FRIDAY 1 1991 The premiere of "The Life and Times 25 of play, Jim will be Brown," tonight an in original the musical Cuyahoga Valley popular National counterfeiter Recreation who lived Area. in It the concerns Cuya- a hoga Valley from 1800 until 1865. It's written nd directed by John Hubbard of the Ashtabula Arts Center with music by John Reynolds, culand 2:30 p.m. Sunday in the park's Happy tural arts specialist at the Park Service. Performances are free at 7:30 tonight and Saturday Days Visitors Center, Ohio 303 between Ohio and Peninsula.
New York jazz singer Roseanna Vitro aL opens a two-night stand tonight at Rhythms at THE 1422 versatile Euclid star's Ave. third in album, Playhouse "Reaching Square. The for the i Moon," is just out. Her style ranges from classic to contemporary, swing to Brazilian music. Showtimes are 9 tonight and Saturday.
Admission is $8 and tickets are available by stopping in at Rhythms or by calling 771-1818. Nitro, Gemini, Gold, Zap, Laser and other favorite gladiators will come to the Coliseum to battle it out with Northeastern Ohio's eight toughest contenders. "The American Gladiators" TV show is looking for competitors to participate in its national finals for more than $50,000 in cash and prizes. Tickets are on sale at the Coliseum in Richfield or Ticketmaster locations or call 241-5555 (Cleveland) or INDEX FEATURES .20 A TASTE OF THE TOWN 22 CENTER 15 CITY STREETS 23, 24 HITTING THE CHARTS ......................38 WHAT'S 39 LISTINGS AFTER DARK 32, 33 CURTAIN 18 FILM CLIPS 13, 14 GALLERIES. 21, 22 IN CONCERT 37 MUSEUMS.
19 ON 16, 17 SILVER SCREEN 9 WHERE TO GO 26 On the cover: Design by Dick Dugan Norman Assistant A. Gorisek Copy Santiago Friday! Mark Rapp 344-4800, WEEKEND CHOICES WEEKEND CHOICES B. Keane's "'The Matchmaker," Ireland's latest at 8 p.m. Saturday in Ford Auditorium of Allen B. Keane's "'The Matchmaker," Ireland's latest popular comedy, tonight at 8:30 in the Shore Cultural Center, 291 E.
222nd Euclid. Tickets at the door will be $12 for adults, $10 for students and seniors although discounted tickets are available at local Irish shops. Sponsors are the Irish American Cultural Institute and the East Side Padraic Pearse Center of Irish American Club. I They're known as bawdy blues women by some; they call themselvews uppity blues women. Saffire is made up of a former computer systems analyst Ann Rabson), a former schoolteacher vocalist Gaye Adegbalola) and a former real estate agent Earlene Lewis).
They'll bring their honky-tonk sounds to Pea-" Down Under, 1059 Old River Rd. in the Flats, tonight at 9. Tickets are $10 at the club. Call 241-2604. SATURDAY 26 in who Folk the performed mid-'60s, singer-songwriter in returns Greater for a Charlie Cleveland benefit King, concert to benefit Circle Pines Center, an interracial, intergenerational cooperative in Michigan.
King, a former student at John Carroll University, uses message songs. He keeps admission low to his concert to make them affordable to all. Tickets for his appearance range from $3 for low income people, $7 in advance or $8 at the door. The concert will be at 8 p.m. Saturday in Ford Auditorium of Allen Memorial Library, on the Case Western Reserve University campus at 11100 Euclid University Circle.
The Tom Evert Dance Co. will perform "Neewollah" (read it backwards) to celebrate Halloween in concerts at 3 and 8 p.m. tomorrow in the Cleveland Agora: Also on the programs will be "Body Talk" and "Brush to Bruise," Susana Weingarten de Evert will debut as choreographer in the night concert with the premiere of her solo, "Mi Isla," Admission is $10 ($8 for seniors and students, $15 for V.I.P seating). The 1925 silent film classic "The Phantom of the Opera" with Lon Chaney brings Halloween early to the Akron Civic Theater. Charles Blair will play the Mighty Wurlitzer Pipe Organ accompaniment to the movie.
The film will play at 8 p.m. Saturday at the theater, 182 S. Main St. Tickets will be $6 at the door ($5 advance at the box office.) 3 4. Folk singer Charlie King gives benefit concert here Saturday.
945-9400 (Akron). 1 A troupe of Irish actors will perform John SUNDAY Joe Piscopo, old "Saturday Night 27 Lite Life" TV comedian commercials, and star will of Miller perform Sunday at 8 p.m. at John Carroll University. He will entertain in JCU's Varsity Gym, 20700 N. Park University Heights.
Tickets are $12 at the door or reserve them by calling 397-4401. The Rhino Records Time Machine 'm worried about Dick Cavett. used to be so sharp, so incisive. I remember him bringing on the great minds of the day the poets, painters and playwrights and unleashing his marvelous wit upon them. He them with his mind.
It was their job to keep up. Now I see him on cable with hip young directors and hoary old novelists, and he seems frightened. Like he's going to jump out of his skin. He seems overly concerned that his guests like him. Since when did that ever matter? He seems unsure of himself.
Of course, the fact that his hair looks like day-old road kill probably doesn't help the situation. I mean, if you can't get your hair right on televi.1 sion there really isn't much hope for you? It got me to wondering where all the great thinkers and talkers have gone. Television is full of talk, but it's all inane puerile gibberish that appeals to our basest instincts. You know the old Phil, Sally, Oprah, Geraldo routine. "Intergalactic transexual kleptomaniacs who married outside of their faith, this week on Just when you think the talk-show market has been completely glutted, three more appear.
It would actually be easier now to identify celebrity has-beens who don't have talk shows than those who do. I think Bert Convy is the only one. What got me thinking about all this was the new release from Rhino Records, a four CD collection called "Great Speeches of the 20th Century." These are the same folks who brought us the box set of live Jack Kerouac readings. Rhino has been at the forefront of fascinating alternative re-release recordings on compact disc. And this collection of speeches is no exception.
After I got the thing home a couple of Monday nights ago, I put it on just before the start of the football game thinking I'd give it a quick listen before kickoff. The next thing I knew Frank, Al' and Dan were recapping highlights, and I was still immersed in an audio-historical trance. Listening to these original broadcasts not only gave me the you-arethere willies, it also gave me empathy for the 1 4, J. MICHAEL HEATON MINISTER OF CULTURE people who really were there when these events took place. It stirred up a lot of questions about public reaction to events and people in power at the time.
The recordings begin with William Howard Taft's "The Farmer and the Republican Party" speech of 1908 and ends with Oliver North's "Testimony at the Iran-Contra Hearings" in 1987. It was like my CD player had become a Time Machine. I wouldn't go as far to call it an out-of-body experience, but it was refreshing to listen to something for a change which made me feel young instead of old. One relenting theme pounded home was the notion that politics always has and always will be populated by corrupt, pompous windbags. It was sort of reassuring to know that the more things change the smellier they get.
But beyond that there were also moments of greatness like Winston Churchill's 1940 address to the nation "This was their finest hour speech. Lyndon Johnson's speech after sign- ing the Civil Rights Bill in 1964 was poignant. John F. Kennedy's "Ask not what your country can do for you" inaugural address in 1961 is an oratory masterpiece. Even the villains provide entertainment.
You get Nixon's 1952 "Checkers" speech, his 1962 "You won't have Dick Nixon to kick around anymore" concession speech, his gural address in 1969, and his resignation speech in 1974. What a piece of work that guy is. But I must admit he is mythic in his own cheap shabbiness. He's right out of Shakespeare. Richard III, mostly.
There are tense moments like Neville Chamberlain's declaration of war on Germany and FDR's declaration of war on Japan. JFK's address on the Cuban Missile Crisis is still scary, as is Sen. Joe McCarthy's mad rant to the Chicago Irish Fellowship Club. There's stuff that breaks your heart like Ted Kennedy's eulogy for his brother Bobby, and Martin Luther King's famous "I have a dream" speech. A cancer-ravaged Babe Ruth says farewell to baseball, and Spiro T.
Agnew has the nerve to compare himself to Abe Lincoln as he's getting booted out of office after pleading nolo contendre on tax evasion. Casey Stengel cracks up Congress with an incredible display of double talk; Gen. Douglas MacArthur just fades away, and astronaut Frank Borman gave me goose bumps with his Christmas greeting from outerspace. Then left wing troublemakers Jerry Rubin and Gloria Steinem shake up the nation with new ideas about politics, and Malcolm lays down a blueprint for the Black Power movement. What a great way to learn about history and human nature.
It's the kind of thing that would be wonderful for cross-generational discussions. I'd love to play this collection for a table full of geezers and get the inside scoop on some of this stuff. People are products of the times in which they were raised. Listening to the events that formed those times gives real insight into why people are the way they are and why they think the way they think. Which is why the scariest thing of all about the collection is that it ends with Constitutionstomper Ollie North whining to the congressional committee investigating Iran-contra.
What will the next collection of speeches hold? Robert Gates saying he can't remember anything about his years with CIA? George Bush telling us the recession is over and cutting unemployment benefits? Clark Clifford playing dumb about BCCI? The Willie Horton commercial? Dick Cavett doing his Arsenio Hall impression? Tell you what. Don't wait for the next great speeches collection. Get this one while you can still remember it. 1 1.
