Tampa Bay Times from St. Petersburg, Florida • 68

Of TIMES SUNDAY, AUGUST 26, 2001 ALSO INSIDE ARTSTALK: News from around Tampa Bay. Page 6F AUDIO FILES: New CD releases. Page 6F BILLBOARD CHARTS: The bestsellers in music. Page 6F SUNDAY rtfffr 0 I (W LiL Jtt-2j It'll i I 111 A V' "A fi 4li5 life Si Cf if; i JULJW.il .11 i i u.l i it rii iZ-t fair Polly Knipp Hill, Green Benches, St. Petersburg, c.

1940, etching, 8.25 by 9.75,inches. Publicity photo Except for modernizing the lighting, expect no drastic changes in the new tour's look. The promoters' philosophy that audiences don't want changes in a beloved show seems to be borne out by the pace of ticket sales whenever Cats is performed. -Cats' back with a few new stripes Despite a non-union cast and some cost-cutting, the latest touring show aims to please fans of the perennial feline phenom. Happy rns Art review In the slow gallery days of late summer, the Museum of Fine Arts brings out deliciously varied works usually supplanted by visiting exhibits.

JOHN FLEMING las Performing Arts Critic By MARY ANN MARGER Tlnwa Art Critic Tradition and Innovation in Later Twentieth-Century Art," "Currier and Ives Prints: A Window Onto American Taste, 1851-1891" and "Art of the New York School From the Benjamin Gollay Collection," all at the Museum of Fine Arts, 255 Beach Drive NE, St. Petersburg. Hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday; 1 to 5 p.m.

Sunday, through Sept 30. Admission: seniors students $2. Free on Sundays. Call (727) 896-2667 or check if vl 1 i i nifif ii ifiirwmiiiMii-" Cats doesn't get any respect Tve never understood the mystique of Cats," said Judi Lisi, president of Tampa gy Performing Arts Center, where the Andrew JJsyd Webber feline fable opens a weeklong run Tuesday. US "The one question I get asked is can you SSplain the phenomenon, and I can't," said SJcholas Howey, executive producer of Troika Entertainment, which is producing the Cats tour, nil I know is the appeal is amazing, and it just Keeps going and going and going." II Who cares what the experts think? Since Cats 8J)ened on Broadway in 1982, there have been 11 jguring companies in the Tampa Bay area, and each played to full ST.

PETERSBURG is deja vu time at the Museum of Fine Arts. In a summer exhibit of 20th century art, curator Jennifer Hardin has brought out of storage a few gems acquired from shows gone by. Some of these worits are too massive to be displayed in the jewel box building year-round. They adorn the Mackey Gallery L. until the end of September, while an assortment of smaller works houses.

is on view in the string of rooms beyond. Now, in the off-season, they find display space in the galleries usually reserved for visiting exhibits. Jimmy Ernsfs elegantly colorful Sea of Grass, an interpretation of the Everglades, and Jeffrey Kronsnoble's Box DC a brilliantly executed painting of an assemblage, were both signature pieces in shows of the past Robert Vickrey's softly executed Magic Lantern introduced many to the medium of egg tempera. Lila Katzen's Rose Triad seems to flow despite its medium, brass and steeL Her outdoor work, Curled Fan in corten steeL was installed behind the museum following her show here in 1979. Please see RETURNS 6F Robert Vickrey, Magic Lantern, egg tempera on gesso, 30 by 24 inches.

At a glance ZlCats opens 2 Tuesday and has eight performances through Sept 2 at Tampa Bay Per- forming Arts Center. Tickets: (727) 229-7827 or toll-free 1-800-955-5 1045. Web site: "www.tbpac.org. "It was the usual phenomenal response it sold out every seat" said Lex Poppens, marketing director at Ruth Eckerd Hall, speaking of the most recent engagement in the area, in 1999. But the business of Cats is changing.

Even before the musical ended its record- Bile for the camera1 (9 "All breaking run on groadway last September, the long-running national tour of Lloyd Webber's production company, the Really Useful Group, had shut down. Now Troika, having acquired the license to pro-Eiice Cats, has mounted a new tour. It had a takedown stint at Harrah's casino in Atlantic City before heading out on the road, with Tampa ffie second stop, after Charlotte, N.C. "There's a lot of people from around the ZSuntry coming to see what the show is like," Lisi aid, referring to presenters interested in booking jtthemselves. They'll see pretty much the same old Cats.

"We did do a couple of things," Howey said. "When the show was originally designed and it was designed by the best John Napier they didn't have moving lights, so we've added some lighting pizazz that wasn't there. But if all the original Napier design, set and costumes. I think we're giving people exactly the Cats they've been seeing and want to see some more of" Troika isn't in the business of reinterpreting moneymakers. "I don't think anybody's looking for an innovative Cats," Howey said.

"What would we do? Black turtlenecks and white slacks? Please see CATS 7F As jobs go, "famous musician" would seem to be a pretty good one. But apparently no matter how fabulous things get, their publicity shots fail to show it By DAVID SEGAL Washington Post What is wrong with these pictures? Look at the publicity photo of the band From Zero: five guys, all scowling or staring into middle distance, seemingly braced for bad medical news or looking for a pedestrian to beat senseless. From Zero is clearly peeved. But what is it peeved about' The band has no idea. "Life is great We're having fun.

We're living our dream," says lead singer Jet Zero, 27, from Indianapolis. "We couldn't ask fof; anything more in life." What about the fearsome five shown in the publicity still for Skrape? Did some- -body just grab the guys' wallets? Or maybe they just learned that tattoos are radioactive. Tragedy is in the am What happened? Tve been cruising on a tour bus, which is a very beautiful thing," says Billy Keeton, the band's lead screamer," -calling from Spartanburg, S.C.We love what we do. There's never a dull moment If awesome. We lived our whole fives for this opportunity and now we've got it" As jobs go, rock star appears to be a gig with plenty of upsides.

The hours -aren't bad. There's lots of travel, some wiggle room for creativity. If it works out you eat at fine restaurants. Very little arithmetic is involved. And once youVe Please see CAMERA 7F if FROM ZERO Aaism.