Pittsburgh Post-Gazette from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania • Page 27

C-2 PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE Tl IURSDAY, MARCH 27, 1997 ARTS ENTERTAINMENT 19 9 7 ogfo itgTf mm Igrtfe iwiritftifafiaaiiih mihtA mimummmmmmwK iiiniii -laiaaiiMw KTfo-iiB Joan Marcus Elliott Gould, left, Cindy Williams and Douglas Wert star in "Deathtrap." 'Deathtrap' can't escape mediocrity STAGE REVIEW 'Deathtrap' Where: Heinz Hall, Downtown. When: 8 p.m. through Friday; 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Tickets: $22 to 392-4900.

By Christopher Rawson Post-Gazette Drama Critic Some Broadway Series offerings save you a trip to Broadway; "Deathtrap" just saves you a trip to Little Lake or the Red Barn. Maybe that was the plan, to brighten a stormy week in March by anticipating the summery pleasures of a comedy-thriller, right down to the sort of good-natured, wooly staging a straw hat theater affords. But does Heinz Hall really want to compete with Apple Hill? "Deathtrap" is a perfectly entertaining and serviceable play, but of a very familiar type. (In fact, the conventionality of the plotting is one of the many self-reflexive jokes with which author Ira Levin lightens the way.) So if such a reliable warhorse is going to be trotted out as the top ticket in town, it ought to offer something extra. Presumably that extra is the star, Elliott Gould, but he doesn't bother to shine very bright.

That may seem churlish to say, because Gould's Sidney Bruhl is a smiling, comfortable stage presence. But he just isn't a very interesting Sidney, who is, after all, a deceptively ego-centric, middle-aged mysterywright who takes drastic and imaginative steps to alter his stagnant Wednesday, April 30 5:30 10:00 p.m. DoubleTree Hotel, 1000 Penn Avenue, Downtown Tickets: $30.00 Sponsored by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Borders Books Music. Proceeds benefit the Greater Pittsburgh Literacy Council. Leonard Garment "Crazy Rhythm" (HarperCollins) This memoir tells with wit and compassion for human frailties, the rise of Leonard Garment, a poor Brooklyn boy who started out as a jazz musi- cian, became a successful Wall Street lawyer and, surprisingly because of his liberal views, one of the most trusted of Richard Nixon's White House advisors.

Barbara Walters says, "Leonard Garment is not only smart, he's wise." New York Times reviewer David Brooks, in a rave review, comments, "Few of the Capitol's big-wigs are as emotionally astute as Leonard Garment." by or connected to it. I know, I know, it's just a comedy. Gould's rumpled teddy bear does have comic charm. But jolly warmth goes only so far without the spice of variety. And for a man who takes such pleasure in language, this Sidney never does bite off his crisp witticisms with much savor.

The evening's main pleasure remains Levin's artifice. I'd rate "Deathtrap" at about seven on the (twist and turn) meter that's pretty high. And since the characters keep re-writing a play that recapitulates the one they're living, the ironic parallels add fun. Cindy Williams (once of "Laverne and co-stars, but her role is only table-setting and decoy. Mariette Hartley started out this tour in the role, before leaving for what was announced as health reasons, but it wouldn't surprise me if she left out of boredom or embarrassment at being the decoy above the title.

Marilyn Cooper gets the juicy oddball role of Helga, the Dutch psychic (where are you, Madame and she works so hard to give us our money's worth that her caricature threatens to implode into unintelligibili-ty. Doug Stender plays the straight-man lawyer. The set is more lavish than your local straw hat could manage, but that's not enough. And a five-person play in a hall the size of Heinz is already at a disadvantage. You'd do better to wait unless Hartley would come back to play Sidney, of course.

She'd snap off those one-liners with more panache. professional and private lives. Something must make such a man tick, and with the star in the role, we expect insight or at least titillation. But all that seems to make Gould tick is getting from one line to the next and thence to the plas end in as cheery a way as possible. This Sidney never really does tick at all, let alone smolder, crinkle, sizzle or pop.

For example, there's his connection to the handsome young writer, Clifford, played with square-jawed, pecto- Roger Kahn "Memories of Summer" (Hyperion) rai-Duigmg competence by Douglas Wert. The relationship is avowedly homosexual, but there's never a flicker of physical acknowledgment. Gould shows no tinge of emotion, not even when saying farewell. He strolls amiably through the play without ever seeming affected Metallica as thrashy and primal as ever i Roger Kahn has been called the Poet Laureate of baseball. His earlier book, "The Boys of Summer," is often hailed as the best baseball book ever written.

"Memories of Summer" is a literate and compelling story of an era when baseball was young. It is also a personal story of a young man grow- ing up within earshot of Ebbets Field who never tired of the game and the famous people who played it. Nancy Friday "The Power of Beauty" (Harper Perennial) "The Power of Beauty" explores a provocative subject how our looks 1'2' affect our lives and how our lives affect our looks. Nancy Friday always chooses controversial topics for her books motherdaughter relationships in "My Mother, My Self," and female sexual fantasies in "My Secret Garden." While the book seriously explores 25 years of changes in women's attitudes about themselves, it is also fun to read as it visits the runways of Z'Z Paris, current movies, media events and the psychology and wisdom to be found in literature. Peter Bogdanovich "Who the Devil Made It" (Alfred a Knopf, inc.) Award-winning director, actor, screenwriter and critic Peter Bogdanovich Last Picture in "Who the Devil Made It" interviews 16 famous film directors from Alfred Hitchcock to Otto Preminger to Sidney Lumet.

The interviews, which took place over a 15-year period, reveal the fascinating and diversified background of each of these extraordinary characters. Their richly illuminating conversations with the author provide a riveting chronicle of Hollywood and picture-making. By Ed Masley Post-Gazette Staff Writer OK, so in terms of sheer heaviness, "Load" is no "Kill 'Em All," "Master of Puppets" or even And Justice For All." Yes, it's light on the the words of Metallica front-man James Hetfield, "So what?" All that talk of the band selling out for a piece of the fabled alternative pie, it would seem, has a lot more to do with the band members' trendy new haircuts and headlining status at Lollapalooza than anything even remotely related to music. Last night at the Civic Arena, the band was as thrashy and primal as ever. At times.

And when Hetfield sat down for the intro to "Nothing Else MUSIC REVIEW Metallica proved it could pull off a big, dreamy ballad without sounding wimpy. They played in the round on two stages that stretched from one end of the ice to the other. To open the show, they ran out through tne crowd shaking hands and played half of the first song with the houselights still blazing. They're into the fans that way. And last night, they attracted a total of 17,087, a sellout.

Two songs in, "Creeping Death" gave the old guard a fist-pumping trip down Metallica lane with a classical twin guitar lead from Kirk Hammett and Hetfield. And yes, there were flashpots, but nothing compared to the pyrotechnics that announced the arrival of "One," a grim ballad of life after wartime that first made the band a Top 40 commodity. Even without all the fireworks, "One" would have been the show's highlight. They ended the set with a medley of headbanging classics, but not until after the crowd had completed a pop quiz. "By show of hands," Hetfield asked, "how many here got the album "Kill 'Em All?" I couldn't get a good count, but I think it was just over 17,000.

Earlier, Hetfield acknowledged the loyalty, sending a song out to "all you expletives who stuck with us for a long expletive time." That's love, heavy metal style. Tail wags dog out of show By Richard Pyle Associated Press NEW YORK First, the 1 2-vpar- 'aim nil. Bit vmwmmiixm PRESENTED AS A TRIBUTE TO THE AMERICAN SPORTSMAN BY Remington. NATUREwHITlG IrTtwkMMiMiiHmviMilliinTHfirftilMWkim. DANTE'S PEAK (PG-13) 7:30, 9:30 SCREAM (R) 7:30,9:30 MICHAEL (PG) 7:35,9:35 FOOLS RUSH IN (PG-13) 7:35, 9:35 ENDS TONIGHT I 1 CARMIKE CINEMAS CARMIKE CINEMAS SMILLA'S SENSE 1997 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Book Author Dinners SOUTHLAND 9 655-0500 CRANBERRY 8 772-31 1 1 OF SHOW to mm Thursday 7:30, 9:45 ami Name, Street.

City SHOWCASE EAST MONROEVILLE 824-4424 SHOWCASE WEST ROBINSON TWP. 787-5788 State. Zip I HARRIS THEATRE I MELWOOD SCREENING ROOM WHEW UK WERE KIWGS 6:00. ool VERTIGO 8:15 1 STAR WARS (PS) 2 APRIt fi-FLEA MARKET Golden Globe Award 5 Home Phone Tickets: $30.00 each. Please send me tickets to the Wednesday, April 30, Book Author Dinner.

Amount enclosed: Make checks payable to Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and mail order form to: Pittsburgh I Book Author Dinners, 34 Boulevard of the Allies, Pittsburgh, PA 15222. WINNER-BEST FOREIGN FILM A old with the title role in "Annie" was dropped from the show. Now, more arf-ful news from Broadway: "Je-kyll and Hyde" has given B.J. the dog the hook. "He's a great dog, but there was too much personality," executive producer Gary Gunas said yesterday in confirming that the wire-haired terrier was written out of the show.

"Jekyll and Hyde," a musical now in previews for an April 28 opening, had called for B.J. to walk across the stage in a sedate manner while co-star Linda Eder sang. But when his big moment came at last Saturday's matinee, B.J. tugged on his leash and wagged his tail enthusiastically prompting titters and guffaws from the fuS house at the Plymouth Theatre. It was the second stunning dismissal on the Great White Way this year.

Last month, Joanna Pacitti was dumped from the title role in "Annie" amid allegations that she lacked "chemistry" with other cast members. Nor was it the first setback for B.J., who bones up for his stage roles by appearing in TV commercials. His previous shot at the big time was as understudy to Asta in "Nick and Nora," which bombed on Broadway in 1991. "His tail-wagging was just trying to please people. He was happy and pleased as punch to be there," Gunas said.

"But in the show it's a quiet moment, and he. was just too perky." "A Pam't-Mkc fonun- Fit. 'I Eft IT'S DICK AND HENRY, BACKTOGiTWmm It (BUTONLYFOkt 2 WtiKSl Pleaser!" ki ln llxmutt, HIS AHiaES TIMES Am AWT Of A Film!" Janrt Matltn. TM.ytWlXMKTim xtw turn auir acts BORDERS' BOOKS MUSIC CAFE The Major Metropolitan Newspaper STARTS FRIDAY DENIS MANOR.