BEST OF THE WEEK STAGE.SHOW BUSINESS: OK, so the title lies. ``Broadway on Sunset,'' a two-day musical theater conference, will actually take place on Spring Street, at the Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. Theatre Center. All the same, starting Saturday at 11 a.m., a group of actors, directors, composers and producers will spend the weekend talking about what it really means when somebody gleefully glee·ful adj. Full of jubilant delight; joyful. glee  ful·ly adv.glee exclaims, ``Hey, let's put on a show!'' Participants include ``Lion King'' director Julie Taymor giving a keynote address, Larry King serving as moderator and actor Jason Graae as master of ceremonies. Other participants will include Sheldon Epps, Scott Ellis, Harry Groener, Susan Egan, Rob Marshall, Larry Blank and Susan Birkenhead. Gordon Davidson, artistic director of the Mark Taper Forum The Mark Taper Forum is a small thrust stage with 745 seats at the Los Angeles Music Center built by Welton Beckett and Associates. It has presented innovative plays since 1967. The world premiere of Angels In America was produced here. and Ahmanson Theatre, will be presented with Broadway on Sunset's first Visionary Award for Theatrical Excellence. Panels will feature such topics as ``Hollywood in the Musical Theatre Marketplace,'' ``Bringing the Musical Score to Life'' and `'Actors on Acting in Musicals.'' The conference will conclude with a concert reading of ``Wide Eyes'' with book and lyrics by Mark Masi and music by Jess Platt. Winner of the First Look Competition, ``Wide Eyes'' is based on the life of Leonardo DaVinci. Admission for the conference is $75 for both days or $45 for a single day. The conference runs from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at 514 S. Spring St. For more information, call (213) 485-1681. - Evan Henerson FESTIVALS TRIBAL GATHERING: If you are trying to find family entertainment that's not only free but also educational, head to Newhall this weekend. The seventh annual Hart of the West Powwow and Native American Craft Fair returns to William S. Hart Park and Museum Saturday and Sunday. Members of the Navajo, Cherokee, Apache, Yaqui, Ojibwa and Kiowa tribes will take part in dancing and drumming ceremonies. A grand entry is scheduled at noon both days. Hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday. The park is located at 24151 N. San Fernando Road San Fernando Road is a major street in the city and county of Los Angeles. It starts off in Castaic as The Old Road, passing through Santa Clarita and the Newhall Pass, where upon its intersection with Sierra Highway near the junction of the Golden State (I-5) and the , Newhall. The event is sponsored by the Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation, Friends of Hart Park and the L.A. County Natural History Museum. - Daily News TELEVISION COVERING THE TEEN SCENE: While people run and jump and lift heavy things over on NBC NBC in full National Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. commercial broadcasting company. It was formed in 1926 by RCA Corp., General Electric Co. (GE), and Westinghouse and was the first U.S. company to operate a broadcast network. , the other networks have been largely content to cede viewers to the Australian spectacle. The WB, however, intrepidly offers an evening of original programming tonight, aimed mainly at teen-age girls, those least likely to want to watch hunky hun·ky 1 n. pl. hun·kies Offensive Slang Used as a disparaging term for a person, especially a laborer, from east-central Europe. , sweat-drenched athletes in moments of triumph or agony - hmm, do you see something wrong with this thinking? The WB seems most intent this season on shedding its reputation as the network that can't air a successful comedy. In addition to tapping ``Sex and the City's'' Darren Star for a wacky Hollywood parody, ``Grosse Pointe'' (see review on page 35), the WB has co-opted a couple of the other networks' castoffs. ``The PJ's,'' mistreated by Fox, has already debuted, and now comes the mildly retooled ``Sabrina, the Teenage Witch'' courtesy of ABC ABC in full American Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. television network. It began when the expanding national radio network NBC split into the separate Red and Blue networks in 1928. . ``Sabrina,'' buoyed by the souffle-light work of Melissa Joan Hart Melissa Joan Hart (born April 18 1976) is an American actress who is best known for playing the title roles in two successful television series, Clarissa Explains It All and Sabrina, the Teenage Witch. , is an innocent who begins this season recovered from her untraumatic breakup with her boyfriend and ready for college. Her wacky aunts, however, aren't quite ready to relinquish control over her. ``Popular'' is the anti-Sabrina: Far from innocents, the high-schoolers here are routinely savvier than their clueless clue·less adj. Lacking understanding or knowledge. clueless Adjective Slang helpless or stupid Adj. 1. , muddling parents. Tonight's premiere picks up where last season's kick-out-the-stops cliffhanger cliff·hang·er n. 1. A melodramatic serial in which each episode ends in suspense. 2. A suspenseful situation occurring at the end of a chapter, scene, or episode. 3. left off, when Sam (Carly Pope) and Brooke's (Leslie Bibb) single parents had their wedding plans quashed. ``Sabrina'' premieres tonight at 8 on the WB (Channel 5), followed by ``Grosse Pointe'' at 8:30 and ``Popular'' at 9. - David Kronke FILM 'FAMOUS' LAST WORDS: First, a disclaimer: The stash stash Drug slang noun A place where illicit drugs are hidden of albums the kid finds near the beginning of ``Almost Famous''? That was my record collection in 1973. That said, I have tried to avoid the slobbering slobbering see drooling. overpraise o·ver·praise tr.v. o·ver·praised, o·ver·prais·ing, o·ver·prais·es To praise excessively. Verb 1. overpraise - praise excessively critics of my age group have lavished upon Cameron Crowe's movie memoir about an adolescent Rolling Stone reporter on the road with a midlevel mid·lev·el n. The middle stage or level, as in a series, course of action, or career. rock band. Despite my resistance to targeted flattery and nostalgic pandering, I must report that ``Almost Famous'' contains some of the finest writing, best performances and smart observations of any film this year. Scripter-director Crowe, as he did with ``Jerry Maguire,'' exhibits a big- hearted knack for bringing out the beguiling humanity in such unlikely characters as egomaniacal rock stars (Billy Crudup and Jason Lee), overprotective o·ver·pro·tect tr.v. o·ver·pro·tect·ed, o·ver·pro·tect·ing, o·ver·pro·tects To protect too much; coddle: overprotected their children. moms (Frances McDormand) and, of course, entertainment journalists (the facile young Patrick Fugit) and critics (Philip Seymour Hoffman's killer cameos as real-life martyred taste mandarin Lester Bangs). It's a lot of great stuff, even if the movie is ultimately too slick and eager to please to really convince us it's captured the essence of rock's shaggy, dangerous post-hippie peak. Still, Crowe clearly knows more about the scene than anybody else making movies; ``Almost Famous'' is suffused suf·fuse tr.v. suf·fused, suf·fus·ing, suf·fus·es To spread through or over, as with liquid, color, or light: "The sky above the roof is suffused with deep colors" with a not-fade-away love for it all. - Bob Strauss TALK ABOUT YOUR 'WIDE RELEASE': There was a time when a ``big'' movie was not necessarily the one with the highest budget or the most special effects, but the one that commanded the audience's attention with powerful cinematography cinematography: see motion picture photography. cinematography Art and technology of motion-picture photography. It involves the composition of a scene, lighting of the set and actors, choice of cameras, camera angle, and integration of special made even more dramatic with wide-screen projection. Landmark's Nuart Theatre is opening wide for one week with a series of CinemaScope and Panavision epics, starting today with John Sturges' World War II tale of POW heroism and determination, ``The Great Escape.'' David Lean's Oscar-winning romance ``Dr. Zhivago'' plays Saturday, and William Wyler's spectacle of early Christianity, ``Ben-Hur'' will run Sunday. The rest of the program includes the 1972 Soviet science-fiction masterpiece ``Solaris,'' the uncut version of Sergio Leone's spaghetti western ``Once Upon a Time in the West,'' and Robert Altman's country music mosaic, ``Nashville.'' Even the broadest big-screen televisions can't do justice to Steve McQueen's full-throttle motorcycle ride, the steamy passion of Julie Christie and Omar Sharif in the midst Adv. 1. in the midst - the middle or central part or point; "in the midst of the forest"; "could he walk out in the midst of his piece?" midmost of an icy Russian winter, and that heart-pounding, life-threatening chariot race. So order the popcorn with extra butter and take in these films the way they were meant to be seen. The Nuart is at 11272 Santa Monica Blvd. in Los Angeles. For more information, call (310) 478-6379. - Valerie Kuklenski MUSIC VISION IN WHITE: Now at the Cinegrill - a crooner. Tony-winning chanteuse chan·teuse n. A woman singer, especially a nightclub singer. [French, feminine of chanteur, singer, from chanter, to sing; see chant.] Lillias White will perform her one woman show ``From Brooklyn to Broadway'' Saturday and Sept. 30 at 8 and 10 p.m. The appearance is in connection with the release of her first CD, ``Lillias White: From Brooklyn to Broadway.'' The performance and CD will feature White singing to the music of Cy Coleman, Hoagy Carmichael, David Zippel and standards from the singer's Broadway roles in ``Barnum,'' ``Once on This Island,'' ``Dreamgirls'' and ``The Life.'' Tickets are $20 with a two-drink minimum. The Cinegrill is located at 7000 Hollywood Blvd., West Hollywood. Call (323) 769-7273. - Evan Henerson TALKING THE TALK: Ben Sidran isn't just a jazz pianist and singer. He's also an author. An eclectic performer who was an early member of the Steve Miller Band The Steve Miller Band (1967-present) is a Blues & Classic Rock band, led by rock singer, Steve Miller on guitar and lead vocals. History Steve Miller founded the Goldburg-Miller Blues Band along with bassist Roy Ruby and drummer Maurice McKinley after moving to Chicago to , Sidran has penned two books: ``Black Talk'' and ``Talking Jazz.'' In the late '60s, Sidran spent time in Britain, working with such rockers as Charlie Watts and Peter Frampton. Sidran, accompanied by guitarist Phil Upchurch and drummer Leo Leo, in astronomy Leo [Lat.,=the lion], northern constellation lying S of Ursa Major and on the ecliptic (apparent path of the sun through the heavens) between Cancer and Virgo; it is one of the constellations of the zodiac. Sidran, appears tonight and Saturday at the Jazz Spot in Los Feliz. Sidran records often, mixing jazz dates such as ``The Doctor Is In'' with fusion efforts like ``On the Cool Side.'' In 1991, he teamed with British jazz organist-singer Georgie Fame for the duo's album ``Go Jazz All Stars.'' Perhaps his best disc is ``Cool Paradise,'' which ranges from swinging cocktail jazz to a clever arrangement of the ballad ``She Steps Into a Dream.'' The Jazz Spot is at 2138 Hillhurst Ave., Los Angeles. Show times are 8, 9:30 and 11 p.m. both nights; the cover is $20. Information: (323) 666-8666. - Fred Shuster LIGHTS, CAMERA, MUSIC!: You've seen the musicals and heard the scores. Now you can experience them live when John Mauceri leads the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra in a concert of cinematic sights and sounds at the Hollywood Bowl. Tonight's concert features orchestrations such as ``I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy'' performed by the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra and the Mitch Hanlon singers to a clip of the 1942 film ``Yankee Doodle Dandy Yankee Doodle Dandy feather-capped dandy; “handy” with the girls. [Nurs. Rhyme: Opie, 439] See : Foppishness .'' The program also includes the ``Monte Carlo Ballet'' from the 1936 film ``Follow the Fleet,'' ``Watch Your Step'' from the 1937 favorite ``Shall We Dance'' and ``Born in a Trunk'' from 1954's ``A Star Is Born.'' Concert time is 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $5 to $70 and available at the Hollywood Bowl box office, 2301 N. Highland Ave., or through Ticketmaster. Information: (213) 480-3232. - Sandra Barrera CAPTION(S): 8 photos Photo: (1) Larry King (2) Gordon Davidson (3) Julie Taymor (4) Jason Grace (5) Melissa Joan Hart (6) Michael Angarano as young William Miler in ``Almost Famous.'' (7) Ben Sidran (8) Lillias White |
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