The Kansas City Times from Kansas City, Missouri • 39

Stitunidy 93yc longgig I5ty imc Weekend Saction January 12 1980 the times of your life At Foolkiller Everyone Gets Into the Act Tickling the Ivories Twenty fingers and thumbs on a piano keyboard can do some damage but those of brothers Anthony and Joseph Paratore have learned their lessons at the Juilliard School Boston natives the two brothers are among the few duo pianists in the country who attain tne concert level They will perform with the Kansas City Philharmonic beginning at 8: 15 pm today at the Music Hall Admission: $4 to $1250 Sweet Georgia Brown that cat walking down the street? Would you believe Meadowlark Lemon? No he has his own team now Well then Curly Neal for sure The Harlem Globetrotters renowned showboaters of basketball will be whistling onto the courts at 2 and 7:30 pm today at Municipal Auditorium The Washington Generals will supply the opposition for the Globetrotters who are operating with Nate Branch former University of Nebraska star as player -coach Admission: $6 to $750 for adults: children 12 and under $4 to $550 Huffin' and Puffin' But whether saxophonist Ronald Tyree will blow the house down has yet to be decided The University of Iowa professor will take a shot at raising the roof at 8 pm today in the RLDS Church 15006 39th Independence He will be accompanied on piano by another Iowa professor Kerry Grippe The program will include saxophone pieces by Handel Hindemith Villa-Lobos and others Admission $4 The Eye of the Camera Forty original photographs taken by Lewis Hine social reformer and one of the first documentary photographers are on display in the exhibit "Lewis Hine: Human which opened earlier this week at the Kansas City Museum 3218 Gladstone Among the photographs are a record of the floor-byfloor construction of the Empire State Building from 1930 to 1931 and the documentation of child labor in the early 20th century You can see the display on loan from the Hallmark Collection from 9:30 am to 4:30 pm today amd 12:30 to 4:30 pm Sunday Admission: Free By Jeanne Meyer AMtmberoltheStaff You may have driven by the Fool-killer You may even have given the building a once over scanning the broad yellow signboard or the rainbow 1 painted above the door while your car idled at the stoplight at 39th Street and Main But when the light turned green you probably drove on past a foolkiller anyway? This Foolkiller is a smorgasbord of culture It's theater music academics and crafts by people who think the fine arts begin with everyday folks want to demystify the stage give people who want to perform a chance to perform without cutthroat competition" said Bill Clause a spokesman for the organization That means that a night in the Foolkiller Theater which opens its spring season today brings not only a sched uled play or performer but a passel of surprises Between acts members of the audience are invited up on the rough wood stage to do whatever they do best A plumber may belt out "There is Nothing Like a A Scotsman may lug his bagpipes up for a few numbers A weekend poet may read his most recent work potluck Impromptu acts are one way the group hopes to change the idea that culture is something to be manufactured elsewhere filtered down and swallowed by the masses The idea is to develop culture from the ground up Since the organization began 10 years ago the 60-plus Foolkiller members have been sponsoring craft classes like quilting and macrame hosting folk jazz blues eountry-and-western and bluegrass performers and holding discussion groups on topics from Marxism to capitalism Members are professors and waitresses lawyers psychologists teachers laborers They run their organization democratically with seven councils overseeing operations in theater music theory crafts women's issues publicity and a store that sells records crafts and books next to the Foolkiller Theater Major decisions are made in general membership meetings let everybody have their say a struggle because you don't always keep everybody Clause said Foolkiller members filter in by different routes Some join after sam pling the discussion groups and sometimes regulars in the Foolkiller audience decide to plunge in deeper Chns Cannetlastatt A nurse battles a strong-willed nursing home resident in Second Sight" which opens tonight at the Foolkiller Theater Foolkiller probably keeps some people away Clause said "Some people think I don't want to go down there because 1 am going to hear this diatribe this doctrine about But although many of our plays are about social issues our primary consideration (in choosing See FOOLKILLER Page 3C Col 1 Being an amateur should inhibit no one from performing Holland said The Foolkiller name he said is borrowed from a Depression-era newspa per that had a slogan today's Foolkiller organization has adopted: prefer crude vigor to polished banality" The audience in the Foolkiller The ater part of a converted candy factory is seated in a semicircle mishmash Clause said New members can join at anytime Even the stars of a show share in the work of production such as hunting for props adjusting stage lights or sweeping the theater floor said Dale Holland a member of the group resist having stars and heroes Our heroes are the ones who work Clause said pews and portable plastic chairs The theater generally draws to people Holland said That includes many who walk in from the blocks around the theater as well as a few in tuxedos and ball gowns who make the Foolkiller one stop on a night out on the town Not knowing what to expect from the Firms Hope to Provide Subscription TV to Kansas City fee for the decoder is $6 a month and a one-time installation fee is $3995 Piracy of the signal by non-paying residents has been a problem for new subscription TV systems but Block owns a patent on a foolproof decoder His device automatically contacts the computer each month and it unscramble signals if bills are unpaid Buford Television Inc is a closely South Bend Ind three cable systems in Bedford Ind a television station in Tyler and another in Lufkin Texas Bowker was unable to say how much the service fee would be for subscribers in Kansas City "I can tell you the range is from $1895 to $2250 a month in other places The installation fees range from $2995 to $6995 and deposits (for the decoders range from $30 to $60" he said held company mainly owned by three brothers Robert Jeff and Gerald Buford of Tyler The company's executive vice president and chief operating officer is Charles Bowker Buford Television has won FCC approval to build a subscription TV system in Cincinnati and has applied to take over the license of KDNL Channel 30 in St Louis Buford Television also operates 13 cable systems in Area Television Airwaves Nearly Full By Steve Nicely Times Broadcast Critic Channel 62 Kansas City's last available commercial television channel could offer non-cable pay television programming within two years if the two corporations that have applied for FCC licenses to use the channel can merge The merger currently under negotiation would speed a decision on the licensing question which has been awaiting FCC action for nearly three years Without a merger the FCC will go through a long process of hearings to determine which applicant should be given the single remaining commercial license in the area Both corporations have applied to offer a subscription television service which involves broadcasting a scrambled signal that only can be received by television sets equipped with decoding devices The programs offered are first-run movies nightclub acts and Secial events similar to the premium ows cable subscribers now receive on Home Box Office Both applications were filed in 1977 the first in February by Buford TV of Missouri Inc a new corporation owned by Buford Television Inc of though Kansas City is one of the first big cities in the nation to begin areawide cable operations you want pay TV but want cable services you can subscribe to our service and get it If you want both you can subscribe to cable and then decide whether you want their pay or our pay The point is the pay service is a separate decision" Block said Block also commented on the possibility of a merger between the two applicants trying to work something out with the other applicant now he said over the course of the next couple months we ll be able to do that If we work a compromise I think ap proval would come very quickly and we could probably be on the air within a year But it will be a long process if we can't work out the pay system is different from most because it charges for each program received His subscribers recently were given the option of unlimited viewing for a flat monthly fee of $20 as well The average bill for Los Angeles subscribers who pay on a program basis is $16 a month he said A rental Tyler Texas The second was filed in December by SelecTV of Kansas City Inc a company owned by a Los Angeles resident and four persons from Milwaukee Only six subscription television stations are operating in the United States but the two applications for service in Kansas City are among more than 100 at the FCC The two most successful subscription stations are operating in Los Angeles and both Kansas City applicants have ties to those stations Two owners of SelecTV for instance are children of Robert Block president of American Subscription Television which provides subscription television service in Los Angeles Block's firm has a contract with SelecTV to provide programming and hardware if SelecTV's application is successful The same relationship apparently exists between the Buford company and National Subscription Television of California the other subscription TV service in Los Angeles whose name appears on application Block said his company and SelecTV were interested in providing subscription TV service in Kansas City even use by KCPT the city's public broadcasting station That leaves Channel 62 as the last remaining commercial channel available here you ve got eight channels I'd say pretty close to having all that it is practically possible to said Paul Marrangoni a Federal Communications Commission engineer in Washington "Channels of the same frequency have to be separated by distances to protect them from interfering with each other would have to have an extensive engineering study to see if it was possible then get a ruling to make them move around from one city to another like a set of dominos If you move one you have to move the rest to accommodate The FCC requires a distance of 190 miles between VHF channels on the same frequency and 175 miles between UHF channels of the same frequency Channels 2 through 13 are VHF and Channels 14 through 69 are UHF The UHF dials on most televison sets go up to the 80s but all channels above 69 have been reserved for land mobile uses such as mobile telephones and pagers By Steve Nicely Timet Broadcast Critic The cup of possible television channels for the Greater Kansas City area is almost full The experts say more channels could be added if needed but the process probably would require other TV stations in neighboring cities to change their present frequencies and places on the dial Eight channels have been assigned to this metropolitan area Channels 4 5 9 19 41 50 62 and 68 Channels 19 and 68 are set aside for non-commercial use Channel 68 is reserved for educational uses and Channel 19 is in Fanny's to Rebuild on Formula Location That Made It a Success said Victor Fontana the operator and majority owner "It will have the same casual elegance The new establishment designed by Kenneth Krashier architect and Fay Barone interior decorator will be about 25 percent larger and will include a lounge The sunken disco dance floor surrounded by stair-stepped seating will be the focal point of the new as it was in the old The dining room will be above the dance floor and will be ByJohnTDauner A Member ot the Stall Like the legendary phoenix Fanny's the popular Westport dining and disco spot that burned to the ground two years ago is rising from its ashes Scheduled to open by June the new is being built on the site of the original at 3954 Central Like its predecessor it will feature lots of wood and soft colors continental food and formal service "Our old patrons will recognize the separated by glass to muffle the volume In the new building the elevated 200-seat restaurant will encircle the dance floor and bar The 80-seat lounge will be on the same level trying to create a total Fontana said hope those who come to the restaurant will go to the disco after dinner rather than going someplace else But we have added the lounge for those who do not want to be involved in the disco scene Fontana said he thought disco was here to stay but the amphitheater design of the discotheque will accommodate live music and entertainment as well The disco will have a softer atmosphere than most others in the area Fontana said re not going to put in a heavy light show and the music blast you out said Fontana who has been in the bar and restaurant business almost 20 years said he took particular pride in Fanny's food and service and intended to match or better it in the new restaurant employees and the pride they had in the food and food service are what made Fanny's he said made it a cakewalk for me About 60 percent are coming back to work waited two years and they 're coming back Among the returning employees are Lester Avery the chef and Jimmy Valli the food service manager who designed the menu Fontana said the menu would be little changed It will feature moderatelv expensive northern Italian dishes Most Page SC Col i A construction worker cuts iron for the basement of Fanny's a Startin From Scratci Chris Canneilastaff the establishment will be much like the original with a glass-enclosed dining area overlooking a sunken dance floor The new Fanny's also will include a lounge I Staff rant and discotheque being rebuilt at 3954 Central in Westport Expected to open by early summer Sheets of ice coated what remained of Fanny's after a fire Feb 2 1978.