The Vancouver Sun from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada • 47

47 ChcUratoui'trSun ENTERTAINMENT And he's taken the best of 800 sketches in the last quarter-century to create a two-hour special scheduled for Thursday Bob Hope's big 25 -years on the tube i.y 4. 1 76 5 ll i i i i 5 By BOB THOMAS LOS ANGELES (AP) Bob Hope celebrates his 25-year romance with the television tube Thursday night with a two-hour special featuring himself and 97 other stars from his past shows. Never under-confident, the comedian is certain he has a hit. "Why? Because of Dolores," he explained. "She has always been my worst critic.

Many times after a show she'll tell me, 'That didn't make I'll say, 'What are you talking about? The audience loved That doesn't matter to her; she's still a critic from a 'class' standpoint. "I took her to see a two-hour-and-10-minute compilation of the television shows. You know what she said? 'It's a shame to cut a foot of it'." Painfully, Hope and producer Paul Keyes cut the collection of clips to 90 minutes, the rest of the show being occupied by commercials and by tomfoolery with Hope pals Bing Crosby, John Wayne and Frank Sinatra. The four stars taped the interludes last week at NBC. Bob Hope's Quarter century of Comedy will offer a time capsule of show business history as well as a view of the extents to which Hope would go to induce'laughter.

Such as fighting with heavyweight cham-' pien Rocky Marciano, Bing playing the referee, the sketch ending up in a waltz that includes Jack Dempsey and Gene Tunney (the situation bears some logic, since Hope once boxed as Packy East). "I've got Maurice Chevalier making his first appearance on television," the 72 -year old comedian recounted. "And Jimmy Durante singing September Song, a sequence that makes people cry. I talked Jimmy into doing the song, remembering when Walter Huston used to do it." Preparing the show was no simple scissors-and-paste job. Hope and staff spent two weeks reading through the 800 sketches he has performed on television.

After they made the selections, the matter of clearances had to be faced. "I had to pay every writer, and all the performers receive a minimum salary," he said. "Permission had to be gotten from each start. Ingrid Bergman replied, 'Bob can do anything he The only permission I'm waiting for is Barbra Streisand, who wanted to see a copy of the tape. She was on my show before she did Funny Girl." Included in the show will be Hope's jibes at U.S.

presidents Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon and Ford. "That's the greatest source of picking on the biggies," he observed. He was asked if he could remember doing all of the scenes that appear on the show. "I remember them, but some amaze me," he replied. "Like a dance I did with Jimmy Cagney.

I looked at myself and said, 'That must be somebody else's body' SEMIRAMIDE REIGNS SUPREME, with Marvellee Cariaga as the queen of Babylon, in this dress rehearsal of the Rossini opera staged A Chorus Line a pity it Brian Kent Phota by the Vancouver Opera Association and scheduled to open Thurs- day night in the Queen Elizabeth Theatre under Richard Bonynge. had to reach Broadway who also directed, and the New York Shakespeare Festival adopted the whole thing. The final result is a lavish, slick production, which, apart from Kleban's spot-on lyrics, probably retains little if anything of the original human experience. It now includes the standard comic blonde with pigtails, the brassy comedienne be 30 real soon and I'm glad''), a tear-jerking homosexual, and an intrusive love interest between one of the girls and the dance director; which is entirely out of place. But there is no jjint in lamenting what might have been.

A Chorus Line is a rousing show that will raise the hearts of anyone who enjoys singing and dancing, with such numbers as What Can I What Can I Tell I Felt Nothing, Tits and Ass, Everything was Beautiful at the Ballet, Kiss Today Goodbye and What I Did for Love. the Strawbs General impressions were that some of the Strawbs music is better enjoyed at home, with the lyric sheet, thoughtfully provided with the band's albums, in hand. Some attention should be paid to working those two keyboards players and the rest of the band into a tighter unit. That will take but a little time, which they will have on this present tour, lasting until December. Nevertheless, an enjoyable performance.

Opening acts were upcoming country musician Bruce Miller and an extremely talented pianist and singer from Denver, Betty White. Callisoard: hallo, prospcef A few nights earlier, another New York Shakespeare Festival production opened at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre at Lincoln Centre Sir Arthur Wing Pinero's 77-year-old Trelawney of the Wells. The limited run ends Nov. 23. Trelawney is endearing Pinero, a hardy combination of melodrama, comedy and honest sentiment.

It evidently appeals to Papp, for it is the second time the Shakespeare Festival has resurrected it. While the setting of the play has been changed from the London of the 1860s to turn-of-the-century New York, no real harm is done, apart from some anachronisms of importance only to purists who take the play over-seriously. For the final three acts, Pinero Is left to his own devices and a good time is had by all, both actors and audience. The first act is spoiled, however, by director A. J.

An-toon's frantic efforts to stylize the acting, which results in a series of independent sketches that slow up the play. Fortunately, he drops this facade for the remainder of the show. Foremost among the Vivian Beaumont repertory company is. Marybeth Hurt in the title role of Rose Trelawney, who gives up her acting career to marry into society, only to return to the stage when she finds the restrictions of society unpalatable. Her Mary Pickford innocence is spiked by a delicious sense of comic timing.

Also notable are Mandy Patinkin as her nervous lover, who turns his back on his family to go on the stage, Sasha Von Scherler as the low comedienne Avonia Bunn, and Christopher Hewett as an out-of-date stage manager. Good clean fun, In short, with first-class seedy scenery by David Mitchell that rolls into place on the thrust stage, and good use of the excellent lighting facilities by Ian Calderon. the mortgage companies demand that Canadian purchasers undertake to pay the tax over and above their mortgage payments. Don't ask me to explain it, but it is the law. THE TOWN AROUND US The appointment of Insp.

Bob Stewart as a deputy chief constable of the Vancouver city police is a demonstration of how far we have come since cops allegedly got their promotions because they were anti-union toughs who beat up on the long-hairs just for the heck of it. Stewart, who was in the running for the chief's job ultimately won by Don Winterton, is one of the youngest senior officers on the force. He first came to public attention when he headed the police union the first, time the city was con- fronted with the remote possibility of a strike. And he's not about to have an automatic reaction to long-haired kids either. Stewart's Tommy, is the drummer with Legend recording stars.

Trooper. Stewart has been on loan to the B.C. Police Commission, under Dr. John Hogarth, ever since the government established the organization, and was one of four B.C. residents who went to Geneva as a consultant to the United Nations crime conference.

That's the meeting that was to have been held in Toronto until the fuss about the VIDEO VETERAN HOPE picking on the biggies Then there was a hippie dance I did with Natalie Wood. People who saw it said, 'You can't dance like Hope admitted he is doing more now than at any time in his career. He had been in New York the previous day, appeared at a luncheon, taped a full-hour Tomorrow show and performed at the Radio City Music Hall. He had flown to Los Angeles, napping three hours in flight, and that night was appearing at UCLA for basketball coach John Wooden's retirement party. The quarter-century special is the first two of seven hours of specials this season for Hope's new sponsor, Texaco.

Gearing up for a new Hope look, he has severed with his long-time producer, press agent and most of his writers. have a different producer on every show," he explained. "It's working out great, because each one has been throwing ideas at me, providing fresh thoughts of their own. I kept three of my writers and hired four new ones. I think it's important to know what young brains are thinking about.

You gotta keep up with what's going, on." Alanis Obomswain will sing lullabys, war, hunting, medicine and dancing songs in the Simon Fraser University Theatre, at 8 p.m., today. The of B.C. Symphony Orchestra will perform works of Beethoven, Franck and Mozart in the Old UBC Auditorium, at 8 p.m., Friday. The National Marionette Theatre will perform Art of the Puppeteer in the Simon Fraser University Theatre, at 8 p.m., Saturday. and was reaffirmed when Allende was in power, says his job is non-political.

"This is a typical case of Chile's government being attacked without good reason," he said. I'm not about to argue, even though I find it odd that, her passport application had to be checked out with the Chilean police before she received a clean bill of health. "It's a perfectly normal procedure," Grubner told me A few years ago, I interviewed John Eaton and asked him about an awning for the Granville Street side of the company's new Pacific Centre store. He told me the architects were working on it. At Tuesday's official Pacific Centre opening, Fred Eatou showed up with a better sense of humor, despite excruciating back pains as the result of an injury while playing squash in Calgary.

"The architects haven't been able to figure out a to erect an awning," he said, and then added, with a grin, "But if you're really worried about the rain, I suggest you pop into Eaton's and buy an umbrella." Flitting about the fringe of the opening party was Leo Kol-ber, the Cadillac-Fairview man who launched the Pacific Centre project with the casual observation that the developers would bring in outside architects because there wasn't "an architect in Vancouver who could handle the job." Time has borne him out. There isn't an architect in Vancouver who would have dared. WASSERMANIA The way things are going, the price of food may not only affect our eating habits it may. even cure them. had been added, truth had disappeared out the stage door.

A Chorus Line, the latest hit of Joseph Papp's New York Shakespeare Festival, has been playing workshop productions and previews for so long that it is almost a part of Broadway history by now. It purports to show what happens at a casting call for the chorus of a new musical, and presents brief cameo portraits of the dancers, why they are where they are and what makes them tick. It originated in a taping session with Bennett and the dancers themselves, and by all accounts was an affecting experience. Bennett felt it demanded a score, and so Marvin Hamlisch was called back from Hollywood to do the music, while Edward Kleban was tapped for the lyrics. James Kirkwood and Nicholas Dante, one of the dancers, did the book, Bob Avian worked on the choreography with Bennett, tastes savor I -VT5' ft 1 LEADER COUSINS adrift in anguish Promised Land, Round and Round, Hanging In The Gallery, and the poignant sent Friend.

Lambert, an indefatigable Who fan, sang his Little Sleepy very much like Roger Daltrey and played Tonwnshend licks, although he innocently claims lack of intention in that matter. Returning to Cousins again, I found You And I (When We Were Young) particularly enjoyable, but not so The Life Auction. It was too loud, with voice struggling to be heard over instrument. The theme of greed came across in the power of the rendition, but not in the lyrics, which were just not clear enough. To Be Free was also loud and a little frenzied: I prefer Cousins when, he is quieter and more in-.

tense. 2 if if (9 By CLENNE CURRIE NEW YORK (UPI) Something funny happened to A Chorus Line on the way to Broadway: it turned into a Broadway show. It's a big, vigorous musical with some excellent songs and dances, and will doubtless fill the Shubert Theatre (where it finally got its official opening) for years. There is a plenitude of talent in every direction, and it will give the musical theatre a big boost. And yet While the cheering was at its height, there were some who, while they applauded with the rest, felt a little sad, a little cheated.

There was a feeling that somewhere along the way A Chorus Line had taken the wrong turn. That Michael Bennett's original conception of the show had been overwhelmed by the hard realities of theatrical production. That, while life. Only certain By NICK COLLIER A small crowd of fewer than 1,000 people" were in the Garden Auditorium on Tuesday night to welcome the Strawbs upon the occasion of the band's first -visit to Vancouver. The reason fo'r the limited turn-out can be found in the British group's material: it appeals to particular tastes.

To many people who have had a brief encounter with the band, there is only the former membership of keyboard superstar Rick Wakeman to render any interest. What is unfortunately, overlooked is the fact that Strawbs founder and leader Dave Cousins is one of the finest poets to ever use rock as a contemporary medium. Thus it is inevitable that a concert performed by the band is very much a dramatic reading. That does not mean multitudinous and frivolous theatrics; the opposite is the case Cousins' physical emphasis is limited to descriptive hand movements. His voice, however, is unique and instantly identifiable as the Strawbs trademark.

He does not sing with the intent of merely exercising his voice with meaningless lyrics, but rather to express his poetry. There's no incredible range or beautiful tone, but yet he is able to sound passionate, angry or devastatingly adrift in anguish. He is even sometimes eerie, close to monotone, as though he were standing at the end of a long corridor and singing to himself with a gravelled whimsy. Of course, Cousin? is not alone on stage. Dave Lambert plays electric guitar in a clean, precise style as he adds to Cousins' electric acoustic, and he also does a good third of the vocals.

Bassist Chas Cronk and drummer Rod Coombes have become the rhythm mainstay over the past 2'2 years since Hudson and Ford left to form their own band. The keyboard section has also gone through various manifestations, with Wakeman on his own, Blue Weaver with the Bee Gees, and the most recent depar-tee. John Hawken, spending, more time his family. The gap has been doubly filled by John Mealing and Robert Kirby. Tuesday's selections were primarily from the albums Nomadness and Ghosts (the first recently released, the other some months old), with some older material.

Ghosts was the opening number, and was loose in musical cohesion: the keyboards might well have been more subdued. Following that was Cronk's The WASSERMAN ilMteiteir'- ill The University of B.C. Musical Theatre Society will hold auditions for an anniversary production of Hello, Dolly! in the old UBC Auditorium, at 2 p.m., Saturday and Sunday. For more information, call 731-1378. Burnaby park board is sponsoring a' course in ceramics and ceramic sculpture for the retired at Bonsor Recreation Centre, 6637 Fern, Burnaby, on Wednesdays from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m., starting today.

For more information, call 433-9929. Indian singer, composer and film-maker PLO started The word is that Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau has assigned one of his personal aides, Paul Manning, as overseer of the troubled UN Habitat conference, which will be held in Vancouver next summer, whether we're ready or not The Vancouver group, Heart, which was at Oil Can's a couple of weeks ago, is goipg into the Montreal Forum and Toronto's Maple Leaf Gardens as the supporting act to Rod Stewart this weekend. One hopes Heart will make separate hotel arrangements Don't kid yourself about the two-hour waiting time to get on a B.C. government ferry where the service was reduced this week. It took at least four hours Small inflation item.

The $100-a-plate Liberal dinner for PM Trudeau, scheduled for Nov. 21, will cost the faithful $125. The extra $25 pays for the food. The $100 is a totally tax-deductible political contribution. NOTES TO ME Chilean consul Joaquin Crooner is a trifle miffed about some of the public statements that accompanied the dramatic story of Aida Redoles' bid to remain in Canada.

After all the publicity, Grubner, who appears to be a bit of a romantic, checked in with a statement: "It's a wonderful, beautiful love story, how she stayed in Canada to be with her fiance," he said. "But her statements that her life was in jeopardy if she went back to Chile simply aren't true. Last July, she applied to have her Chilean passport revalidated. I checked with the police in Chile and there was nothing against her and she was issued with a new passport." Grubner, who served here as consul prior to Allende TAX CRAX In addition 'to. thieves, embezzlers, hookers and assorted other characters, Canada's national revenue department the income tax collectors, Charlie is now making life miserable tor the John Doe citizen who buys a holiday place outside of Canada with a small down-payment and a large mortgage.

The tax department wants a tax on the income of "non residents" of Canada who collect interest from Canadians. The interest payments are part of the mortgage. Under Canadian law, if you're a Canadian resident paying interest to a Mr. in outer Siberia, Mr. is required to pay tax on the interest you pay him.

But, since Mr. isn't likely to remit the tax Ao Canadian authorities voluntarily, the Canadian resident is required to withhold 15 per cent as "non-resident withholding tax." That is to say, 15 per cent of the interest portion of the mortgage. The law has been on the books ever since day one. but the tax department has only recently begun chasing it with a vengeance. The word has now reached foreign mortgage companies, with the result that they re dragging their feet on issuing mortgages to Canadians.

It's been a major blow, to Canadians buying condominiums, in Hawaii particularly, although the word is spreading in other areas as well. Several large property deals in Hawaii have been held up while.