Daily News from New York, New York • 48

co flow entertainment THEATER REVIEW flictoir's Tate, Ml fitihsdl 'Spread Eagle' ambiguously recounts real-life tragedy By DAVID KAUFMAN Special to the Daily News 1 I In Tib5 a rough spell as he announces, "I need a place to sort myself out" Toby finds that place in Mexico, where he sets up a home away from home and keeps Javier (Matthew Saldivar), a 19-year-old lover. Javier's father is Toby's live-in major domo, Ar-turo (Steve Mones), who serves as the pimp negotiating his son's terms. The other principal character is the adolescent Diego (Joe Quintero), Javier's so-called "cousin" who, Toby discovers, has innate acting abilities. While it shifts between London and Mexico, the drama's forward momentum gets derailed as it comes to focus too much on Diego, and on scenes from "Antony and Cleopatra," which he rehearses with Toby. Perhaps a more gifted actor would have pulled off Diego's scenes more effectively especially when Toby is so much more impressed by Diego's doing Cleopatra than we are.

But there is Murray's performance to revel in, and the rest of the busy, nine-person ensemble is generally strong. Though the play contains some fine writing and some good scenes, it drags on longer than it should, and leads to a decidedly anti-climactic ending. If life famously lends itself to chaos, art is in a much better position to make sense of things. To the degree that Luigs fictionalized his version of a 1988 headline story, it's surprising that he didn't craft a more chilling and definitive climax. Even if the real actor died under myter-ious circumstances, there was no reason his fictional counterpart had to go as mysteriously.

SPREAD EAGLE. By Jim Luigs. With Brian Murray. Anne James, Graeme Malcolm. Mark Dole, Patricia Kilgarriff, William Meisle, Steve Mones, Matthew Saldivar and Joe Quintero.

Directed by Constance Grappo. Setting by Debra Booth. Lighting by Jack Mehler. Costumes by llona Somogyi. At the WPA, 519 W.

23rd St. ONE OF OUR FINEST ACTORS, BRIAN Murray is giving another brilliant performance in "Spread Eagle," a new play by Jim Luigs at the WPA Theater. But even though his droll portrayal of an aging actor is always on target and appealing, it isn't enough to salvage a play that gets sidetracked and ultimately ends on an ambiguous note. "Spread Eagle" is rumored to be based on the life of a popular British comic actor who divided his time on stage between London and New York. After buying a getaway home in the Dominican Republic and adopting a native youth who was more of a lover than a son, he was ostensibly murdered there a decade ago.

The play begins backstage in London, where Toby Arundel, a 60-something actor, is giving his first preview of "The Tempest" There is some smart, Noel Coward-like dialogue as Toby banters with two pals in his dressing-room: an underemployed actress named Gwyneth (Patricia Kilgarriff), and the mincing, "desperately over-accessorized" Humphrey (Graeme Malcolm). Toby is a difficult and demanding friend, the sort of man who says, "I know my reputation I created it" He also senses that he's headed for STAGE CRAFT: Joe Quintero cradles Brian Murray in Jim Luigs' play set in the theater world. ART REVIEW St ained Ha ss Exhibit dogs to rest Panes By Ml LA ANDRE Daily News Staff Writer HERE ARE ANGELS and saints. There are images of Christ and his Blessed WING A PRAYER: Panel, c. 1900, from collection of Boston Archdiocese Mother.

And as you study them, it is hard, finally, to believe that you are not standing in the middle of a great church. This exhilarating exhibit "Glory in Glass: Stained Glass in the United States" is mosaic art at its best and it can be seen at the Gallery at the American Bible Society through Feb. 16. There are windows, panels and roundels from churches and museums, as well as sketches, sample designs, cartoons and photographs. The exhibit illustrates the rich and different traditions that have gone into this ancient art form.

On view are examples of medieval and Renaissance glass on loan from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, St Bartholomew's Church and the Art Museum of Princeton University, as well as contributions from seven American churches. The show begins with several 1866 windows from the sanctuary of the Central Baptist Church of Southbridge, and ends with an angel window on loan from the Neustadt Museum of Tiffany Art at Many of the stained glass artists used illustrated religious books as their models; several are on view, as are photos of the churches from which the glass was brought An 80-page illustrated catalogue complements the exhibit, curated by Virginia Chieffo Raguin, professor of art history at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass. It's a perfect way to reflect on this holiday season. The Gallery at the American Bible Society, 1865 Broadway at 61st is open 10a.m.-6 p.m.; 10 a.m.-7 p.m., and Sat, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Admission is free.

For more info, call (212) 408-1236. 124 W. 79th St. All the styles of stained glass are explained and shown, as are the methods of saving windows from one building and reusing them in another. St Bartholomew's has lent two panels from a cycle depicting "The Story of St John the Baptist." Made between 1570 and 1580 probably in Northern France they show the Baptism in the Jordan and John Before Herod.

The Met and Princeton have lent the border section from the Cathedral of Soissons in France, and "Two Images of the Passion" after the "Round Passion" by Lucas Van Leyden, just to mention a few. Ill 0' if uim jg I mm-rnimimdmmnmunJ ANGEL ON HIGH: Window (1896) from church in Auburn, Mass. ft 4 4 fi i 7.