Daily News from New York, New York • 98

I rW 4-s i i lit) "I jfX iter It -H ImmmilmMfYiielL I. i Jjf---- RECEPTION for ex-NYPDers Karen Krizan (c.) and Bill Clark (2d from includes actors Jimmy Smits (I.) and Dennis Franz (2d from Ex-NYPD duo tie knot ireviivall for GBVjay By MICHAEL RIEDEL Daily News Staff Writer Two rundown Times Square tlieateVs wiirbe xombiried" to create Broadway's biggest musical theater to house its most lavish productions, according to plans released yesterday. Livent a Toronto-based entertainment company run by impresario Garth Dra- -binsky, plans a multi-million-dollar merger of the dog-eared Lyric on VV. 42d St. and the Apollo on W.

43d St. The as-yet-unnamed theater would house large-scale musicals like the hit revival of, "Show Boat," which Dra-binsky brought to Broadway in 1994. Livent sources said the theater's first production may be a musical version of E.L: Doc- torow's best-selling novel i "Ragtime," which the company is developing with director Hal Prince and playwright Terrence McNally. -jThe plans by Livent are the latest good news for Times Square. After years of court battles and real estate intrigue, the redevelopment of the area's theaters has quickened, with the renovation of the New Amsterdam Theater on W.

42d St. by the Disney Co. and the restoration of the New Victory Theater by the city. The merged theater t.which will be leased by Livent from the city and state will include 1.839 seats, a spacious lobby, three box offices, a rehearsal" space and a choreography hall. It will be across the street from the New 'Amsterdam.

Livent has a 75-year lease on the theaters. "Broadway needs new the-f aters with the required stage dimensions, backstage flexibility, seating and box office 2 grossing capacity to keep pace 0 with the growing popularity of musical productions," Dra- 1 binsky said. He said productions at the 1 theater would not be limited to Livent shows, and could include ballets and operas. Drabinsky said construction would begin in the late spring, with a target opening of De-! cember 1997. He put the cost of the proj-; ect at $22.5 million and said fi-i nancing would come from Li-j vent and "outside I institutions." No government subsidies are involved, al-I though the theater will be ex-j empt from real estate taxes.

Despite their rundown states, the Lyric and the Apol-lo have colorful pasts. The Lyric, built in 1903, once host- ed the Marx Brothers show "Coconuts." 3 The Apollo, which has lately served as the rock venue The Academy, played host to W.C. Fields in "Poppy" in 1923. l' 3- number. In one happy bunch, everyone headed up the Pacific Coast Highway for a reception at Giorgio Malibu Ristorante.

"NYPD Blue" creators David Milch and Steven Bochco both gave heartfelt toasts. Actor Nick Turturro then rose to sing a capella. His hands dug in his pockets, looking more nervous than he ever does on camera, Turturro sang "My Way" in a style that was part crooner, part school boy, all charming. Karen em The violinist played "Here Comes the Bride," and Karen Krizan descended the brick steps to stand beside the man she had first met when they were New York City detectives. Karen was now about to marry Bill Clark in a lush California garden with various big-time producers, directors, and actors in attendance.

The feeling that passed between these two former partners Monday evening was one born of those days they chased bad guys through streets that MICHAEL DALY braced him and he embraced Bill, and here was one Hollywood gathering that had not a hint of glitz or fakery. Bill turned and surveyed the candlelit room, beaming like a man who had arrived seemed a planet away. "Bill, are we composed?" Karen asked. Karen looked at Bill and then looked away when he looked at her. He looked away when she looked at him.

They who had once CAROL ROYCE VffLDEX HAPPY COUPLE worked way from gritty beat as NYPD detectives to Hollywood producing work to nuptial bliss. "I think she did get me into that 'Will you marry me? Clark says. Now, they were husband and wife, and they were among people who were there only because they were friends. He uttered a phrase that is often heard in Hollywood, but he was speaking as someone who sees glamor in simple survival, who prizes love over money or fame. "I made it!" Clark said.

"I'm here!" The violinist struck up "The Bride Cuts the Cake," and Bill took Karen's side as she took up one knife they would not have to voucher as evidence. She fed him a piece, and he did the same with her. Afterward, she had her own reflective moment on the way those early days of chasing bad guys through the New York streets had taken them to this dream come to life in California "Who knew?" Karen said. exactly where he wants to be. He had been raised in South Brooklyn and he had seen combat in Vietnam and he had served on the real NYPD and he had seen friends die and he had stood over more bodies than he can count Then, David Milch called and said he needed a detective to help him on a new show.

For a time, Clark lived a double life, locking up real bad guys in New York and then hopping a plane to consult on scripts in Hollywood. He once went directly from a Queens murder scene to a California-bound plane. Finally, he retired' from the police and became a producer and moved into a house in Rustic Canyon with such neighbors as Jamie Lee Curtis and Barbara Hershey. The woman who impressed him more than any other then turned in her badge and moved west as a consultant for a show in development Anyone who doubted he was a model for "NYPD Blue" character Andy Sipowicz needed only to ask if he proposed formally to Karen. worked homicides were doing all they could not to cry.

"Oh yeah, we're real composed," Bill said. Bill was a few solemn syllables into his vow when he choked up. She fared about the same. "It was kind of an emotional-type thing," Bill would later say. The pastor reported to the gathering that he had spoken to Karen and Bill before the ceremony.

He reported Karen had said she loved her former detective partner for his gentleness. Bill had simply described Karen as his best friend. The time came for Bill to slip a gold band on Karen's hand. She did the same on the finger where Bill had until that afternoon been wearing tiis big deteci tive's ring. Family and old New York pals cheered along with Hollywood people whom Bill had met in his new life as a producer with "NYPD Blue." These included Jimmy Smits, who wears Bill's old shield number on the show, and Kim Delaney, who wears Karen's old shield.