South Florida Sun Sentinel from Fort Lauderdale, Florida • Page 45

PB Sun-Sentinel, Tuesday, January 13, 1998 3E ARTSENTERTAINMENT SOUND JUDGMENT Two broken ribs filming Firestorm, his debut as an action hero? That's nothing for former NFL defensive lineman Howie Long. A phone call launched new career in films RAP, Mase glides through 'Harlem' MASE Harlem World (Bad Boy). Performing with artists such as Mariah Carey, Brian McKnight and the big man himself, Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs, rapper IfflPV Mase used his low-key, the-brother-you-know flow to make a mark. Now the sleepy-eyed roughneck debuts a solo project brimming with attitude, raunch and flavor. Mase won't blow you away with rapid-fire lyrics.

But Harlem World's head-bopping bass will pop the trunk on the toughest Jeep. The story of a player living large in Harlem unfolds over a variety of sampled tracks and originals. Hard to believe, with all the big-city posturing, that Mase grew up in Jacksonville. (If Harlem World's muse wanted to be truer to his roots, he might have called the album Sea World.) Anyway, watch out for the sample-licious Do You Wanna Get which revives Peter Brown's Do You Wanna Get Funky With Me; also, Puffs Intro, which glides over the phat old-school soul of Isaac Hayes' Joy. Tasty tracks that fly without classic samples include Also Lookin' at Me and Jealous Guy, featuring backing vocals by Puff Daddy proteges 112.

-SHERR1 WINSTON Crooners form an uneven combo LSG: LSG (Elektra). Gerald LeVert, Keith Sweat and Johnny Gill are three of most sensual crooners. But the members of LSG, through strong individually, By ROBERT PHILPOT Fort Worth StarTTelegram For anyone who thinks that acting is for wimps, we present two sides of Howie Long. Here's Howie Long, the L.A. Raiders' defensive lineman, announcing his retirement in early 1994: "I've been hitting people for a long time.

I've been operated on seven times. I know my wife is tired of being in post-op waiting. I'm tired of being in pre-op waiting. It kind of wears on you." Now here's Howie Long, the actor, on his starring debut in Firestorm, which opens this week: "I broke two ribs on this one I didn't call my wife that night But I didn't want to wake her up over a couple of broken ribs after what she's seen happen to me." Well before he left the NFL, Long dreamed of becoming an action-movie star. He got his first break as a bad guy in 1996's Broken Arrow, playing one of John Travolta's sidekicks in John Woo's thriller about the theft of a nuclear warhead.

Now, in Firestorm, he does many of his own stunts as a smoke-jumper a firefighter who parachutes into the middle of forest fires who does battle with a group of escaped convicts. As Long said in 1994: "I'm not interested in doing a shimmering-moonlight-through-the-Venetian-blinds, sweaty-bodies type of movie. I just want to blow stuff up." It appears to be a promise that he intends to keep. "Two films, and I haven't had my shirt off," Long says during a stop at Dallas' Planet Hollywood. "I don't pick up a gun in this movie.

I don't use one four-letter word. Now, I use an ax pretty frequently. But he deserved it." "He" is William Forsythe, or rather Forsyte's character, Earl Shaye, the convict leader who uses the forest fire as a diversion for his escape. Shaye, unknown to Long's Jesse Graves, is a murderer who's after some hidden loot, but it doesn't take Graves long to figure out he's dealing with a bad guy. Graves also has to tangle with two fires and the danger of a "firestorm" two forest fires colliding, creating tornadoes of flame.

The movie provides Long with at least one James Bond-worthy stunt, as Graves and bird-watcher Jennifer (Suzy Amis) escape the bad guys and the fire by riding a motorcycle off a cliff and parachuting into an ice-cold river. Long found out a lot about fire and water while filming in British Columbia. "I don't think you can really describe an explosion like the explosions we had in the film in the beginning and the finale, un tv By LEWIS BEALE New Daily News Here's how Howie Long became a film star: Rupert Murdoch thought the Raider and current Fox TV sportscaster looked like an action hero. So Murdoch called one of his employees the president of Fox TV and asked why the film division hadn't recruited Long. "When Rupert calls, you take the meeting," says Long, who was perfectly content co-hosting Fox NFL Sunday, the wildly successful pre-game show.

Long met with the film honchos, and was eventually cast in director John Woo's Broken Arrow. Woo liked the former All-Pro so much he kept expanding Long's role during filming. Twentieth Century Fox felt the same way: They signed Long to a three-picture contract while Broken Arrow was still in production. Firestorm is the first flick in the deal. "Hollywood has a need for the next big action star," says Tom Sherak, chairman of the Fox film division.

"Howie brings to the party likability, plus he's big, strapping and good-looking." Long has yet to take acting lessons, and he refuses to watch dailies, the unedited footage from daily filming. So he acknowledges he's not quite sure what others find compelling about his work. But he says Fox executives keep saying he has 'a I don't know what that means, honestly." Right now, Long and a gaggle of Hollywood big shots are waiting to see if he's got what audiences will pay to see. Long says he's not particularly nervous about Firestorm's box office, but his calm has little to do with the picture itself. A working-class kid who never thought he could have the kind of life he's enjoyed so far (which includes a Super Bowl ring and an Emmy for his Fox TV work, as well as a devoted wife and three sons), Long has it all in perspective.

"People are waiting to see how this film does," he says. "Am I concerned about it? Not particularly. If the film career ended tomorrow, I've had the kind of life that people could only dream about." never quite gel as a unit. The combo has promise, but it's almost too much of a good thing: Going from Sweat's 1 whiny falsetto L4 to Levert belly-deep growl can sometimes make for a oJXl less you re close to it, he says. "If you're 400 yards away from it, you I V- A.

bumpy ride. JVocal swings notwithstanding, fans of Sweat, LeVert or Gill might still enjoy the sensual blends and lovely lyrics. Memorable tracks include Door 1, My Body and All The Times, the latter featuring I'll Be Missing You siren Faith Evans. It's miss-and-make-up music, for sure. risque turn for young Usher USHER: My Way (LaFace).

Naughty, but not too naughty, best describes My Way, the sophomore effort by the multitalented Usher. Make Me Wanna, the it first single, gets plenty of feel it. I can even imagine what it would be like being in some thing like that. I was in the water swimming away from it, and you have no problem getting into character swimming hard, being scared." I Postgame highlights in Hollywood mileage out of sparse beats and a simple hook. Slow Jam a duet featuring Monica and Come Back also standout.

The album sports a nice, easy flow, spiced with risque I Fred Dryer Teams: L.A. Rams, TV series: Hunter. N.Y. Giants. A slew of pro football players has made the transition from gridiron to silver-screen (or TV) glory.

Among them: Jim Brown Team: Cleveland Browns. Key films: The Dirty Dozen, Slaughter, Rio Conchos, 100 Rifles. Bernie Casey Team: L.A. Rams. Key films: The Man Who Fell to Earth, Dr.

Black and Mr. Hyde, I'm Gonna Git You Sucka. O.J. Simpson Teams: Buffalo Bills, San Francisco 49ers. Key films: Capricorn One, Naked Gun movies.

Alex Karras Team: Detroit Lions. Key films: Blazing Saddles, VictorVictoria. TV series: Webster. Fred Williamson Team: Kansas City Chiefs. Key films: Black Caesar, Three the Hard Way, Hell up in Harlem.

A fe' I -toaZiK Carl Weathers Team: Oakland Raiders. Key films: Rocky II, III, IV, Action Jackson. Joe Namath Team: N.Y. Jets. Key films: C.C.

and Company, Norwood. TV series: The Waverly Wonders. LEWIS BEALE suggestions from an 18-year-old who is shedding his image as a gawky "kid" singer to become a true balladeer. SOURCE LINE: Hear music from the CDs re-wl viewed above. Enter 7136.

Broward 523-5463 Boca-Delray 496-5463 Boynton Beach 625-5463 File photo Jim Brown quit the Cleveland Browns for films like 100 Rifles. Sexy seniors romp through witty 'Weekend' Comedy set in Catskills has plenty of laughs, but no borscht. My Weekend in the Catskills Season opener for Public Theatre, Museum of Art auditorium, 1 E. Las Olas Fort Lauderdale, through Feb. 1 Performances Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday 2 p.m.

Tickets $18; call 954-568-2243. fit TODAY'S MAIN EVENTS Music GEORGE WINSTON, Jazz pianist, is booked at 7:30 p.m. at Carefree Theatre, 2000 S. Dixie Highway, West Palm Beach. Tickets $19.75.

Call 561-833-1812 or Ticketmaster, 561 -966-3309, 954-523-3309, 305-358-5885. FLORIDA GRAND OPERA Is scheduled to perform Johann Strauss' Die Fledermaus at 8 p.m. at Dade County Auditorium, 2901 W. Flagler Drive, Miami. Call 305-532-3491 954-523-61 1 6 or Ticketmaster.

Film THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY, critically acclaimed romance starring Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood, is scheduled at 2 p.m. at Anne Kolb Nature Center, 751 Sheridan Hollywood. Call 953-357-8118. ART DECO FESTIVAL FILM SERIES features the classic musical Lady in the Dark, starring Ginger Rogers and Ray Milland, at 8 p.m. at Oceanfront Auditorium, 1001 Ocean Drive, Miami Beach.

Admission Is free. Call 305-672-2014. devised with the newly arrived widows in mind. A romantic cat-and-mouse situation ensues that accelerates when a beautiful 23-year-old named Rachel (Lacy Carter), a drop-by from another hotel, complicates the mating dance of the older foursome. Part of Catskills' lure is its high audience identity quotient.

It is not difficult to relate to its characters whose dialogue, while witty, is not improbably chic and whose demeanor is attractive, not disturbingly geriatric. Despite all that, the comedy is basically community theater grist and will be seized upon for that reason by amateur theater groups, if seized it ever be. Public Theatre's fetching cast, spirited performances, speedy pacing and general elan wards off such stigma to deliver a production bound to entertain the right audience. Chris Slavin's hotel set makes you feel as if you wouldn't mind spending a weekend there yourself, i i By BILL VON MAURER Special to the Sun-Sentinel With a title like My Weekend in the Catskills, many theatergoers may instinctively hunker down for an onslaught of borscht belt jokes, the obligatory appearance of an outlandish yenta wearing too much eye shadow, some heavily accented English and a full plate of other ethnic comedy cliches. There are none of the above in Cats-kills, directed by Public Theatre's own producer Vince Rhomberg.

The play is nothing less than a romantic comedy, a Public Theatre staple (often of same sex gender), with slightly ethnic overtones. The playwright is listed as Joe Avil-la (spelled Avilla in the playbill and Avillia in the press release), but there is no bio or picture of him in either one, This is frequently the case in the theater's productions. The reason for such eccentricity has become stale speculation. The play is basically situation comedy fare. Two widows, Dorothea (Lainie Lewis) and Mabel (Charlotte Sherman) have arrived at a small Catskills summer hotel for "a sexy seniors weekend." Dorothea is a well-intentioned meddler; Mabel Is her reluctant companion, soured on the fate widowhood has dealt her.

Lying in wait for them, so to speak, are two widowers, Manny (Harry Lupu) and Lester (Harvey Laskey). Manny is dashing and nattily clad, a man who hasn't allowed his widower status to dampen his libido. Lester has sanctified his late wife, at least in his mind, and is in no mood for the predatory scheme Manny has (iy Source Line BROWARD BOYNTON BEACH 561-625-5463 BOCA RATON-DELRAY BEACH 561-496-5463 COUNTY 954-523-5463 CALL AND ENTER A CATUGOKY NUMBKR Bill Von Maurer cohered theater for a decade for The Miami News and is a frequent contributor to the PhotoMICHAEL MURPHY Widow Mabel (Charlotte Sherman) and widower Lester (Harvey Laskey) are reluctant participants In Catskills hih jinks. Local Music Line 7550 Trivia Game 7820 Skywatcher's hotline 259S Movie Review 7272 Local Theater Update 727S CO Reviews 7136.