Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • Page 21

dctroit fret prcssticsday. sept. 23. 1986 1 1 Finding the perfect quartet for 'Stand By show Three years in the making A Director Rob Reiner had hoped "Stand By Me" would find "a small audience that would enjoy it." He had warned his screenwriters, Ray Gideon and Bruce Evans: "There's no wav this picture Is going to do business, because Sheri Nichols will kick off Vivace series Sheri Nichols, possessor of one of Detroit's most popular voices, appears with her torch songs and ballads at 7:30 D.m. Sunday in the opening event in the no one who went to'Rambo'wil! go to see our film." He was wrong.

"Stand By Me." which led all the movies at the box office for the first two weeks of September, is a sleep- fr i email In. Birmingham Temple's long-running Vivace Concert Series. As always, her reluctantly opted for a six-month vaca- tion. Scheinman, meanwhile, had sent a copy of the script to his friend, Rob Reiner, who loved the script With everything in line, the company took off for Eugene, Ore, to begin its three-month production schedule June 17, 1985. Two days before principal photography began, Embassy was sold to Coca Cola, which also owned Columbia Pictures.

The new owners shut down the project. "It was terrible," Gideon said. "We had gone through all the preparations and were ready to go when we found ourselves dead In the water." To the rescue came Norman Leaivj. one of the owners of Embassy before Its sale, who put up the $8 million: "from his own pocket," said believed that much in the script and Rob Reiner, who had co-starred for; A him all those years in 'AH in the? Early last fall, King saw a rough cut of the movie and said it was the best film Interpretation of his work he had seen. According to Evans, King left the screening room in tears.

Distribution finally was arranged with Columbia, and "Stand By Me" went Into limited release. After two weeks It was booked into 800 theaters and zoomed to the top of the box-office standings. In less than five weeks, it had earned more than $17 million. free Press wire services i d9j. The ensemble from 'Stand By Me': From left.

Jerry O'Connell. River Phoenix, Wil Wheaton and Corey Feldman. Director Rob Reiner says he chose boys whose personalities allowed them to be, rather than act, the characters. accompanist, Richard Berent, will be on hand, heading a trio. Future concerts in the series include the Russian flutepiano duo of Lemberg Nikolai and Vladimir Leyetchklss on Nov.

16: an Nichols By AUEAN HARMETZ Now York Timet HOLLYWOOD Audiences whoi are making Rob Reiner's tender movie, "Stand By Me," the summer's unexpected hit, are responding in particular to what critics have called extraordinary ensemble acting on the part of four ll-to-14-year-olds. How did the four River Phoenix, Wil Wheaton, Corey Feldman and Jerry O'Connell blend into an ensemble envied by actors twice their age? "If it wasn't for Rob, the acting wouldn't have been half as says Jerry O'Connell, who plays the fat, frightened Vera. "Rob really wanted us to understand our characters." The four, who play 12-year-old best friends lurching toward adolescence in a small Oregon town in 1959, were chosen from 300 who auditioned. Of them, only Jerry did not have a previous career, although he has since finished an ABC TV movie. Corey has many television credits and played the foul-tongued Mouth In Steven Spielberg's "Goonies." Wil was Susan Sarandon's son in "The Buddy System" and starred in "The Last Starfighter." River has been so busy for the last several years that he hasn't had time to attend a regular school.

REINER SAYS he chose boys whose personalities allowed them to be, rather than act, the characters. "Jerry is not scared and nerdy like Vern, but he. sounded like Vern," Reiner says. Wil, who plays Gordie Lachance, the misunderstood boy who would grow up to be the writer narrating the movie, "is an extraordinarily Intelligent kid, and his Intelligence comes through." Corey was the easiest choice to play the raging, self-destructive Teddy. Says Reiner: "Corey was the only boy who could play that kind of anger." River, the oldest of the boys, originally read for the part of Gordie.

But he ended up playing Chris, the leader and peacemaker. "River has all the strength the character has," says Reiner. "It's clear he's been loved by his parents, who are people who have been able to maintain what was good and pure about '60s morality without the garbage." (River's father and mother spent five years in Central America as missionaries with a youth group. They returned to the States penniless and Immediately headed for Hollywood so the five children could "earn decent livings," said River's father, "and not wind up poverty stricken like I did." expensive, Reiner throwaway movie that has become an unexpected hit. Here are a few highlights and lowlights in the film's three years in the making: On Aug.

29, 1983, screenwriter Bruce Evans sent a copy of 'The Body," a novella by Stephen King, to Karen Gideon, the wife of his friend and writing partner, Ray Gideon, for her birthday. The two writers fell in love with the story and wanted to make a movie of it. They took the Idea to Martin Shafer at Embassy Pictures. Said Gideon: "Martin was enthusiastic until we told him Bruce and I wanted to write and produce the film. We had no previous producing experience.

Martin suggested we work with Andy Scheinman, who had produced other films." Gideon and Evans spent eight weeks writing the screenplay while Embassy spent four months dickering with King's agent for film rights. The director was to have been Adrian Lyne But other projects caught up with him, and he America's favorite River's younger brother, Leaf, starred In In June 1985, Reiner and the four boys met in a hotel suite in Oregon. For a week he did nothing but play games with them, occasionally including the writers and some crew members. They had to pretend another boy was a mirror and mime his gestures, continue a story another had started, be led around the hotel lobby blindfolded, and remember what everyone In the circle had chosen to pack in a trunk. REINER, WHO formed an improvi-satlonal theater group with friend Richard Dreyfuss when they were 19, based the games on Viola Spolin's "Improvisations for the Theater." "Theater games develop trust among people, and her book is the bible," says Reiner, who played Archie Bunker's son-in-law on "All in the Family" for eight years before becoming a director Is Spinal Tap," "The Sure To build camaraderie among the boys, there were carnivals and river rafting.

"Rob kept us together," says River. "The first three weeks were the most fun. We took all the hotel pool chairs and threw them Into the pool. We soaked Corey's clothes In beer, and they dried and he smelled like a wlno. Wil Wheaton is a video whiz.

He fixed the machines In the hotel so we got free games. I took the blame. I said, 'You do it for me, and I'll take the "Just like in the movie, we had big fights," stupid stuff, boys and their egos, like who got to walk down the railroad tracks first. Always, toward the end of a movie, you get sick of each other." On the set, "Rob would act out each character," says River. Explains Reiner: "I would stand behind the camera and act nearly every scene out for them so they could hear what the part should sound like.

That's part of the benefits of being an actor myself. I didn't want the kids to be acting. I had some trouble with Corey, who would say, 'You're not letting me And I would say, 'This has to be NORMAN LEAR, who put up the money that allowed the movie to be made (see accompanying story), has known Reiner since he was nine and worked with him in "All in the Family." "Rob's emotions are right at the surface," he says. "He has the easiest access to his deepest feelings of anyone I know, so he can articulate what he wants to the actor. The part of him that's almost 40 and the part that will be 60 are as accessible as the part that was 12." Like their characters of Gordie and Chris, Wil and River have remained friends, even though they competed for the central role of Harrison Ford's son In "The Mosquito Coast" (River won).

Says Wil, "When you saw the four of us being comrades, that was real life, not acting." new star is back. SHORT CIRCUIT, TRimnCT1JKSANUPSOPIESSN1ATION WW ATHISTAHRKIfASF. IM ln.SuiPmiifei.lac. NOW SHOWING in lies as mi GEORGE I HI II SO 1 00 I ft 7 II I MILLER From "7w JongM Show" and "lite hf with On tWerman" Now thru Sat. II IMS Mt it, at' I It II II II I IS I I II ti it fa mi ii trttti.it Thurt.

9 OO pm $8 00 Fri. A Sit. 6:30 11 pm $1000 NO DISCOUNTS Lunch 1 Dinner Mrvod Mon. thru Irom 11 itatM INIM7HIN r-aaaaaafaajaaaaBPaaaa fawyya ai a I I SO I 7:41 1:41 iiiviitmtwi'in Deidre Hall works day and night evening of Broadway, operetta and satirical songs in a candlelit cabaret setting on March 8, and the New World String Quartet on April 26. Tickets are $8 ($6 for seniors and students).

For reservations, call 543-5912 or 543-2036, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. daily. The temple is located on W. Twelve Mile Road between Middlebelt and Inkster in Farmington Hills. POLISH OPERA AT MUSIC HALL: Poland's national opera, "Halka," will be presented at the Music Hall on Oct.

18 and 19 as part of the first American tour of the Silesian Opera Company of Katowice-Bytom. Written In 1858 by Stanislaw Mon-luszko, it contains both folk and national music and dance. This production features 80 participants including soloists, musicians, chorus and dancers. Tickets, from $18 to $22, are available at the Music Hall box office (963-7680, noon-6 p.m. weekdays), Hudson's and Ticket World outlets.

COMMUNICATING ON COMMUNICATION: The Detroit Producers Association sponsors its ninth annual Communications Seminar from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Oct. 11 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Dearborn. The event, which features a workshop in script-writing by Oscar-winner Kurt Luedtke of and an informal session with director Bill Dear, is slanted toward producers, directors, writers, teachers, suppliers and students In the commercial, Industrial and entertainment fields.

Registration discount is available until Oct. 1. Call 577-2403, 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays. briefly noted: ON THE AGENDA: Author Cynthia Holt Cummlngs signs her book, "Christmas Joy," from 11 a.m.

to 4 p.m. Saturday at the Village Barn in Franklin Village. Folk singer Bob Franke In concert at 8 p.m. Saturday at the Southtleld Civic Center. Oakway Symphony Orchestra in a German Spectacular at 3 p.m.

Sunday, followed by dinner at Madonna College In Livonia. Call 591-5056, 9 a.m.-5 weekdays. "Having a Wonderful Ime Wish You Were Her" plays In dinner-theater format at Kurz Alt Heidelberg, 43785 Gratiot, Mt. Clemens on Fridays and Saturdays from Oct. 3 to Nov.

8. CLOSING: On Sunday, the Michigan Renaissance Festival, ending Its seventh season. AWARDED: Michigan Opera Theatre, grants of $20,000 and $10,000 from, respectively, Hudson's and DeRoy Testamentary Foundation. AUDITIONS AND OPPORTUNITIES: Detroit Repertory Theatre auditions for its free acting workshop on Saturday, 9 a.m.-noon at the theatre, 13100 Woodrow Wilson. Call 868-1347, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

weekdays. Stage One Productions casts "The Odd Couple," 7:30 p.m. Wed. and at Nov! Middle School North, Tart Road south of Grand River. Call 646-5315, 6-9 p.m.

A master class with Michael Travey of the Pilobolus Dance Company Is offered by Oakland University Center for the Arts at 1 p.m. Oct. 11. Registration at 370-2030, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays.

Vocal workshop for church choir members and directors at Northminster Presbyterian Church, Troy, on Oct. 25, with registration necessary by Oct. 10. Can 644-5920, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays.

Send information including tele phone number and the exact hours the phone is answered to Show Bits, Detroit Free Press, Detroit 48231. The new show has meant some adjustment In working, she said. "A daytime serial usually is done in context, rather than in bits and pieces to be put together in continuity later, as features and most TV dramas are done. "Working in daytime is a tremendous education. There isn't the time for rehearsal and preparation as there is for a prime-time series.

It can be a handicap." By BETTELOU PETERSON Freo Prtit TV Writer In a business In which an actor is lucky to have one job, Deidre Hall has' two major roles. Weekdays, she Is Dr. Marlene Evans, of NBC's most popular soap opera, "Days of Our Lives." Sundays, she is Jessie Witherspoon in NBC's new family comedy-drama, "Our House." She plays a widow with She started tossing the annual Deidre Hall Lunchbreak which draws over 2,000 fans a year in Los Angeles.) "Daytime serial fans are the most supportive, most loyal and the nicest people Imaginable," said Hall. "It! seemed like a little thing to say thank you' for their support." And the producers of "Our House," are hoping that support will carry over Into the new series. E3 NOW SHOWING AT THESE SELECT THEATRES! 7:15 9:35 1:00 7:10 9:35 1:05 3:16 6:26 7:40 9:60 vrj three children fj who moves in with her father-in-law, played by Wilford Brimley Natural," About carrying the double load, says Hall: "No problem." Hall But she isn putting down daytime TV.

"It Isn't fair because It's hard work You learn to work with people because you spend 12 to 16 hours a day, five days a week together. You have to be supportive." HALL, WHO grew up in Lake Worth, was studying psychology when she detoured Into modeling. The background is handy, she says, for "Days." Dr. Evans is a psychiatrist. "I went to Los Angeles for the summer and started modeling.

I thought, at first, I'd do that until I went into psychology," she said. A small role in the CBS soap "The Young and the Restless" changed her mind. In 1982, when the "Days" writers were trying to boost the show's ratings, they decided to kill off Marlene Evans. Fans were outraged. Phone calls flooded NBC stations.

Pickets demonstrated at NBC's Burbank studios. "It was wonderful," says Hall. "No one could believe Marlene had been killed." As it turned out, she hadn't. In a quick fix, the writers made the victim, Marlene's twin sister (played by Hall's own twin, Andrea Hall Lovell). But Hall hasn't forgotten the fan loyalty.

"They've worked out a schedule so that I can do 'Our House' five days a. week and two or three times a month on Saturdays, I go in to do pick-up scenes for I go in and do falling off a ledge or coming out of a coma, things they can drop in when needed. It Isn't hard because I know the storyline." She has been with the show since 1976. HER CONTRACT for "Days" allows her to do guest roles on prime-time series and a pilot for a prime-time series, if one came along. "I'd never found anything I wanted to do until 'Our she said "It worked out very well.

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