Daily News from New York, New York • 47

tHtflHftHHMiifMMHMftMH 5 Bon Jovi tackles Times Sq. on a wing-I and a 'Prayer' (tit V' 1 I By DAVID HINCKLEY DAILY NEWS FEATURE WRITER They dropped the beats instead of the ball last night in Times Square. Rather than the strings and horns of Guy Lombardo's "Auld Lang Syne," the usual theme when tens of thousands of New Yorkers pack the world's most-famous crossroads, last night's soundtrack was pulsing hip-hop and power chords on a rock guitar. Musically, the performances by Eve, Alicia Keys, Enrique Iglesias, Joey Fatone and Bon Jovi were as much spectacle as concert, and that fit the game plan of the event, which was designed With Fatone and Keys making little more than cameo appearances, Iglesias had the second-longest set, and he used two simple, effective tricks to overcome the size-and-distance issue. Also sticking to his big hits "Bailamos," "Don't Turn Off the Lights" he stepped several times onto a low platform so the cameras had him pretty much mingling with the crowd.

For the finale of "Hero," he called up a woman from the crowd and sang it to her, wrapping his arms around her neck as he did so. Talk about creating a personal-highlight reel. Rapper Eve opened the show with a fast-paced set and an interesting costume choice. While all those around her were saluting New York, to salute the post-Sept. 11 resilience of New, Yorkers while promoting the 2002 National Football League season.

The results of this unique hybrid can be seen tonight in distilled form at 10 on CBS-TV Jn Times Square last night, the affair she and her crew wore the jerseys of Donovan McNabb, quarterback for the Eagles in her hometown of Philadelphia. The evening will doubtless look tight and polished on TV tonight. But someone gets an fcmmy for editing if they can make it Live up to CBS football analyst Jim Nance's assertion that this was "the Super Bowl of music." He got some hyperbole competition from Mayor Bloomberg, who called it "one of the most exciting events New York has ever seen," and Gov. Pataki, who dutifully described it as "the world's largest tailgate party," though it was an event from which all cars had been banned. But the crowd had a good time on a perfect September evening, and with more somber events planned over the next few days, perhaps a party that ended with Bon Jovi singing a quiet version of "America the Beautiful" wasn't a bad idea.

By that time, "Auld Lang Syne" wasn't seeming so Auld any more. E-mail: dhinckleyeditnydaU.ynews.com was long, noisy and more than a little chaotic, with such odd moments as Deion Sanders racing up on stage and handing a football to Jbtt Bon Jovi, who launched into "It's My Life." Hey, man, if you say so. Bon Jovi's headlining set mixed a couple of his new 911-themed songs "Everyday," the driving "Bounce" with a crowd-pleasing run through greatest hits like "Livin' on a Prayer," "Bad Medicine" and "You Give Love a Bad Name." Belting these songs into the forked canyon of Broadway and Seventh Ave. might not seem like the ideal acoustic showcase. But since so many of Bon Jovi's songs were born as anthems, relying far more on a couple of hooks and a rousing chorus than musical subtlety, they did just fine.

RALLYING CRY: Jon Bon Jovi belts out a number tat Times Square. He leads the league in controversy TAKE ME OUT By Richard Greenberg. With Daniel Sunjata, Denis O'Hare, Neal Huff, Frederick Welter. Directed by Joe Mantello. At the Public Theatre, 425 Lafayette St.

Tickets: $45. (212) 260-2400. As in: What would happen if the greatest player on the best club in the game suddenly announces he plays for the other team? "Take Me Out," which enjoyed a successful London run this summer before coming to the Public, garnered plenty of attention because of its timeliness Piazza's denying rumors he was gay generated free publicity for the play and several graphic shower-room scenes featuring full-frontal nudity by the all-male cast But while the sight of naked jmnnnnrp II lift irW Mike Piazza won't need to hold another press conference, this time to deny he's the inspiration for the gay-ballplayer character in THROW EM A CURVE: Denis O'Hare is in "lake Me Out" lineup. dare not speak its name infiltrating the macho world of pro sports, as it is a love letter to the game of baseball. That notion is wonderfully embodied by Denis O'Hare in an engaging performance as Darren's geeky, gay business manager, who wittily delivers the requisite "baseball as metaphor for life" speech.

Greenberg, who also wrote "Three Days of Rain," and "The Dazzle," here displays his talent for snappy, cerebral dialogue. But his characters are all either exceedingly glib or ridiculously stupid, which lessens the impact of his lyrical style. The team's muy macho Latin players and a stoic Japanese pitcher are also portrayed as stereotypes. The play's epic length becomes an issue only because of a contrived scene in the third act that unearths a less-than -compelling betrayal. Still, it's an enjoyable production reminiscent of watching a gutsy pitcher grow tired hurling a complete game: It starts strong, falters near the end but comes out a winner anyway.

E-mail: TdominguezsediLnydaitynews.com boys soaping seems gratuitous, the nudity is a necessary device to explore the play's themes of homophobia, bigotry and the cult of celebrity. Written in three acts (with a rarely seen two intermissions) and clocking in at a game-like length of nearly three hours, "Take Me Out" is "Take Me Out." In Richard Green-berg's highly entertaining, well-acted but ultimately drawn-out comedy-drama, the superstar who comes out of the closet is clearly modeled after a certain Yankee shortstop. But before Derek Jeter feels compelled to put guys try gingerly to pick up a bar of dropped soap.) But ugliness rears its mullet hair in the form of smoke-throwing reliever Shane Mungit (a fine Frederick Weller), an illiterate good ol' boy whose deep-rooted bigotry makes John Rocker look like Oprah Winfrey. Mungit's comments about having to "shower with a faggot" prove more divisive to clubhouse harmony than Darren's revelation. To Greenberg's credit, "Take Me Out" never comes off as a heavy-handed gay-issues play.

It's as much about the love that a strutting, cocksure athlete whose arrogance leads him to believe that coming out won't damage his stature with the fans or his teammates. It does, but not to the extent one expects. Greenberg glosses over fan reaction, other than a scene in which a comical letter is mailed to Darren from a disappointed die-hard. Even the obligatory homophobia that surfaces among Darren's less-than -enlightened teammates is rather benign, though it does fuel much of the play's humor. (In one of the shower scenes, the a a set mainly in the cramped locker room of the New York Empires, perennial World Series winners.

Star center fielder Darren Lemming (Daniel Sunjata in a strong, layered performance) is the ail-American sports hero. He's also out his own media alert, he should know that the character of Darren Lemming a biracial star of a champion New York team blessed with matinee-idol looks and talent to match is merely a device to convey Greenberg's thesis. to.