TRAVIS' PLATE OVERFLOWS WITH MOVIES, PERFORMING, CD.

Byline: Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

Acting in ``Texas Rangers'' in Canada this summer and rushing back to the States each weekend to fulfill concert commitments took a toll on Randy Travis.

The country star, who co-stars in ``Texas'' with James Van Der Beek, Dylan McDermott and Usher, says he already had a concert tour booked when the ``Rangers'' opportunity came up. He went in for a meeting about the film, thinking he wouldn't get it, and wound up doing triple duty - ``Rangers,'' his concerts, plus the completion of his new DreamWorks Records, ``A Man Ain't Made of Stone'' album. Between scenes, he says, he would go over album mixes via phone with his co-producers.

``It was long days. When we were in Calgary, it didn't get dark till 10:30 at night, so they could just keep on shooting,'' notes Travis. He says he found McDermott ``one of those guys you have to be around awhile before he starts talking, but once he gets to know you, he's very funny, very witty.'' James Van Der Beek was ``extremely polite, a nice, unassuming guy.''

Randy says that he was the cast member who showed a sour disposition. ``Toward the end of production, I was getting in a bad mood. I was not feeling great. I wasn't talking much - just doing what I needed to get through the day.''

Maybe it all helped his characterization. Travis plays a hardened gunfighter in the feature he describes as ``part action movie, part western,'' due next year. He went on to play an emotionally abusive husband/father in an independent film called ``John-John in the Sky'' (made before the Kennedy tragedy and bound to get a title change) - while he continued his tour. With it all, Randy says he and his manager/wife, Elizabeth, ``went for about three months getting five hours of sleep a night or less.'' He doesn't feel back to normal yet, and says, ``I don't ever want to do that again.''

A whole new world

It's looking like Disney's first attempt at animating a little African-American history, tentatively titled ``John Henry,'' will hit theaters in 2000. The 10-minute short features the voice of Alfre Woodard as John Henry's wife, the music of the Sounds of Blackness and Sounds of Blackness lead singer Geoff Jones as the voice of John Henry, reports the group's musical director, Gary Hines.

``I loved Disney's meticulousness and thoroughness,'' says Hines. ``The story actually does have factual roots, and they'd been researching and developing John Henry for, like, two years before they even approached us about the music.''

Hines says that Disney plans to open the 10-minute short in front of a full-length feature, but ``they also want it to be an education tool. The story of John Henry happened around the Emancipation Proclamation, and there was no way to tell the story without alluding to the reality of slavery, so, all of that is in there. They're talking about using it in everything from schools to videos.''

Sale o' the times

Revelers were decidedly underwhelmed by the wares available at a last-minute yard sale recently given by The Artist Formerly Known as Prince, according to the November issue of Spin magazine hitting stands Oct. 5. When attendees arrived, a handwritten sign outside declared, ``CASH ONLY. NO BAGS. NO CAMERAS.''

The yard sale, which was held at The Artist's Paisley Park soundstage (he was not on hand for the affair), featured such items as gigantic fluorescent-green scissors, a case of air tanks, broken neon signs from the Sign O' the Times era (around $200), a collection of used keyboards (around $175), wide-screen TVs, leather chairs, spacey nymphette oil paintings, concert apparel, unisex perfume, and many, many copies of the ``Crystal Ball'' CD.

Though shoppers had to wait more than an hour in a single checkout line, the sale is said to have earned several thousand dollars, which will go to The Artist's disadvantaged youth charity, Love 4 One Another.

Back to the boards

Gary Sinise will work his live-theater chops next spring in Dale Wasserman's stage adaptation of Ken Kesey's ``One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'' at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre. Sinise will tackle the role that won Jack Nicholson a 1975 Academy Award - feisty convict/mental hospital patient Randall P. McMurphy. Previews begin April 6.

With reports by Stephanie DuBois.

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4 Photos

PHOTO (1) TRAVIS

(2) McDERMOTT

(3) PRINCE

(4) SINISE