THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, January 27, 1995 TAG: 9501260136
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E3 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: Medium: 75 lines
WEEKEND
WHO WOULD EVER guess that ``Keep Your Sunnyside Up'' was written for a bunch of football players to sing in a locker room? Or that ``Button Up Your Overcoat'' was not a worrying mother's tune, but rather a college girl's coy flirtation.
As old and dear as your grandmother, these sweet songs are from the 1927 musical comedy ``Good News!'', opening tonight at 8 at the Virginia Beach Pavilion Theater.
Produced by Commonwealth Musical Stage, ``Good News!'' is a quintessential '20s musical comedy - zippy tunes, happy feet and a silly plot, set in fictional Tait College.
Broadway veteran Mary Jane Houdina has directed and choreographed the show with an eye for authentic re-creation of period performance styles.
``Good News!'' continues at 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday. Shows also at 8 p.m. Feb. 3 and 4; at 2 p.m. Feb. 4 and 5. Tickets are $15 to $30. Call 340-5446 for reservations.
- Teresa Annas
WEDNESDAY
WHILE THE SCREEN at the Naro Expanded Cinema will be dark Wednesday, the doors will be open. That's because the movie house is hosting the Fourth Annual Blues Showcase, a fund-raiser put on by Birdland Music for public radio station WHRV-FM. Performing are the Blues Exchange, Marty Jones & the Ten Top Boys and the R&B Allstars. The benefit raises about $2,000 annually. Only 500 tickets are available; they're $6 advance, $8 at the door. Call 495-0961 for info. The Naro is at 1507 Colley Ave., Norfolk.
- Craig Shapiro
TONIGHT
THE LETTER IS addressed to ``Immortal Beloved.'' If it were marked ``Return to Sender,'' it would have gone back to none other than Maestro Beehoven. With deafness and all that composing, you'd think he would hardly have had time for love affairs. The mystery of who was his ``immortal beloved'' is more fun as a mystery than as a fact, but Director Bernard Rose turns it into a suspenseful yarn. Isabella Rossellini is one of the candidates. Gary Oldman is an unlikely choice to play Beethoven. ``Immortal Beloved'' is one of a host of new, important and diverse movies opening this week. Among them is ``Death and the Maiden'' with Sigourney Weaver sparring with Ben Kingsley. ``Clerks'' is the absurdist comedy about two night clerks in a convenience store. ``To Live'' chronicles four decades in the growth of China - through the lives of one family. ``Before Sunrise'' has Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy as the young couple exploring life and romance in Vienna. Just to prove that mediocrity is still out there, ``Highlander III'' is also opening.
- Mal Vincent
SATURDAY
AFTER WORKING with other musicians for a couple of years, acclaimed jazz guitarist/composer Pat Metheny is back with his own group, featuring longtime keyboardist/collaborator Lyle Mays. The band just released its first studio album in five years. Although brimming with those patented Metheny/Mays melodies, ``We Live Here'' sports a more modern, R&B dance sound which should delight fans Saturday night at Chrysler Hall. In addition, the 8 p.m. concert is only the group's second date on a lengthy U.S. tour so expect some surprises, Metheny said. Tickets: $20 and $22.50; to order, call 671-8100
For more from Metheny, check the interview on page ?????
- Eric Feber ILLUSTRATION: Color photos
TAMARA VONINSKI/Staff
by CNB