Newsday (Suffolk Edition) from Melville, New York • 113

A television B33 Todayfspickl Dancing with the (young) stars Zac Efron and Vanessa Anne Hudgens in School tonight at 8 on Disney Channel Kids feel the beat in Disney's 'High School Musical' BY KATE O'HARE ZAP2ITCOM There was a time back in the TJOs when it seemed as if every other kid was wearing leg warmers a leotard or a ripped sweatshirt and wanted to be a dancer And why not? With the releases of Night in 1977 and in 1978 dance was back in a big way on the big screen i- The subsequent decade produced (1980) (1983) (1984) and 0987) All were exuberant musi-cals that took dance numbers off the stage and the soundstage and threw them out in the street 'Most of teens weren't even glimmers in their eyes back then As time passed young moviegoers' tastes turned to special-effects blockbusters gory slasher films and raunchy comedies On television song and dance became more about MTV than Broadway Tonight at 8 Disney Channel hopes to reverse that trend with School an original movie set in a contemporary high school but full of old-fashioned singing and dancing with a modem beat A music-driven story Kenny Ortega who choreographed and Bueller's Day is director and choreographer (with Charles Klapow and Bonnie Story) of this movie written by former music journalist Peter BarsocchinL If has a score by David Lawrence and songs by five separate composing teams people don't get too many musicals" says Ortega who was mentored by the late Gene Kelly speaks of the time that they live in what I thought was really fun about 1 I 1 i I i WBr'rtUlU Reba McEntire and Melissa Peterman REBA 9 pm WB11 In the 100th episode Reba (Reba McEntire) does not approve of Barbra Jean's (Melissa Peterman) method of child discipline New on DVD Movies that are new on DVD and VHS with reviews: Nicolas Cage stars in of LORD OF WAR (R) Nicolas Cage stars as a globe-trotting arms trafficker with a lucrative talent for looking the other way Andrew Nic-col's darkly comic drama operates with a smart mouth and with a heavy hand With Ethan Hawke 2-00 (strong violence drug use language sexuality) YiTWO FOR THE MONEY (R) Once again A1 Pacino plays a Mephistophelean figure in this case a sports gambling adviser guiding a gifted protege in this case Matthew McConaughey toward the Wages of Sin The scenery is as always pizza-with-every-thing But he shares thick slices with his co-stars including Renee Russo Armand Assante and Jeremy Piven Directed by DJ Carusoc from a script by Dan Gilroy (vulgarities galore violence sexual situations) UNDERCLASSMAN (PG-13) Beverly Hills Cop Jrj Brash young LA policeman goes undercover in a posh high school to find out Idlled whom Where do they come up with this stuff? With Nick Cannon Cheech Marin Shawn Ashmore Kelly Hu Rose-lyn Sanchez Screenplay by David Wagner and Brent Goldberg Directed by Marcos Siega 133 (adult says had one year of basketball under my belt and one year is really only three months to play in a season So I was not very good I was a little better than Corbin a tiny been dancing since I was Bleu says for me that was second nature We had basketball players who had never danced and dancers who had never played basketbalL We were able to help each other By the end of the training I was spinning a basketball cm my Press tour buzz For the latest buzz from the TV critics' press tour in Los Angeles check out Diane blog at newsdaycomtvpresstour The result in the story is that when the star of the basketball team admits he wants to sing onstage it turns the school upside he says a comedy but a message: judge a book by its cover and typecast people on campus that you don't Lots of training For his 23-day shoot Ortega headed back to the familiar territory of Salt Lake City where he choreographed the opening and closing ceremonies for the 2002 Winter Olympics which earned him an Emmy With one exception all of the background dancers and extras were from Utah Before production the cast was put through two weeks of intensive dance training And for those playing the basketball players that also meant training with a professional basketball coach the best dancer in the world or the best basketball Tisdale reveals seeing him on the screen he looks like the best basketball player and the best the movie" Efron this that we could go back and borrow from the classics not reinventing the wheel but do something for young people today that have the privilege of having music-driven Zac Efron stars as Troy Bolton a basketball whiz who meets shy academic-decathlon competitor Gabriella Montez (Vanessa Anne Hudgens) over winter vacation where they discover a common love of singing When Gabriella transfers to school the two decide to try out for the school musical to the horror of basketball buddy Chad (Corbin Bleu) and new pal and fellow decathlon competitor Taylor (Monique Coleman) Also opposing the musical ambitions are the heavily rhine-stoned drama queen Sharpay Evans (Ashley Tisdale) and her performing partner twin brother Ryan (Lucas Grabeel) school is such a polarized Barsocchini says got the jocks the braini-acs the goths the drama geeks everyone has preconceptions about each other TV NOTES more WLNY is available over the air in analog on its network of lower power stations including Ch 17 from Plainview and Ch 54 from "EMILY" GONE? Production has been halted on Reasons Why Not" all but sealing the fete of the ABC midseason laffer starring Heather Graham reports Daily Variety Work on the show ended last Friday after taping of the sixth episode and a decision by ABC brass to reduce its original order The show was pre-empted Monday night by an repeat of Monday not clear when the remaining episodes will air Despite a huge promo push by ABC to disappointing ratings CBS REVIVES "SYBIL" CBS has green-lighted an original movie based on Flora Rheta bestselling book that will star two-time Oscar winner Jessica Lange and Emmy winner Tammy Blanchard with Judy says the Hollywood Reporter Writer John Pielmeier The Rise of has adapted the book which chronicles the real-life treatment from 1954-65 of a young woman who suffered from multiple personality disorder Lange and Blanchard will follow in the footsteps of Joanne Woodward and Sally Field who played Dr Wilbur and Sybil respectively in 1976 adaptation of WHERE'S CH 55? For those viewers who still get their TV the old-fashioned way with an antenna WLNY has not been showing up where it used to be namely on Channel 55 reports Verne Gay The reason according to the station is that switching to a digital broadcast as mandated by the Federal Communications Commission According to a statement from the station will continue to be available on cable systems and satellite services as it currently is viewed and is also available over the air on digital Channel 57 to homes with a digital receiver or on an analog -set with a to ana- Heather this season's premiere and will be preempted again by this coming Graham might ply log converter.