THEATER/SNEAK PEEK : THE RETURN OF LEWITZKY IN FREE TALK.

Earlier this year, when Bella Lewitzky brought down the curtain on her 31-year-old modern dance company, you could hear the sighs all over town.

As one of the West Coast's few dancer/choreographers to gain international status, Lewitzky had ample opportunity to uproot her company and head East. By staying in her native Los Angeles, she brought credibility to the city's emerging dance culture while exporting her works to 43 states and 20 countries.

In 1990, she made headlines by suing the National Endowment for the Arts, arguing that its requirement for grant recipients not to make ``obscene'' works of art was unconstitutional. Her gesture was more than rhetorical: In taking her stand, Lewitzky rejected a $72,000 NEA grant.

When she decided to close her company, bouquets of tributes were tossed not only by her fellow artists and the media, but by politicians and advocates of artistic freedom on both coasts.

Lewitzky will discuss modern dance in a free program from 3 to 5 p.m. Sunday at the Tom Bradley Theatre of the Los Angeles Theatre Center, 514 S. Spring St. in downtown Los Angeles. For more information, call [phone].

50 ways to win a Tony

Remember when no rock star worth his or her weight in controlled substances would be caught dead in the musical theater? How times have changed. Pete Townshend took ``Tommy'' to Broadway in 1993. Elton John is collaborating with Disney, the new 800-pound gorilla of 42nd Street.

Now comes word that ``The Capeman,'' with music and lyrics by Paul Simon - yes, that Paul Simon - will have its much-anticipated Broadway opening on Jan. 8. Combining doo-wop, gospel, rock and Latin music with a book by Nobel Prize winner Derek Walcott (who co-wrote the 30 songs) and choreography by Mark Morris, ``Capeman'' is based on the true story of Puerto Rican gang member Salvador Agron. Ruben Blades and salsa singer Marc Anthony head the cast. How the show fares in New York naturally will determine how soon we see it here.

On the road

After four years of making tracks from Berlin to Prague to Barcelona, the Kerouacian Coyote Ramblers have found their way back home to North Hollywood. And they've picked an appropriate theme for their next production: the inner and outer lives of street people.

The 4-year-old company will premiere its production of Ken Tesoriere's ``Bread and Wine'' tonight at the Back Parlor Theatre, to the rear of the Kindness of Strangers Coffeehouse, 4378 Lankershim Blvd. Kenny Rice, Diane McGee, Bob Colaizzi Jr., Ted Kurtz and Parker Rand appear in this drama about the upside-down existence of three itinerants who've just laid claim to an abandoned building. Performances are 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays through Sept. 20. For information, call [phone].

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Photo

Photo: Modern-dance pioneer Bella Lewitzky participates in a free discussion program Sunday at the Los Angeles Theatre Center's Tom Bradley Theatre, 514 S. Spring St.