Daily News from New York, New York • 332

i 4 ir entertainment mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm SHORT CUTS DAVID HINCKLEY Veteran ESoofer's Accident 40 i Palmers a Cr usSimg Uiovj A -r-j- of Tap Dance Rhino has assembled a five-CD box set of all 60 songs that won Academy Awards, due out Feb. 28. It starts with Fred Astaire doing "The Continental," and most of the versions are the familiar ones, but not all. Bruce Springsteen's "Streets of Philadelphia," last year's winner, is performed for this set by Richie Havens. Bruce did a live three-song Christmas set Tuesday at Tradewinds in Jersey.

Performance magazine reports that the Rolling Stones had the highest tour gross this year around $120 million to $104.6 million for Pink Floyd, $75.8 million for Billy Joel, $73.7 million for the Eagles. A 4 rsw V'. AN IBSEN GIRL: Jill Geddes as Nora with one of her lovers, played by Jeff Herbst, in "A Doll's Life," a musical sequel to "A Doll House" MSI i -i ip Again York Theater brings Ibsen musical back to Life but this revised sequel fails to play by ouse' rules By HOWARD KISSEL Daily News Drama Critic To the Uorld SAD NOTE THIS HOLIDAY A season: Lon Chaney, the great UU tap-dancer who worked through all the years when no one was watching and finally made it to Broadway in the cast of "Black and Blue," was severely injured in an auto accident last week that left him in Jacobi Hospital with what is described as a "crushed" leg. "They told me he can't take phone calls says Peg Leg Bates, a close friend and himself a legendary tapper. "I don't know what's going to happen Tap dancing is his life." One of the Original Hoofers, Chaney is best known for developing the "Paddle and Roll" step.

"Others copied it, but no one could ever execute it like Lon," says Bates, who gave Chaney one of his first breaks at the Peg Leg Bates Country Club. Through the '60s, when tap allegedly died, Chaney was one of the dancers who kept at it, training the next generation and working up new routines on his own. When it was "resurrected," he shared some of the rewards, working in both the Paris and Broadway productions of "Black and Blue" and influencing many of today's best dancers, from Gregory Hines to Savion Glover. "I just hope this turns out all right," says Bates. "He's done so much for tap dancing." LAST-MINUTE SHOPPING: Books are quick to buy and easy to wrap.

If your friends can read, you're set. So here are some good new ones: "Hank Williams" by Colin Escott, "Last Train to Memphis" (the fine new Elvis bio) by Peter Gur-alnick; "Baby, Let Me Follow You Down" (the story of the early folk days and folk singers in Cambridge, funny and marvelously told) by Eric Von Schmidt and Jim Rooney; "Wishing on the Moon" (Billie Holiday bio) by Donald Clarke, and "A Hard Day's Write" (a song by-song run-through of the story behind each Beatles tune) by Steve Turner. For those who like something a little esoteric, try "Way Up North in Dixie," by Howard Sachs and Judith Rose Sachs. It's a real-life musical detective story that uncovers how two black brothers were the real authors of "Dixie," the Confederate anthem. Outside of books, one of the nicest collectibles in this year of the unending collectible is the Beatle Watch.

It comes in 14 styles each a scene from some Beatle phase and Is available at Macy's and other stores. Priced from $75 to $100. For info, call 1-C00-784-6313. ODDS AND ENDS: The McGarrl-gle Sisters did a fine show at the Bottom Line on Sunday. They used just two backup musicians, wisely stayed away from synthesizers and broke out a couple of new songs, including "Why Must We Die?" That provided a nice philosophical segue to a pair of Stephen Foster songs, "Hard Times" and "Gentle Annie," both done in fine four-voice harmony.

This is hardly an outlook that seems appropriate to a musical. When "A Doll's Life" was first done on Broadway, in 1982, it was overproduced and overdirected. The York Theater Company, which has always been located in one church or another and has managed to resurrect numerous musicals believed dead, has made a valiant try with "A Doll's Life." Betty Comden and Adolph Green, who wrote the book and lyrics, have revised them extensively. With composer Larry Grossman, they have written a lovely new song, "Can't You Hear I'm Making Love to You?" The show that opened last night is simpler and more focused, but, alas, you still don't buy it. The trouble is, it's all too simple for Nora.

One of the more telling moments in the musical has Nora sending her pearls off to be pawned so she can speculate in commodities. When her lover demands she wear the pearls to a party, she has to scramble, but she gets them back in time. Ibsen or, for that matter, life wouldn't let her off that easy. The revival is useful because it reminds us that Grossman is an underrated composer. "Stay With Me, Nora" is a beautiful song (as are several in his earlier "Minnie's This production is extremely well acted.

Jill Geddes is an appealing Nora, though her voice becomes tentative when the music gets into higher registers. As her lovers, Jeff Herbst, Paul Schoeffler and Tom Galantich make strong impressions. The direction is straightforward, and the simple production is handsome. This revision is a huge improvement, but it's still not a fetching show. A DOLL'S LIFE.

Book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green. Music by Larry Grossman. With Jill Geddes, Jeff Herbst, Paul Schoeffler, Tom Galantich and others. Sets by James Morgan. Costumes by Patricia Adshead.

Directed by Robert Brink. At St. Peter's Church, 54th Lexington, through Jan. 22. DOLL'S A MUSICAL fAsequel to Ibsen's "A Doll House," might have been titled "Nora's Getting Her Act Together and Taking It on the Road." It begins with Nora slamming the door on her husband and follows her adventures from there.

Except for a brief stint as a drudge in a herring factory, she has a splendid career as the mistress of several interesting men: an opera composer, a lawyer and her most enriching role the owner of the herring factory. Along the way, she becomes an entrepreneur. At the end of the show, she goes back to Torvald, demanding to see her children. She manages to take his refusal in stride and announces she will set up a girls school. The notion that Nora will become a feminist paradigm hardly jibes with Ibsen's conception of his heroine.

As an old man, Ibsen was walking through a park with a friend who asked whatever happened to Nora. Ibsen pointed to a bag lady on a bench. "There she is," he said. Ibsen has generally been mistaken for a social reformer, which is why his plays are done so often and so badly. It is more accurate to see him as a grim social realist.

He saw society as a vise, which, once it has an individual in its grasp, closes in with inescapable and tragic consequences. a TOE BUSINESS: Lon Chaney Rest of the top 10: Barbra Streisand, Elton John, Grateful Dead, Phil Collins, Michael Bolton. Folk singer Oscar Brand has a new album comprised entirely of songs about cats inspired by a cat song he wrote earlier this year that drew calls to National Public Radio. One winner with the Beatles BBC set is Michael Jackson, who owns the publishing for a number of early Lennon-McCartney songs. Some of that publishing had reverted to Yoko Ono once its original 28-year copyright expired, under the widows-and-orphans clause of copyright law, but she sold that part back to Jackson.

Natalie Merchant is cutting her first solo album, due out next year. Her new band includes Jennifer Turner, Peter Yanowitz and Barry McGuire..