The Spokesman-Review from Spokane, Washington • 70

The Spokesman-Review PajeES Sunday. July 14. 1996 Pt Ellen Travolta paces first-rate production of Gypsy Theater review Gypsy Thursday, July 11, Coeur d'Alene Summer Theatre Baby June, batting her eyes at the audience and emitting little Shirley Temple squeals of joy, and Tara Sullivan is equally winning as the older version, still doing the same girlish tricks. The sets, by Jack Green, reflect the theaters increasing commitment to quality, not to mention the theaters increasing budget. The vaudeville-style proscenium border curtain was a nice touch.

The 15-piece orchestra, directed by Holladay Sanderson, hit its stride quickly after a slightly nervous start. Its sound was brassy, raucous and strong throughout. The only real problem on Thursday night was a scratchy sound system. It reached the level of annoyance several times during the evening. This number, as directed and choreographed by Roger Welch, has all of the narrative drive and tension of a good short story.

Im not certain, however, whether Niederloh was cast perfectly for this part, a not uncommon problem in a summer season in which the same performers have to be fit into four different shows. She seemed uncomfortable as the older and more worldly Gypsy Rose Lee. The show is filled with fine character roles. The three strippers, played by Kay Story, Laura Seable and Bobbi Kotula, steal the show in the You Gotta Get a Gimmick number. Kotula is hilarious as the trumpetplaying Mazeppa, but even better as the officious secretary Miss Cratchit.

Frank Jewett and Eric Englund also do fine work in multiple character roles. Special mention has to go to the two Junes. Little Kjeisti Cubberly is priceless as the Mama set the tone for this entire production, the first in the Coeur dAlene Summer Theatres four-show summer-stock season. This was a Gypsy filled with humor, savvy and, most of all, riveting emotion. Travolta brought a just-right tone of New Jersey chutzpah to the role of Mama Rose, who is the show-biz equivalent of a mama bear looking out for her cubs.

Sometimes, she comes across as a loving mother who just gets a little carried away. Other times and this is what sets Travoltas performance apart from other Mama Roses Ive seen she seems truly psychotic in her need to live vicariously through her daughters. At her best moments, as in Everythings Coming Up Roses, Travolta is actually frightening in her need and her obsession. Her singing voice owes plenty to Ethel Merman, at whose feet she learned the role in 1961, when Travolta was a bit player in the national tour with Merman. Travoltas strength is not in staying perfectly on pitch, but neither was Mermans.

Her strength is in belting out these songs with a maximum of soul and emotion, and with a fair degree of tunefulness, also. She does a wonderful job with the smaller, and prettier songs, such as Small World. She shares that song with Jack Bannon, her real-life husband, who is an uncommonly effective Herbie, the long-suffering suitor. Bannon plays this part with such utter ease and command, we forget how difficult it is to play such an outwardly placid character and give him some inner fire. Jennifer Niederloh has wonderful moments as Louise, the daughter who becomes the famous stripper Gypsy Rose Lee.

She is especially effective in the All I Need Is the Girl number, in which Tulsa (played well by Micheal Muzatko) fantasizes about having a girl dance partner, and Louise achingly fantasizes about being that partner. By JimKershner Stuff writer 1- Ellen Travolta truly was bom to play the role of Mama Rose in Gypsy, as certain (famous) members of her family maintain, then on Thursday she got the reward of a lifetime. The audience leapt to its feet in an instantaneous standing ovation as soon as she walked out for her curtain call. It was a richly deserved tribute to a thoroughly successful performance. Travoltas brassy and intense portrayal of "Gypsy continues through July 20.

Call (800) 4-CDA-TIX or (208) 769-7780. MSNBC: A partnership of cable television and computer Stallone Madonna win high marks from more-regular folk sharing the same street By Fred Tasker Miami Herald 7 IAMI So what do you think its like 5 I I i to live on the same Miami street as 1 1 1 Sylvester Stallone and Madonna? WII Think you can drop over to Rockys pad on weekends to pump a little iron? Knock on the Material Girls door for a cup of vodka? Silly you. Linger too long at Rambos rococo front gate, and an unseen loudspeaker voice politely asks you to please not block the entrance. And even though Madonna has had digs there since 1992, most of her neighbors have never laid eyes on her. "I've seen Madonna in her yard and waved at her.

I think it was Madonna. Sgt. Art Sellg Florida Marine Patrol Continued from E3 industry. Thats where NBC entered the picture. The two firms realized a partnership gave them a set of skills that neither side had by themselves, Neupert said.

The net result is a two-headed beast that Neupert admits is brand new, still untamed and essentially trying to figure out its methods on the fly. Beast One is MSNBC Cable, which has been designed to not look or feel like any other all-news cable channel. Unlike CNN, MSNBC Cable will avoid a headlines and clock-driven approach. It will have news anchors and reports, using some of the newscasts generated by the networks big guns, like Tom Brokaw, Bill Moyers or Bob Costas. After 7 p.m., it turns to four one-hour segments devoted to interviews, technology, politics and current affairs.

Meanwhile, theres Beast Two MSNBC on the Internet where PC users can look at stories or maps related to current news, or simply drive around looking for information that suits their needs. Because the starting point will be on the World Wide Web, visitors can head off, searching for information across the globe, then heading back to the Redmond computer base of MSNBC on the Internet. For instance, if another Freemen episode erupts in Montana, editors in charge of MSNBC on the Internet would lay out a selection of sites that give information beyond what was available on the cable channels newscast. It might, for example, direct users to Internet home pages of TV stations or newspapers that sent reporters to cover that story. The philosophy will be that both halves of MSNBC will find ways to send viewers back and forth using the cable channel for strong video and live reports, using the online service for depth and background information.

Some of that depth would come, possibly, from Spokane, where KHQ-TV (Channel 6) is NBCs area affiliate. Once KHQ-TV puts up its own home page this fall, that location would be identified for users of MSNBC on the Internet. In that case, viewers seeing a i story about the Montana freemen on MSNBC Cable would then connect to MSNBC on the Internet for more information. There theyd get directed to KHQ-TVs Internet site. I At that point, their computers could download and view parts of i video from that evenings KHQ newscast of events in Montana.

Staffing MSNBCs Redmond part of the operation are more than 50 reporters and editors who will stay in contact with the East Coast MSNBC operations base in New Jersey. Nearly all are print and TV journalists whove decided theyre I comfortable in the new medium of on-line news. Managing the technology in an on-line-cable TV partnership is i easier than people first thought, said Neupert. We have ongoing, real-time connection between the people in i Redmond and those in New Jersey, Neupert said. The harder challenge, agreed Neupert, is coordinating the cable- i news and the Internet halves of the i formula.

-1 Were learning as we go. Its 1 been balls to the wall on this since we signed the agreement in December, he said. But theres nobody else out there whos done this. Our policy here is try it, do it, fix it, he said. Anotherwrinklewillbethe occasional use of computer software applications (apps) to help on-line users find a personal spin on the news, Neupert said.

MSN tried, during the spring Republican primaries, to give its on-line users a way of testing how Steve Forbes flat tax would affect i their income. On the computer, the user would enter pertinent income data, then find out what the likely outcome of I a flat tax would be. Similar efforts will occur, but theyll be the exception, not the rule, said Merrill Brown, the managing editor of the MSNBC on the Internet in Redmond. Were working on being very careful about what we put out, and not abusing the fact that we can gather tons of information, some of which may have limited value for I Internet readers, he said. i f'i I 1 laboratory MSNBC on Cable next Monday? Only the beginning, say the people in charge.

t- I v1 Private folks, those two: No neighbor has ever knowingly seen Sly squeeze Jennifer Flavin or Madonnas coming kids father-to-be, Carlos Leon. You know, taking out the garbage or anything. Still, to a man, woman and child, the denizens of the posh, lushly treed 2800 to 3200 blocks of Brickell Avenue, a little jog off South Bayshore Drive just north of Vizcaya, speak well of their megastar neighbors. Hes a hell of a nice guy, says neighbor Jack Weiner, adding about Madonna, Shes no bother to anybody, Theyre good people, agrees Dean Ziff, who lives a couple of doors north of Madonna. Theyre sexy.

They bring a lot of attention to our street. Know whom the neighbors dont like? The rest of us. We who pander and grovel and drool and gawk; who, seeking cheap peeks, besiege their once-bucolic neighborhood by air, land and sea. We hover over their homes in helicopters, shooting pictures of Stallones estate. We pile out of blocklong tour buses, 30 at a time, to pry at the screening on Madonnas gate, or climb over her wall.

We sail up in 40-foot shrimp boats at 3 a.m. to within 20 feet of her seawall. They were yelling, Madonna! Ziff says of the shrirnp boats. They were screaming obscenities. dri, the neighbors have called the authorities.

Florida Marine Patrol Sgt. Art Selig took Ziffs obncyuous shrimper call. Hasnt happened again, he says. But if it does, he says, he lacks the staffing to do much about it. Selig says he enjoys an occasional quick spin past Madonnas house himself, in his patrol boat.

Not often, he says. They deserve their privacy. But maybe when there are visiting police from out of the country. Ive seen Madonna in her yard and waved at her. I think it was Madonna.

Stallone, for one, has scored major points with the neighbors by his sheer, well, neighborliness. At first, neighbor Emily Rococo Romfh feared his presence meant trouble. It wasnt just the helicopters and buses. Soon, tourists started parking their rental cars in her poorly drained swale, tearing up her grass. jU Madonna (above) has a reputation in the neighborhood for keeping her party noise way down.

Sylvester Stallone earns points with a housewarming. Then, Stallones security staff, trying to keep boaters from his seawall, put up buoys too near her house. But Stallone got wind of Romfhs discomfort. He called me up, and I went over to his house, she recalls. I told him about the helicopters.

He said they cant do that, and pretty soon they stopped. Hed heard I was unhappy with the buoys. He moved them over. Stallone paid for better drainage of her swale and added his clout to efforts by the Cliff Hammocks Homeowners Association to get traffic restricted. He gave me his phone number in case there was anything else to my disliking, says Romfh.

Hes just been absolutely charming. Stallone scored points with his neighbors soon after he moved in by inviting all of them to a housewarming party in May 1994. A nice gesture. Hes a very nice man, says neighbor Norma Gordon. The neighbors probably will have Sly around for a while.

He has sold his Kauai, Hawaii, house and polo field for $2 million and has put his 11-acre Beverly Hills pad on the market for $5.5 million. Madonna uses her Miami house less often and mostly wants to be left alone. Ive never seen Madonna, Romfh says. People tell me shes in disguise. Jenny Rothenberg, 13, another neighbor, says she has seen Madonna jogging on Brickell Avenue.

She was in sweats and tennis shoes, in a big black wig and a lot of makeup, says Jenny. When Madonna first moved in, Jennys sister, Heather, 19, tried to welcome her. My sister went to give her cookies, says Jenny. She handed them to a housekeeper. There was no response, Jenny says.

We kind of gave up. Madonna fans were a bit of a bother at first. When she first moved in, there used to be a lot A communications Associated Press of teenagers in front of her house, says Gordon. Theyd just hang around and look in. I think one of them jumped the fence once.

That seems to have stopped. Madonna, too, tries to be a good neighbor, Jenny Rothenberg says. She gave one party, and they sent a letter to the neighbors that just said not to worry, so we wouldnt think there were people sneaking around her house. Gordon was aware of the party, too. People were arriving in dark cars.

I didnt notice what kind, Gordon said. But they were very quiet. Shes like any other neighbor, except shes not here very much." From 6 a.m. through 4 p.m. weekdays (3 a.m.

until 4 p.m. on weekends), a flow of news and information will be anchored by Jodi Applegate, John ibson, Ed Gordon and John Seigcnthaler. At 4 p.m., Time and Again, with Jane Pauley as host, will draw from 220,000 hours of NBC News archives to revisit stories as they were covered when they broke. At 5 p.m., Internight is an interview program with Tom Brokaw, Katie Couric, Bryant Oumbet, Bob Costas and Bill Moyers in the rotation as host. At 6 p.m., The News with Brian Williams will bring a flexible approach to the nightly news format.

At 7 p.m., The Site, produced in San Francisco by MSNBC and Ziff-Davis, publisher of numerous computer magazines, will explore new media. Weekend prime-time schedules will largely consist of repeats, although correspondent John Hockenberry will launch a Saturday night talk show in the full. By Frazier Moore Associated Press Something new is about to bloom on TV sets and personal computers all over the place. But whether or notyou bother checking out MSNBC right away, its debut Monday will almost certainly lead to changes in how you watch television and use your PC. The MSNBC moniker employs Microsofts initials as a prefix to NBC.

But along with those five letters, a billion-dollar joint agreement binds the software giant and the broadcast-TV network. Visionaries have said, Oh yes, someday the computer and the television screen will come together, "says Mark Harrington. Well, someday turns out to be the 15th of July. What should surely distinguish MSNBC from anything else on television is two other initials: and D. That is, the whole enterprise seems to be a monumental research-and-developmcnt project, a corporate-funded communications laboratory with an eye not to short-term profit but to long-term product breakthroughs.

So what will you find on I the Spokane areas Ticketmaster outlets are now in four Pay Less Drug Stores, switched from the defunct DJs Sound City. So if you want tickets to The Gorge, or to the Seattle Mariners or to most other Seattle events, head to Pay Less at Northgate, University City, South Regal or downtown. One improvement over DJs they do take credit cards. A marriage between KREM and KSKN KREM-2 announced this week that it has entered into a local marketing agreement (LMA) with KSKN-22 in Spokane. This means that KREM-2 will sell advertising and provide programming services for KSKN.

Youve never heard of KSKN? You're not alone. This is probably the least visible of Spokanes local TV stations. Most of its programming consists of the I lome Shopping Network, and it can be picked up both over the air and on Cox Cable, channel 22. Barry Barth, KREM general manager, said that there will be no big changes to KSKN right now. However, he saad that KSKN has the potential to be more of a local station in the future.

Meanwhile, we should note that an LMA is not a change in ownership. KSKN-TV Inc. is still owned by Mel Querio of Chico, Calif. KREM is owned by the Providence Journal Company out of Rhode Island. Opera buffs to Santa Fe Those Spokane opera buffs are doing it again.

About 42 of them are flying off, en masse, to Santa Fe, N.M., to see four productions of the Santa Fe Opera. The irrepressible Katherine Gellhorn is leading the trip from Aug. 13 to 19. This is the fourth time Gellhorn has led a group to Santa Fe. Heart and Soul anniversary Happy first birthday to the locally produced Heart and Soul Show," which runs every Sunday from 5 to 6 p.m.

on KTSUFM (101.9). This is the only urban and traditional gospel show in the Inland Northwest. Michael Barrow of Spokane is the producer and host. Spotlight: Weatherman gets fair weather spot Continued from E3 further notice. He said the station still hasnt found a replacement.

Adams said the prospects look good for him remaining at the station at least part time as the weekend weather anchor. He said the people at KHQ have been exceptionally nice." HORDES of Spokane fans Loks like there will be a steady stream of cars hca i ng west on 1-90 to The Gorge on Aug. 4. TJcketmnster Teports that the Pay Less Drug Storjr at Northgate in Spokane was the biggest selling outlet in the entire state for the H.O.R.D.E. Toil Blues Traveler, Dave Mathews Band, Natalie 1 Merchant) at The Gorge.it Tls gives mean ojjportunity to remind you that.