Hartford Courant from Hartford, Connecticut • 100

THE HARTFORD COURANT THURSDAY MARCH 23, 1989 While tunes such as "Josephine" and "Candles" sound like AM radio packages and are undistinguished, "Steel River," "On the Beach" and "Let's Dance," strongly deliver, some with strains of a very listenable jazz-fusion sound. SCOTT WENGER I JAZZ Record REVIEWS EE! 3 THE COMEDY The Modern Jazz Quartet Atlantic Jazz John Lewis, the Modern Jazz Quartet's music director, has long been fascinated by the bonds that link jazz, a 20th century American art form, with the commedia del'arte, the theatrical style popular in Italy from the 16th to the 18th centuries. Just as jazz is a player's music, the commedia dell'arte was a player's theater rooted in improvisation. Like jazz, it had a strong populist element and the kind of street-smart roots that underlie even the most sophisticated classicism of the Modern Jazz Quartet itself. "The Comedy," a 1960 release, has found new life in the CD format.

Inspired as much by Bach as by the blues, the seven-piece suite consists of Lewis's sketches of such colorful stock characters as Columbine, Pierrot and Harlequin, figures Continued from Page 5 NEW LIGHT THROUGH OLD WINDOWS Chris Rea Geffen Records Remember Chris Rea? That's likely only if you recall his mellow 1978 hit "Fool (If You Think It's Over)" or if you've been living in Europe the past several years, where the English singerguitarist has been moderately successful. Rea is now seeking to make an American comeback and, for the first time since "Fool," has landed a high position on FM rock radio charts with "Working On It," from his newest release, "New Light Through Old Windows." The new 10-song album features Rea's gruff voice on some tunes previously released in Europe. The byproduct is a generally satisfying collection of lightly soulful, pleasing pop. The radio hit "Working On It" offers a blue-collar blues feel, and most of "New Light" mimics that. that have long fascinated writers and artists from Moliere to Picasso and Rouault.

Diahann Carroll, the actress-singer, sits in on one sketch. Abbey Lincoln would have been a far better piece of casting. Lewis's sketches are precise and steeped in formalism. But vibraharpist Milt Jackson's hot playing yanks the compositions out of the concert hall and back out onto the street where they belong. OWEN McNALLY Film review Troop Beverly Hills' is big on heart but short on brains TROOP BEVERLY HILLS, Directed by Jeff Kanew; screenplay by Pamela Norris and Margaret Grieco Oberman.

Based on a story by Ava Ostern Fries; director of photography, Donald E. Thorin; music composed by Randy Edelman; production designer, Robert F. Boyle; edited by Mark Melnick; produced by Ava Ostern Fries; executive producer, Charles Fries. A Columbia Pictures release of a Wein-traub Entertainment Group presentation of a Fries Entertainment and AvantJ Production, playing at Showcase Cinemas, East Hartford. Running time: 105 minutes.

Phyllis Nefler Shelley Long Freddy Nefler Craig T. Nelson Velda Plendor Betty Thomas Annie Herman Mary Gross Vtcki Sprantz Stephanie Beacham Frances Temple Audra Lindley Ross Coleman Edd Byrnes Claire Sprantz Ami Foster Chica Barnfell Carta Gugino Tessa DiBlasio Heather Hopper Emily Coleman Kellie Martin Tiffany Honigman Emily Schulman Jasmine Shakar Tasha Scott Lily Marcigan Aquilina Soriano Hannah Nefler Jenny Lewis Excellent; Very Good; Good; Fair; Poor As conceived by producer Ava Os-tern Fries, who based the story on her own troop-leading experiences, "Troop Beverly Hills" is a poor-lit-tle-rich-girl's adventure, with Long at the head of a gaggle of Wilderness Girls. But this isn't just a heartwarming saga of earning merit badges in jewelry appraisal and impeccable grooming. Naturally, there must be the jealous spoilsports who stand in the way of the Rodeo Drive irregulars. Betty Thomas of "Hill Street Blues" and Mary Gross fill these roles, as a mannish Wilderness Girls' paramilitarist and her timid klutzy spy-assistant, respectively.

Phyllis Nefler, played by Long as a hard-shopping wife and mother, turns to the Wilderness Girls in desperation. Her husband Freddy, known to Southern California audiences as "Nefler the Muffler Man," is living in the guest house of their mission-style mansion, as he hunts for a suitable condo. The Nefler mar- By MALCOLM L. JOHNSON Courant Film Critic With her tumbling tresses dyed an "Annie" red-orange that makes you blink, Shelley Long strives coyly and cutely to become a Lucille Ball of the opulent '80s. But despite her winsome presence, "Troop Beverly Hills" proves an uphill, downhill trek.

For the first half-hour or so, this comedy directed by Jeff Kanew (of "Revenge of the Nerds" fame) seems merely a photo opportunity, as Long models a series of outrageously silly designer costumes designed by Theodora Van Runkle. The big joke of the entire screenplay by "Saturday Night Live" veterans Pamela Norris and Margaret Grieco Oberman boils down to that running gag of the Reagan decade: the joys of shopping. Columbia Pictures Shelley Long raises havoc at a Wilderness Girls' meeting in "Troop Beverly Hills." TheSimsbuty Light Opera Company presents Gilbert' Sullivan's Ttje her turn into a sex symbol has an oddly touching quality. In its use of cameos, "Troop Beverly Hills" proves as profligate as Phyllis does on her spending sprees. Clearly, Ava Ostern Fries has many great and good friends in Beverly Hills, as Frankie Avalon, Annette Funicello, Df Joyce Brothers, Robin Leach, Cheech Marin and Pia Za-dora all adorn the film, however briefly.

There's even a small part for Edd Byrnes, the kid who used to park cars at "77 Sunset Strip." "Troop Beverly Hills" is all heart, but very little brain. Rated PG, this film contains a few rude words and mildly suggestive situations but is just the thing for girls who are not quite ready to move up Into the "Sweet Valley High" books. of 4 pealing than appalling. What makes "Troop Beverly Hills" almost insufferable at times is its reveling in the supposed hilarity of materialism as it treks through the story of how Phyllis helps her girls discover some sort of meaning in life, just as she finds her own personal fulfillment. But as it shifts from extolling the pleasures of greed to showing the good-heartedness of spoiled rich girls, large and smaller, there are a few amusing performances along the way.

Thomas is especially adept as the neo-fascist Velda Plendor (an imaginative name, that), and although Gross does her usual wide-eyed wimp shticks, riage is kaput because he's always taking care of business and she's forever on the Gucci-Cartier patrol. The versatile and always effective Craig T. Nelson ambles easily through the role of Freddy, sporting some strange designer outfits, himself. But this is Long's picture all the way. And though the writing is thin and repetitive, Long makes Phyllis an endearing character, who wears each of her 47 outfits like a paper doll cut from one of those glossy art books featuring stars of the glamour era of Hollywood.

But she's not one-dimensional or cardboard; within the narrow limitations of the role, her performance Is more often ap Musical Director Wayne Pierce, ArtUtic Director Ron Luchsinger Simsbury High School 8:15 p.m. April 1,7, 8, 14, IS 2:15 p.m. April 2, 15 For SL00 Information call 521-8838.