setting up housekeeping in their Burbank apartment and working on television scripts, McKim, who, in his act, explains that Pennsauken "is an old Indian word for 'industrial has had little opportunity to miss his home turf. "Well, I do miss the old apartment (a funky hovel in an aging Audubon complex)," he said.

"It was a swell apartment. "But other than that, I really haven't missed South Jersey yet." By CHUCK DARROW Courier-Post Staff There was a time when comedian Brian McKim, the self-styled "Pride of Pennsauken," used to dismiss suggestions that a move to Los Angeles or New York would benefit his career. Then, a fateful trip to a men's room changed his tune. McKim, who bills himself as a "comicus erectus" comic" to those who don't speak Latin) and his wife, comedienne Traci Skene, moved to L.A. last fall.

He's performing in the Delaware Valley for the first time since then, appearing tonight and tomorrow at the Comedy Works in Olde City and next weekend at the Comedy Works in Bensalem, Pa. "The first time we went to L.A. was last year, when Traci was on (the since-cancelled) 'Wil Shriner explained McKim. "We were walking around and I happened to go into the Improv (a Hollywood comedy club noted as a breeding ground for up-and-coming talent) to use the bathroom. "I ran into a dozen comics I knew from touring, and they all said to me, 'Whertiare you coming out 'Pennsauken is an old Indian word for 'industrial Brian McKim and they all offered their assistance.

"So I said, 'That's it, we're moving out So far, the move seems to have been a smart one. "I immediately got what I wanted," he said. "Within two months of moving I got on a TV show called Comic Strip And at the end of the month, I'm auditioning for Budd Friedman (owner of the Improv). If he likes me, it could mean a lot" Before he left for the coast, McKim was a regular attraction on the East Coast comedy circuit that extended from Montreal to Florida. Because of the nature of the Hollywood club scene, he has had to continue working the Atlantic Seaboard.

"I've bee1! back east six times since I moved, that's what, once BRIAN MCKIM erectus' every six weeks? It's because the clubs (in L.A.) are strictly showcase places. They don't pay anything. "So if you live in L.A. you almost have to go on the road if you want to make any money.".