The Daily Times from Mamaroneck, New York • 23

T' v- 'C Ann Landers throws barbs at aging men who reftise to be dads, 2C SECTION Crossword 2 Horoscopes 2 Photography 2 Soaps 2 PC MK Gannett Suburban NewspapersSunday, April 4, 1983 David Lettermans new studio, the Ed Sullivan Theater, has been a monument to a showman, a miniature Disneyland and a radio playhouse. i. iM Theater. And, having fallen in love with the place even before he moved in, he is also the unofficial historian of the Ed Sullivan Theater. He has programs, ticket stubs and other memorabilia from the the-" ater's many incarnations.

And he has a statement that seems sweeping but proves hard to refate: More people have seen and heard and felt things coming from this stage than from any other stage in the history of America." The backbone of that claim is, of course, the Sullivan show, which in its 23 years brought America the biggest stars of the century. But the theater has been making history since 1927 when Ed Sullivan was working as a sporstwriter for the New York Evening Graphic. It was the home of the Kramdens and the Nortons in Jackie Gleasons "The Honeymooners. It was the home of Moody and Claghorn in radio's Fred Allen Show. It was the home of the nymphs and the waiters when it was an early theme -park.

And on opening night it wals the first place in America to go topless. Birth of a temple For this and other distinctions, we can thank Arthur Hammerstein, whose devotion to his father, Oscar, -made Lettermans new home possible. Oscar Hammerstein was an im; presario who helped turn the Times Square area into the city's Broadway theater district. When he died Please see 5HOWPLACE, 4C The Ed Sullivan Theater, which is on Broadway 3k 53rd Street in Manhattan, has a long and unusual history. Shown above as it appeared during the run of The Ed the theater is being restored and retrofitted with every gadget in TV land to make way for the new David Letterman show.

TELEIfIRinM BY TOM SHALES PBS medicine series divides its loyalties "Medicine at the Crossroads" is an impressive and exhaustive series, and the top-. ic could hardly be timelier, but the program gets somewhat -tangled up in its own creden-. tills. PBS will air the eight-hour documentary series in two-hour installments each Monday night in April starting tomorrow. The problem is not with the producers or with George Page, the authoritative narrator and coproducer, its that the long list of supporters and underwriters includes Pfizer, a major pharmaceutical Arm, billed in the opening credits as one of your partners in health care.

-The high cost of drugs is certainly a key part of the health crisis that makes headlines daily and has attracted the attention of, among other prominent citizens, Hillary Rodham Clinton. But a series on medicine Ainded in part by a drug company is net Ukely to make much of a ftiss about drug company profits, and this one doesn't. The Magic Bullet," the sixth hour of the series (airing April 19), does take drug companies to task somewhat, but the strongest statements on the show are along the lines of, "The products made by scientists and drug companies often have a completely unexpected impact on patients. Even if the series should perhaps have more bite and bluntness, it still contains a wealth of rich material. Based on a viewing of the first six hours, its clear that Medicine at the Crossroads" is ambitious and compelling, the most comprehensive look TV has ever taken at this subject In the first hour, Temple of Science, about modern teaching hospitals, we see doctors chatting dispassionately while, nearby, an indigent woman screams in pain.

An intern says coldly, I dont think she's going to live very long, but we can probably tune her up a little bit and get her out of the hospital." This episode gets into the arrogance of some in the medical profession, without calling it arrogance. Throughout the series, the producers obtained remarkably candid interviews with patients and doctors, and the camera eavesdrops on some shockingly intimate moments between the two. Despite limitations built into it, Medicine at the Crossroads is as fascinating as not only the human body, but the human being itself. Tom Shales syndicated column Appears in Lifestyles on Thursdays and Sundays. ByMttctiBrodor ataflWritw ts one thing, of course, to I I follow Elvis and the Beatles.

I I It's another to follow the I I nymphs and the 100 singing I I waiters. I I But those are among the I I attractions that David Let- term an has to follow because those are among the past tenants of the Ed Sullivan Theater. They were there at the same time as Ray Huling and His Seal which was two years before Titus Moody and Senator Beauregard Claghorn. Which was a good 15 years before the Kramdens and the Nortons. Which was just about the time that Ed Sullivan came along.

In short, the theater best known as the home of The Ed Sullivan Show has a scrapbook as weird as the one of the show thats moving in. As its almost impossible not to know, Letterman is moving his late-, night program from NBC to CBS sometime in August. The network got him by giving him 11:30, and $16 million. And it kept him in New York City by buying him the Ed Sullivan Theater. At this moment the theater, which is on Broadway at 53rd Street, is being restored and retrofitted with every gadget in TV land.

But whatever the network does to the place, it cant kill off the ghosts. That prediction comes from David Niles, who should know, because lie's one of them. Niles is the owner of a TV production company that for the past four years was in the Ed Sullivan 1 1 I Back when it housed CBS TV Studio 50, Jackie Gleason The cast of The Audrey Meadows and Joyce Randolph. ALetterman's decision to move his late-night humor to CBS started the search for a Manhattan studio where he could host his new show. the theater became the home of The Honeymooners': Gleason, Art Carney, The Ed Sullivan Theater wouldn't be what it is if it hadn't been for the man himself.

Long before his TV days, he worked as a sportswriter for the Port Chester Daily Item, which is now part of Gannett Suburban Newspapers, StaffphotoMarkVargafl In 1936, the building became the CBS Radio Theatre, pictured above with souvenir ticket stubs. In 1949, it was converted into CBS TV Studio 50. A melodic crusade for universal accordion repair WHATS WHAT WHATS HAPPENING Remembering Malcolm Spike Lee made the movie. But others captured Malcolm on film years earlier. Many of those images by notable photographers of the time can be seen in Malcolm a Photo History," an exhibit at Manhattan's International Center of Photography, which runs through June 27.

About 100 photographs focus on the years 1959 through 1965, when Malcolm made his mark in politics. The exhibit includes photos by Gordon Parks, Eve Arnold, and Robert Haggins, Malcolm's personal photographer. The International Center of Photography is at 1130 Fifth Ave. at 94th Street The gallery is open 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Wednesdays through Sundays and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesdays. Admission is $2.50 for senior citizens and students. (212) 860-1777.

Bedford bounty The annual Bedford Spring Antiques Show continues from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. today The show features English and American fiirniture, art, porcelain and fine jewelry. The show features an exhibit called Bedford Collects: Hudson River Valley Scenes." Admission is $6. The show is at the Rippowam-Cisqua School on Route 22.

For more information, calj 234-7337. Jones. This article states that the board of Red WingWinona Technical College has voted to eliminate, because of low enrollment, the college's accordion repair program which happens to be the only such program in the entire United States. I can't believe we would lpt this happen. Were talking about a vital part of our nation's history, dating back to the early 1800s, when each generation would seek to pass the secrets of accordion repair on to the next.

FATHER: Son, it's time for me to pass along the secrets of accordion repair. SON: I'm moving to Utah. That's right: Without accordion repair. Westward Expansion might never have occurred. And lets not forget the critical role that an unrepaired accordion played at the Battle of Gettys- Please see BARRY, 4C In these days of rising taxes, job insecurity and soaring medical costs, more and more Americans are asking themselves a chilling question: "What happens if, God forbid, I have to get my accordion repaired?" This is certainly on my mind.

I own an accordion. I used to own two of them. I bought them years ago at an auction for $25, which worked out to $12.50 per accordion, which struck me as an unbelievable deal. It's hard to describe the look oil my wife's face when I brought them home. It reminded me of her reaction to "natural" childbirth.

One of my accordions was destroyed when I made the common consumer mistake of leaving it outdoors for 14 months. But I still have the other one, a Hohner "Student" modeL It sits on a filing cabinet in my office, and sometimes, when I'm having trouble thinking up major issues to have opinions about, Jpmuse myself by causing it to DAVE BARRY make a scary wailing noise and swoop down at my two dogs. Earnest and Zippy, who jump up violently and bang their heads against the tablthey-sleep under. Earnest and Zippy hate Hohner "Student It's an instinctive reaction they have, dating back millions of years, to when their wild dog ancestors often fell prey to larger, hairier prehistoric accordions. But I like my accordion, although it is not in the best of shape, a fact that has me deeply concerned, in light of an article from the Winona (Minn.) Daily News sent in by alert reader Mike.