Fort Lauderdale News from Fort Lauderdale, Florida • Page 26

Iitertata iieiiit Fort Lauderdale News. Tuesday, May 19, 1981 4C Mel Torme explores ijie realm of his voice MEL TORME AND THE GOLD COAST POPS ORCHESTRA, Monday evening at Sunrise Musical Theater. Melissa Sue Anderson and Glenn Ford discuss the details of her past in 'Happy Birthday to li It 'Happy' a happy surprise 1 umifii 'WiiTrmnTiTTrrrmi lMm iim-wiiifi-nrni that Sinatra can only dream of, a talent that is rarely encountered in today's popular music world, which has tended to promote the grunt as the most artistic means of vocal expression. Torme combined these attributes most admirably in two songs that, in less experienced hands, could have been sorely out of place: Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas and his own enduring composition, The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire). Heard out of the context of the Yuletide season, it is possible to appreciate more readily the expert craftsmanship behind the respective melodies, and Torme missed no opportunity to find new ways to 'turn the familiar phrases, bringing out much of the peculiar wist-fulness that lies beneath the former and all of the unpretentious charm that distinguishes the latter.

In the up-beat numbers, which unfortunately dominated the program, Torme was equally at home, playing with the vocal lines far more imaginatively than most. With the Gold Coast Pops offering solid and spirited accompaniment, such unsuspecting tunes as Blue Moon came in for wildly emphatic treatments that summarize the essence of the swing era. The evening began with a tribute to Duke Ellington played in great style by the orchestra under Peter Graves' direction. If some of the arrangements lacked the finesse of those used for Torme (most of which were the singer's own), they gave the musicians a chance to demonstrate just an asset they are to the local musical scene. By Tim Smith Mute Writer In an age when the monotonic voice of Barry Manilow is the inexplicable rage of the masses, it is immensely reassuring to hear Mel Tonne, to discover once again that there are still singers who know how to use the vocal instrument and, perhaps more importantly, explore the boundless range that exists between the lines of a piece of music.

Last night at the' Sunrise Musical Theater, Torme made considerable use of these gifts during 'his appearance with the Gold Coast Pops Orchestra. Although the quality of his selections was highly variable, the seasoned performer maintained a consistently impressive lewl of vocalism, reaching high notesvith an ease, not to mention solidity, that precious few of his colleagues Amid duplicate. Where Torme has always excelled is in the area of musical shading, seeking out various tonal colors to give each phrase more meaning, and this enabled him to make a forgettable ballad by Eric Carmen seem rather touching. When dealing with more substantive material, like When the World Was Young, the effect of this sensitive technique was inimitable. 'Along with nuances of tone, Torme displayed the sort of breath control, even on the highest notes, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME Melissa Sue Anderson plays a prep school coed in this chiller about her friends who keep disappearing mysteriously.

With Glenn Ford. Written by John Saxton, Peter Jobin and Timothy Bond. Directed by J. Lee Thompson. Rated (violence, vulgar language).

By Candice Russell FilmTheater Writer Happy Birthday To Me is a more than competently made chiller about the peculiar of bumping off innocent kids. Happy Birthday To Me has both. Melissa Sue Anderson of television's Ljttle House on the Prairie effectively plays the troubled Virginia. When not hanging out with the prep school's elite group, she visits her mother's grave after dark and tries to remember painful events of her death. Her psychiatrist (Glenn Ford) is also trying to help her recall the agony of being a medical guinea pig after an accident.

As if this kid didn't have enough problems, her friends keep disappearing like The Ten Little Indians. Nary a blood-smirched fingerprint remains in the places where these devil-may-care teen-agers meet their maker. She's kept on edge by eerie flashbacks to hospital rooms and friends with a warped sense of humor. Thompson plays out the scenes where we anticipate mayhem like a virtuoso violinst. A long sequence of Virginia preparing for a shower makes us dread each subsequent time she's alone.

We have seen a creepy young man sneak in her bedroom window, so surely the worst is yet to come. But Thompson hoards his surprises, and the moody theme song by Lance Rubin doesn't tip us off. In terms of shocks and gore, this is a two Alka Seltzer movie. The ingenious ways of ending a human life in this film include, a weight being dropped on an athlete's groin. Things don't really get gruesome until the closeups of Virginia as her forehead is drilled open for brain surgery.

The script by John Saxton, Peter Jobin and Timothy Bond has a fair number of red herrings, a favorite Hitchcock touch. They serve to deflect attention and baffle the viewer, who may change his opinion of the killer's identity four or five times. What's guaranteed is that there is no means of figuring out the truth until it is revealed. goings-on at a coed prep school. That's to be expected inasmuch as the director is J.

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