The Boston Globe from Boston, Massachusetts • 62

Busch liilFMHiewitenairts This 'Grand fflotel'" is unfinished A3 I v- BUSCH-RElSlNGEfO ''4444' i I museum -ii I 4 i' i 1 Vr; I V' 1 111" I i Director Tommy Tune has two moments of inspiration. 1 -i- nn if ii II, -Ko 1 IIIliwIMrtLlMMlii il I iimuii I Mlllil.lM 1966 Globe file photo Busch Hall housed the Busch-Reisinger museum from 1917 to 1987. "GRAND HOTEL" Continued from Page 57 the rich and the would- be rich, the powerful and the meek. To make the class lines distinct, di rector Tommy Tune has four sweaty scullery workers bleating out a complaint of the underprivileged: "Some have and some have not." And in that one sharply per ceived Brechtian moment, "Grand Hotel" establishes a richly dramatic potential that immediately gets trapped in the patterned storytells ing. Sitting at stage left is a cynical, world-weary old doctor who is, now and then, the evening's narrator.

He begins with basic information (if you bend your ears to hear him), telling us, for example, that we're at the end of the romantic era and at the beginning of realism. (The Third Reich is right around the. corner, so is the Depression.) The doctor, too, is soon trapped in the ensuing traffic, although he comes to expositional prominence somewhat later (but not soon enough). What happens is that it takes the five major characters a very long time to establish their identity and. their problems.

What happens in the space of tha? time is the endlessly streaming monotony of the Wright and Forrest score. To be sure, Tommy Tune finally is able to bring the musical together, to make it work toward a conclusion, although the conclusion at the moment is a kind of vaporous exhaustion in place of a finale. The evening steadily accumulates narrative drive. The relationship between the Baron (a thief) and Grushinskaya (a great ballet star near the end of her career) develops romantic heat. The situation involving a milquetoast clerk, Krin- -gelein; his boss, Preysing; and a blond typist named Flaemmchen gets the right touch of pathos.

And the comings and goings within the hotel have a kind of busy lyrical sweep. Tune has two moments of inspiration dramatic scenes played in front of a wall of syncopated dancers (although the idea may come from Larry Fuller's dances in and a stunning ballroom sequence meant as a conclusive metaphor. There is, too. a snappy, razzmatazz, oh-you-kid sequence for Flaemmchen. Beyond that, in strict musical terms, the interludes that sop up all that Wright and Forrest score are a wet blur.

The songs seem interchangeable, except possibly for aria about money ('The Crooked The music rarely advances the plot or really defines character. It just runs on like an endless river, filling time and space. The Baron has one particularly ardent ballad Can I Tell and Grushinskaya gets to fling one back. But for all the welter of melody, I came away humming mediocrity. What "Grand Hotel" has right now is cool architectural grace.

It looks both fragile and solid and totally wonderful. Tony Walton's two-tiered skeletal set is elegant, something like an imagistic replay and a practical develop- a ii.T.Wlil.i.i.i.lli II .,.,,1., Mr II, l.l.l THJMotA ti, "ii, i the show's knockout. BUSCH Continued from Page 57 out a winner. "The paintings will be in a better place" the new Werner Otto Hall, scheduled for completion in 1991 "the building will have new life, our center will have needed space. And," he concludes, "Europe needs to be studied." tenure of the Busch-Rei-'sihger Museum in Busch Hall, -Which lasted from 1917 into 1987, glorious in some ways and troubled in more.

The hall's exterior described by Globe architecture critic Robert ''Campbell as resembling an illus-' 'tration from the Brothers Grimm succeeds smashingly at the feel-" ing of Germanness that beer baron 'QYdolphus Busch was intent upon when he conditioned his financing Of construction upon selection of a German national as designer. Ro- 'manesque, Gothic and Renaissance halls inside captured monumental -styles in relatively small spaces. But the inside was to become progressively more unsuitable for collection that actually evolved By the mid-1980s, newer, bigger, better Harvard museums ajjtd buildings had grown up around the Busch-Reisinger, which plagued with low attendance, i high deficits and evidence that the V)1. collection's paintings would dete riorate it not moved to better hous- is only the roughest of outlines. The full history, chronicled 'by Goldman in a book prepared for weekend's reopening of the hall as a European studies center, par- taUels and reflects the ups and of Germany's relations with jtjjg United States in the 20th cen-1 tury; it also provides a vivid illus-; ttration of institution building at --Harvard.

ft the contributor; Harvard Kuno Francke, the uip's chief advocate within the and Kaiser Wilhelm, who got the collection going with a major gift of plaster casts of the greatest Qerman sculptures, had more than 4hg glory of German culture on their minds. They were concerned offsetting the influence of French culture and with strength-- ening the political affinity of Ger- man-Americans for the land of their. efforts, personalities and rpriorities created delicate problems Harvard. This would be the first building of major significance on campus to be designed by a non-I'l Bostonian to say nothing of a foreign architect. And hanging the name of a beer baron on the hall when Prohibitionist sentiment was strong and growing caused jitters as well.

of a German architect dM indeed lead to problems when Germany went to war with France and England, then, in 1917, with the United States. Drawings for the 1 1 building were highly Incomplete, and public sentiment swung against Germany vehemently, and with i some suddenness. i I j'The hero of this building," says" Goldman, "was this wonderful Herbert Langford founder of Harvard's jjsihool of architecture and architect of the Gothic Swedenborgian church across Kirkland Street from 'Busch Hall. -aj "While Germany was at war with he drew all these," says Goldman, the sweep of his arm --taking in carved stone heads, taken Jrpm Wagner's "Ring of the Nibe- uhgen," which are set into the building, overlooking the garden. 'U'He couldn't get them from the architect, who had no because they were all in -the army." -J 'Goldman notes in the book that ACTON ACTON CINEMAS 1-2-3-4 263-8372 1.

"FIELD OF DREAMS" (PG13) 2. "SEA OF LOVE" (H) 3. "UNCLE BUCK" (PQ) 4. "WHEN HARRY MET SALLY" (R) ARLINGTON Hi ML RESENT Ada. (2.757 MM St.

643-1198 WEEKEND AT BERNIES" (PQ13) 7:00 ONLY "LOCK UP" (R) 9:00 ONLY at AUTOI CAPITOL 204 MASS. AVE 648-4340 "FIELD OF DREAMS" (PQ13) BABETTE'S FEAST" Q) "PETER PAN" (Q) 6:30 ONLY WIDE-SCREEN STEREOHANDICAP ACCESSIBLE NORTH ATTLEBORO TRIBORO CINEMAS (508) 695-4411 7FIELD OF DREAMS" (PQl3) THE PACKAGE" (R) SEA OF LOVE" (R) "WHEN HARRY MET SALLY" (R) "TURNER ft HOOCH" (PQ) "BATMAN" (PQ13) THE ABYSS" (PQ13) "UNCLE BUCK" (PQ) "PARENTHOOD" (PQ13) CASUALTIES OF WAR" (R) LETHAL WEAPON 2" (R) 'RELENTLESS" (R) BELMONT STUDIO "ALWAYS OPEN 7 NIGHTS" 484-1706 "PETER PAN" (Q) 7:00 ONLY "FIELD OF DREAMS" (PQ) 9:00 ONLY :7 r'y' "fy. and Jews after World War II. This opened the way for his son, whose academic specialty is modern German politics, to have strong contacts with'leading Germans, Jews and educationally oriented philanthropists. As Guido Goldman tells it, he was asked by university officials if -he "had any good ideas" for the building.

"I was asked because of the Eu ropean studies center and because my connections with the German government were such that I would be an appropriate person if we -found we needed to explain to them what we were doing. The de Gunzburg family, whose French- and Canadian-based wealth includes the Seagram's liquor fortune, gave $10 million Charles de Gunzburg, a recent Kennedy School graduate who now works in Seagram corporate poll cy office in New York, explained in a telephone interview that the gift was based a relationship with Gold man's family that "goes back two or three generations, depending how you count them," on a particular interest in furthering American un derstanding of Europe given the upcoming European economic and on respect for dis tinguished faculty at the center. About $6 million was spent on refurbishment; the other $4 million doubled the center's en-dowmcnt. University officials say many former public uses of Busch Hall will resume. The courtyard gate will be open to visitors from 1 1 a.m.

to 3 p.m. daily. Sunday organ con certs resume starting this weekend Emmy Norris of the Busch-Ret singer Museum says medieval statuary, stained glass, metal and other works that do not need climate control will soon be on dis play at Busch Hall. Peter Walsh, another museum official, notes that the theme will be medieval European rather than purely German, an ironic development in view of some original mo tives for the museum. Most of the university's best medieval art is French.

MAYNARD FINE ARTS THEATRE Sunmf St Rt 62 897-8100 "SEX, LIES ft VIDEOTAPE" (R) "PARENTHOOD" (PQ13) "RED SORGHUM" WEST NEWTON WEST NEWTON CINEMAS V4-1296 Wash. SI, Rtl. 16 964060 "THE PACKAGE" "THE MUSIC TEACHER" "DO THE RIGHT THING" "GETTING IT RIGHT" NORWOOD CIN. 1 A 2 "ALWAY8 OPEN 7 NIGHTS" 762-8320 I.INDIANA JONES LAST CRUSADE" (P613) 2. -WEEKEND AT BERNIES (PG13) QUINCY CIMEXAS 1-7 773-5700 1585 Hancock St at The Oukicy Fair Man "SEAOFLCVriRI "LETHAL WEAPON 2" (R) 1 1 9:30 ONLY "PARENTHOOD" (PG13) "UNCLE BUCK" (PG) -RELENTLESS" (R) "KICKBOXER" (R) "SEX, LIES, ft VIDEOTAPE" (R) "WHEN HARRY MET SALLY" (B) STONEHAM STONEH AM FLICK Redstows, Shopping Ctr.

438-6600 "BATMAN" (PG13) "DEAD POETS SOCIETY" (PQ) Montevecchi is married to work Warren remained absolutely faithful to the German design and concept for the building in the face of anti-German sentiments that led, around the nation, to the burning or German textbooks, the banning of German instruction from some schools and the arrest of a German-born Boston Symphony conductor as an illegal alien. Busch Hall did not escape unscathed: Twelve stained-glass windows, copied from 11th-century Austrian churches and installed in the Gothic chapel, were destroyed by vandals. The building was completed ia 1917 and the collection moved in, but Harvard did not open it to the public until 1921. University officials "were livid at what it cost. It was hideously expensive," Goldman says, noting with evident delight that the center's new home is exceeded in the richness of its construction only by Memorial Hall and the football stadium.

For a while betweerj. the wars, Busch Hall functioned as originally intended as a teaching museum. However, this did not last long, in part because the rise of Hitler resulted in its receiving a flood of outstanding contemporary German art that had been declared degenerate and banned by the Nazis. The rise of Hitler also led to the painting of an anti-Nazi fresco, using a motif of the Nibelung legends, on a wall of the lobby. The mural, which is in the style of public art oi the 1930s and clashes strongly with the medieval tone of the rest of the building, has just been covered with plasterboard after a period during which it was open to view.

Goldman said it would be uncovered from time to time in the future. Addition of contemporary paintings to the collection continued and accelerated after World War II, as did the annual deficits, leading ultimately to the decision to build a new home for the museum and seek a re-use of Busch Hall. That was where Goldman's family and political contacts came in. His father, Nahum Goldmann, was instrumental in the creation of the state of Israel and the reestablish-ment of relations between Germans BOSTON FILM AT THE MFA 267-2973 A PSYCHOS EXUAL COMINQ-OF-AGE TALE "THE MAGIC TOYSHOP" 6oryou8, Strany ft Benson, tA Ttnwt CAMBRIDGE BRATTLE THEATRE 876-6837 VCONTEMP" GodardB. Bardot "THE MARRIED WOMAN" Mora Godard CHELMSFORD 256-6111 "SEA OF LOVE" (R) "THE PACKAGE" (R) "UNCLE BUCK" (PG) "WHEN HARRY MET SALLY" (R) 7:1 "LETHAL WEAPON 2" (R) "RELENTLESS" (R) "THE ABYSS" (PG13) DEDnAM COMM.

1 2 "ALWAYS OPEN 7 NIGHTS" 326-1463 1. "FIELD OF DREAMS" (PQ13) g. INDIANA JONES LAST CRUSADE" (P613) FRANKLIN HOW WINCIM 508 520-3101 Franklin VHIaga Shopping Ctr. Exit 17 off Rte. 495 "SEA OF LOVE" (R) "PARENTHOOD" (PG13) "THE PACKAGE' (R) "WHEN HARRY MET SALLY" (R) "THE ABYSS" (PG13) "BATMAN" (PQ13) Jane Krakowski, as Flaemmchen, is "GRAND HOTEL" Musical in one act adapted by Luther Davis from the novel by Vickt Baum, score by Robert Wright and George Forrest, directed and choreographed by Tommy Tune, set by Tony Walton, lighting by Jules Fisher, costumes by Santo Loquasto, pre-Broadway tryout at the Colonial Theater through Oct.

7. ment of the moving towers in "Dreamgirls." Four rows of glass-box pillars divide the stage, allowing three playing areas that become the lobby, various rooms in the hotel, the corridors, a conference room, as well as a back view of a stage (for Grushlnskaya's mance). The hotel's revolving door not only revolves but can be moved away. The second tier is occupied by the orchestra, with massive retractable chandeliers that move smoothly down into the hotel area when required. The image of the orchestra hanging in caged-in space and playing the score's seamless waltzes, is haunting.

So is the image of a waltzing couple that begins and ends the show: the waltz -as destiny. There are good performances in "Grand Hotel," although nearly everyone whether singing or has a hard time being under- "She made me eel beautiful. She never criticized me. She never said: 'You're wrong' She made it clear she had no complaints about me. She was positive about me.

Her positiveness became my positive-ness. "My mother wanted to be a ballerina, but her family refused. When I was 7, my mother asked gently: 'Would you like to study I said yes, and for six months I took ballet lessons without my father knowing it. My father never saw me dance. He wanted me to be a lawyer.

"It was always my mother and me against the world. "Ballet is a discipline. It makes you aware of your body. It makes you tespect it. The body is like a car.

You have to put the right fuel in it to make it run right. I don't eat junk. I can work out all day and eat a carrot. But nothing comes easy. Nothing.

"To be a good ballerina, you cannot eat what you want. You can-: not drink what you want. You have to go to bed early. I never got married. I am married to my work.

It's like being in a nunnery. I don't complain about all this because it was my decision. "A dancer works out in a studio of mirrors. I don't look in the mirror to see if my nose is red. I look in a mirror to see what other people see.

I look at myself critically. What I want the mirror to reflect is harmony of line, harmony of body. "I'm very aware of of having a patina. When you don't waste yourself, your sense of con-, centration is polished. Your performance is polished.

People respect polish. It's what sets you apart. "You have to be obsessed with your work. When I've been in love and career opportunities jjime my stood. (Is the Colonial's sound system defective?) Lilian Montevecchi, -as Grushinskaya, is mostly incomprehensible.

She displays a nice Piaf roughness in "Fire and Ice," but the lyrics might just as well be in Sanskrit. David Carroll is strong and earnest as the Baron, and he sings eloquently. Michael Jeter is fine as Kringelein, giving the show some badly needed humor. (Carroll and Jeter have a winning scene that includes a Charleston performed hanging on the rail of the hotel's bar.) Timothy Jerome is businesslike as businessman Preysing. Karen Ankers has the relatively thankless role of Grushlnskaya's mannish confidante, a kind of embittered Greek chorus.

Jane Krakowski plays Flaemmchen with a tilting high-heeled walk she should patent, and a knowing kewpie-doll flair that seems to owe as much to Jean Harlow as it does to Marilyn Monroe. Krakowski is the show's knockout. Hotel" with its Brechtian gilt is a sophisticated entertainment with real potential, even "with its stopgap musical score. I liked it. didn't love it.

It passed me by as Vicki Baum's novel did, a nice quick read with a modicum of thought. It's going to require more than that for Broadway. way, I've left the relationship immediately. "Romance is wonderful. But it's ephemeral.

The reality of romance is that it's not stable. In a career, you depend on no one but yourself. I've been disappointed in love. My career has never disappointed me. "I believe in the truth of me.

I also believe in the truth of the words I say on stage. I have a hard time remembering lines that don't have real meaning for me. Unless the point of the words is clear to me, I can't make them clear to any-- body else. I have to feel the words" "I like to think that I'm always adding 'color' to my life. Knowledge is There's a magic to color.

It transports you to another level of your rainbow. "The sad thing is that colors be-' come fewer as life becomes shorter. It takes time for you to strive to be all the colors you can be. "The secret of life is to be happy inside. When I get up in the morning, I sing.

I dance. I believe in a good start. "Sometimes there are difficult moments. "During the intermission of a show, I was given a telegram. It said: 'Your father is deceased." I was in my dressing room.

I threw things on the floor. I broke everything in the room. But then I went onstage, and it was 'on with the "The people in the audience wouldn't have cared about my news. Why should they? They paid to see the show. "But after the I really cracked up.

I became hysterical. "Now, as I look at my life, I think everythirtg is the way it was meant to be. When you have peace, when you are accepting of yourself, you don't waste yournergies. I'm morj channeled now than I've ever beeiG MONTEVECCHI Continued from Page 57 York and appeared in movies "The Young Lions" and "Glass Slipper." "All my life I've been very flamboyant. I had to have tra-la-la.

One day Tommy Tune said to me: 'Why don't you trust what you are? Why don't you be who you "The trust he had for me made me trust myself. His trust was reassuring. I became more stable. "Getting older also changes your perspective of yourself. When I was younger, I was explosive.

But then my mother died. I saw that nothing is forever. I saw the silliness of screaming. I saw the uselessness of fighting. That made me more peaceful.

"When you have peace within yourself, you are free to be yourself. I channeled my emotions and energies. I didn't waste them anymore. "I'm always pushing myself to be the best. The best is like being the most you can be.

The quest for excellence can never be achieved. I'm very picky on myself. I can leave a good performance depressed. I always think I could do better. But pursuing excellence is what keeps you motivated.

"My mother was my inspiration. She was a fashion model for Dior and Balenciaga. She was an elegant' woman who wore high-heel pumps and never went anywhere without her gloves and her hat. "When she was expecting me, she prayed I would be born female with big eyes and long legs. She got what she wanted.

All my life, she said: 'Oh, your eyesl Oh, oh, your When I started going to school, the students made fun of my legs and said my eyes were 'cow When I came home crying, she said: 'Oh, no! You are1 VV iiMffllliF1.