Daily News from New York, New York • 638

low i entertainment Nothing to Sing About JJt- I costs of doing new shows is so high and the dependency on reviews is too great It's really become an absurd game." Absurd or not, it's one that most producers are still willing to play. "I've always had to fight for my hits," says Martin Richards, co-producer of "The Life." "And I am not going to be stopped just because a few critics but not all didn't like 'The What makes their opinion better than anyone else's? Audiences love it, and they, not critics, are going to turn it into a hit" Of the new shows, the one that many industry insiders think has the best shot of finding an audience is "Jekyll Hyde." The show, which cost $6 million, had been doing fairly good business during previews, largely because of the cult following it developed on the road last year. "Jekyll Hyde" was wrapping about $60,000 a day during previews. It opened Monday night to mixed reviews (including a devastating New York Times notice), and by yesterday afternoon had taken in over $100,000, production sources said. "We are pleased with the way it is playing out," said executive producer Gary Gunas.

I f- rh-- i I' m- v. I f-. 1 -i FROM COVER "wrap" the amount of money it takes in on any given day. To have a shot at turning a profit, multi-million musicals should wrap between $250,000 and $300,000 a day after they open, producers say. None of the new musicals is doing that kind of business.

The $10 million "Titanic," for instance, took in just $45,000 the day after it opened. Since then, it's been wrapping about $55,000 a day, sources say. But its producer doesn't seem concerned. "Miracle hits wrap $300,000," David says. "Normal hits take time to build.

We're here for the long haul." 5 "Steel Pier," which cost $7 million, took in $55,000 its first day. The wrap is now hovering at around $90,000. "The trend is in the right direction," says Berlind. But even Berlind calls what's happening on Broadway right now "a season of madness." The mixed reviews and lack of excitement surrounding many of the new shows, he adds, "make it even more hazardous to do a new musical than ever before. The riskreward ratio is the worst it has ever been, because the HULLS APOPPIN': "Titanic" (with have to work hard to overcome its ilZ JOKE'S ON VOLTAIRE: Stacey Logan, Jason Danieley and Andrea THEATER REVIEW Bernstein's sublime score lacks best of jL-Ljzu-- By HOWARD KISSEL Daily News Drama Critic LEONARD BERNSTEIN'S "Candide," one of the most glorious scores ever written for Broadway, has been, in effect, orphaned for 40 years.

Hal Prince's current production provides it yet another unsatisfactory foster home. At birth, in 1956, the score was swaddled in a book by Lillian Hellman which, though Alma Cuervo Larry Keith) will icy reception among critics. Martin in "Candide," at the Gershwin all possible books The fine soprano Harolyn Blackwell was so preoccupied with the business Prince gave her in "Glitter and Be Gay" that, the night I saw it, she lost the rhythm. Prince's premise is that Voltaire set out to entertain his readers, and the musical should do likewise. This is true.

Forty years on, however, it is clear that whatever of Voltaire's spirit or wit the musical first captured is in Bernstein's music and the original lyrics, which are ill-served by the Wheeler book. In this revival, even such stalwarts as Andrea Martin and Mai Z. Lawrence cannot get laughs out of the unfunny material. Nor can Jim Dale, who plays a host of comic roles. Jason Danieley is a properly innocent Candide.

Blackwell, of course, sings beautifully as Cunegonde. The sets and costumes match the outwardly merry but ultimately empty style of the production perfectly. When the final chorus arrives and all the music sounds first-rate in conductor Eric Stern's hands it should be exultant Here it only brings relief. The unending un-hilar-ity, is, thank heaven, over and we can go home. CORRECTION: In Howard Kissel's review of "Jekyll Hyde" on Monday, he did not credit James Noone with co-designing the sets.

HOLLYWOOD CANDIDE. Music by Leonard Bernstein. Book by Hugh Wheeler. Lyrics by Richard Wilbur. John LaTouche and Stephen Sond-heim.

With Jim Dale, Andrea Martin, Maralyn Blackwell, Jason Danieley, Mai Z. Lawrence and others. Sets by Clarke Dunham. Costumes by Judith Dolan. Directed by Harold Prince.

At the Gershwin. heavyhanded and humorless, served the music well. She at least gave Voltaire's story of an innocent youth surviving countless horrors, a satire on 18th-century optimism, a coherent narrative. The musical did not find an audience then but built one through its unsurpassed original cast album. In 1973, Prince had the happy idea of creating a version that would make the work less imposing.

At BAM, the actors cavorted all around the audience. This structureless version, with a book by Hugh Wheeler, moved to Broadway a year later. It demonstrated the theatricality of the score but shortchanged its musical values drastically. When Prince directed "Candide" for the City Opera in 1982, he retained Wheeler's carnival-style book, which is only marginally funnier than Hellman's and a lot longer. He has used the same version for this production, but cleaned it up a bit Actors in horse costume galloping onto the stage now mar only the climax of the brilliant overture rather than the whole thing.

By MARILYN BECK and STACY JEN EL SMITH Clock can't slow '60 Minutes' Wallace tion." Garris tells us that he and King have been discussing the possibility of the big-screen project. "I hope it won't be the next thing I do. I'd like to do something else before I become known as The Stephen King Guy but maybe I already am," says Garris, whose other King adaptations include last year's "The Stand." Jane Seymour's 'Ellen' alternative "I'm coming out as a heterosexual mother of six kids," jokes Jane Seymour who admits she's sorry her CBS telepic "The Absolute Truth" is on opposite tonight's gigantically hyped "Ellen." However, she's maintaining a positive outlook about her film, in which she's a magazine show producer embroiled in a media war with a political candidate. "I watch and I have nothing against any of that at all, but. the alternative.

If Iwere counter-programing a piece of fluff or something generic, I wouldn't be so positive, but we have a powerful movie." Mike Wallace turns 79 on May 9 and, in typical style, will celebrate the occasion on the run. "I'll be on Long Island working on a story for '60 a wonderful piece," he says. Mike sounds happy and is feeling great But he does acknowledge he has been on anti-depressants since the age of 65, and that, "I'll be on medication the rest of my life. My doctor tells me there's a 70 chance of a relapse." Mike believes the condition was latent and came to a head during Gen. WilHam Westmoreland's unsuccessful libel suit against CBS and Wallace in 1985.

It's 'Desperation' time Don't be surprised if the next collaboration of "The Shining" miniseries director Mick Garris and horrormeister Stephen King is an adaptation of King's "Despera T3 CD CO.