The Atlanta Constitution from Atlanta, Georgia • 55

Thursday, September 22, 1994 1 The Atlanta Journal The Atlanta Constitution OUTDOOR CEREMONY I The Arts celebs get a walk in the sun Outra-geous Richard rocks Intq Atft, lanta today for events' ift' his honor; $rf International 'A' A Freeman makes the most of his roles By Steve Murray STAFF WRITER 1 Morgan Freeman got a best actor nomination for "Driving Miss Daisy" (PG, 1989) opposite the late, great Jessica Tandy, nominated herself for best actress. She won the Oscar. He didn't. An actor with an amazing knack for appearing in Oscar-winning movies (including best pictures "Daisy" and a fA 1 v. I By Howard Pousner STAFF WRITER Good golly I Little Richard will hit town today for a news conference at the Hard Rock Cafe to announce that the Ma-con-born piano pounder is getting a star on the upstart Atlanta Celebrity Walk.

The flamboyant, self-pro- claimed "architect of rock 'n roll" and four other Georgia-born entertainers Burt Reynolds, Gladys Knight, James Brown and Kim Basinger are the latest inductees into the International Boulevard walk, modeled on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Joining Richard at the 9 a.m. announcement will be singer-actor Jerry Reed, representing good buddy Reynolds. Star gazers can get a glimpse of both at a 10:30 a.m. photo op outside the club.

Marble and bronze stars of 14 other Georgia greats (including Ray Charles and Jimmy Carter) were set in a plaza outside the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce in 1991-92. The five announced today are scheduled to be placed alongside the Hard Rock, between Peachtree Street and Peachtree Center Avenue, by summer '95 as International -Boulevard gets new sidewalks for the Olympics. Ralph Vaughn, founder-president of the private, nonprofit Freeman remains one of the most vivid performers in Hollywood and onstage. (He originated his "Daisy" role off-Broadway, and Alliance Theatre-goers of a few years back will remember his eloquent minister in "The Gospel at Starting Friday, Freeman appears opposite Tim Robbins in the prison drama "The Shaw-shank Redemption." For some of his best work on video, check out his scary scene-stealing pimp in "Street Smart" (R, 1986). Speaking of scene-stealing, as Kevin Costner's Moorish pal, he walked away with "Robin Hood: Prince of a-'A -ft 1 I VIDEOS Aft: it Thieves" (PG-13, 1991).

In Clint Eastwood's somber, compelling "Unforgiven" (R, 1992), he invigorates another sidekick role as a black cowboy. And he makes an even bigger leap back in time to play a Union soldier in "Glory" (1989, R). Organizers hope to. sprinkle 40 more stars. Georgia Georgia.

6' (Congress llQ Cwtor DAjifternatior il Bl ganization's board, chaired by Atlanta historian Franklin Garrett. He says the reason there have been no inductions in nearly two years is that an agreement needed to be reached with the Corporation for Olympic Development in Atlanta (CODA) to include more stars in the impending reconstruction of International Boulevard's sidewalks. At today's news conference, the landscape architecture firm HOH Associates will show conceptual renderings for the International Boulevard rehab including landscaping, lighting and park benches as well as the widened decorative concrete sidewalks. "The stars are fine with us, because we are trying to create in addition to comfort interpretive things for pedestrians on all of our corridors," CODA planning director Randy Roark said. Staff writer Michelle Hiskey contributed to this report.

board will be pounding the, uh, pavement in pursuit of donations. The Burlington, N.C., native got stars in his eyes in the mid-'80s while watching a Hollywood Walk of Fame induction on TV. He says he felt that downtown needed another attraction and that "with all the national celebrity talent we have from Georgia, we needed to do something" to pay tribute. Honorees must either have been born in the state or have lived here at least seven years. A four-member induction committee selects the honorees.

Vaughn declines to name its members, but says they all serve on the or Vfelk's 14 stan ar clustered Celebrity Walk, hopes to sprinkle another 40 stars between Marietta Street and Peachtree Center Avenue by summer '96. And he has a proposal before the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games to add more than 20 others in Centennial Park to honor Georgia gold medalists as well as Olympic achievers Maynard Jackson and Billy Payne. Vaughn, who runs a public relations and promotions firm and says he does not get paid for his work on the walk, acknowledges that he and his 12-member alor the north side of International Boulevard hfront of the Charrtat f. of Commerce. 4, Five new stars are being planned along International I Boulevard beside the Hard Rock i Cafe, between Peachtree Street and Peachtree Center Avenue "BASEBALL" GOES FOR HOME: Turner Home Entertainment will release a nine-volume video version of Ken Burns' PBS documentary "Baseball" on Friday, halfway through the broad-, cast of the 18-hour documentary.

The video set will be priced at $179.98. Individual "innings" go for $24.98. NEW RELEASES "Farewell My Concubine" (R) The film that should have won last year's Oscar for best foreign film (over the silly, sunny "Belle Chen Kaige's splendid, emotionally exhausting epic about the lives of two Chinese actors (Leslie Cheung and Zhang Fengyi) through SO years of turbulent history. It starts in the 1920s, where, as children, they undergo torturous training in the all-male Beijing opera, learning the roles that will shape their entire career and emotional interaction: Zhang masters the role of the king, and Cheung the female role of the concubine who kills herself for love. Offstage, their relationship is equally one of lord and supplicant, and Cheung's secret love for his partner finds a challenge in the arrival of a wily prostitute with an eye on Zhang (gorgeous Gong Li).

Equal parts soap opera, canny metaphor about life and art, and critique of Chinese politics, "Concubine" maintains its amazing balancing act for its running time of almost three hours. "The Snapper" (R) Is there any type of movie Stephen Frears can't make? The chameleon filmmaker who finessed high style Freudian film noir and cheeky political comedy Beautiful here delivers a working-class slice of life that percolates with home truths. Based on the second book of Roddy Doyle's Barrytown trilogy, (starting with "The this rowdy Irish comedy concerns the family uproar that greets the news of 20-year-old daughter Sharon's (Tina Kellegher) pregnancy. Colm Meaney plays her da, and he's terrifically funny and affecting. "Naked Gun 33 ft: The Final Insult" (PG-13) Bumbling Lit.

Frank Drebin (Leslie Nielsen) does the impossible: He makes the Academy Awards Interesting. In this comedy's finale, the drab ceremony gets a Drebin drubbing, complete with a flashy production number by Pia Zadora as Herself. Missing its comic mark as often as it hits, alas, the spoof also stars Priscilla Presley, Anne Nicole Smith and somebody named 0. J. Simpson.

VERNON CARNEStafl i JF't 1 i 4 Ray Charles Born in Albany Kim Basinger Raised in Athens Gladys Knight Atlanta native Burt Reynolds Hails from Waycross James Brown Augusta is birthplace Triends5 shows potential, but 'Madman is too tame ARTSFEST SCHEDULE Following ore Arts Festival of Atlanta i performancts for today and Friday' "i Ay Hr TODAY (: By Phil Kloer TV CRITIC NBC has ripped its popular Thursday night lineup asunder. Mark it down as a blunder. In a gamble to branch out, NBC moved "Wings" and "Frasier" to Tuesdays, and i1' mwit i tit 'fr 1 6 p.m. Atlanta's 7 Stages performs -j Volker Ludwig's children's play, "Max and Milli." Uptown Lake Stage. 6-8 p.m.

"Evidence of Floods," a new puppet theater work by JanJe' Gelser, tells the story of a womars- convoluted search for her IdentigvPai-vilion. Cafe Bizzoso (Spectacular Bizzoso). Gazebo. 8:30 p.m. Traditional music of North Africa and the Middle EasV meets modem jazz in a celebration of culture by Atzilut: The Fourth i World.

Midtown Valley Stage, ji replaced them with two new sitcoms: "Friends" and "Madman of the People." At first glance, "Friends" seems like one of those awful prefab attempts by clueless show biz execs to cash in on Genera "Friends" 8:30 tonight on WXlA-TVChannel 11(4754). "Madman of the People" 9:30 tonight on Channel II (36613). 9 i Kl' fa FRIDAY av i mm I A- A 'A Dabney Coleman's (above with Concetta Tomei) "Madman of the People" lacks the edginess of his previous series. "Friends," kind of a "Seinfeld" for slackers, has a better chance on Thursday nights. played the victim-vigilante known as "4B" on "NYPD Blue" last season.

With a voice like plugged sinuses and a perpetual "kick me" sign, he's likably geeky, and does some funny (and tasteless) physical comedy next week in a gynecologist's office. From its calculated premise, "Friends" manages to spin out in unexpected directions. In episode three, Phoebe finds a severed thumb in a can of soda. "Maybe it's a contest like collect all five?" suggests Chandler. An hour later, it's back to the well of curmudgeon-hood for Dabney Coleman, who has drank so deeply there he's bloated.

So is his character, Jack "Madman" Bruckner in "Madman of the People," an annoying show that wastes Coleman's narrow but deep talent for playing jerks like. "Buffalo Bill" Bittinger and "Slap J. tion "Reality Bites" with a laugh track. There's an R.E.M. theme song Happy the crummy jobs, the ritualistic watching of 70s reruns, the bonding over decaf cappuccino.

KBut hang in there, and "Friends" may win you over (the first three episodes get progressively better). The cast is fresh and appealing, the writing sometimes clever, and if no new ground is broken, at least the old ground can still yield a decent crop. The hub of the circle of six friends is Monica (Courteney Cox), an unlucky-in-love assistant chef whose apartment is hang-out central. Her roommate, Rachel (Jennifer Aniston), is a sweet ditzo moving from daddy's princess to independence. Monica's hangdog brother, Ross (David Schwimmer), is back to single after his wife left him for a woman.

Living across the hall are roommates Joey (Matt LeBlanc), a struggling actor, and Chandler (Matthew Perry), about whom it's hard to tell even after three shows. Finally there's Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow), a New Age waif. In any ensemble, some actors jump to the froqff, and here it's pchwimmer, who 6-8 p.m. Janie Gelser. (See listing.

1 above.) Pavilion. 1 1 7 p.m. Cafe Bizzoso (Fehon Eady). Gazeba 8 p.m. New York performance $rtlst Afyson Pou walks the line between1 eccentricity and madness in To Us at Twilight" 1 0.

King Plow Am Center, 887 W. Marietta St N.W. 724- 0155. 8:15 p.m. New York choreographer Charles Dennis and a local cast Perform "FuH House: Atlanta Styte, Jni critkalfy acclaimed irtergenerationaT danceperformance.

Uptown Lak Stage. "'i 8:30 p.m. Contemporary dance- from Switzerland, Compagnie PW- lippe Saire, performs traditional Middle Ages celebration of an eclipse. Midtown Valley Saturday and Sunday sched- ufes will appear in Saturday's Lti-sure guide. "I'm a professional eccentric!" Cole man declaims tonieht.

"You're a professional gas bag!" re Madman is the legendary columnist for a poorly defined magazine called Your Times. His new editor is his daughter, Meg (Cynthia Gibb, who was spectacular in the title role of "Gypsy" last season). At home be has a long-suffering wife and an irritating son. In truth, just about every torts his daughter. Alas, he's not much of either.

"Mad man" lacks the edgy temperament of -uunaio but or "Map Maxwell," which one in "Madman" is irritating or was wnat maae those shows click. A tame Dabney is no Dabney at all. fering..